Making the game: The Firm design diaries #1

Finally my chance to be Denny Crane!

I’m sneaking this one out there - usually, I promote these posts in a few places but I won’t do that for this one. Because I’m finally working on a game. It came to me in a big chunk last week while I was on a run and I’ve been scrambling to get the first draft of it down ever since.

Inspirations

My last post gushed quite a bit about several things - Deathmatch Island, the work of Tim Denee in general and the Paragon system. And in thinking about what I really loved about the Paragon system I had an idea: “Wouldn’t it be cool to make a game about a political campaign?”

Political campaigns suit themselves to the sort of zoomed-out qualities that the Paragon system has. Most of a political campaign is a mindless grind, phone calls, door-knocking, and strategy meetings. But there are moments of adversarial tension as candidates square up. There’s also a sense of team but where everyone is also out for their own profile (like, I believe, the best Paragon games have). Then I stopped myself. Politics is an absolute shitshow nowadays. There is no real way I think I could develop something like this, playtest it and introduce it into the world without it throwing unnecessary grenades into things. RPGs are meant to be escapist fun.

But I was looking for something that had confrontation and conflict but didn’t involve combat. And then I remembered the courtroom/legal drama. Maybe it’s because I’m the son of a judge or a failed law student, but legal dramas have always appealed to me. I loved LA Law, Boston Legal and Suits (before it ran out of ideas). These were shows that played fast and loose with the actual law and how the legal profession worked and, instead, focussed on the drama of high-stakes cases, litigation and a cast of quirky characters. This could be perfect for what I was looking for.

And it works within the Paragon system (I hope).

Here comes The Firm

Working title for now.

The Firm is a game about lawyers working on high-profile cases. You start as a team of associates within a law firm and, hopefully, rise to the rank of Name Partner before retiring with a glittering legacy.

I’m going to use the Paragon system as the base here with a few tweaks. The firm itself will be like a character, able to grow or diminish in prestige due to the actions of its lawyers. I’m taking inspiration from Odyssey Aquatica and having moments between the big cases and rivals to add to the sense of drama. And I’m taking inspiration from the law and introducing precedents and appeals.

Precedents will allow lawyer characters to quote legal precedents from past cases, name the case, and possibly employ this to add advantages to their rolls. The cases/adventures that they take part in could become precedents later on.

And if a case is unsuccessful the lawyers can appeal - creating their next adventure as they seek to get a more favourable result. This time with higher stakes!

Now it’s the grind

As someone who writes for a living during the day - taking more time to stand at the computer and write can be hard. But, for now, the game is falling out of me. I’ll share a few more of these as I go - they are good for keeping me committed and focused.

So it’s back to the virtual sticky notes for me…

I’m hoping in the next few weeks it will be ready to share a rough draft and look for playtesters. Know anyone?