I've been working on this germ of a game idea for about a week. I thought I would try and collect some opinions from you folks before moving any farther.

I feel that this game would sort of be a hybrid between Dwarf Fortress, the Crusader Kings series, and traditional free-form RPGs.

I am strongly inspired by Dwarf Fortress for its focus on base-building, fortress management and its capacity to simulate an organic world economy. I also draw inspiration from Crusader Kings for its mechanics based around politics and dynastic rule. I know it's not feasible to expect mechanics-heavy systems to do well in a play-by-post environment -- but if only a taste of these games could be achieved in this medium, I think it would be very rewarding for everyone involved.

Here is a blurb I am using for the Game Introduction:

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You were born into a highborn Dwarven family. From a very young age, you were educated to be a great leader. Today, you are well-versed in one or more of the Four Noble Arts of Power: Combat, Craft, Commerce, and Creed.

For reasons only you may know, the time has come for you to leave your old home and forge a new life. In an old and dusty mountain hall, you have gathered with others of similar station and circumstance. Together, you will embark on a great quest to found and settle a new fortress for the glory of the King-Under-Mountain -- and all of Dwarfkind.

Taz Khazem!

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I think I see what you're going for, but I'm going to caution you about something. I'm not terribly familiar with Crusader Kings or Dwarf Fortress, but from what I understand, they're very different tone. Crusader Kings is about a high level of politics, where are the standard unit of time is something like a year. Dwarf Fortress is very detailed, where the day-to-day machinations of the people are important. What I'm suggesting is that you should either focus on the detailed running of your Society gradually increasing in scope, or family lines and international relations, but having them both together creates a game with a somewhat inconsistent tone.

I'll echo Lord Ice here.

Love the premise, I think it had a ton of promise.

But distinction between late game politics and early game survival is a good one.

Very interesting point! I will keep that in mind as I further shape this project into a playable game.

I guess the style of gameplay that works best with play-by-post is just collaborative freeform storytelling -- but the setting could be a Dwarf Fortress world. Or something similar to it. And the player characters could be greater or lesser nobles, like in Crusader Kings (where the lowest ranked character is still a well-to-do courtier.)

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply. It is very appreciated!

Best of luck!

It might be worth looking into a few systems. I would imagine that the "losing is fun" crowd might not always mesh with the "anything goes" atmosphere of some Freeform games.

Pathfinder has a simple and easy to adapt Kingdom Building system, that might provide a balance between early colonial survival and later political struggles.

If you get into big wars the basic D&D companion set had a really simple battle system.  It was like 2 d20 rolls for a whole battle.  I feel it's fairly adaptable also.

Games like Sword Chronicle, Ironsworn, and The Sword, The Crown, And The Unspeakable Power might suit what you have in mind.

Thanks! You guys are quite helpful.

Wouldn't this just be Pendragon with a dwarf skin layered on top?

I brought "Sword, crown, and unspeakable power" but haven't had a chance to play it yet. I tried to set up a game set in Westeros, but it kind of lost steam pretty quickly. Still, I feel like the game system has legs for a brutal, Cutthroat game. That might not be what you're looking for though. It's all about Intrigue and politics and violence. It definitely allows you to create any campaign world that you and your players want to, collectively.
This message was last edited by the user at 17:03, Thu 28 Jan 2021.

I'd be interested.

This message was deleted by a moderator, as it was against the forum rules, at 19:26, Thu 11 Feb 2021.