So, believe it or not, I've actually done some honest to god thinking and even work on this project again.
I got to thinking about it a few days ago, out of nowhere really, and started realizing that the problem with the previous drafts was simply that I'd started to back myself into the corner with some of the system concepts I'd started on, wandering off into the deep end into a convoluted place and losing site of the original design goals of the project. What was originally intended to be a really straight forward system owing a great debt in it's design to the Fallout series, ballooned into a nightmare beyond what I could really handle myself and, in retrospect, really was all that necessary or destined to actually be fun.
The combat system concept in particular was rather unneccessary. I think rather that I had misjudged the usefulness of the original hex-combat style of play, and in fact, grew to realize that the answer was already there in the source material anyway. Fallout's range penalties were always excessively high, now all of a sudden we're adapting those same concepts to an environment where they suddenly make a hell of a lot of sense. Overall I think I can model everything the previous detection band model was intended to just fine with a normal hex-combat system, in fact, better, and more importantly, smoother and easier to learn and play.
Some of the other drawing board ideas are still to be considered. The community system was an interesting idea, but ultimately I think it was a lot of coplexity, a lot of hand wringing, all over a system that ultimately serves to wrest too much freedom out of the hands of the GM. I do however still like the concept of the Dark itself changing people, and have still some consideration as to how I can implement it without too much added complexity. Fortunately here I have plenty of existing models for this kind of thing, the only difference is that this one combines those models in a way I've not previously encountered personally (though I'm pretty sure it exists already).
I spent the morning working on an interactive character sheet for the game, using Apple Numbers. It really helped get me back in the spirit of things, sort of taking me back to the Fallout games in many ways. I look forward to hopefully making some forward progress again, starting with getting a smoother second draft underway, as well as getting a better roadmap and outline of what the book is to look like, so I have a more solid grasp on what must be done.
Stay posted, folks. This thing may just have some life left in it.
