We wanted to think of a project together that included all our interests. Bayley wanted to 3D model environments, Newt likes to create art/characters and I wanted to get a bit better at 3D modelling and I like thinking of mechanics. I thought it would be a good idea to have a game that wasn't a video game so we had more options, plus although I want to get better at coding, with COVID and my own ongoing mental health problems, I'm not sure I'm up to anything too intensive. I play some board games as well so I also threw that out there. I think it was Bayley who suggested creating a 3D title set for a tabletop game.
The initial idea was the create titles that players could use not only for a basic campaign that we came up with but also their own homebrew campaigns. The tiles could have ramps and stairs to create an interesting topology. The problem with that approach was that we'd essentially be creating a D&D knockoff and there didn't seem to be anything original and interesting about the game other than the tiles.
3D representation of the board game by Bayley
Together we tried to come up with more gameplay. We introduced the idea of using cards to place down titles, creating a randomly generated map. Each tile would have a Unique Event Card. The front of the card has a fixed event for when you first land on the tile. The back of the card would have random events for if players want to return to the tile. Players would roll a dice to see which random event occurs. We wanted there to be the option of roleplay, so players would have to discuss with the direction they wanted to take. To build on the roleplay, we liked the idea that after a session players could get buffs and bonuses for their character to created longer campaigns. Players would win the game by defeating the boss tile.
I took some inspiration from Castle which has a series of randomly drawn encounter cards. I like the randomness of the game as each time you play is new and exciting. We could do something similar where you draw a certain number of tiles and then a random boss tile, or it could be completely random. I also like the idea of being able to not fight the boss until you're ready, continuing to explore the map and levelling up/gaining items.
I think this idea is a good middle-ground for everyone to work on. It's something a little different from what we set out to originally create, but I think we would all enjoy working on it.