Op-En - A New Skirmish Game by Prim

[Primarch]

Hello all, and welcome to this new subforum of NagoyaHammer.

For a while now, I have had some ideas knocking around for a new skirmish game, or more accurately games (we'll get to that in a moment). So, this summer, rather than painting, I have been busy typing away at my keyboard. After several drafts, edits and a couple of proofreads by the exceptionally helpful Underdweller and Kojibear, I finally have something to present to the world. Now, this is a long way from being complete by any means, but it is enough to start playtesting with. I still need to add diagrams, fluff and some artistic decorations. Plus I am sure there are probably a load of balance changes, grammatical fixes and other tasks to do. Ultimately though, my end goal is to create a working set of games (there it is again...) and self-publish them online, probably with DrivethruRPG or similar. To do that, I require some people to actually try playing the game and give some feedback on it.

So, what is Op-En? Well, it is short for Oppose-Engage, which is the starting point for the rules. A lot of the game will involve making opposed tests against your opponent. None of this 'I can walk away from the table for an hour while you play out your turn', nonsense. I want players to feel engaged by the system. It is designed as a skirmish game with maybe 10 or so figures on each side. Rather than dictate what you can use or what your models do, I have opted for a VERY open-ended design system. You can custom build your own force based on a set of themes. Each model can be a unique character in the game. As of this version, there are over 170 options to pick from, though most of those aren't available to the rank and file of your force. You won't find a human army, a dwarf army and a goblin army. You will instead have the options to build them if you want to, or even go for something else entirely. You can even have a force that is made up of humans, dwarves, and goblins if you like.

I mentioned games, plural above, so I guess I should address that. As someone who loves playing games, I have picked up a LOT of rule sets over the years, and aside from GW's earlier efforts to make EVERYTHING work with the same system (no matter if it is a Titan in a 5000 point Apocalypse game or a Skaven-slave in Mordheim), the one thing I have found is that I had to learn a new system every time I wanted to try out a different genre. So, as well as making a game that would keep people engaged in playing, I also wanted to make a system that could cope with multiple different genres. Now, this doesn't mean that I wrote it so that your Titan can fight a Skaven-slave. Those two things are very different and shouldn't really overlap. Instead, I wrote a core set of rules that covered the basics like moving, taking actions, and resolving dice rolls. On top of that there will be various setting documents. Each will include themes and special rules specifically for that setting, abilities and weaponry that fit the genre, missions that make sense within the narrative and so forth. So players will be able to hop between their favourite genres and know the majority of the rules without having to learn a whole new game system every time.

So feel free to download the files below, give them a read and try a few games if you want. I would appreciate any and all feedback, be it about my dreadful butchering of the English language, or my complete inability to write rules that make for a fun game. Below you will find the Core rules as they currently stand, the first Setting book and a blank roster to build your force with. The first Setting is called Honour and Glory and is based around the theme of High Fantasy, think D&D, Tolkien, MtG and Willow and you'll be in the right area.

Thanks for your support!
Prim.

Op-En Core 231025.pdf

(217.93 KiB) Downloaded 44 times

Honour and Glory Setting 231104.pdf

(468.46 KiB) Downloaded 56 times

Blank Roster 231101.pdf

(53.86 KiB) Downloaded 35 times

[jus]

Wow this sounds fun. And it looks like you've put a lot of effort into writing it. I'm going to need some time to sit down and read it. But looking forward to giving it a try. I have about of fantasy minis that need to be used for something other than just looking good

[Primarch]

One thing I noticed that might seem confusing. If you look at the example forces in the Setting book, the warriors and peasants are all the same. They don't have to be, you can customise every character. I just needed to keep the examples simple.

Wow this sounds fun. And it looks like you've put a lot of effort into writing it. I'm going to need some time to sit down and read it. But looking forward to giving it a try. I have about of fantasy minis that need to be used for something other than just looking good

You've certainly got enough to play with, and if not you can just print more.

