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I’ve written on this elsewhere, but I have a number of game design ideas that I hope to turn into something a bit more fleshed out. This post is meant to be a bit more comprehensive to serve as a place I can to to remind myself what needs doing:

JumpWar: This is a new game based off of Metagaming’s Warp War. It’s extensively re-cast, but the skeleton of the ship construction system is still there. I’ve got a full rule set written, and a Vassal module put together. I want to get some testing done, and then put together a physical copy, and finally get to a GMT Warehouse Weekend to show it off.

UR1 “The Admiral’s Game”: This is an extensive rework of SFB campaign “The Admiral’s Game” from Advanced Missions, inspired by reporting on “Day of the Eagle Comes Early” twenty years ago. It’s complete and has had some use. I’m still trying to decide what a good submission format to ADB would be, since it is still an existing campaign structure.

The Commodore’s Game: The initial idea was a SFB campaign where actually move ships around at a higher level. This is effectively the never-done Chapter V, and therefore an auto-reject from ADB. However, I’ve been thinking of turning it into it’s own game (which needs a new title). The general idea is to use the task force concept from Great War at Sea, and form groups which then go interact on the main board. That part is half-written; I need to rework away from SFB and come up with a battle resolution system; presumably a simple one.

6R1 “Federation vs Empire”: This is a Federation & Empire scenario for a big war between the Federation and Klingons. Annoyingly, the war from “Errand of Mercy” has a (poor) scenario already, but this is plotted to be Federation wargames over the next decade so it can bridge the era from the Four Powers War to the General War with odd experiments. I have an OOB that needs clean up, and I need some way to give the Klingons a chance against the Fed economy.

To Boldly Go: This is the design I most need to do some real work on. I’ve got initial notes, but need to figure out the main activity systems. At any rate, it is a space exploration game. Grid of large hexes, random tiles on them. They tell you what you can look for, and you pull random chits for resources which you claim to sell off or develop.

Tactical Game 4: I’ve got a page of notes on the main system. The idea is WWII tactical using cards (representing elements of your force) and tokens so that things take time to happen, and it’s not everything at once, and it’s not random order (chit pull). I don’t have any plans/ideas for the rest of it, so I don’t have a path to a complete system.

NSFB: I’m starting to gather ideas for a Star Fleet Battles-like game. In the long run, I’ll want to figure out my own setting (going away from Trek means it probably won’t sell, alas), but I also need to start figuring out the main points. Tactically, the job is to keep the constant impulse movement and weapons angles intact as the main source of tension. Some less combat-oriented activities would be good, but I doubt I can do much about that. Right now, have better weapons evolution, somewhat more stately maneuvering, and an acceleration system are the working ideas.

GATR: This is the concept of a points-based RPG. I like GURPS, but combat is too detailed, and I’m not a big fan of 3d6 resolution. I figure to go to the TSR Action Table concept, and do everything through that. Try to get combat to ~3 seconds per turn, ditch defensive rolls for just modifying the attack roll downward. There’s a number of places the abilities need major re-writes. The question is how to get through the mass of stuff I don’t want to rewrite. But, RPG desire has been rock bottom for the last couple of years.

Down In History: I just came up with the title. Vague idea stage. Grand strategy medieval history game. The main thing is you draw random cards to represent the king of your country, and that tells you what you can gain VPs for right now. Conquering someone? Building a good economy? Useful, but getting points is likely to require throwing it all away. Generally, play is to be aligned behind personal motivations and not long-term logical ones.

Fox-Kin Tactics: Way back when I discovered Final Fantasy Tactics, I did get some thoughts for a game like it. I never got to a point of worrying about a system, but it was going to deal with the Fox-Kin city states about a generation before Orither. A shipwreck lands a human in the area, and contact is established with the outside world as they suddenly become a good way stop for trade, and money starts flowing through….