Heroica: Glory Amongst The Stars RPG - Game Development

[Waterbrick Down]

Hi Folks, hope you all had a great Thanksgiving if you were US based. Just finished moving and getting things unpacked, now with my collection more accessible I'm going to work on getting you all some sets for the test quest. I do want to comment that the names/organizations used for the quest test are simply place-holders. I don't have any finalized lore determined yet, but I would like to stay away from using existing LEGO company story-lines. They tend to limit creativity and force QM's into boxes that I think could be better explored. That said, certain LEGO faction aesthetics lend themselves to certain personalities, so yes Blacktron is easy to make a morally gray faction due to their color scheme. Space Police have colors and pieces somewhat geared toward law enforcement. These associations will understandably be difficult to ignore, so I don't think its inexcusable if people create similar backgrounds for the existing factions.

On the subject of what to do with the "Heroica" like faction, because we're running essentially a "West Marches" style game, we need a central hub for all characters to start their journey out with. Mercenary organisations just tend to be a good fit for that criteria as it allows for a multitude of backgrounds, motivations, and skills.

[KotZ]

Agree 100% w/WBD.

[pombe]

Ever since it was mentioned that the next iteration of Heroica would be set in a science fiction setting, I have been watching with great interest (cue Palpatine).

I can't currently commit to any testing (sorry), but I figure the testing should be done by players who are already familiar with Heroica 1.0 who can leverage their previous experiences with the new updates.

My bricks are still a giant unsorted mess from a recent move, but I have access to my minifigures and their accessories so I couldn't help but do some figbarfing (and character creation) out of excitement for 2.0.  Please feel free to use the images (and/or characters) for your tests or as NPCs or whatnot.  The images themselves are links, and are public and available on Flickr.

 

Dola Solomon
Lieutenant Solomon served in the Awarshi Alliance as a marine during the Jestilair Conflict for three tours, earning medals and promotions for conspicuous bravery under fire.  Afterwards, she was unable to settle into a peacetime military career behind a desk so she resigned her post, packed up her kit, and made her way out here to sell her services to the highest bidder.

 

Captain H. Justice
Lawful Good has never had a hero more lawfuler or gooder than Captain H. Justice!  He'll defeat the forces of evil and bring justice and order to the galaxy, or his first name isn't Captain (really), his middle name isn't Honor, and his last name isn't Justice!

 

Taminy "Seraphim" Wong
Resplendent in her shining white battle armor, Taminy Wong is a feared mercenary and bounty hunter.  Her armor, combined with her reputation for using her jetpack to soar over the battlefield and swoop in for close range combat acrobatics, have earned her the nickname "Seraphim".

 

Rho
Not much is known about the cyborg Rho.  Other mercenaries who have worked with him describe his demeanor as "quiet and creepy".  However, regarding his combat abilities, they speak highly, detailing his close combat prowess and how he has charged into enemy positions shredding his opponents mercilessly with his right arm and come out victorious, but covered in gore.

Edited December 2, 2019 by pombe
formatting

[Classic_Spaceman]

On 11/30/2019 at 2:31 PM, Waterbrick Down said:

Hi Folks, hope you all had a great Thanksgiving if you were US based. Just finished moving and getting things unpacked, now with my collection more accessible I'm going to work on getting you all some sets for the test quest. I do want to comment that the names/organizations used for the quest test are simply place-holders. I don't have any finalized lore determined yet, but I would like to stay away from using existing LEGO company story-lines. They tend to limit creativity and force QM's into boxes that I think could be better explored. That said, certain LEGO faction aesthetics lend themselves to certain personalities, so yes Blacktron is easy to make a morally gray faction due to their color scheme. Space Police have colors and pieces somewhat geared toward law enforcement. These associations will understandably be difficult to ignore, so I don't think its inexcusable if people create similar backgrounds for the existing factions.

