Warhammer, WH40k or Underdark?

[corremn]

Guys,

I have been toying with the idea of doing a new roguelike (possibly my last) and I keep coming up with the following settings.

• Warhammer,
• WH40k,
• and Forgotten Realms Underdark based on Drizzt Underdark trilogy.

Essentially the game would feature a stock standard dungeon crawler and a couple of extra game modes depending on the setting, like an arena, tower defence or adventure mode (wander around the surface and do quests and stuff).

Basically what I would like from you guys is an indication of which setting would people like to play the most???

I am currently more in favour of WH40k because it is more original (in roguelikes) and you can have guns, alien technology, psychic abilities, mutations, chainsaws, flame-throwers and sorcery in one game. Which is cool. And Space marines are the perfect protagonist for a roguelike. If there is anyone who could walk into a room and kill 20 crazed cultists with their bare hands it is a member of the fabled Adeptus Astartes.

I really like the dark oppressive nature of the Warhammer universes, especially 40k where death, suffering and war is the norm.  If you have not read any of the Black Library novels  and you like dark fantasy, what the hell are you waiting for.  

R.A.A Salvatores Underdark is a more "darker" setting than the usual Forgotten Realms settings, where usually everyone just loves to hold hands and sing as they slay orcs and goblins or the many novels about elven high society politics! Blah!  Give me death, misery, suffering and futility anyway. Hell that the key to good roguelikes anyday

I will release something for the ARRP and hopefully down the track I will be asking for collaboration.  

[getter77]

Given the legality issues with almost all of those choices in some shape of form, I say an Underdark'ish jaunt that hews close to the D20 OGL rules so it doesn't get shut down...

But if I may be so bold....you could be the first to do something direct with Pathfinder's OGL as the skeleton...given that there's no legal way to go anything with 4th ed...

http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/

[corremn]

Too be honest I dont really care about legal issues, if I do get cracked down, which I highly doubt it, all I have to do is change a few names and voila, a Roguelike "inspired" by warhammer/Forgotten Realms.   And I am going to use my own rules. I am not going to use d&d mechanics.  Just the settings/races and item flavours.

[NON]

A consistent Underdark setting would be very nice

[corremn]

Yeah, I thought that would be popular and I find it strange that only one failed attempt has been done before.

However Mr Rogue Wombat, Ryan Szrama, has been putting some thought into it but has not done anything about it for quite some time. http://roguewombat.wordpress.com/

If I were to do a Underdark game I might try and find someone to do a lot of the content design for me...

[Jolly Roger]

Waha40r looks really cool,
but I have two, hmm, notes against it.
1. Workshop are known to be really paranoid copyrighters. I am no sure about roguelike, but it is possible.
2. The most important part of waha40r is EPIC PATHOS BRUTALITY. Srsly, how it can be implemented to roguelike?

[Psiweapon]

Waha40r looks really cool,
but I have two, hmm, notes against it.
1. Workshop are known to be really paranoid copyrighters. I am no sure about roguelike, but it is possible.
2. The most important part of waha40r is EPIC PATHOS BRUTALITY. Srsly, how it can be implemented to roguelike?

I'd go for 40k too. But I agree with the first point: Those guys would have no qualms over teleporting a squad of veteran CC terminators into your house as you sleep to rip you, your sister, her little lamb and your bystanding neighbors to shreds with their lightning claws, all the while they yell BURN THIS FALSE HERETIC CULT TO THE GROUND!!!

As for Jolly Roger's second point, in order to implement that... well, first I'd go for overly elaborate message lines, expressed in subjective terms. Example:

The filthy mutant dares to rise his hand against the ranks of the Imperium of Man!
He seals his fate as he pulls the trigger!
The bullet ricochets off your MkVIII Errant's right shoulderpad, and your faith.
Death is the only suitable answer for this insult!

Translation: Some random mutant psyker/cultists aims, shoots at you but fails.

Write everything in epic subjective terms, throwing insults here and there. Add "imperium morale sentences" after every action. Describe player and friendlies actions in overly bombastic terms, while downplaying / insulting hostiles' actions.

Also, make blood and dismemberment a huge point of the game. You don't hit a nob for 36 damage, you Shove the eviscerator inside the barbarous alien's abdomen, blood and innards spraying everywhere.

If the character is going to return his geneseed to the chapter, be over-dramatic and last-standish about it.

[corremn]

 I highly doubt it that I roguelike would stir their wrath but if GW burst though my door it would mean I was doing something right!  We will see

Yeah, the feel of 40k is going to be tough. The combat I can do - gore, arms/heads/tentacles going flying etc. I was thinking about adding may different "fatalities" that can happen, so when the something dies it gets an explanation of what happened as well as a graphical effect. E.g corpse splattering to a million pieces or been flung across the room sliding down the wall.

