For various reasons, I have recently been doing research into 4X Game Design (I’m a Videogame Designer, so that’s not as meaningful as it might seem), which led me to muse about the general concept of a 4X Roleplaying game.
(For those who might not know, 4X stands for eXplore, eXpand, eXploit and eXterminate and is shorthand for games such as Civilisation & Master of Orion)
There are a few games* that I think did a reasonable job of capturing a four-exiness, and the more I think about it the more it feels like Blades in the Dark has all the bones of an interesting kingdom building game.
Has anyone given any thought to creating an empire-building game out of Blades? I’m almost certain someone has but I can’t seem to find any trace of it. I suspect RoosterEma’s Crimson Blossoms will scratch that itch (and my enduring yearning for Rokugan)? Any others out there?
Does anyone know of any good references?
* I’m thinking mainly of Birthright, Reign and Houses of the Blooded but I seem to remember Infernum and Exalted had some interesting ideas… if anyone else stumbled across Infernum one rainy afternoon
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Hi! Crimson Blossoms is going into a very different direction from when I first presented it. It is now a game about pilgrimage and discovery in a horrific medieval land inspired by Japan. I am quite sure that Blades can translate very well into a Game of Thrones-like game of conquest, expansion, intrigue and resource management.
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“Get your ass to Wrath of the Autarch” – Chuck Norris, star of Total Recall: Kindergarten Cop
Adam Schwaninger’s Glow in the Dark has some 4X influence.
RoosterEma, I got that general feeling from your last update but I wasn’t sure.
It’s a shame because I was curious as to how you would do it, but I’m just as excited about pilgrimage and discovery in horrific medieval not-Japan 😀
Jason Corley I heard about Wrath of the Autarch and I’m planning on grabbing a copy to study. Have you already played with it? What were your thoughts?
I was toying with something that might focus on emphasizing The Quiet Year‘s influence in Blades in the Dark,.. try to keep within the general theme of Blades’ mechanics.
It’s very good and uses the Fate Deck to an extent I had not previously envisioned. It is the 4X experience more than the Fate experience!
Jason Corley that’s awesome to hear!
I find I’m increasingly luke-warm about FATE as a system.
Part of what appeals to me about Blades is the elegant restraint of its mechanics.
Jason Corley alright, bought (or sold, depending on your perspective, I suppose). I’ll look through it this evening.
Thanks for the recommendation!
Possibly Adventurer Conqueror King?
http://www.autarch.co
I sure have [given it thought]. I played Reign and HotB. I also read a bunch of Exalted which I think is an interesting touchstone I wouldn’t think of – even if I didn’t ever get to play it, I thought it was small-scale vs big scale
While Blades is good for it, fwiw I think there is still a fair amount of work to be done:
– Empire playbooks.
– Grander scales.
– Downtime passing far more time (maybe seasons, not days).
– Civilians and their problems?
And so on..
I think it will be fun to develop. I am tackling a few at a time in several hacks to parse out the development a bit. I will end up doing something along these lines, but mine will look more like some tabletop war strategy/RPG fusion.
Maybe check out Legacy: Life Among Ruins.
It just finished a Kickstarter for a second edition and one of the many settings that were unlocked was fantasy themed.
Omari Brooks I’ll look into it, thanks!
Mark Cleveland Massengale Exalted and WFRP both provided me with a lot of unexpected 4Xish fun.
I agree, I think the general philosophy of Blades should scale well to 4X but there are important missing elements.
Among other things, I’d like to find a good balance of Resource Management and abstracted mechanics… I quite liked the FIDSI system of the Endless games.
whoa, is ^ that spam? must banish it with fire! (reported)
Renaud van Strydonck I like that model too, but after Blades I am sure there is a better way to model FIDSI that isn’t so banker-y.
Like.. I nfluence is basically Rep and Status, and FIDS is just things you acquire or finish projects to generate. What would be a cool area to explore.. is what these things might get you, and how each resource could be differentiated or interchanged depending on the situation
Will think on this when I get my weekend..
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