On the subject of what to do with the "Heroica" like faction, because we're running essentially a "West Marches" style game, we need a central hub for all characters to start their journey out with. Mercenary organisations just tend to be a good fit for that criteria as it allows for a multitude of backgrounds, motivations, and skills.

OK - That makes sense. ?
I think that we should run a test battle first, before trying a full quest, however. 

On 11/30/2019 at 2:31 PM, Waterbrick Down said:

On the subject of what to do with the "Heroica" like faction, because we're running essentially a "West Marches" style game, we need a central hub for all characters to start their journey out with. Mercenary organisations just tend to be a good fit for that criteria as it allows for a multitude of backgrounds, motivations, and skills.

Do you have any ideas for what the name will be? I am trying to come up with something (possibly a backronym), but I do not have anything yet. 
I have also worked on my character and compiled a list of notes/questions - I will probably have more, but this is enough for now! 
 

Heroica 2.0 Character - WiP 

Yelana Bonterix (Classic_Spaceman) 
Species: Human - Enhanced 
Gender: Female 
Age: Unknown 
Tech: Adaptive-Nanotech Armoured Bodysuit / Blast-proof Visor with active-passive sensor capability, HUD overlay, and integrated long-range Comlink 
Vitality: 5 
Strength: 1 
Skill: 2 
Smarts: 1 
Spirit: 1 
Proficiencies: Deception - 2 / Intimidation - 2 / Technology - 2 
Credits: 10 
Equipment: 
Inventory: 
Starting Gear: Spy Kit (2 Standard Energy/Kinetic Weapons / Cloaking Generator / Hacking Chip) 

Questions/Suggestions/Notes: 
 - Change Vitality to Health (This is what it represents, and "Vitality" sounds like a rolled-for boost to Health). 
 - Change the Defend action to something such along the lines of "Add character's Vitality + Armour Modifier to another character's total Vitality", since I am not clear on what the current Defend action does, and there is no option to protect another player. 
 - What does "Energy/Kinetic" mean? Are these hybrid weapons (e.g. Bowcaster), or does the slash mean "or"? 
 - Can the ranges of starting weapons be chosen, or are they set (I do not see this in the rules). 
 - Are the ranges of weapons limits or maximums - That is, can a long-range weapon only attack from a distance of three squares, or can it attack up to a distance of three squares? 
 - Are hybrid weapons allowed - Either combinations of damage-type (e.g. Bowcaster) or combinations of range (e.g. Shotgun-Axe)? 
 - Can energy weapons switch between stun/kill and bolt/beam settings, and can they be used as cutting devices (e.g. through doors, walls, etc)? 
 - Is death permanent? That is, does a player revive/respawn after a certain number of rounds or at the end of the battle, or is the player in question out for the remainder of the game? 
 - I am concerned that having movement and changing of weapons/equipment take a turn will slow battles down, and that teleportation spells will make battles more confusing. 
 - I am not quite sure what the Smarts stat does, beyond allow for more Proficiencies. 
 - How are weapons upgraded - Directly, or via increasing Attributes? (I think that it is the latter). 
 - Are the Level-Up Points gained after a battle the same as Creation Points? If not, how are Creation Points acquired? 
 - How will the sci-fi/sci-fantasy setting affect QM’s ability to keep quests on-track (i.e. preventing players from simply “Reconfiguring the deflector dish” to solve problems and defeat enemies), or is this how Proficiencies will be used? 
 - I re-ordered the biographical information, and added a "Tech" section purely for RP purposes. 

 

[samurai-turtle]

14 hours ago, Classic_Spaceman said:

OK - That makes sense. ?
I think that we should run a test battle first, before trying a full quest, however. 

Do you have any ideas for what the name will be? I am trying to come up with something (possibly a backronym), but I do not have anything yet. 
I have also worked on my character and compiled a list of notes/questions - I will probably have more, but this is enough for now! 
 

