My design goals

I posted this in the original Story Games thread but it’s worth restating here (cleaned up a bit). This is what I want from this game:

1. Pilots who have Drama going on all over the place, and Problems that can only lead to a fiery end literally and/or figuratively. Their Drama and conflict plays out on the ground as well as in the air. In fact, when the pilots are in the air, they should be carrying their dirtside burdens with them and sometimes (often) working those problems out in the air, in combat.

2. Aircraft that are an extension of the character. They’re on the character sheet. You give them a name and draw nose art for them. They’re that important.

3. A dogfight system that is tactical and has the right air-combat “color” (“I pull a 4G yoyo and drop onto his six, ‘Fox 2!’”), allowing for move and counter-move, but is not a hex-and-counter wargame, and requires no map (but minis of airplanes to show relative positions and whooshing noises are just fine). A dogfight system that links it to the story of the pilots flying the planes. Maybe a system that treats all conflict as a dogfight?

4. Group creation of the squadron and some management of its affairs (negotiation of contracts, maintenance and supply issues, etc) that isn’t just bean-counting and making lists. It has to have an impact on the main characters – the pilots.
So far, the one unifying concept I’ve pulled from the SG discussion is the idea of Energy as an attribute of both pilot and plane. In a dogfight, Energy equals advantage – if you’ve got it, you can get on your enemy’s 6 and flame him. In this game, Energy measures a character’s momentum to move through his story arc, literally and figuratively. On the ground, the pilot risks Energy to outwit one’s rivals, and in the air, it’s literally used to outfly them – the plane adds its Energy to the pilot’s. Energy also tracks the story arc of the character, and when it exceeds or drops below a certain point, the character’s story ends. There’s a bit more to it but that the main thrust of the idea.