IMPACT! MINIATURES

Dark Lord · Joined: 23 May 2006 Posts: 2682

That's why I think a dungeon crawl would be best. Just my humble opinion.

But an RPG would be fun too.

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"I don't know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody."
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MidniteXpress · Joined: 14 Feb 2009 Posts: 128 Location: Scotland

Dark Lord · Joined: 23 May 2006 Posts: 2682

Here's the problem I see with a general RPG style game. You're making an RPG for a setting without much developed fluff, and around an engine that is designed for a rugby game, so what you're gonna end up with is a lot of generic classes and races, and rules that feel clunky.

You could play Bl00d B0wl with patched AD&D 2nd edition rules, but would it be the best fit? Probably not. Or you could play Last Night On Earth with the rules for All Flesh Must Be Eaten but it's not really a good idea.

IMO if you're gonna make and RPG, use RPG abilities, skills and style of rules. If you're dead set on using Elfball dice, ability scores and skills then it's probably best to make a tavern brawl, dungeon crawl board game.

However, if you're really looking to do an RPG I would strongly suggest filling out the fluff of the Elfball world. Tom asked for this awhile back, I think. IMHO that is where you should start, then from there you can make RPG rules...which really isn't that hard.
_________________
"I don't know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody."
Bill Cosby

bouncergriim · Joined: 29 Sep 2007 Posts: 298 Location: Fort Worth, TEXAS

i would like to see a travern brawl/ dungeon crawl that utilizes the minis most effectively. I would be more interested in that then a true RPG. I think it would be cool to eventually create a campaign mode for Elfball that includes teams traveling from place to place with off field events actually occurring in taverns and on the road.

Every once in a while a team goes on a quest to procure more supplies/zulpees and other things. Possibly even have underground or forest games of elfball with there own unique hazards and improvised weapons.

This would be great if you could fill in fluff. Like how teams represent city/states and must every once in a while preform a task for the mayor/king in order to stay in favor/funded.

Cephalopod · Posted: Mon Mar 02, 2009 6:22 am Post subject:

Hmm. Sort of like Warhammer Quest meets Elfball?

That actually would make for a pretty good single player game. Set up your team, then open the door. Get the ball past the room's denizens and open the next door. New rooms, new traps, random goal...
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skatingtortoise · Joined: 13 Aug 2006 Posts: 140

i was going to make a post, but DL said everything i was thinking up there :P

if you want a pen&paper RPG with walking around and player choices (ie. D&D style), i thinkit would be best (and easiest) to adapt a generic system. next best thing is make up a new system, with an altered statline.

if youre looking for something along the lines of descent, dungeonquest, talisman etc... then we can start looking at adding broadswords to the current elfball rules.

lastly, we need a setting to work on. is the world gritty? is it more comical? is it 80's comics or 50's comics levels of gore? are the races peaceful? hwo is at war with who? have they all gotten rid of war, and now national (and international) pride is at stake on the elfball field. are the cities sprawling metropolises, (metropoli? metropilees?) or are they farming villages built around fortresses and castles? (or even elfball stadia)

when it comes to rules and number crunching im there, but unfortunately im not much on the creative side.

bouncergriim · Joined: 29 Sep 2007 Posts: 298 Location: Fort Worth, TEXAS

I see it as a relatively peaceful realm, with minor skimishes like bandits, but not huge politically based wars. Larger disputes are settled with representatives of the nation or realm on a field of play rather than a battle field.

Here are some fluff conjectures based on minimal rulebook race info and other things I have read here

I liked some ideas I heard earlier, like the ratrace are used as couriers by all. The orcs are the remnants of a once mighty warlike race that now realizes it can't win any real battles because of the size of other nations/races, but that it can gain prestige and power though Elfball.

The widows/half elves are an unhappy race not really accepted by elves or humans. Perhaps when elves and humans mate only females are produced for some strange reason, possibly like mules and then are generally infertile. Or maybe these elves are like the amazons, only using men/malelfs for one thing.

Deadlings are the remains of a once thriving "halfing" community. There are still halfings around scattered, doing menial tasks like cooking and trainer roles for teams. But the vast majority of this race is now undead and not happy about it. Possibly a central liche King who presides over the darkened world. Maybe he or she is really a samhaino power seeker, who wants to rule the samhaino and is using what means he can to usurp power.