Heroica 2.0 Character - WiP 

Yelana Bonterix (Classic_Spaceman) 
Species: Human - Enhanced 
Gender: Female 
Age: Unknown 
Tech: Adaptive-Nanotech Armoured Bodysuit / Blast-proof Visor with active-passive sensor capability, HUD overlay, and integrated long-range Comlink 
Vitality: 5 
Strength: 1 
Skill: 2 
Smarts: 1 k
Spirit: 1 
Proficiencies: Deception - 2 / Intimidation - 2 / Technology - 2 
Credits: 10 
Equipment: 
Inventory: 
Starting Gear: Spy Kit (2 Standard Energy/Kinetic Weapons / Cloaking Generator / Hacking Chip) 

Questions/Suggestions/Notes: 
 - Change Vitality to Health (This is what it represents, and "Vitality" sounds like a rolled-for boost to Health). 
 - Change the Defend action to something such along the lines of "Add character's Vitality + Armour Modifier to another character's total Vitality", since I am not clear on what the current Defend action does, and there is no option to protect another player. 
 - What does "Energy/Kinetic" mean? Are these hybrid weapons (e.g. Bowcaster), or does the slash mean "or"? 
 - Can the ranges of starting weapons be chosen, or are they set (I do not see this in the rules). 
 - Are the ranges of weapons limits or maximums - That is, can a long-range weapon only attack from a distance of three squares, or can it attack up to a distance of three squares? 
 - Are hybrid weapons allowed - Either combinations of damage-type (e.g. Bowcaster) or combinations of range (e.g. Shotgun-Axe)? 
 - Can energy weapons switch between stun/kill and bolt/beam settings, and can they be used as cutting devices (e.g. through doors, walls, etc)? 
 - Is death permanent? That is, does a player revive/respawn after a certain number of rounds or at the end of the battle, or is the player in question out for the remainder of the game? 
 - I am concerned that having movement and changing of weapons/equipment take a turn will slow battles down, and that teleportation spells will make battles more confusing. 
 - I am not quite sure what the Smarts stat does, beyond allow for more Proficiencies. 
 - How are weapons upgraded - Directly, or via increasing Attributes? (I think that it is the latter). 
 - Are the Level-Up Points gained after a battle the same as Creation Points? If not, how are Creation Points acquired? 
 - How will the sci-fi/sci-fantasy setting affect QM’s ability to keep quests on-track (i.e. preventing players from simply “Reconfiguring the deflector dish” to solve problems and defeat enemies), or is this how Proficiencies will be used? 
 - I re-ordered the biographical information, and added a "Tech" section purely for RP purposes. 

 

First off I think you still have "2 points" you could add to your character's stats. Now I will see if I can answer some of your questions. 

1- Yes, vitality and health are the same thing, it just a naming thing. 

2- Defend mostly came out of the fact in the "old game" their was nothing. You just stood there talking a hit. Witch seems dumb to me, now with "defend" you can take a "Shield" and try to absorb a hit, not taking any damage (hopefully). 

3- Kinetic or Energy, it is either or. So a Kinetic Weapon is like using a "modern day" hand gun. Where using a Energy Weapon is like using a "Star Trek Phaser". 

4- I think you can pick them from a set that was stated in the rules. For example the "Spy Kit" that you choose you have two different Weapons, so if your character decides to carry a "gun" and a "knife" the next thing would be what type (element/energy/kinetic) and the range would be idealy decided by the weapon. 

5- I would think it is the maximum. But at the same time I would think a "long range weapon user" would want to keep some space from the target. Where Arsenal type weapon seems to have maximum range having that ability to hit anywhere on the battle grid. Not to mention the shorter range weapons. 

6- I am thinking no, mostly trying to keep things simple. But that could change in the future. 

7- I think you are the first person to bring that up. I am not sure about the first part but the second thing the "cutting" could be done during the exploring part and I would think how "proficient" you are with your skill set. 

8- Not usually, in the "old game" it was at the end of Battle you would revive, unless someone used an item on your character to get them up sooner. 

