Three Dollar Quill

In this post:

• I figure out some elements of my current influences that I do not want to use.
• I try to nail down the structure of play a little more.

I decided to start studying potential influences by looking at Kagegami High. I've got way more to look into, but I did realize a few things that I want out of Demiurgent Business:

• The race/class stuff shouldn't encode ideas of "progression", and instead just all be accessible to the player to start with. At the same time, it should be less impressive than in Legend, D&D, etc.
• The focus of "advancement" should be on the characters' interpersonal relationships. I don't have a good picture of what that looks like, but the idea is that when characters are good friends, that translates into broadly applicable abilities to get things done. (Said abilities do not manifest as 'friendship lasers' or something.)
• I could use tables like Kagegami High does, but in a more restricted fashion, centering around the Demiurge's plans and outside complications, rather than overall setting details.

One thing that I've been kind of considering is how the situation reaches its "steady state". I wonder if it'd be feasible to intermingle character creation with "founding the club". Like "Okay, you've just been recruited. Quick, what's your deal?" (Ideally with better questions than "what's your deal", like "what club activities are you leaving undone as a result of this" or something.)

Further general refinements:

• Assume that all player characters are in the Demiurge's club now, and that significant events rarely happen in class. The game is probably a mix of "club activities" and "downtime".
• The advancement system should be based on "bonds", which need brief sentences added to qualify for advancement.
• The player characters should never have quite enough in the way of resources to pull everything off flawlessly. Someone is inevitably going to have to sacrifice some dignity.

... Inevitable outcomes. I think I know which game to check out next.

Next week, Chivalric Tragedy at the Utmost North, probably.