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I want to make a steampunk/pokemon/psi powers/fantasy RPG.
Players are petomancers: they are able to use psionics to control "pets", which are a bunch of fantasy/normal creatures like dragons, owls, etc. They can control other scorpions( there are no humans, so players play giant intelligent scorpions ), but it's extremely difficult, mind control works badly on intelligent creatures. Whole scorpion race has psionic powers, using them requires a lot of special training. Other powers exist but mind control is the most notable, powerful of them. After it goes ability to partially or completely morph into your pet and other pet-related abilities, which i haven't thought of yet. Players can't get more than one pet at a time( to ensure that game doesn't turn into "collect 'em all" ). Pets will become stronger other time.
Yes, steampunk. There are huge airships, primitive firearms, golems and such. The world is mostly explored, but some areas are extremely dangerous, that's there players will be getting their pets.. Religion plays an important role in society, because gods reward/smite/offer advice to people.
As for the system, I want to make it light( combat will be a huge problem, because of pets, and if I won't make it light it would take forever ), but I want to include a good amount of variability( powers, which are psionic/clerical, guns, blades, armour, pets ). Player characters would not be useless in combat, compared to their pets, but may be weaker. Character generation would be a bit random, players would get to choose a perk and skills, all stats are rolled for, as are skill levels.
Addition( what 'light' means for me ): if players want to tame a flame dragon, GM should be able to create stats for that dragon on the fly with ease, without stopping the session, or using any other tricks to buy himself time( I don't like game prep ).
Have this been done before? What ideas do you have? Is this idea good? Should I do it?
Thanks for replying.

You have a lot of interesting ideas here, possibly more than you think.

Everyone as a Scorpion leads to so interesting xeno-fiction possibility. What sort of rituals apply to using your own stinger/venom, do they still have claws, and if so - how do they type? How do you make a revolving door when you're longer than tall? Details of this society would be interesting without the psi or monster collection. That there is functional mind control - even if difficult - rather complicates matters of informed consent, leads to questions about evidence gathering, and issues with free will. I'd imagine any contracts need at least four to six signatures to ensure that not all of them were gained under duress.

That begs the question then, why the steampunk? If you have a literal dragon to do field work and land clearing, why do you need a tractor? Is the new technology starting from the bottom up, a way for people who can't afford or keep the animals to compete? Or is this on behalf of the oligarchy, giving them massed produced equivalents to bear down on commoners who have only one critter apiece. Ten Krackens might be nice for the navy, but three dozen submarines would be better.

On 1km1kt.net, there is a game called which is billed as "A cross between Pokemon and Starship Troopers". Another free RPG would be where children collect things man was not meant to pet. The Anime related games BESM and Random Anime had "Cute and Fuzy cockfighting seizure monster"supplements as well, but those are out of print.

For creature design, I'd go for a combination of object oriented tables and action points. The magic system from r, or the gun and vehicle tables from (Both on 1km1kt, and the latter written by me, a long time ago) would be some good examples. So I'd say something like it takes one action point per either ability, die of damage, or band of range when designing an attack, and then a creature type may give some sort of rebate in costs.

So flame breath: 3AP, 1d6, burn = 1d3 damage next turn, range 10 meters. Flame type creatures only pay 2AP to use.
Or it cold just be general light/medium/heavy attack for 2/3/4 AP plus some additional cost per range (ie it takes time to aim at a distance) and then its the creature type that determines how its special.

I suggest action points, since that gives a few extra ways to modify a small list of powers, rather than having to look through dozens of different ones. Per say, extra AP can be spent to speed up the attack or chain powers together. Petomancers have AP of their own, which they can either use for themselves, or spend to boost pets (warn them to dodge, point to a weak spot, and so on). The degree of training determines how many owner AP can be granted to a creature.

Since you're working with scorpions the view of elements and oppositions might be rather different so feel free to think of some more unconventional relations than light/dark fire/water and so on. Crush vs Carapace comes to mind.

If you have any more questions, I'll be here.

Sorry for late reply, busy with studying(. LOOOONG time will pass before I will produce something.
You are definitely right, I should not try to make a "megamix" rpg and instead focus on something. I'm dropping religion system. Yeah, mind control on scorpions is too confusing. Dropping that too. I'm also using your idea about steampunk: there are clans, which control psionic education( it requires 15 years in human terms ( have no idea about scorpion ageing, maybe will do something about it ) in case you start very early, about 18 if started later than with 3 years old ), and, because of that, control psionics. Technology is used by everyone else. Of course, not everyone is happy about it, but clans are powerful, they have been able to resist technological intervention in their deeds.
Of stingers and claws: stingers are used in ritual/arena fights, as their own poison can't hurt them. Claws exist, but here a "minor" psionic solves all problems: they have a very slow, but accurate telekinesis( can't lift much, not useful for combat ). I should make it into list of major psionics, when I will release the game.
Thanks for replying! Your comments help)

A slow response time is no problem, so long as the text is well thought out when it does appear. The same applies to the game itself, though a faster turn around time on that tends to be preferred.

I didn't necessarily say that the mind control was a bad idea, just that you need to think it through. Too many games just say "Magic is here, it makes the common people afraid, the mages hide to avoid angry mobs", and don't make allowances for what would really change. If you really could give people the "Evil Eye" sunglasses and mirrored partitions would become all but mandatory in public spaces.

How big are these scorpions? The real life "Giant Sea Scorpions" could be as big as 2.5 meters, though most were smaller. As implied by the common name, they were also mostly or semi aquatic. In a slight nod to realism, the scorpion society could be mostly located in shallow waters, and the new technology is evolving to let them explore either deeper depths or farther onto land.

Minor telekinesis seems like a bit too easy of a way out, and actual scorpions with new appendages (even if not necessarily hands) can evolve. But if there is psionics in general, that isn't bad, and players will probably have an easier time dealing with characters that can do everyday tasks, rather than ones who need special tools just to use a pencil.

Something like the of magic made for FUDGE (which seems similar to the system used in Ars Magica) or the chart from the previously mentioned Adventurer would be a good way to get a lot of spells without having to actually define fifty or sixty of them individually.