Trying to get back on the horse

Unfortunately I have still not started running a game since moving to Baltimore.  This due to a number of factors (all the classics like time, stress, etc).  I had planned on running a Warhammer 3rd Edition game, especially after my friends were nice enough to replace my books and such when they were stolen from my car, but currently that system intimidates me.  So many bits and cards and chits.  If I were running the game for "the guys" back in Raleigh that would be one thing, but while some of "the guys" who moved up here would be playing the group would have at least a few folks I don't know as well (and may actually work with).  While I'm sure I could run some sort of game, it wouldn't necessarily be a good first impression game.  Aside from running a game with folks at work I've thought about running a game at the local comic/game store, Collector's Corner, but again, running a game for people I don't know that well.  So no Warhammer for now, and my work on the Warhammer Settlement builder system as stopped, though I'll probably finish it at some point.  Once I get more comfortable and such I want to run the game (to see how it plays and since it now holds a special place in my heart since it is a symbol of how much my friends care).

So in the mean time I've been working on my Soul of the Nation novel project, though it is slower going than I had hoped (but really what goes as fast as you want when writing?).  I have been tinkering with GodWar off and on in the mean time, but it's not really meeting my creative interests currently.  I really like the group character mechanic ala Song of Ice and Fire, Birthright, etc, and that sort of mechanic doesn't work so well for a ramshackle group of occultists, clock work robots, rogue angels, etc.  Also the resolution mechanic I've been focusing on relies on tarot cards, and buying a bunch of them to supply the group with is an expense I cannot currently float.  So I've been looking for a different game to tinker with on the side.  I had thought about working with the setting for Soul of the Nation into an RPG setting, but I think that would muddy the waters on the novel writing.  Plus there are already a lot of games that could do the setting pretty well.  The Dresden Files RPG would be my choice, though with lots of tinkering to put the focus more on normal people with items of arcane power.

So, looking at the bevy of game projects I've got at some level of completion or another, the one I think fits what I'm looking for the most is Last Knight of Camelot. For those who are not familiar, the core idea is a post apocalyptic retelling of the King Arthur mythology where giant robots armed with swords are the height of military power.  Excalibur is a genelocked super robot, but like all robots it ran out of ammunition long ago, so it relies on melee weapons.  Magic exists with a basis in gender identity (sort of a female Grail vs. male Excalibur parallel).  While I like a lot of the setting material, the rules are nothing to scream about.  They're very fifteen years ago and really not very good.

So chucking the rules and starting over.

The basic idea for the game is the players are all members of an organization like a noble house, military/mercenary unit, knightly order, etc.  The organization would have some amount of territory, troops, tech, wealth, etc.  The organization as a whole may have a giant robot, a tank, or other powerful weapon and it would be controlled by the group as a whole (so no one gets left out when the giant robot fights break out). The player characters would be leaders of the organization.  I really don't have much of a starting point for character stats; I was thinking of doing something based on chivalric virtues, but that may end up being too Pendragon.

I'll have more of a meat update once I actually get some text down on this.