Obviously I can add quotes when the player sees an enemy after not encountering one for a while or when he clears a room/area.  "Die heretic scum", "Prepare to be judged" etc
But for normal play I have to be more verbose, or the player will get lost in a deluge of righteous sermons and blasphemous screaming.

[Kyzrati]

You mean less verbose? And what's all this talk about 40k RL as a certainty when the current state of the poll (3:2 for underdark) clearly says you must do Underdark to please the majority? 

[Psiweapon]

Oh, c'mon, WH40k is awesome, who cares about the poll? 

[jim]

Corremn, I'm one of your biggest lurker fans, and I know that wherever you take your game, it's going to be a blast.

Underdark is sort of inbred in terms of fanbase, but really is quite striking.

WH40k is cool, but the sheer brutality of the setting is usually overshadowed by giant warships and min-maxing.

I guess if there's something I want to see from you, it's a game that makes the player feel something beyond stats, weapons, armor, shinies, and even graphical effects. The subtext of your games is what I enjoy the most. You have a wonderful grasp of the culture and themes of your chosen settings.

[Psiweapon]

You mean less verbose? And what's all this talk about 40k RL as a certainty when the current state of the poll (3:2 for underdark) clearly says you must do Underdark to please the majority? 

I think he means he'd have to give the non-combat messages an equal amount of detail, or they would pale in comparison.

I think the same criterion would apply, the scenery itself should be "in character":

It's not a webway gate, it's an asymmetric contraption of xenotechnology, bleeding off immaterium energies, it's very principles contradicting the decrees of the Omnissiah.

It's not a mere servitor, it's a formerly misguided individual, rehabilitated by the Techpriests of Mars so he may know the glory of faithful servitude.

I know all these samples are waaaaaay cheap but you get the idea. All in all, imperial talk is all about euphemism inside a twisted, sadistic and unquestioning frame of political correctness, a kind of bloody, riveted newspeak  All this, assuming the game would be 40k AND from an imperial perspective, both of which it might just as well not be. I myself am partial to xenos scum, I must confess

Also, it's a tie now 

[Kyzrati]

Then does that mean we'll get to play both? 

[corremn]

Jim,
thanks for you kind words, really pepped up my morning , I guess the feeling I attempt to put into my games are usually based on my own experience with the sub-context of the genre I am drawing from.

40k would be a hard one, it certainly has its own feeling already, which I would draw from the books rather than the game. I find my logic\analysis part of my brain takes over with some tabletop games where winning is important. Drawing from the background material and books I can let my imagination take over.  Not sure if I could win over die hard fans though and people that understand it more than me. People have their own views about just what 40k is.  I love the fact that, to me, the Imperium draws so heavily from our past and human beliefs and twists them in a way that makes them appear on the surface so right and just. 

Obviously from my first post I was leaning towards wh40k but I just wanted to know what other people thought.

As for Underdark it definitely deserves to be made, its the perfect setting, it would be somewhat simpler...

It's not a webway gate, it's an asymmetric contraption of xenotechnology, bleeding off immaterium energies, it's very principles contradicting the decrees of the Omnissiah.

It's not a mere servitor, it's a formerly misguided individual, rehabilitated by the Techpriests of Mars so he may know the glory of faithful servitude.

I know all these samples are waaaaaay cheap but you get the idea.

Did you make these up or did you get them from somewhere?  Because they are good.

[Psiweapon]

Wow, thanks. I'm making them up on the spot 

Jim,
thanks for you kind words, really pepped up my morning , I guess the feeling I attempt to put into my games are usually based on my own experience with the sub-context of the genre I am drawing from.

40k would be a hard one, it certainly has its own feeling already, which I would draw from the books rather than the game. I find my logic\analysis part of my brain takes over with some tabletop games where winning is important. Drawing from the background material and books I can let my imagination take over.  Not sure if I could win over die hard fans though and people that understand it more than me. People have their own views about just what 40k is.  I love the fact that, to me, the Imperium draws so heavily from our past and human beliefs and twists them in a way that makes them appear on the surface so right and just. 

Obviously from my first post I was leaning towards wh40k but I just wanted to know what other people thought.

[...]

Did you make these up or did you get them from somewhere?  Because they are good.

Thanks, I'm making them up on the spot.

I've actually played 40k very few times, I'm more of a fluff & minis guy.

Choosing a chapter at the start of the game would be awesome, that way we could play with @, @, @, @, @, @, etc... 

Just for the record. I already said I'm partial to xenos scum, but if we're talking marines, it's Salamanders what I dig. Fiery weapons, noble temperament, and no second founding succesor chapters!

And a little extra just in case...