I have finally completed a rough draft of my DOOM-inspired OSR-ish game, tentatively titled “SPACE DEMONS…IN SPACE”. When I say rough, I mean using-60-grit-sandpaper-as-toilet-paper rough.
If you are interested, please give it a look. Everything in this is up for adjusting. Heck, even the name is not final. If you want playtest credit or something, please let me know how you would like to be credited / what name or moniker to use.*
I can be contacted in the comments section of this blog or on Twitter at @NotJohnDaker, on Gab as @NotJohnDaker, or +The Mixed GM on Google Plus.
In the final version, I will try to find some images that I can legally use, so there will be some art (I have a budget of $0.00 for this).
* I do not have a final date set when this will be complete. No promises that it will be soon.
The Mixed GM 
I like the way it reads, the name… eh. If I played it I’d remove magic. Have a tech class that has a synthesis device that produces spell like effects on a daily basis. The tech would need to set the book sized device near materials and nanotechnology probes could absorb and create after 8 hours of acquisition.
Leave magic for demons. The devices could be sprays, (cones) injections (touch spells) special ammunition, grenades (fireball) drones (summon x)
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An interesting recommendation. I will admit I did not stray too far from Swords & Wizardry when creating it. Perhaps with some serious re-working, I could remove the Ex-Cultist and Combat Medic.
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I’ll play it. Use roll 20? I’m not technical enough to run a game there but I’d gladly playtest with you.
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I have never used Roll 20 or any other online gaming thing. I am loading it up and playing around with it right now. Let’s see if I can create a basic map..
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Hell, I’ll write up the cultist. Send a draft tomorrow.
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Had a lengthy internet outage yesterday. The wonders of rural living. This is a mock up of the ‘Tecno-Magus. Let me know if you want me to reskin the rest of the spells. It was actually kinda fun. I’d also keep the Combat Medic, I can think of a way to reskin a cleric as well. https://www.dropbox.com/s/ydxulkz2lsweoza/doomish-tech-magus.docx?dl=0
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I liked the reskinned spells you created. That was the route I was trying to go with the Combat Medic, but I was in a hurry to get the rough draft done, so I neglected a proper reskinning. For example, the ‘Cure Wounds’ spells were supposed to be an syringe that would be jabbed into an ally. ‘Hold Person’ would be a grenade full of paralyzing gas, that sort of thing.
If you wanted to reskin more of the spells, I would greatly appreciate. I would be happy to credit you in the game itself (using whatever name you wished), but I am unable to offer any monetary compensation.
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Friends don’t pay each other for help lol. I got this don’t worry. How’d you like the mock up art for the Occult Suit?
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The art is great!
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I’d ditch the cleric and mix it with the tech too.
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-The Loot Token idea is quite ingenious.
-Haven’t you forgotten something in the Contact Other Planes spell?
” The spell’s effects depend upon how deeply the caster quests into the various planes of existence. The caster must decide how “far” into the planes of existence the contact will be attempted.”
Since it is the spell-caster who decides how deep into the planes he will ask, and the number of questions and the odds of receiving a correct answer always go up, I don’t see any risk in just going for the 12th dimension, right? Shouldn’t there be a “% of going insane”, “being eaten by demons” or something like that?
-Since Doom is supposed to be a fast-paced game where you can blast 40 demons in half a minute, I would reduce round to 6 seconds, and a turn to 1 minute. I prefer the1 round per minute to simulate swashbuckling duels, but ripping and tearing your way to Hell is a different business.
-You could also add a list of demonic Items, like those in the original Doom (invisibility sphere, a map that would allow players to Run as if they were Walking, the invulnerability sphere, little companion robots -like the spider robot from Doom 3-, etc.)
-I haven’t tested it, but something tells me the Hell’s Healer is a bit weak. The Arch-Vile was one of the scariest creatures in the game, but I’m not sure this one inspires the same level of dread. He could do more damage or resurrect low-level creatures more easily, and if this makes him too powerful, you could also add the possibility of disrupting his hellfire attack (e.g. if 20 points of damage or inflicted or something like that.)
-Extras: Secrets and Traps. Doom 1 & 2 were full of them: crushing ceilings, lava, acid, teleporters, teleporting enemies, invisible enemies, explosive barrels (e.g. % of randomly hitting a barrel,) telefrag (well, that’s more of a Quake thing, but it was also possible.)
-If you need ideas for more enemies and stuff, remember that there were other good Id games back then with very D&D-inspired rules and a lot of demonic monsters (Heretic and Hexen.)
-The name is ok, but I’d probably remove the ellipsis if you still want to keep the humorous redundancy: “Space demons in Space.”
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You make a lot of good points. As I stated before this is a very rough draft of the game. I intend to add more to this game
Allow me to address a few:
By making “Contact Other Planes” an “Evil” spell, I hoped the risk of being insta-killed by hellfire that all “Evil” spells carry would be enough risk. Perhaps not. I will reconsider.
Extras, such as traps and secret doors. Definitely missing in this draft. I was just looking over my notebook with the original ideas for this and I see “Exploding barrels” listed. Can’t believe I never implemented those.
I am trying to make this game compatible with most other OSR games (at least Swords & Wizardry-based games), so monsters could be easily imported from other products. However, expanding the bestiary would probably be a good idea.
The name is a placeholder. I really don’t know what to call it right now. On my computer the Word file is simply called “Really Really Bad Idea”.
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