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I've recently decided to take a dive into making a game (note, this is just a rule set and fluff). I have two different ideas, and would like to know which people like better.

The first idea is a kind of generic fantasy ruleset with most of the usual races represented as well as one or two unique ones. The idea with this is that you're able to just take the miniatures you have and play. This would be skirmish - small squads scale.

The second idea I had was for a kind of progressive skirmish level game. Each player has a character called a Shaman. When they first make the their Shaman, you pick from one of a number of races. You can stay with the generic Shaman of that race, or there a number of different specializations you can pick from (Element-based), and there is also a stat-building system for your initial character. While Shamans do have ways of causing direct damage to the opposing force, their main power lies in summoning forces or creating them from the very dirt. These forces then fight it out attempting to achieve a goal.

Now, here's where it gets interesting. Each new character starts out with two Summoning spells (these are used to bring troops to the battlefield) and one direct effect spell (these do things like dealing direct damage to enemy troops, disrupting your opponent's spell casting, ensnaring enemy troops, augmenting your own, etc.) Each Shaman specialization has a "Quest Track". Basically, it tells you what your goal is for your next battle, such as to capture a certain kind of terrain, kill a certain model, lay down traps against a larger approaching army, etc. If it is completed, you move up a level (unless the enemy completes their goal as well; this is to make it so that the forces actually fight each other rather than saying "ok, let's both just get our goals.") Every time you move up a level, you have 3 summoning spells available, and you can choose one of them. You gain one direct effect spell every other level (again, choice of 3 each level). So at the end, you have your own unique character and a fully developed force, with an accompanying narrative. The level cap is at 10. Stats for the characters would include their health points (Shamans cannot directly cause damage to each other, but their troops may attack the enemy Shaman. This usually will not be the goal of the battle however, and while killing the Shaman DOES win you the game, if will not advance you up a level if that is not your goal), Channeling Ability, which controls how many spells a Shaman can have going at the same time (many spells take multiple turns to cast or may be channeled until canceled by the player or another ability), Control (works like Leadership but applies to the entire force), as well as limited combat, movement, and defensive stats. Summoned troops only have combat, movement, and defensive stats, as well as any special abilities or spells they may have.
Combat works in a simple system: each model has an attack number, a defense number, and health points number.
The attacker rolls a number of d6s equal to their attack number, and the defender rolls a number of dice equal to their defense number.
If the attacker's sum is above the defender's sum, the defender loses a number of health points equal to the difference. When their health points hit zero, the model dies.
Other modifiers may take effect such as critical hits, but that's basically it. Each player only rolls once to keep the game moving quickly, and also the randomness will add some more fun to the game I hope The first option (generic fantasy warband game) would work on a similar combat system.

So! What do you guys think? I like the first option as it's flexible and could be great fun, but I like the second idea because I think it's unique.

I like the sound of the second one, it's unique like you said and has quite an interesting game play, I'd like to hear more about it

But don't make it like warmachine casters where you lose if the caster is killed

It sounds like a skirmish game but has the potential to become bigger in my opinion


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You could have a rule that, once per turn a summoning token appears on the battlefield at say, a random piece of terrain and like in LOTR the units can separate to carry it back to the spellcaster so he can summon more minions


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What are you gonna do about the different races? The elements seem a bit predictable and boring to be honest

I like the idea of having loads of choice with creating a hero, it'll make all of them unique, if it was a plastic kit then you could add loads of parts, loads of different heads, helmets, arms ext... That would be pretty cool


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What about if the model that charges gets a +1 bonus to the dice roll for combat

First draft of the rules

WELCOME TO DEADWAR!

What is Deadwar? Well, how many of you like RPGs? How many of you like tabletop wargames? Deadwar is a tabletop wargame with elements of a roleplaying game mixed in. The game is centered around your own unique characters, called Shamans, that you can customize as they level up, so at the end, you have a unique character unlike anyone else's! Each player has a different goal to accomplish to level up in Deadwar, and this goal changes each level, so it keeps games from getting boring
But that's not where the uniqueness of Deadwar stops. In most games you have a set army, you put it on the board, and you play against your opponent. You may find yourself wishing mid game that you had a different unit that you forgot to include in your army list.
In Deadwar, you only start with your Shaman on the board. Shamans, as well as being able to do combat, can cast direct spells. However, Shamans can't directly attack each other. So, how do the players face off? Well, in the world of Deadwar, a race known as the Sdrrsvic (suh - dur - seh - vic), brutish humanoid figures from the Wastelands who's very skin is embedded with minerals, mined until they reached the Core of the World, made purely of diamond. The Core of the World is a resting place for spirits when they die. When the Sdrrsvic attempted to mine the diamonds, to put things literally, all hell broke loose. The spirits, while they cannot affect the physical world in many ways without aid, roamed the planet. (see Background section once I get it up for more details.)
Shamans have discovered in way in which they can channel the power of the elements to allow the spirits to manifest themselves in a physical form. The game is played by using your Shaman to summon troops onto the board, and then using them to accomplish the mission! Now, obviously, every Shaman can summon a different host of troops. After all, an Orc spirit would never answer to a Sdrrsvic. Since each race highly respects their Shamans, who are also spiritual leaders, a powerful enough Shaman could potentially summon any member of their race that has ever existed, including any beastly off-shoots of the race. The most powerful Shamans may also have some control over certain elemental spirits.