[Jye Nicolson]

Awesome! My hat's off to you for getting so much work done, and especially resisting the temptation to post it publically before it was so well developed.

Sorry to start with a really nitpicky stupid question but: you deal with cocked dice in the same paragraph as rerolls, with the RAW implication that a die rerolled because it was cocked cannot be rerolled due to an ability - is that intended?

[Primarch]

Awesome! My hat's off to you for getting so much work done, and especially resisting the temptation to post it publically before it was so well developed.

Sorry to start with a really nitpicky stupid question but: you deal with cocked dice in the same paragraph as rerolls, with the RAW implication that a die rerolled because it was cocked cannot be rerolled due to an ability - is that intended?

Nitpicky is good. One of the problems I have had is that to me, all of the rules make sense, but that doesn't mean someone else won't read them in a totally different way.

No, the reroll of a cocked die shouldn't stop you from rerolling due to an ability.

[Jye Nicolson]

Not sure I understand the purpose of the morale test - if you can concede at any time, and the morale rule only comes up if it's impossible to win, wouldn't the loser not conceding indicate they want to play it out in spite of the result? Seems like there's no need for the rules to tell them otherwise.

Is this intended to hook into other rules (eg campaign play?). If not it might be a rare instance where I'd prefer to leave it entirely to the social contract without the game offering an opinion (beyond the opinion it's expressing with the scoreboard)

[Primarch]

@Jye - I see your point.
It was intended to tie in with campaigns, (conceding by choice limits the experience your characters get), but there are other ways to do that without reducing player agency.
I'll add it to the 'to do' list.

[Jye Nicolson]

Incidentally my basic reaction is positive - always like an alternating activations two-action game. While obviously a bit different to a GW game it's not entirely dissimilar to Warcry and Kill Team and sits between them in complexity.

Normally dice sizes as trait values isn't my cup of tea (for no real reason), but they make a lot of sense in combination with the rule of one.

What I don't really get yet is the value of the stats and what the build strategy is. Probably hard to do that without playing but I'm not clear on what decisions I'd want to make in character creation. Might be worth making even more example teams catering to different playstyles so players have the option of adjusting one that appeals to them.

[Primarch]

Incidentally my basic reaction is positive - always like an alternating activations two-action game. While obviously a bit different to a GW game it's not entirely dissimilar to Warcry and Kill Team and sits between them in complexity.

Normally dice sizes as trait values isn't my cup of tea (for no real reason), but they make a lot of sense in combination with the rule of one.

What I don't really get yet is the value of the stats and what the build strategy is. Probably hard to do that without playing but I'm not clear on what decisions I'd want to make in character creation. Might be worth making even more example teams catering to different playstyles so players have the option of adjusting one that appeals to them.

I'm glad to hear that your first reaction was positive.

More examples (and more scenarios) will be in the first update when I get everything finished up. I'm hoping that the different allegiances/forces will play somewhat differently, while still leaving the door open for the everyone to be able to build roughly what they would like.

[Primarch]

For those of you who have given the rules a read-through, what did you feel was missing, unclear or otherwise in need of some work? Nit-picking minor points now will genuinely help me. I've had a bit of feedback already (both in this thread and through email) that I am adding to the next iteration, but more feedback is good.

I am aware that there are some common Fantasy elements missing from the Honour and Glory book as it stands. Primarily Undead, dual-wielding weapons, mounted characters and a few other things beside. For brevity, I couldn't include everything that I wanted to in the core book. I would be typing away for months before I had enough for playing an actual game with. My rough outline of a roadmap is:

1. Start play-testing.
2. Get the full Honour and Glory book ready including all the scenarios and campaign ideas. Add in any modifications from play-testing.
3. Try out some of the campaign rules.
4. Add any edits from the continued testing.
5. Get all of the layout stuff done for the Core and H&G books.
6. Start work on the second Setting book.
7. Start work on an expansion for H&G.
8. See how things are going.

#edit# Going forward, any updated pdfs will be posted in the first post of this thread.