Hmm. So, I clearly don;t have enough things to do, and thus I've been thinking of trying to design my own RPG framework? The idea being that it's kinda like GURPS, except designed to handle all sorts of radically dimorphic balance changes, levels of detail, etc, and would be totally open source. Would anyone be interested in hearing about that? XD
@Angle FYI, I'm working on developing a TORG/CoD crossover module myself. (Fan mechanics rather than F/OSS.)
@Angle There are, of course, a number of F/OSS pen-n-papers out there. A quick Google search reveals:
Fate/Fudge, Open d6, D6 Rulebook, Minisix, WaRP, Pathfinder, Eclipse Phase,
(None of which I've played.)
Or, this mind-boggling list: http://www.darkshire.net/jhkim/rpg/freerpgs/fulllist.html
Would be curious what you think of any of these, and what your looking to accomplish that you haven't seen elsewhere.
@beadsland ...Huh. I guess I should probably look through the list in detail before I go thinking about making my own. I was thinking of basically having a framework for making your own system, with a number of different sliders and assumptions you could try and use. Probably wouldn't work, to be honest, but it's fun to think about. XD
@Angle Also, this thread might help figure out what pitfalls you need to consider:
http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=54754.0
From what you're describing, it sounds like you want to design an meta-framework for generating game designs, rather than a game system, per se, yes?
@beadsland I guess ultimately what I really want is a whole field of established techniques, math, recorded facts, and worked examples for creating games. Which sorta exists, I guess? Just not quite as accessible as I want it to be. XD
@Angle So you want a game design kit (specific to the RPG genre), complete with a probabilities atlas akin to the ballistics tables used by gunners to figure out how to aim heavy weapons in different weather conditions.
The atlas alone would be an amazingly powerful tool, I'd think.