Idea: Weapon Crafting
Posted: Wed Jul 24, 2013 1:16 am
This is an idea that popped into my head a couple of days ago after hearing about a new game called Loadout, which has a crazy weapon customization system. I would love to see fleshed out, and I hope to do a bit of play testing. If you like the idea and want to try it out, I'm more than open to feedback! Heck, I might even get motivated enough to make it a forum battle (wishful thinking).
The basic premise of this is that it's a free-for-all game type where you're competing against each other, but not killing each other. It's more of a sport than a battle. There's a GM* who has control of three things: enemies, weapon parts (stashed in a handy-dandy bag-o-parts), and weapon stats. The rest of the players are the ones duking it out on the battlefield, trying to get the most points before they die. The battlefield is set up just like any other game of BrikWars, but if the players want they can scatter some crates/barrels/bins around (the amount should be about half the number of players).
*If there are only two people or if everyone wants to play, the players will have to work out who controls the enemies when, and weapon stats would have to be made on an honour system. The only important part is that the weapon parts need to be picked by anyone but the player who gets them.
The players start out in the middle of the battlefield, and the GM distributes some enemies around the edges. The players each start with two pistols, and all have the Multitasking, Multidexterity, and Compensating abilities. They take their turns first.
The enemies start with hand weapons, but will get better weapons over time. When an enemy is killed, they respawn at a random edge of the battlefield with a better weapon. The order would be something like this:
1. Hand Weapon
3. Two-Handed Weapon
4. Short-Ranged Weapon
5. Long-Ranged Weapon
6. Machine Gun
7. Launcher + Explosives
Some body armour could be thrown in there, but that's only if you're up for the challenge/have enough armour pieces.
(It seems like it would take a while for the enemies to become dangerous, but my hope is that with the fact that the players are constantly upgrading their weaponry, the killing should accelerate. I did try to speed the game up a little by giving the players two pistols instead of one, and omitting the Heavy Weapon from the list.)
Every time a player gets a kill, the GM picks a random part from the bag-o-parts and gives it to the player. At the end of every turn, the players are allowed to do one of three things:
1. Use parts to upgrade existing weapons
2. Combine parts to create new weapons
3. Save parts for a later turn
When a player upgrades or crafts a weapon, the GM decides on some fitting stats for said weapon. The GM should use common sense to determine what the weapon would do (e.g. trans parts should indicate some sort of energy weapon, big magazines should indicate a machine gun). If it seems fitting for the weapon to be a standard weapon type from the rulebook, then it should have the appropriate stats. However, if the weapon has some sort of exceptional property (lasers, a scope, looks really really cool, etc.) then it's encouraged for the GM to add some +1's or special effects into the mix.
Note on Launchers: Launchers can be crafted, but the payload must be crafted individually. Once a launcher is used up, the player switches back to the original two pistols so that they still have a way to kill enemies.
Note on Helmets and Armour: It's a good idea to include helmets and armour in the Bag-o-Parts as rare parts. Both are useful for saving players from powerful enemies or unlucky dice rolls.
Helmets - A player wearing a helmet is more protected than a player without one, but helmets don't offer full protection. They are useful for saving the wearer from a shot to the head that would normally kill them, but once they have saved the player once they tend to be too damaged to offer any further protection. If an enemy rolls well enough to kill a player wearing a helmet, the player is saved from the death blow, but the helmet is destroyed in the process.
Armour - A player who gets a piece of body armour out of the Bag-o-Parts will likely feel like they're invincible. Not only are they incredibly lucky to have picked such a useful part, but they can now waltz into the enemy's ranks and nobody can stop them... at least not until the big guns come out. A player wearing armour is granted the Shielded ability, meaning that they can ignore one die of every type from all attacks (in other words, they're bulletproof until the 2d6 weapons arrive). However, they also move at half speed, and cannot perform movement that would normally halve their speed (e.g. swimming).
Note on Bag-o-Parts: It's a good idea to include some variety in parts to encourage creative crafting. Throw some blades into the bag, as well as some larger and hard-to-use parts. Not everything should be gun-looking pieces; some plates, tiles, and other versatile pieces should be used as well. It's also a good idea to add some body armour (or at least some neck brackets and 2x2 plates to craft body armour) as rare items, because the enemies do get better weapons. It's fine to include some one-part weapons, but make sure parts can be added to them.
Important Note: While the main focus may be weapon crafting, players are encouraged to craft other equipment items. Jet packs, speed boots, shields, and any miscellaneous tactical gadgets are good ideas.
Points are calculated based on kills and weapons crafted. Players get a point for every kill, and a point for every part used in crafting or upgrading. If a player gets a one-part weapon or piece of armour and equips it right away, it doesn't count as crafting. Any subsequent upgrades to the parts will count, but it's wise to save the weapons to get that extra point - the exception being if you need the weapon to save yourself next turn. The GM may want to give additional points for things such as really cool weapon designs, or whatever they feel is worthy.
Once a player dies, they are out of the game, and their points total is finalized. The game is over once all players are dead, or the last remaining player has the most points. The loser buys lunch for everyone else, and is forced to be the GM next game [OPTIONAL RULE].
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TL;DR players kill things, get parts, build more stuff, repeat.
