Closed Original Fantasy

Fantasy is probably the most popular RPG genre. Just take a peek here on the Fix where there's double that of any other type. All of which makes me a touch hesitant to push forward with this idea. But it’s been nagging at me for an age now and I've not spotted anything quite like it out there at the moment. So, I'm going to float it here first and see what you guys think and hopefully nab some advice. Plus, I honestly think it could be a great deal of fun. But the question remains; would anyone else?

Note: Apologies in advance for the length of this explanation. I was trying to answer some questions that might come up in advance.


THE SETTING
This is going to be homebrewed fantasy. The whole game will take place in a single city. The city is controlled by seven Houses (think of each House as halfway between a clan and a mega-corporation) and these will make up the user groups. The overall feel will be one of a once powerful city-state fallen into decline. A very rough and ready overview:

Technology will be moderately advanced (anachronistic styled so a touch sci-fi meets steampunk) but predominantly in the hands of the upper echelons of society and understood by only a few.

Magic will be rare and widely mistrusted. It will be highly addictive and its use will leave a mage physically damaged by the strain of controlling such power. Use too much and it will cripple or kill. But almost anything might be achieved with it.

The Government consists of a council made up by the head of each House. They vote on all matters concerning the running of the city. At the outset of the game these will all be NPC but as the players rise through the ranks they will be able to take on the mantle of their chosen House and rule.

Religion will be a form of ancestor worship which will feed into the importance of the ruling families within the Houses.

Playable characters will be limited to humans which are the only species. Within humanity there will be a couple of groups which haven't yet been fully named. First, the nobility who are the high ranking members of the Houses (monthly genetic manipulation to improve health, senses, reflexes and agility). Second, the plebeian masses that make up the bulk of the population (normal humans). Lastly, the mages which are rare and are shunned by most (capable of incredible feats of magic but physically weakened/deformed by using it. They suffer short lives.)


THE PLOT
The head of one of the Houses has fallen ill without an heir apparent. There are three candidates for the role vying for the position, whilst each of the other Houses attempts to influence the outcome in their favour as well. If their favourite candidate wins out then they will be in their debt and more likely to side with them in council votes. Thus the game will open during a time of political turmoil. Bring on the blackmail, assassinations and civil unrest.

Although there is an overarching plot the outcome of it will be entirely down to the players. The heirs will be adoptable canons and the players will get to fight it out amongst themselves as to who wins. Which will be the driving force behind the first ‘chapter’ of the game.


THE MECHANICS
Now for the nitty gritty. I loathe word counts, posting requirements and activity checks so I'm writing those off from the start. None of that.

Time - I will be using timestamps on threads and semi-restricting when people can post. One IC month will be two OOC months. So, after a two month RL period, the IC month will move forward one. All new threads will have to be set in that new month. But people will be free to wrap up any outstanding open threads at their leisure and there will be a historical events forum as well.

Reputation - I'm still working on the logistics of this (any advice would be welcome!) but I would like to implement the JCINK reputation system. The idea is that at the end of every thread the characters involved can submit it to be awarded reputation points. Positive points for any good actions/introductions/influences within the thread. Negative for the opposite scenarios. Thus, a character's choices will glean them an actual reputation within the game (similar to that within the Fable series). This, in turn, will affect how NPCs treat them and their position within their House.

Possibly, each character involved in a thread will be able to award up to 3 points to the other characters involved in that thread. For instance character A knocks over character B by accident. (B gives 1 negative point). But then helps character B up, apologises profusely before offering to buy them a drink to make up for it (B awards 2 positive points). B accepts (A awards 1 positive point) and they go on their first date.

Money - I'd like to make use of the store and banking system. It'll be a first for me, but I think it can be done. The premise is that the higher placed a character becomes within a House, the greater their monthly salary will be. A substantial incentive to climb the social ladder. Because although a wage will be given to all characters at the start of each month, they will have to buy everything they need to survive from the store throughout the month. Food, clothes, luxuries, etc. Run out of money and the character will go hungry. Go hungry for too long, and they'll die. A real incentive to develop connections and progress the plot.

They may earn extra cash through trade or by selling their skills. But if they get hired by another character to do something then that character will then need to pay them out of their monthly income. Or theft if they want to try their luck and gamble on the outcome (or agree one with another player).


IN CLOSING
Although the game will make use of some devices to encourage players to keep pushing forward, it's the stories they'll tell to do it that I'm most interested in. Moderation (outside the shop and reputation) will be relatively light and limited to creating random incidents for people that opt-in I'm hoping to create a game with political intrigue both internally for each House and against each other. I have several ideas for future plots once the first chapter resolves itself, but the outcome will always be dictated by the players and everyone will be free to introduce their own grand schemes.

Now that I've spewed all this at you is anyone interested? Does it sound like something people would actually play? I'm seriously open to any and all suggestions you might have on how to make it work, so please don't be shy!