Goblin Sire (life sim)

[jaybee]

Hello. First time poster. This thread is a collection of my ideas and concepts about my game Goblin Sire.

Story
Nine years ago you fought in a great war against the goblin horde. Defeating the dread goblin king in single combat, the goblin army scatters to the mountains. The only thing left in the ruins of the ancient goblin fort is a baby. A goblin baby! Having lost your family and friends in the war, you take pity on the child and raise it on your own.

Ten years later and life has moved on. Your funds are running dry and your rapidly failing health prevents you from working. The goblin wars have become a fading memory and some greenskins have integrated peacefully with society (albeit not without the usual prejudice). It's time, you decide, for your sire to take over. What kind of goblin will they become? Strong, sociable, and forthright or bitter, feral, and conniving? That's for you to decide!

Concept
The game is both a parody and love letter to simulation games like Princess Maker. I want there to be a bit more visual novel elements so inbetween raising your goblin's stats there'll be events that unfold a traditional narrative as well as original characters to interact with.



So your goblin has six attributes, the classic D&D strength, dexterity, constitution, intelligence, wisdom, and charisma. There are also five personality attributes that lean towards one side or the other: introvert - extrovert, feral - civil, faith - skeptic, empathy - apathy, decisive - indecisive. There are four skill based attributes: combat, magic, social, and leadership. And finally four reputation: court, civilian, neighborhood, and church. All of these are subtly influenced by the goblin's blood type and astrological sign (not much, just enough to be noticeable and different each play). Like Princess Maker you send your goblin out to earn money, study, and explore the world. They'll form relationships and their experience will inform their worldview. The game ends on the first of the 9th year.

This is my first real Ren'Py game. I've made some short projects but this is the first time I'm really planning something out. The concept in my head is solid but from here my first goal is to build all the main systems: menus, all the variables for the various attributes, working calendar, and so on. Basically the shell from which the meat of the game will fit in.

[gekiganwing]

Please make sure to think carefully about the scope of your game. Don't commit to writing more than you can handle. A lot of promising visual novel projects have died quietly... As you'll see in the Why So Many Unfinished VNs? discussion thread from 2012, sometimes it's because the person creating the story got overwhelmed, sometimes it's because they lost interest, and sometimes it's due to accidents or odd circumstances.

If you sell the final version as an indie game, you have an advantage: money. You don't have to create everything yourself or rely on volunteers. Instead, you can pay other people to help with art or coding or playtesting.

Years ago, I spent a good amount of time reading fantasy RPG sourcebooks. If I remember correctly, one of the books proposed a number of What If scenarios for campaigns and characters' backstories. One idea that the sourcebook briefly mentioned was "A typically hated fantasy creature gets raised in an orphanage by respectable people, and becomes a hero."

I don't know if you're familiar with Alfagame's freeware title Prince Maker Braveness. If you aren't, it's one of only a few raising simulations that I'm familiar with in which the main character is responsible for a boy. (The other one that I know is the untranslated console title Dear My Sun!) In other words, this is a video game topic that has not been explored much. Placing your story in a fantasy world can be a good way to discuss interesting issues. It can also be a way to place some distance between your fictional story and complex real world problems.

Having said all that... good luck writing your story / game!

[jaybee]

I appreciate the post. The scale of the game is definitely a concern which is why I'm tackling it in chunks going from the systems to the actual writing. At the end of the day this is a hobbyist thing and if I finish the game in 8 years I'll be satisfied.

Anyway, meet your goblin child age 10:



They start out as a blank slate, wide eyed and fresh faced. They don't know about cruelty or kindness and have seen the world only through the stable windows.

Goblins in this world are agender. How they reproduce is a violently guarded secret. But goblins assimilate the culture around them and the gender roles of human society. There are different expectations of lords and ladies than the common folk or even priests and nuns. The game takes place in a bustling city where all the races are integrated. There's a tentative peace but old prejudices can flame up in an instant. There are plenty of opportunities for your child to take up a cause defending the humans, rally with their fellow greenskins, or just try to eke out a living taking care of you.