Plot Direction

The village building, exploration, and combat are all aspects of the game that I'm developing and concerned about getting right. But the plot will be the defining asset in the game's playability and re-playability. Our project recently acquired a new writer who has been pitching some great ideas that will be really fun to hash out. Because of him we're now ready to take on the onus of a branching plot structure where the player can embark on three different story lines.

The story so far has the player character escaping from his albeit video game cliche life of lab rat. When his escape fails and he finds himself trapped on the fragmenting crust of a dying world, suddenly a multi-planar organism reaches out and saves him from his demise. This ethereal being a "godlike" entity places him in the safe haven of the unconnected, unexplored forest world of Ellia, and charges him with creating a novel series of broad reaching events, with the express purpose of entertaining the bored hyper-powerful denizens of the spirit plane. The player explores Ellia and finds the village. While the villagers are first distrustful the player quickly proves his superior intelligence and leadership capabilities by streamlining the village structure and fighting off a small incursion of destructive and invasive alien beasts. In the large forbidding Manse or mansion on the outskirts of the village, a relic of a once powerful species of extra-world interlopers, the player finds the means to travel back and forth between the worlds. Here the player's path diverges, he can seek out and destroy the organization that experimented on him, he can try to reconnect with the history he lost when he became a lab rat, or he can set out on a path of universal domination to install himself in the opulent crux of omni-world supremacy. This last path will be more difficult and require substantial knowledge of the game mechanics and superior strategies. All the while completing the story behind each new world and directives from his supernatural benefactor.  The three paths are still in development and are likely to change, but for now they're the way we're going. Though the paths are mutually exclusive there is still room for player choice within each path.

Player story choice within each prime gameplay path takes place at each world where the player must decide how they want to complete the mini-story that is each campaign. These stories within each campaign will be decided by talk options and strategic options like where the player directs their army and when. The "normal" talk options will always be available but some talk options can only be selected by passing the right personalty checks. The main character's personalty is slowly decided by the minor decisions the player makes throughout the game. Unlocking some talk options will require that the player be acerbic, overly assertive, and generally douche baggy attitude while others will require a slightly more charismatic angle. The player can improve the main's character personalty over time but instead of starting at neutral he will start with sort of a bastard bent. I've always had the most fun playing over the top only in a video game obnoxious characters so I feel that's how the protagonist should start, sort of between chaotic neutral and chaotic evil. With the decisions the player makes in game he can become even more of a bastard or approach the slightly more tolerable range. I might throw in a little something for the people who love to play as the goody-two shoes but he'll probably stay pretty much a jerk. I hope this will prove to be a really memorable fun character to play as and hopefully our new writer can reign me in when I get too over the top.

Some more advanced aspirations

For the game I want to have a highly situational adaptive AI. I want it to be hard and if possible recognize and counteract obvious player strategies. Right now that's just a dream, but I think I'll start by having different enemy jobs behave based on their map. Behaving defensively, targeting weakened characters, forming a blockade around spell casters and leaders, that sort of thing.

I would also love to include more jobs in the game. I have a fair amount now that all fill different roles but it still seems sparse to me. Job evolution and branching is also a possibility.

Siege weapons and Zoal shields are something I'd like to include to help the player counteract especially fortified battle fields.

Finally animated "alive" battlefields are my ultimate stretch goal. I doubt I'll get there but it's good to dream.

Update

I released my GDD check it and other information down below. I am also recruiting so if you have any desire to help me and you have any skill from nuclear engineering to whistling I'm interested in your help and would love if you could drop me a line.
The project is coming along swimmingly I spent all day experimenting with FIFE's source code and trying my hand at python. We're coming along very nicely and I feel we will commence the real work shortly. See you all at the finish line.

