Chimera: A Case Study in Putting Things Off

If there's one thing I never delay, it's procrastinating. Ask anyone I know–I can do almost everything later. To borrow a phrase from Matt, tomorrow is always the busiest day of the year.

There's no doubt that Chimera's development has suffered from this tradition of mine. In the last blog, there's a funny joke about the combat section being finished in November, 2000. [Insert laugh track here.] Hell, the last blog was posted 56 months ago. That's longer than the lifespan of most car loans. For shame, Erin. For shame.

Back then, though, there was a pretty optimistic spirit about Chimera and its scheduled completion. Matt and I were working hard on ironing out the rules, and we had a shared vision of the end product. For a variety of positive factors–available time, family blessing, harmonious motivation–Chimera's development was humming along, firing on all cylinders, as it were.

But that was five years ago. And a lot has happened between then and now. Part of it is definitely my penchant for procrastination, but in my defence, there are other factors. Honestly, I haven't been goofing off this entire time.

Late 2000 saw some major upheavals in my personal life (the kind that affect over 50% of married couples in the US). Late 2001 saw a new and wonderful relationship develop (the kind that you set aside your dice for). Late 2002 saw significant revisions in Chimera–enough to actually scrap what had been done and start anew. Late 2003 saw real estate and housing changes, as well as more revisions to the game. Late 2004 saw Matt and I move in separate creative directions, which created some upheaval in the game's scheduled development.

But now it's getting on late 2005. The question is, "Where's Chimera?"

The answer is, "Coming. Soon."

Not the most believable response, granted. Certainly not the most encouraging. But it's the truth.

Chimera has gone through many, many iterations. By now, it's safe to say that the game Matt and I were developing five years ago is—at best—a somewhat vague antecedent to its present form. By my reckoning, Old Chimera is already in the milkcrate (maybe to be posted here someday as a curiosity).

So, to paraphrase our good friend Roger, meet the new Chimera...not the same as the Old Chimera.

Chimera will be based on Wizards of the Coast's Open Gaming License and borrow (a few) pieces from the Systems Reference Document. But instead of repackaging the SRD, we've blended only the best bits with the intuitive mechanics that inspired Chimera's beginning.

We've incorporated all die types instead of just d6. We use a single action roll system where a modified d20 result has to meet or exceed a given target number to succeed. We've adopted hit points. We use saving throws. Characters earn experience points to gain experience levels.

These things aren't very innovative, I know. They certainly don't warrant five years of development. But we decided to incorporate them because they're tried-and-true RPG conventions. They may not be the most realistic, but based on longevity, they're probably the most elegant, and certainly the most widely recognised. Why complicate Chimera with less intuitive substitutions?

That said, Chimera's new direction does incorporate a number of innovations that you won't find in the SRD. For example, Chimera characters are defined by traits–characteristics that represent everything your character is or can do. Ability/attribute scores, skills, feats, flaws, etc.–all of these are traits in Chimera. Traits are all rated on the same ranking scale, are acquired and improved consistently, and are applied in essentially the same way throughout the game rules. We think it's a simple approach to defining a character with ultimate flexibility.

Chimera supports classed characters and "skill-based" characters, side-by-side, even in the same setting. So for groups who like to custom-design their characters, Chimera supports "point-based" character construction. For groups who would rather run more archetypical characters, Chimera supports character classes. The best of both worlds is built-in to Chimera's core mechanics.

There are many other bits and pieces of note–use of fatigue; balanced spell-casting guidelines unfettered by level, spell points, or spell memorisation; fast automatic fire rules; simplified vehicle combat; the easiest encumbrance system I've ever seen, and a level component to saving throws.

But the most important change in Chimera is how I feel about the end product. While we were going through all the iterations, all the revisions, tweaks, adjustments, add-ons, modifications, and discards, I had truly lost sight of what I wanted out of the game. In mid-May of 2005, it dawned on me that if Chimera's current direction would not result in a game that met my expectations.

It's an understatement to identify this brain wave as a red flag, but there you are. So I returned to what I wanted in an RPG–the spark that started this sputtering flame so many years ago. And the answer was clear–Chimera had to be more playable than innovative, more intuitive than clever, and more comfortable than realistic.

In the two months since making that realisation, progress has been rapid, and the intuitive elements of the mechnaics are all falling into place nicely. Perhaps letting Chimera develop in complex directions was necessary to simplify it.

In any event, though, Chimera is nearly complete. Really.