9- I think it would be done in one post. If you read any of the old quest you could get an idea. As for the teleportation stuff hopefully the "numbered" battle grid will keep things straight. 

10- As far as I know that is it...

11- That has not been brought up yet. Water Brick Down hasn't mentioned how it might be done yet. 

12- Again look at number 11.

13- It seems like that is what the proficiencies will cover. 

14- Some of that might covered  under something else. Or your character is some sort of cyborg. 

@Waterbrick Down Are you planning to run this "test quest" after the holidays? 

[Yzalirk]

Any updates to the trial quest or Heroica 2.0 in general?

[KotZ]

On 12/2/2019 at 12:14 PM, pombe said:

Ever since it was mentioned that the next iteration of Heroica would be set in a science fiction setting, I have been watching with great interest (cue Palpatine).

I can't currently commit to any testing (sorry), but I figure the testing should be done by players who are already familiar with Heroica 1.0 who can leverage their previous experiences with the new updates.

My bricks are still a giant unsorted mess from a recent move, but I have access to my minifigures and their accessories so I couldn't help but do some figbarfing (and character creation) out of excitement for 2.0.  Please feel free to use the images (and/or characters) for your tests or as NPCs or whatnot.  The images themselves are links, and are public and available on Flickr.

SNIP LOTS OF FIGBARFING

I just went back and looked and love the figs you made. I think my favorite is Rho.

[Endgame]

Seconded on the figbarf - Seraphim looks lovely.

Been playing around with LDD and POVRay still...

Spaceships! Can't wait for the inevitable need to write space dogfighting rules.

[Endgame]

Apologies for the double post, but something of an announcement to be made:

After some talk with WBD, I've been given clearance to run a mission zero of sorts!

MISSION TITLE: The Last Of Its Kind

 

PATRON: Kyler Vannoy of The Galactic Lifeform Endangered Species Protectors (GLESP)

 

ASSIGNMENT: Tragedy has struck GLESP. We recently recovered an egg of the once-thought-extinct Sabrillo, and had it kept in incubation. However, one of our own agents stole it! We have reason to believe that he is auctioning it off on the planet Gnorra. Please, help us give the Sabrillo a second chance.

 

REWARD: 200 credits to each agent, assuming the safe return of that poor, poor egg.

 

TEAM REQUIREMENTS: 5-6 Agents

For those who volunteered to test already, being Kintobor, Samurai-turtle, KoTZ, and Classic_Spaceman, I'll be shooting you PMs to make sure you're still up for giving the rulset a whirl. That being said, there is still at least 1-2 slots open, so please, apply away.

As an important note, this is just a mechanical test run - there'll be a plot, a setting, and story, but the world shown or the lore given may not necessarily represent what we eventually shape Heroica 2.0 to be.

 

Edited January 10, 2020 by Endgame

[KotZ]

You say Heroica, and I'm in.

[Yzalirk]

@Endgame I would like to participate in the test quest. Are we still using preset characters or do I have to set up my own character?

[Endgame]

Just now, Goliath said:

@Endgame I would like to participate in the test quest. Are we still using preset characters or do I have to set up my own character?

You are welcome to do either! If you are choosing one of the pre-fabs, just tell me which one you'd like to play as. Otherwise, you can make your on character, and I can spot-check the stats.

[samurai-turtle]

@Endgame I gave you a yes in your PM. I also mentioned the quest to another person, I thought they might be interested. 

[Yzalirk]

2 hours ago, Endgame said:

You are welcome to do either! If you are choosing one of the pre-fabs, just tell me which one you'd like to play as. Otherwise, you can make your on character, and I can spot-check the stats.

I have no preference but if Igaz or Anton is available I suppose either one would do just fine.

[Endgame]

4 hours ago, KotZ said:

You say Heroica, and I'm in.

Awesome - any character preference?

18 minutes ago, Goliath said:

I have no preference but if Igaz or Anton is available I suppose either one would do just fine.