Some basic combat mechanics

Turn based combat on a grid system is an indispensable part of the game so here are some mechanics and statistics that will shape how that aspect of the game is played. Every turn the player must control one character on the battlefield and use them to move or attack in a way that completes the map objective. Enemy characters also receive turns and will attempt to hamper the player. Winning will most often revolve around eliminating all enemy characters from the battle field. Characters have a body or health stat from one to eight. Attacks reduce this stat and when the the body stat reaches zero the character dies and loses a spirit point. Every turn the character stays dead an additional spirit point is lost. When all spirit points are lost the character is permanently removed from the game. The spirit points starts at seven and any reductions transfer to all future battles. So if the main character is injured and dies his spirit is reduced to six for the rest of the game. If he is dead for multiple turns his spirit can be reduced even lower, when it's reduced to zero that's a game over. Because a body stat higher than five is extremely rare it is likely your characters will die often without the aid of armor. Armor effectively adds extra points to the front end of a character's body stat. So if a character has two body points and three armor points an attack dealing five damage is necessary to kill them.
Damage from physical attacks is obtained by applying the simple equation of force*weapon sharpness. One hume mustering up their full might can usually create one to two units force. A strong well trained warrior can muster one to three. Weapon sharpness can be increased by upgrading the materials used to forge a weapon. Damage from Zoal attacks is force*technique+Tox. So a spiraling drill of liquid Zoal would not have the same force as a large pushing wave, but it would have greater technique and do more damage. Tox or toxicity is the amount of Zoal that can be channeled through the mind before damage and death is incurred by the raw psychic energy. Tox is increased every time the character uses Zoal, but a character can also expend extra Tox to make a technique bigger and more dangerous.
Turn order is decided by speed. Characters with higher speed take turns first and characters with extremely high speed can sometimes take double turns.
Knowledge is a somewhat useless stat until the player unlocks the spirit talker job. Then a higher knowledge allows a character to summon greater spirits.
These stats with the exception of armor also play a critical role on how good a character is at civilian jobs as well. But I'll go over that later.

Job system

I just now realized it should be "a" srpg not "an". Uggh idiot! Oh well. My internal grammar review is appalling as usual. If you see an error please correct me. It helps me learn. Nevertheless I must sally onwards!
For my game I have thought of implementing a universal job system not unlike Final Fantasy Tactics. My system, however, will include civilian jobs that are vital to the maintenance of the player town. These jobs will allow for the creation of new weapons, buildings, and produce food and housing necessary to maintain an armed force. These jobs can be fielded in the case of an emergency defense, but will generally be very weak in combat. I'll list some civilian and combat jobs I've decided on.

Civilian jobs: Farmer, Doctor, Builder, Smith, Shield, Performer, and Priest/Philosopher, and Teacher.

Combat jobs: Spearman, Yoroi, Swordsman, Spear thrower, Monster hunter/Scout, Praelia, Spirit talker, Zoalist, Entropist, Corrupted Spirit talker, and Combat Engineer.

Generic characters can be recruited from the village and change to any job. As characters kill enemies, build buildings, heal wounds, or conduct performances their experience grows and they gain job levels, which gives them new abilities, and provides job based augments to core stats. Non-generic characters cannot assume any job, but they have higher stats than generics. They also must be recruited in campaigns or missions, instead of from the village.
I want each job to fulfill a vital strategic role with as little overlap as possible. I hope to achieve this while still having fun, colorful, and maybe even OP jobs in the game. Wait and See.

Zoal. The stuff of my imagination

It's basically psychic gas. Let me explain. In an effort to divorce myself from traditional magic in video games which at best amounts to being able to shoot fire from your finger tips and at worst is a convenient plot device that solves everything. Now don't get me wrong I love all that stuff, I was just a bit tired of it.
Zoal on the other hand is a derivative of the Aether (the constantly bubbling physical and mental energies of the universe). It comes through the barrier that separates the worlds from the Aether. Because it contains a mental component the same as the Aether it can be manipulated using only mental energies.
For practical uses Zoal adopts the same properties as an ideal gas. It can be used as a gust to push and pull objects. It can be formed into a dense cloud that super heats the air. At high pressures it becomes a liquid and assumes properties of liquids. As a high pressure liquid it can even break stone and slice clean through metal. In combat or in day to day life people also use it to reinforce their bodies, where they transform their bodies and muscles into pneumatic systems capable of moving at faster speeds and moving extremely heavy objects. I haven't though of all the possibilities yet, but I hope you can consider it an interesting twist on the usual frost, fire, light, and dark spells prevalent throughout most magic orientated games. And if you can think of some extra cool uses please share them.

Planned Game play Mechanics

The game play will be a combination of city building and turn based isometric grid warfare. The player will be responsible for the functioning and profit of a variety of cities which will in turn fund and provide troops for the squad combat.

The population is an integral part of the game play. All the denizens of the city can be assigned a different job; each with a variety of functions. Farmers providing food, builders building new building, spearmen fighting as part of a squad, doctors tending to the wounded, teachers which allow the jobs to be assigned, and so on and so forth.

Battle can be one of two types: Defense where you must field a squad to protect one of your cities, and campaigns where you send a squad out to complete a quest, conquer new territory, expand city tiles, or explore new worlds.