You'll notice that I mentioned crates earlier on, but never elaborated on them. I'm not sure exactly how to implement them, but I do want to. They'll likely spawn parts every x turns, but it's just another die roll/coin flip to decide which crate the part comes from. I guess that's what the GM is for, but I'll have to think about it.
Any suggestions/questions/insults about my mother?
The basic premise of this is that it's a free-for-all game type where you're competing against each other, but not killing each other. It's more of a sport than a battle. There's a GM* who has control of three things: enemies, weapon parts (stashed in a handy-dandy bag-o-parts), and weapon stats. The rest of the players are the ones duking it out on the battlefield, trying to get the most points before they die. The battlefield is set up just like any other game of BrikWars, but if the players want they can scatter some crates/barrels/bins around (the amount should be about half the number of players).
*If there are only two people or if everyone wants to play, the players will have to work out who controls the enemies when, and weapon stats would have to be made on an honour system. The only important part is that the weapon parts need to be picked by anyone but the player who gets them.
The players start out in the middle of the battlefield, and the GM distributes some enemies around the edges. The players each start with two pistols, and all have the Multitasking, Multidexterity, and Compensating abilities. They take their turns first.
The enemies start with hand weapons, but will get better weapons over time. When an enemy is killed, they respawn at a random edge of the battlefield with a better weapon. The order would be something like this:
1. Hand Weapon
3. Two-Handed Weapon
4. Short-Ranged Weapon
5. Long-Ranged Weapon
6. Machine Gun
7. Launcher + Explosives
Some body armour could be thrown in there, but that's only if you're up for the challenge/have enough armour pieces.
(It seems like it would take a while for the enemies to become dangerous, but my hope is that with the fact that the players are constantly upgrading their weaponry, the killing should accelerate. I did try to speed the game up a little by giving the players two pistols instead of one, and omitting the Heavy Weapon from the list.)
Every time a player gets a kill, the GM picks a random part from the bag-o-parts and gives it to the player. At the end of every turn, the players are allowed to do one of three things:
1. Use parts to upgrade existing weapons
2. Combine parts to create new weapons
3. Save parts for a later turn
When a player upgrades or crafts a weapon, the GM decides on some fitting stats for said weapon. The GM should use common sense to determine what the weapon would do (e.g. trans parts should indicate some sort of energy weapon, big magazines should indicate a machine gun). If it seems fitting for the weapon to be a standard weapon type from the rulebook, then it should have the appropriate stats. However, if the weapon has some sort of exceptional property (lasers, a scope, looks really really cool, etc.) then it's encouraged for the GM to add some +1's or special effects into the mix.
Note on Launchers: Launchers can be crafted, but the payload must be crafted individually. Once a launcher is used up, the player switches back to the original two pistols so that they still have a way to kill enemies.
Note on Helmets and Armour: It's a good idea to include helmets and armour in the Bag-o-Parts as rare parts. Both are useful for saving players from powerful enemies or unlucky dice rolls.
Helmets - A player wearing a helmet is more protected than a player without one, but helmets don't offer full protection. They are useful for saving the wearer from a shot to the head that would normally kill them, but once they have saved the player once they tend to be too damaged to offer any further protection. If an enemy rolls well enough to kill a player wearing a helmet, the player is saved from the death blow, but the helmet is destroyed in the process.
Armour - A player who gets a piece of body armour out of the Bag-o-Parts will likely feel like they're invincible. Not only are they incredibly lucky to have picked such a useful part, but they can now waltz into the enemy's ranks and nobody can stop them... at least not until the big guns come out. A player wearing armour is granted the Shielded ability, meaning that they can ignore one die of every type from all attacks (in other words, they're bulletproof until the 2d6 weapons arrive). However, they also move at half speed, and cannot perform movement that would normally halve their speed (e.g. swimming).
Note on Bag-o-Parts: It's a good idea to include some variety in parts to encourage creative crafting. Throw some blades into the bag, as well as some larger and hard-to-use parts. Not everything should be gun-looking pieces; some plates, tiles, and other versatile pieces should be used as well. It's also a good idea to add some body armour (or at least some neck brackets and 2x2 plates to craft body armour) as rare items, because the enemies do get better weapons. It's fine to include some one-part weapons, but make sure parts can be added to them.
Important Note: While the main focus may be weapon crafting, players are encouraged to craft other equipment items. Jet packs, speed boots, shields, and any miscellaneous tactical gadgets are good ideas.
Points are calculated based on kills and weapons crafted. Players get a point for every kill, and a point for every part used in crafting or upgrading. If a player gets a one-part weapon or piece of armour and equips it right away, it doesn't count as crafting. Any subsequent upgrades to the parts will count, but it's wise to save the weapons to get that extra point - the exception being if you need the weapon to save yourself next turn. The GM may want to give additional points for things such as really cool weapon designs, or whatever they feel is worthy.
Once a player dies, they are out of the game, and their points total is finalized. The game is over once all players are dead, or the last remaining player has the most points. The loser buys lunch for everyone else, and is forced to be the GM next game [OPTIONAL RULE].
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TL;DR players kill things, get parts, build more stuff, repeat.
You'll notice that I mentioned crates earlier on, but never elaborated on them. I'm not sure exactly how to implement them, but I do want to. They'll likely spawn parts every x turns, but it's just another die roll/coin flip to decide which crate the part comes from. I guess that's what the GM is for, but I'll have to think about it.
Any suggestions/questions/insults about my mother?
