Disclaimer: All artwork belongs to their respective owners. Art used is purely for education purposes.
Overview
During my first year summer trimester, I took up the module "System Design". The goal of the module was to create an engaging combat system.
My team decided on making the theme of our project giant monsters and super sentai. The idea was that an academy would teach the students how to pilot Zords and fight agianst the Kaiju Threat.
My group spent over 3 months creating the rulebook, unit catalog and dungeon master book. While, balancing the game.
Genre: Tabletop, Roleplaying, Sci-fi, Adventure
Game Engine: -
Platform: Tabletop
Project Duration: 12 Weeks
About The Game
Squadron X takes place in an alternate reality, where gigantic lifeforms known as Kaijus have emerged from their slumber and begun their attack on humanity. The development of mobile mechanized weapons known as Zords took the world by storm as it proved to be the only possible solution against the Kaiju threat.
The Nova Academy, a school specialized in training potential Zord pilots was built. Players are newly enrolled students in the Nova Academy, eager to defend humanity from the monstrous threats.
Will the students learn to mature and work together as a team first, or will the Kaijus complete their mission in annihilating all of humanity?
Take your Stand!
Create your character and choose your Zord!
Take the aptitude test to find out what personality you are. Are to the Jock muscle of the team? Perhaps you are the Superstar radiating confidence. Maybe you are the scholar where the mind triumphs all. You might even be the average joe filled with untapped potential.
Only the strong can survive in this world, take your lessons at the Academy seriously and make the right decision during missions.
Next players are to choose their partner Zord. Each type of Zord serves a unique purpose on the battlefield. The headstrong heavy-type Zord that charges straight into danger. The dexterous sky-type Zord that excels in sky speed combat. Finally the humanoid-type Zord, a perfect balance between the heavy-type and the sky-type Zord, boosting considerable mobility and offensive capability.
A Blight from the Abyss
In the campaign for Squadron X, there are a total of 5 chapters. There will be moments during the campaign where players have to make a decision. These decision will affect the combat phase.
After years of battles with the Kaiju. Humanity is blindsided by the sudden appearance of subterranean beings known as the Argathians. These Argathians have mastered the technology to control the rampaging Kaijus.
You have recently enrolled into the Nova Academy, together with your classmates you aim to rid humanity of the Kaiju threat!
Allies and foes
View the campaign
Click here to download the campaign
Click here to download the rulebook
Click here to download the unit catalogue
Click here to download the campaign
The process
In Squadron X, I was in charge of creating the campaign as well as developing the Game Master's section for the project. I've also helped out in the creation of enemy and NPC units that players will encounter in the campaign.
Research
Since young, I have been an avid fan of Tokusatsu shows. Being extremely familiar the formulae used in these shows, made it extremely easy to produce a rough draft of Squadron X's campaign. In order to strengthen Squadron X's campaign and combat, I looked at other Tokusatsu-inspired TTRPG.
These projects provided a fresh take on the Character Creation and combat. Projects such as Henshin Colors; whose system followed the character archetypes used in the Power Rangers series. The personality and quirks of each ranger are clearly stated for players to follow if they wish to, promoting a stronger role-playing experience.
Picking the Actors
After creating a draft of the story, I listed out the NPCs that the party will encounter. Having the NPCs planned out will assist me in creating memorable and exciting quests and situations for the party to find themselves stuck in.
The most important NPCs in the "Blight from the Abyss" campaign were the 2 Argathian Invaders, Bagi and Vividy.
Bagi embodies the radical and extremist faction of the Argathian. As the herald, Bagi proudly introduces the Agarthian Empire to humanity by summoning Gulatross at the excavation site. Bagi views humanity as a virus gone rampant while the Argarthian Empire hibernated deep beneath the earth. He vows to cleanse the surface of the Earth to prepare for his nation's glorious rebirth.
On the other hand, Vividy believes that he is an agent of chaos that all lifeforms should embrace the randomness of life and shouldn't be held back by society or logic. Disregarding his affiliation to his nation, the only driving force behind his action is to cause as much chaos as possible.
Being the shadow archetype, the players' goals of preserving safety and order in the world contradict with Vividy's personal belief. He views the members of Squadron X as a hindrance in creating his perfect world of chaos and freedom. Vividy's sinister side is shown when he betrays his superior Bagi the moment their goals divert.
Integrating Narrative and Design
To further enhance the project's combat system, I suggested to my team that we create a campaign that would tie in with the game's combat. Following shows such as Showa era Ultraman, the investigation phase was created.
During the investigation phase, the party will follow the campaign set by the Game Master. At random points throughout the adventure, the party will be asked to make a decision. These may be as simple as checking behind a rock or choosing to disarm or kill an intruder.
The investigation phase gave the party branching choices, each of these choices having a diverse effect on either the ending of the campaign or the combat phase.
Thanks to the integration between the investigation and the combat phase of the campaign, I was able to utilize the 3-Act Structure to plan out the different parts of the campaign. The first act was introducing the Argarthian as well as establishing the hidden intentions of Commander Sato.
The second act revolves around chasing after Sato, uncovering the reason behind his betrayal and the introduction to the new antagonist Vividy.
Finally, in the last act, the party manages to convince Sato to step down and face punishment. However, this is not a part of Vividy's plans. Flustered he turns Sato into Frigar and forces the class to fight their teacher.
Mech-piloting experience
I assisted in the development of Squadron X's rulebook, due to my experience as the Game Master in our weekly Pathfinder campaign, I was in charge of creating the Game Master's Section. I wanted the player to feel as if they were piloting a giant mech during combat. The 3 images below show the unique and systemic environment system created for the project. In combat the terrain gives an interesting twist to combat, with destructible and combustible buildings and terrain types, players must be careful when crashing or walking through the map.
The Game Master's section was not a requirement for the final submission but I pushed for its development. The Game Master's section acts as a guide for game masters who wish to create their campaign or customize certain events within the campaign book.
As seen in the 3 images below, Kaijus can utilize the terrain against the Zords, hiding behind impact craters to avoid projectiles or uprooting buildings and throwing at their foes. The combat system was designed to only be limited by the Game Master's and the players' imagination (with consideration of their units' stats!).
The Kaiju Laboratory
Another task of mine was to create enemy units for the party to fight against. As the campaign was following episodic formulae, I wanted the Kaijus to reflect that as well. Doruuga was created to be a speedy-debuff enemy, the first thing that came into my mind was a spider. Doruuga's stats and abilities were created to reflect his agility and venomous nature.
The next Kaiju I wanted to design was going to be the complete opposite of Doruuga, a slow-moving fortress, capable of unleashing devastating ranged attacks. Cirilious was born, this magma turtle is capable of firing molten magma from its shell.
The above image is the information for the enemy character Doruuga. In the narrative of Squadron X, Doruuga is the evolved form of Gulatross. Having metamorphosed into a much deadlier form, Doruuga possesses the ability to spit venom and buff its prey. Much like a predator in real life, Doruuga gains increased stats and damage when it attacks a debuffed target.
It was an interesting process to create Doruuga's stats; traits and abilities. I referenced many predators in real life that used venom to incapacitate their prey like the velvet worm and spitting cobra that spat substance to slow or poison their prey.
What I've Learnt
This module was probably my most anticipated module in DigiPen. I felt that in the beginning, I tried to create many systems to make the players feel as if they were piloting a giant mechanical body fighting a gigantic beast. Some of these systems were extremely difficult to balance and will take a considerable amount of time.
In the end, my group was able to implement some of these systems into combat. Learning to compromise and scale down my ideas to fit the current timeline and workload of my fellow groupmates.