These are the mechanics I hope to include. If you like them or can improve upon them please leave a comment.

Some of the characters as they currently stand

A list of some of my preliminary characters:

Number 48 (Protagonist): Scarred from being made into lab rat for clandestine experiments in his/her youth, he/she makes up for his/her physical and emotional failings with wit and bluster. After escaping the organization that held him/her he/she winds up on the small forested world of Ellia. Free from the cold clutches of him/her tormentors the protagonist must discover what awaits him/her out among the worlds and in life.

Kasha Radmin: A small skinny female hume. Muscle atrophy has left her bound to a wheel chair, but in areas of dense Zoal she can stand and even run. She is so adept at channeling Zoal energy through her limbs that she becomes a formidable combatant. She is a stalwart atheist denying both the presence of the gods that pervade the Aether and the existence of a supposed benevolent creator. Teaches the Praelia job.

Ossman: Brawny trellight (anthromorphic deer) who acts as the armed steward of the small Ellian village the Protagonist finds themselves in. He wields a spear and teaches the spear man and atl atl jobs. Is strong early on but his weakness at manipulating Zoal keeps him from obtaining higher levels of power.

Marcus: Prominent friendly villager. Shelters the Protagonist after they first arrive. Teaches the farmer job.

Atú: The prized servant of a Nealan noble. Born from a dead mother he was always a curiosity and subject of discrimination. This became especially pronounced when he developed incredible powers in the manipulation of Zoal. He now serves his master as bodyguard and curio.

Kolomon: Wise maarokian medicine man. He leads the troubled souls of his tribe on spiritual journeys to help resolve their trauma. He has become saddened by the increasingly war like tendencies of his people, and seeks to resolve all conflicts peacefully. Teaches the Spirit Talker job.

I have many more but I'll stop there for now. Next time I'll go over the mechanics.

Foundational universe information

For me the primary attraction of an RPG are the characters and their interpersonal interactions. Second, the world the characters inhabit. That's where I'll start:

The world I have endeavored to create is a neo high fantasy world that borrows heavily from my favorite aspects of philosophy and science fiction. But instead of science explaining the world we have a mystical physics of my own design.

The world or worlds are not unlike a giant solar system where each world has a set of both physical and spiritual coordinates set inside a constantly bubbling aether. The Aether is a wild dual planar energy source putting forth both physical energy and matter, and spiritual/mental energy. The physical coalesces to form the worlds and everything in them. The psychic energy forms thoughts, ideas, emotions, and also conscious minds. The minds formed amidst the aether must constantly fight to retain their existence and not be re-absorbed back into the Aether. Life in the physical realm is at first chaotic with the soul of each world hovering in the sky covering the worlds with blistering soul-light. As these new worlds age the barrier protecting the worlds from the Aether begin to decay. When this happens leakage called Zoal spreads throughout the worlds dimming the soul and creating respites in the endless day. Thousands of years pass until the barrier almost completely decays and caustic amounts of Zoal are released. The hours long nights turn into days and weeks, until the now dying world enters period of endless night. Eventually the barrier completely shatters and aether swarms through the cracks until it dissolves the world and all its inhabitants. Short as this cycle may be some civilized species have taken root and thrived. A few of these intrepid fledgling civilizations have managed to create long tunnels through the Aether that span into other worlds.  These links in the world have eventually led to a long chain of worlds called the Grand Series; where our story takes place.

Introductions

This is my inaugural post. I will try over time to explain what I have created and what I mean to create in the future. But first back story, and then a proposal.

My favorite genre of video game is the srpg (strategy role-playing game). I happily and irrevocably spent my childhood years on titles like: Final Fantasy tactics, Tactics Ogre, Disgaea, X com, Fallout, Heroes of Might and Magic III, Baldur's gate (which I consider tactical), Fire Emblem, La Pucelle, Soul Nomad, Wasteland, Front Mission 4, Wesnoth, and more recently Shadowrun Returns and The Banner Saga.

Now with the advent of widespread indie game development I have decided to make my own game. A game that I hope strays away from the typical cliches of the genre and opens up a new vibrant world of my own design. My primary vocational faculties, however, are that of a writer and I am only secondarily a programmer. I've decided to program in C++ and use the FIF engine. Progress may be slow going but I hope that with some help I can open up and present the story I desperately want to tell. Maybe some of you would like to come with me. More definitely to come.