Desert dogs are a pseudo Arabian team that challenges the gnolls for turf and though they are rivals and fight over land have a respect for the others and strive to make it in the harsh vihktoria desert.

The divine wind (Japanese) keep to them selves mostly and are very mysterious, but always try to show the secretive martial prowess on the field. The have an emperor for who it is true glory and honor to fight for on the pitch.

Thunder hammer Dwarves are the miners of the land and provide necessary materials to other races. A stout breed that is powerful and determined. The play to promote themselves but more importantly to have something to do after they leave the tavern. Dwarf teams do not always represent a king, but usually a wealthy dwarf who wants to play and needs people around him to help (think of it like how royalty hires players for polo).

Black rock dwarfs are fair magic users that are trying to corrupt things through usurping power on the field. Not afraid to use what ever means necessary to gain control, they have been know to intentional conjure extra hobimps before a game only to the them fight each other to stay in this realm and play on the pitch. Also failure on the pitch = punishment, for dwarfs it is to be turned into a bull and for hobimps it is to be banished to the riskiest of mines.

Gnolls a race of fierce hunters that ekes out an existence on the fringe, they survive by wits and cunning. A very competitive team that seeks to expand their territory in order to secure a more stable and sustainable life (yet they are not sure what they would do if they actually succeed in this)

Gnomes adept miners and builders. they are known for digging deeper and faster than dwarfs. And being able to build a elf ball feild in a single night. They are also known for the unusually high fatality rate of these endeavors. Once a team of 100 gnomes built 10 stadiums complete with stands and concessions for a massive tournament in two days, however only 5 showed up afterward to receive the final 50% of their payment for the task. These little guys are adept a good magic and mechanical intuition. no one is quite sure what holds their contraptions together if it is bolt, nails, magic, or a combination of all of the above.

The middle kingdom is a race of humans based on survival of the fittest who take all male children from families at a very early age and all are train in elfball. only the best go on to represent the middle kingdom. Though some of the second stringers will sometimes put together a team to challenge the official team.

The night elves live in a dark forest and practice magic to make their lives easier. They have an uneasy alliance with the widows. And are possibly the fathers of many of the widows. Not much is known of the inner workings of the night elves, aside from the cruelest seem to be the leaders.

The Pharaohs are an ancient race that used magic to make themselves live to play the game of kings forever. These creatures from the tombs awoken by the building of a stadium over an ancient burial ground have come back to continue the game that they once loved millenia ago. And nothing is going to send them back. The represent the remnants of the decedents and are a sort of protector of their dwindling linage.

The razorbacks are a rather unrefined primitive society. They like the gnolls seek to eek out existence in a fringeland. Some of their members aspire to more than just hunting or menial tasks and have left to seek fortune and glory on the field rather than a substantive living in the swamps.

The sarcos are a coldblooded race that has been around for a very long time, but has just recently decided to lay claim to victory in the stadiums. They have decided to come out of the swamp to ensure their independence and perpetuity after seeing what has happened to the once mighty and warlike orcs.

The sarigit are the all stars of plains. Though the many animal races interact daily they usually keep to their own kind in villages. Yet each provides the specialization the society needs to function as a whole. On the pitch tthat specialization is especially noticeable. This team is quick to adapt to any challenge, yet cannot always rely on the same strategy from game to game.

The timber line elves are another "primitive" society that lives in the woods. Yet they are very knowledge of the land and all in it. They like the sacros use the game of EB to advance themselves and maintain their right to the woods and the mountains ensuring the safety of all that they love. They often clash with the black rock dwarfs when the BR come to harvest more lumber to shore up their mines. These elves have agreements with some of the other races about the harvesting of lumber. A good example of this is that the gnomes have been known to help the elves with the removal of fallen or sickened trees. This keeps the forest strong and gives the gnomes ample wood for their contraptions and furnaces without harming what the elves hold dear.

The samhaino are a race of mystery. It is rumoured that they are magically manifestations of other races nightmares. Their society seems to be hierarchical with those who have the strongest magic as being the leaders.