MINIATURE PROFILES

You will find these statistics on the profile of every model.

M - Movement - how far the model can move, in inches, each turn.
A - Attack - how many dice you roll when attacking with the model. The unique combat system will be explained in a later section.
D - Defense - how many dice you roll when being attacked by another model. See above.
Q - Quickness - determines who attacks first in combat.
L - Life - how many damage points a model can take before dying. When this number reaches 0, the model is removed as a casualty.
(Shaman Only) CA - Channeling Ability - how many spells a Shaman can be channeling at the same time.
(Shaman Only) C - Control - The Shaman's level of control over his summoned spirits. Acts like morale. If a model is called upon to take a Control test, they simply roll 2 dice. The test is failed if the sum of the values of the 2 dice is more than the model's control value.

THE PHASES

There are 3 Phases in the game -
1. Channeling Phase
2. Movement Phase
3. Combat Phase

The players act alternately in phases. One player does his Channeling Phase, then the other player does his Channeling phase, etc. Who goes first is decided by a dice off at the beginning of each turn, with the winner deciding whether he/she wants to go first or second.

For simplicity purposes, we will start with the Movement Phase.

MOVEMENT PHASE

Each model may move a number of inches equal to it's movement value.
- If a model is moving through a piece of terrain, their movement is halved.
- If a model is moving up a sheer face, they may move a number of inches vertically equal to their movement value.
- Some spells do not allow a Shaman to move while channeling them.
- A model may not move if they are in combat (base contact) with an enemy model.
- If a model has less than half it's Life left, it moves at half movement value.

Charging
- Charging moves a model into base contact with an enemy model.
- Charging is 6 + 1 d6 inches.
- If a charge is failed, the model moves 6" directly towards the enemy model and stops.
- If a model charges into combat, they attack first that phase, regardless of Quickness values.

COMBAT PHASE

There are two kinds of combat, Melee and Ranged.

MELEE COMBAT

Melee happens when two models are in base contact with each other. Unless one model charged that turn, the model with a higher Quickness value attacks first.

The model that attacks first rolls a number of dice equal to their attack value. The defender rolls a number of dice equal to their defense value. It the sum of the values of the Attack dice are more than the sum of the values of the defense dice, the defending model loses a number of Life points equal to the difference of the two sums. Then, the model that attacks second goes. If there are more than 2 models in the combat, simply continue to go in order of Quickness. Models with the same Quickness value go simultaneously.

At the end of the combat, the model that dealt less damage to their opponent makes a Control test. If the model fails this test, the run from the combat, which is unmodified Movement Value + d6" towards the closest board edge. If the model runs of the board they are removed as a casualty.
If a model runs, the model that one the combat may make an opportunity attack, which is a number of d6s equal to half their attack value, rounding up. The defending model is assumed to make a Defense roll of 0, so they lose a number of Life points equal to the total of the dice.

Example - The attacking model rolls 3 dice, a 2, a 4, and a 3, totaling 9. The defending model rolls 2 dice, a 6 and a 1, totaling 7. The defending model would then lose 2 Life. The model going 2nd attacks with 4 dice, a 4, a 6, a 6, and a 2, totaling 18. The defending model rolls 3 dice, a 6, a 6, and a 1, totaling 13. The now-defending model loses 5 life points, losing the combat. They make a Control test and fail it. The winning model rolls 2 dice, a 4 and a 3, totaling 7 and killing the model.

So! That's all for now, as I need to take a break from typing for a bit. The next section of the rules contains the most interesting parts - Ranged Combat, The Channeling Phase, and Playing a Game. This will eventually be followed by the beginnings of the forces and the background for Deadwar. What do you guys think so far?

I think it's going well, the rules are good, the fluff is good but I'd like to know a bit more about the revived spirits, what races will be used?