If something new, what would it be?

So my earlier post asked if people would rather see something entirely new that might stand on its own, or material that could be easily adapted to Eberron. A few people said “Well, what would ‘something new’ actually be?”

Good question. I’ve got no shortage of projects I’m interested in. Most likely I would turn to Kickstarter as a way to see what people were actually interested in. But here’s a few possibilities.

A New Fantasy World. This is the broadest project, but one I’m certainly interested in doing… going back to the drawing board and starting a new fantasy world from the ground up. I see this as a long term project, the sort of thing I’d do over six to twelve months as opposed to knocking out quickly, and most likely I’d want to post pieces here on the site on an ongoing basis to get thoughts and feedback. What would it be like? It’s too early to say, but you can get some ideas based on the things I like. Internal depth and logic are important to me. Where magic exists, I want it to make sense. Likewise for monsters and religion – I want to explore the impact that a deviation from our world has on a world. I’m a fan of conspiracies and intrigue, so expect a healthy dose of that. This would be a system neutral project, and as such wouldn’t be bound to the existing elements of any one world or system – thus, it’s possible it would have elves and orcs (in which case you can expect me to take them in an interesting direction), but it’s entirely possible it wouldn’t.

Gloom: The RPGloom. I’ve been tinkering around with a Gloom RPG for a while now. This would be a short indy project, with emphasis on light rules and quick play, and if anyone’s alive at the end you’ve done something wrong. Over The Edge meets Paranoia with a touch of Dread, hopefully as much fun to read as it is to play.

Minions. This is another project I’ve had on a back burner for many years. Lord of the Rings meets Paranoia. You’re monstrous soldiers in the Army of Tears, trying to survive while accomplishing the bidding of the evil overlord. Part of the idea of Minions is that it could be run in parallel to a traditional campaign. Essentially, Minions chronicles a planar incursion (which could be stuck on any fantasy setting). As the minions, you’re assaulting that world. Meanwhile, you can alternate with your PCs fighting to counter the things your minions have accomplished. While this has a little army-of-Sauron feel to it, it uses unique creatures as opposed to Orcs and Nazgul, so it does bring some new ideas to the table. Like GRPG, this is a relatively small project – a single sourcebook that could be used on its own or in any setting. Personally, I like the idea of a core system-neutral PDF with supplemental PDFs providing stats for whatever system you’d prefer to use. But that’s all theoretical right now.

Faiths: Religions are one of my favorite elements of world creation, because they are such powerful forces in a world. I’d be interested in creating a setting-neutral collection of faiths exploring a range of ideas. This one’s a little trickier to do system neutral because the issue of powers granted to the faithful and the existence of deities is trickier, but I might be able to make it work.

Dragons: One of my favorite things in Eberron is the secret war between the Lords of Dust and the Chamber. In general, I’m a fan of Illuminati conspiracies. FR picked up on this Draconic intrigue with Xorvintaal, though that’s a little less organized than the dragon-demon conflict of Eberron. I’m interested in exploring the idea of a world in which you are, essentially, the Chamber – Dragons moving in secret through the world fighting to shift events in your favor. A cross between Illuminati, Vampire, and Men In Black, if you will. It wouldn’t have to be Eberron, and wouldn’t actually have to be fantasy; in some ways it would be interesting to do a Shadowrun-y twist on space opera, with Dragons as the last custodians of magic in an otherwise scientific world. It’s an idea that’s far from fully formed… just playing with a few things I like.

These are just a few ideas. I’ve got lots more. I’d love to hear if any of these sound interesting to people – or if there’s ones that get the big thumbs down from you.