New Project... Nautical Matters

Well, I have decided to write and publish a game. When I say that, I mean to self-publish, almost definitely distributed via the Internet.

I have had a couple of ideas hanging around. One is a game of professional wrestlers fighting evil in a world full of magic, monsters and other weirdness and the other is a game of naval adventure based mainly on the Aubrey & Maturin and Hornblower novels. A few days of uncertainty about which to pursue was ended when a whole bunch of vague ideas clicked into place for the naval game, so that's the one I'm going to go with.

Currently the plan is to focus entirely on how the player characters react to crises or problems that occur during their expeditions. I'm currently planning on a mechanic where the player will describe how their character reacts to a crisis including describing what they are risking, and that a bad roll to resolve the plan will mean that whatever was put at risk will be lost.

There'll also be a big focus on social issues and detailing the members of the crew so that the players get to know and value them. The possibility for fish-out-of-water adventures when our heroes are ashore will also be there (some of my favorite Aubrey stories are of this sort, so I shall not be neglecting them).

The game will also be somewhat generic in setting, as any ship with a rigid hierarchy and in a hostile situation will be able to use these rules. I'm planning to write up settings for a British Royal Navy frigate in the Napoleonic wars, an early Spanish or Portuguese explorer and a science fiction setting reminiscent of the Honor Harrington books. I may also add pirate and submariner settings.

Currently the working title is The Ship, which is crap. Any readers with a better suggestion, please put it in a comment!