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Our goal with creating Orcrest is to maximize what can be achieved on roleplay sims. This includes optimizing performance by reducing prim, texture, and script usage with custom assets, automating calculations so players don't have to deal with complex math, and creating a system that is more engaging than basic dice rolls while still being accessible.

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Core Design Principles

• Balanced Progression: New players should not be dramatically outclassed by veterans. This is managed through level caps, horizontal progression, and a character retirement system, allowing experienced players to start new characters at a higher level with some retained resources. It takes about 6 weeks (of playing 3 days per week) to reach max level.

• No Grinding: The game avoids feeling like a job by making RP and social interactions the primary focus. Time-gating mechanics prevent excessive min-maxing, ensuring a fair and engaging experience for all.

• Community-Centered Gameplay: Instead of being overly “gamey,” the system encourages player interaction, RP, and politics. XP is earned passively by playing (e.g., 1 XP per hour, 2 XP per day max, 6 XP max per week), making participation stress-free and preventing burnout.

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Economy and Rewards

• Limited Resource Gain: The bulk of a character's income is tied to harvesting nodes, which can be done a maximum of three times per week. This ensures that even people with less time to play can still keep up with those who stick around all day.

• Group Rewards: Treasure node rewards scale with the number of participants. A four person team unlocking a vault allows each member of the group to loot it, allowing for weaker combatants to still participate and benefit from combat.

• Trade-Driven Economy: Since everyone receives different loot, players must trade items they can’t use for ones they actually want to optimize their gear, fostering a dynamic and engaging marketplace.

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Character Progression

• Streamlined Mechanics: Characters start with two talents at level 1 and gain one per level, capping at six talents by level 5. Characters start with six points to put into abilities, and six to put into skills, and do not gain any extra as they progress.

• Your Character, Your Pace: Even though there are over forty different talents to choose from, you only have to worry about the ones you select, and you earn them at an easily digestible pace that allows you to grow with them and build off of strategies you develop as you go. The wider game is complex, but understanding your own character is not.

• Balanced Scaling: Leveling up provides only additional talents, rather than raw statistical bonuses. This ensures higher levels have more versatility rather than overwhelming power.

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Crafting

• Integrated Economy: Crafters are needed not just for low and mid tier gear, but also to craft the best of the best in the system - even certain storyteller exclusive drops.

• Material Matters: Craft different effects or better arms and armour with advanced materials.

• Maker's Mark: Add additional effects to your crafted items to customize them further, and then select a name, icon, and icon colour to make it yours.

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User Experience

• Intuitive HUD: The system automates calculations and provides clear prompts, making gameplay smooth and user-friendly.

• Failure Compensation: Instead of a wasted turn, a missed attack often grants Advantages that can be used for alternate effects (ex. applying or removing conditions to yourself or your target), maintaining strategic depth and engagement, and allowing you to alter the layout of the battlefield so players don’t feel helpless or useless. A wasted turn can still happen, but they’re not as common as in other systems.

• Non-Combat Advancement Options: Including the naming and customization of crafted items, economic trade agreements, resource gathering diversity, safer neutral RP areas and political intrigue. In addition, prepared non-combatants can escape or even (with a little luck) defeat unprepared combatants if push comes to shove.

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The Bigger Picture

This project is about creating a better, more inclusive RP experience that rewards social engagement. By balancing progression, fostering a trade-driven economy, and optimizing SL’s capabilities, we hope to set a new standard for interpersonal relations in RP sims. We don’t want defeats, setbacks, or even a character death to result in a feeling that a player has lost all their investments in the community, while empowering characters to truly make their mark on the story we're all telling.

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