I was formerly going to be playing Igaz in this one, so you can certainly play as him.

[KotZ]

32 minutes ago, Endgame said:

Awesome - any character preference?

Give me anyone, I have no preference.

[Endgame]

So far our starring cast is:

• samurai-turtle as the disposable war bot Tester-Three
• Goliath as Igaz, the undead space cyborg
• Classic_Spaceman as agent Yelana Fennix
• KotZ as... whoever random.org gives them, from the remaining pre-made cast.

1-2 more spots are open, and then we can get this show on the road.

 

[samurai-turtle]

21 minutes ago, Endgame said:

So far our starring cast is:

• samurai-turtle as the disposable war bot Tester-Three
• Goliath as Igaz, the undead space cyborg
• Classic_Spaceman as agent Yelana Fennix
• KotZ as... whoever random.org gives them, from the remaining pre-made cast.

1-2 more spots are open, and then we can get this show on the road.

 

I take it @Kintobor hasn't got back to you yet. And then I was wondering is @Waterbrick Down to busy to help test with a character? Or is he going to hide in the background and help in that way. 

[Endgame]

That's up them - life tends to get busy this time of year. We've been looking for players for a hair over 24 hours anyway, I'm in no rush. Gives me time to get more details fully finalized anyway.

Edited January 11, 2020 by Endgame

[Duvors]

So, it's been well over a year since I posted anything on this site, and I'm sorry for that. After the end of the final quest I felt too burnt out and, quite frankly, unhappy to do anything after a while. And after waiting too long I eventually lost motivation to come back at all. By the time I decided I wanted to try and involve myself so much time had passed that I felt afraid to intrude. So again, sorry. That said I'm glad to see there were other people more motivated than me and who had enough enthusiasm for the game that they set out to make a successor to it. It makes me extremely happy to see how much effort has obviously gone into this and how enthusiastic everyone is for it. I'm not entirely sure what to say now, I seem to have written myself into a dead end.

Let me try again, I'm sorry I've been away for so long and haven't been part of all the work you've been doing. But if you're willing I'd like to try and change that.

[Kintobor]

Sorry for my own absence: getting into model war gaming and prepping for a LARP as one of their storytellers for the season has drawn my focus away from Eurobricks, but I’m here now and excited to get back into it! 

[Endgame]

2 hours ago, Lord Duvors said:

So, it's been well over a year since I posted anything on this site, and I'm sorry for that. After the end of the final quest I felt too burnt out and, quite frankly, unhappy to do anything after a while. And after waiting too long I eventually lost motivation to come back at all. By the time I decided I wanted to try and involve myself so much time had passed that I felt afraid to intrude. So again, sorry. That said I'm glad to see there were other people more motivated than me and who had enough enthusiasm for the game that they set out to make a successor to it. It makes me extremely happy to see how much effort has obviously gone into this and how enthusiastic everyone is for it. I'm not entirely sure what to say now, I seem to have written myself into a dead end.

Let me try again, I'm sorry I've been away for so long and haven't been part of all the work you've been doing. But if you're willing I'd like to try and change that.

Hey, burn-out is natural, and a lot of the playerbase of Heroica 1.0 was feeling it - it's part of why there has been such a noticeable gap between 1.0 and 2.0 in the first place.

You're more than welcome to help test, if you'd like to pick from one of the remaining pre-fabricated characters:

 Thenari
500 cycle old, Female Elf
Vitality: 5/5
Strength: 1
Skill: 3
Smarts: 1
Spirit: 1
Proficiencies: Melee Weapons 3, Survival 1, Perception 1, Athletics 1
Credits: 10
Equipment: Standard Beam Blade (+2, Melee Energy Weapon), Standard Parka (+1, Elemental Armor)
Inventory:

 Kleeck
35 cycle old, male Ornithun
Vitality: 5/5
Strength: 1
Skill: 2
Smarts: 2
Spirit: 1
Proficiencies: Persuasion 2, Culture 1, Short Range Weapons 1, Insight 2, Deception 1
Credits: 60
Equipment: Standard Plasma Blaster (+1, Short Range Energy Weapon), Translator Cube
Inventory:

