So I now have permission to talk about something I'm working on for freelancing in detail, though I don't want to go into too much detail yet.
Basically, I'm adding new rules to Degenesis. The challenge here is figuring out how to do this without impeding the game's smooth core rules too much.
One thing that I'm working on is a more detailed wound system to allow more realism. There is a very easy path to iatrogenic changes here, because this is a system that has a few stress points:
- It occurs during high action scenes, so it needs to be quick.
- It can become incomprehensible and lead to reference issues, meaning that you need several pages of reference material at hand.
- It extends/replaces existing rules, so it has to be better than them and hit a new niche.
- It needs to play well within the rules so far, so it is integrated into the system.
One thing I learned from Hammercalled is that you can build with parts really easily, so all very common mechanics have been made into easily applied components. If you want an injury to carry blood loss and risk of infection, you can just drop that into place.
There is a small issue with this, namely the fact that the existing system is not made to support the input. Fortunately, as a tabletop RPG designer, I can rely on the "reasonable person" rule,having the players filter appropriate injury types. This would be simple enough to add back into the catalog of weapons, but would be a pain in the side to add to all the records, and is usually unnecessary.