The Valkyries are "amazons" of the north. They can take care of themselves. The society is based on strength and alliances within. They stick together to ensure the continuation of their proud arctic lifestyle. They take the pitch to show that their ways are superior to all others and that you don't mess with polar powerhouse.

The ratmen live on the fringe of all large cities, taking advantage of urban sprawl and the refuse generated by such massive places. The are almost everywhere, yet the do not have a centralized capitol. They have many small teams around, yet few are good enough to find the professional circuit. They are also the couriers for other races. They are also a race to worry about, for if they could ever band together there numbers would be greater than any other individual race.

bouncergriim · Joined: 29 Sep 2007 Posts: 298 Location: Fort Worth, TEXAS

I also picture the elfball world as post-great war type world. Where the first war was so great both the pharohs and orcs were almost completely descimated and finally a massive treaty bound by magic was enacted to ensure that a great war would never happen again. Now disputes are settled by elf ball. Also the total magic of the world has been slightly diminished because so much was used to bind the treaty permanently.

Also a side note: Elves think elfball is so old that existed even before magic! And as such the first pitches where in the forest with trees especially planted to make the modern "pokeball" shape. Thus you couldn't pass out of bounds because trees were there and there where trees down the middle of the feild separating halves.

Dark Lord · Joined: 23 May 2006 Posts: 2682

If there were trees down the middle separating the halves how did they run over the line into the other half?

_________________
"I don't know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody."
Bill Cosby

bouncergriim · Joined: 29 Sep 2007 Posts: 298 Location: Fort Worth, TEXAS

trees inhibit passing, but there is ussually enough room to run/walk through them see diagram

x x x /-\ x x x
x x x \_/ x x x

But no one really knows for sure the history was lost in the great war.

Speaking of the great war... Here are a few more thoughts I have on it:

The war was a sort of magical arms race, that ended very badly so every one wanted to limit magic with the treaty. Hence now the wizards will only cast one spell at a match because they don't have that much power to begin with. The night elves and black rock magic is also limited to summoning imps/hobimps and other smaller tasks, unlike before where they summoned large creatures for battle. Magic is still potent, but no where near what it was at its height during the great war. The desolation in the east is the result of a massive spell similar to an atomic bomb, with residual magic that makes necromancy easier, but only in that area of the world which is why there are not any full or at least very many normal sized undead. The magic bomb had hit the home of the halflings and also instantly petrified and killed many trees.

I really need to organize these thoughs better into a more coherant fluff, but I would like some input from you all on what you think so far. I am not really that creative of a writer, but my wife is and she might be able to better edit my thoughts on the world... I could primary work on background, history and setting. I would not go into the teams of note/hall of fame players and the like. Just try to set up the world so others could flesh out how the teams interact and famous players and the like.

skatingtortoise · Joined: 13 Aug 2006 Posts: 140

really like the idea of post great-war - gives a classic football (soccer) feel to it :D

not so keen on current ideas for black widows - how about making them a religious thing, like soccer nuns?

Dark Lord · Joined: 23 May 2006 Posts: 2682

How about the black widows are like soccer nuns but the Widowmakers are like a bad influence that temps them to cheat and play nasty?

Also, most of it is good but it needs an overall theme. Like Grandma Wendy has the Old Ones ones and the Chaos incursion, Palladium has the sleeping Great Old Ones like Cthulu, Forgotten Realms has its connection to our Earth, Dark Sun had Defiling magic and whole dying Earth thing...etc etc.

A unifying element to tie it all together. Perhaps making it a post war society would be enough if wrote more about the war and the effects on the inhabitants.
_________________
"I don't know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody."
Bill Cosby

Cephalopod · Posted: Tue Mar 03, 2009 5:30 pm Post subject:

Dark Lord · Joined: 23 May 2006 Posts: 2682

Dryads, are awesome and I can't wait to see the Elfball ones.

I have this crazy idea...one that will probably never see the light, but I would love to model a ghostly evil dryad emerging from a Deadwood.

_________________
"I don't know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody."
Bill Cosby

MidniteXpress · Joined: 14 Feb 2009 Posts: 128 Location: Scotland