 Ensonvilterayquis (Enson)
60 cycle old, Male Quo’ri
Vitality: 6/6
Strength: 2
Skill: 2
Smarts: 1
Spirit: 2
Proficiencies: Melee Weapons 2, Medicine 1, Religion 2
Credits: 10
Equipment: Standard Void Star Hammer (+1, Melee Elemental Weapon)
Inventory: Nanite Filter, Plasma Potion


 Anton
52 cycle old, Male Human
Vitality: 5/5
Strength: 1
Skill: 3
Smarts: 1
Spirit: 1
Proficiencies: Stealth 1, Slight of Hand 1, Melee Weapons 2, Long Range Weapons 2
Credits: 10
Equipment: Standard Plasma Rifle (+1, Long Range Energy Weapon), Cloaking Generator
Inventory: Hacking Chip, Standard Nano-razor (+1, Melee Kinetic Weapon)

 

2 hours ago, Kintobor said:

Sorry for my own absence: getting into model war gaming and prepping for a LARP as one of their storytellers for the season has drawn my focus away from Eurobricks, but I’m here now and excited to get back into it! 

Awesome!

And with that, our roster is pretty much full, so you can all expect a quest thread to be up in 24-36 hours.

[samurai-turtle]

11 hours ago, Endgame said:

That's up them - life tends to get busy this time of year. We've been looking for players for a hair over 24 hours anyway, I'm in no rush. Gives me time to get more details fully finalized anyway.

That is no problem, some or it just me being nosey (or curious). And I guess some of this is, I got nothing better to do right now.  

15 minutes ago, Endgame said:

Awesome!

And with that, our roster is pretty much full, so you can all expect a quest thread to be up in 24-36 hours.

Well that is probably quicker than anyone suspected, let's go...  

[Classic_Spaceman]

1 hour ago, Endgame said:

you can all expect a quest thread to be up in 24-36 hours.

Will the rules be in the first post, so that if we need to reference them in-game, we can do so more easily (rather than needing to look through this thread)? 

Also, I think that my stats are finally correct: 

Yelana Fennix (Classic_Spaceman) 
Species: Human 
Gender: Female 
Age: Unknown 
Tech: Nano-adaptive armoured bodysuit with life-support pack / Blast-proof visor with sensor-integrated HUD and long-range comlink 
Bio: Personally, little is known of elite spy Yelana Fennix - aside from the fact that she utterly despises the term and would rather be referred to as anything else. Professionally, Fennix has a reputation as skilled infiltrator and hacker (aided by her armour's emulative capabilities and uplink with the IRIS* data network), and what details exist regarding her operations suggest that she is backed by a larger organisation (though nothing to this effect has actually been proven). / *(Information-Retreival, Intelligence, and Surveillance) 
Vitality: 6/6 
Strength: 2 
Skill: 2 
Smarts: 1 
Spirit: 1 
Proficiencies: Deception 2, Technology 2, Long-Range Weapons 2 
Credits: 10 
Equipment: Modular Dual-Mode Sniper Rifle (+1, Long-Range Energy Weapon / +1, Long-Range Kinetic Weapon) 
Inventory: Cloaking Generator, Hacking Chip 

 

[KotZ]

14 hours ago, Endgame said:

 

 Kleeck
35 cycle old, male Ornithun
Vitality: 5/5
Strength: 1
Skill: 2
Smarts: 2
Spirit: 1
Proficiencies: Persuasion 2, Culture 1, Short Range Weapons 1, Insight 2, Deception 1
Credits: 60
Equipment: Standard Plasma Blaster (+1, Short Range Energy Weapon), Translator Cube
Inventory:
 

If I may, can I please play as Kleeck? Definitely a different character from Kiray, and even in tests I want to try something different.