Game Building Help

[Nique]

Workin' on my nerd game again. I'm grateful for any input you have.

Quick refresher: This is a as-of-yet unnamed Tabletop RPG, to take place in a 'steampunk w/ magic & elemental races' fantasy world. Yes, I know is sounds like Avatar: The Last Airbender.

So far the best things about the game in it's current state is that it uses familiar tabletop mechanics but simplifies them for novice players. What I need help with is developing the skills system (magic, buffs, etc) and finding a good way for the different energy types (earth, wind, water, fire, ether) to apply. I am also looking for more input on the aesthetics of the game. Although we have come up with traits and names for the 5 different races, we're still trying to think of a good name for the world, continents, and the game itself.

I'll try to break down a character sheet.

Hit Points: There are two categories of Hit Points: Defensive energy (Health, HP) and offensive energy (Action, AP). Players are given 10 points to distribute between these two fields which determines the ‘Rank’ and rate of growth for each. Characters gain more Hit Points every time they level up. Whenever a character takes a turn in combat or rolls for sucess, an Action Point is used. Additional AP can be spent to use skills (magic, buffs, etc).

Starting at level 0, The range of hit points a character may have for either field is 8 at Rank 0, and 20 at Rank 10.



Stats: There are 6 stats (STR-VIT-DEX-INT-WIS-CHA; basically your DnD lineup). At level 0Players have 30 points to assign to these 6 stats. Every 10 points to a stat grants 1 additional point to related Abilities.

Abilities: There are 12 different abilities that are based on your raw stats. Ability scores determine how many D6 dice you may roll for each Ability. These rolls would function a lot like Shadowrun's dice pools, where you have to roll 5s and/or 6s for sucess against the appropriate defense, or a difficulty level.

For example, assume your 'Attack' ability has a score of 5. You would roll 5 D6 against your opponents 'Defense' score of, let's say, 2. If you rolled a 5 on every D6, you suceed in hitting your opponent would take 3 damage to their HP.

Proficiencies: Proficiencies are like 'feats' in a d20 system. Just categories of situations where you can add extra dice to your roll for success.

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Hopefully that's clear. Next up is Skills. Currently, the Knowlege Ability and your AP score defines how strong your skills can be. For example, If you attack with magic, you would roll your Knowledge Ability plus any extra power you grant it by spending AP. Add 1 D6 for every point of AP you spend. You can also buff/debuff other characters' Abilities, adding 1 D6 for every Knowledge point or AP spent.

You can increase the duration of a buff/debuff by spending AP (1AP per turn) or create an AOE effect/attack by adding AP (1 AP per space. )

You can also manipulate different energy types based on the above rules as well, but that's where I'm having a little difficulty. I need to find a good way to define the difference between those 5 elements. I could just assign a defense to each race based on their element which would increase damage or decrease defense when being attacked by that element, and I could also give access to a certain type of energy manipulation to each race. But what about practical effects like creating a wall with earth magic? Do they just pay AP for how large the wall is (basically paying the same as one would for an AOE?)

Any ideas/ crtiques/ suggestions you guys got would be cool. Here's the first page of a character sheet for reference. I left out the Equipment and Inventory page of the character sheet but if you have any questions about how those work feel free to ask.