I've gotten this idea, its on its very early stages and would like some feedback finding a direction in which to take it because it could go a few ways. Basically the two core concepts i am sticking with and feel that are essential to the game i wanna make are:
1. its a dice game. i want the game to use dice as a core mechanic, or at least as one of the core mechanics.
2. there is a magic hexagon. this would be the gameboard. 6 divisions for 6 different magic types. now i have two diferent sets that could go in the hexagon; one is magic scools (necromancy, elemental, ilusion,protection etc) and another would be just magic types (like, fire magic, ice magic, nature magic, deth magic, wind magic).
now these are a few ideas of how i thought the game could play:
it could work like a betting game where players bet on different magictypes and then based on a card that is drawn every turn they see which magictype is chosen (since they bet dice, then they would roll these dice and the results would signify a bigger reward somehow) (this really is the simplest but least interesting idea IMO)
it could be a game where the players battle each other, using limited resources each turn to cast spells depending on what magic school they invested in. each player would have a hand of cards (all drawn from a common spelldeck in a random way) and there could even be a board that tracks which magical types are stronger (which varies every turn) giving bonuses like +1 to every roll on a magic type or -1. then every spell needs an amount of points of a certain mana to be cast, so the player would spend their dice that turn on the type of "mana" they need and then roll them. (in this case, dice would not be spent, as much as sent out and returned, and every player could have 5 dice to spend every round). Then, somehow find a way to make an allstar deathmatch between the players, shoting spells and killing each other.
another idea would be that instead of being an all out against each other, it would be a competition for points. every round there would be a challenge drawn from a deck. a perill that threatens the world and the mage that defeats the perill and saves the day gets an amount of points relative to its dificulty. other players could intervene and prevent him from winning so that they can win and the player that defeats the most perrils and achieves greatest fame (a set amoun of points) would win the game.
bottom line is, i want to make a game that has dice and this magical hexagon as a game board but i dont know what direction to take it in. im a newcomer/casual to gamedesign with very little experience and only want to make a fun game to play with my friends.
i would love any suggestion, not necesarilly limited to the ideas ive mentioned, on how i could go on developing this game.
Thanks a lot for any feedback!
Thanks for your feedback.
To Kai,
well, the difference between the schools or types was merely what they would be able to do. it was just a name difference but really not that much of an impacct. (like, i interpreted schools as, conjuration, abjuration, necromancy, elemental, ilusion... which is very different to "fire, ice, death" in terms of what arsenals they have)
i really like your idea. i have very little experience with dice games and i am very temped to let my cardgame experiencie influence this by creating spellcards, so i was very happy when i saw your approach, which made for a very simple game (rule-wise) that made the dice shine.
at first i felt like it would be very hard to balance the game, where basically you could put everything into matter just to win. but then i realized that if you play it in a party of +-4, really others are gonna stunt your victory with the use of entropy or fire etc.
i think this could really make for a very entertaining casual dice-rolling game. Thank you so much!
Now after reading this i also thought, in the case of making it a game about challenges or perils, i could use the same mechanic, but having every color do something different either to the challenge or to the dice, and then each challenge card has different vulnerabilities and different resistances (revealed fter the alocation) to add a certain random element of who gets the upper hand.
To OrangeBeard,
all players have access to all types of magic, most definitely. The most i ever considered at some point is locking down to one school each round but being able to change it later.. but i threw that away.
originally, the dice wouldnt have color, or if they did, it would be to distinguish between different player's dice when placed on the hexboard. the color and efects would be determined by the side of the hexboard the dice where placed. HOWEVER, i have considered the idea of special dice instead of plain d6s that have different effects based on the sides... no particular mechanic has occured to me this way but i think it sounds like a viable route to go which would provide an interesting twist, with nice unique dices that affect the game in differrent ways.
Yeah, as far as teh peril things go, thats what i thought made it fun too! the fact that sometimes they would need a bigger focus and others a broad spectrum of abilities and the tradeoff and risks players would have to take each round