A Few Proposals

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Long have I looked, and finally come to the conclusion that really - there isn't actually anywhere better than SP to game. So I'm bowing in and heading into the uncertainty that is PBP gaming by proposing a few ideas and seeing if I can drum up a little bit of interest.

1st idea: Essentially modern day setting - starting with some scene that will give the rest of the game a focus (my thought is to start the game with a character mourning over the grave of someone, and then jumping back in time to when that character is alive - play then focuses on playing out to that event). What I'd want from this game is the hitting of hard issues, with little in the way of powers, magic, glory, and whathaveyou. Something serious and not escapist, in other words.

2nd idea: Doing something Nomicish. Basically - RP would proceed as normal (in some setting or another - don't know about that) in which the rules of the game are come up with as the game progresses through a formalised process of someone proposing a rule, the rule being discussed, and then the rule being voted on.
The advantage to this kind of play is that the system can be used to reinforce various types of play and keep the game on the track that it's wanted on by the majority. Especially should work as it's being built up around that specific game and so will be directly relevant to whatever's going on.

3rd idea: Something in which, by the very nature of the game, something else (for example - a world, a language, culture, whatever) is built and the players learn about it as they build it. The world/whatever is created organically through roleplay, in other words. This could range from standard fantasy fare to some wacked out completely alien planet.

4th idea: Using a varient of the system Apocalypse Girl ( http://www.1km1kt.net/rpg/Apocalypse_Girl.php ). (Don't bother reading the whole document - just the first bits to see whether it strikes your fancy. That's a very early version, and there are other rules which the author's come up with and posted elsewhere on the internet which would override a lot of what's written there). For the mechanical parts of the game an email dice roller could be used, and for the visual setup of the 'table' (which is necessary in this game), pictures drawn in paint could be sent back and forth via email.


So, is there anyone who would be interested in any of these ideas? (and even if you're not, can you at least respond and comment - it would wound my self-esteem mortally to have 0 replies )

 

1 and 3 interest me. I'll look at the link for 4 later, when I have time

 

I can't speak for anyone else, but you kinda lost me there. Modern day RPs don't appeal to me much. I wouldn't be averse to the hard-hitting stuff in another setting, though.

I don't like the uncertainty of even a temporarily non-existant ruleset, but that's just me.

Isn't that really what all the other RPs in the Corner are like? Even taking already existing worlds, we still seem to create our own little off-canon area of it.

Sounds a bit complicated, with a bit too much intrigue for my tastes.

 

Hmm, 4 looks interesting.

 

I would be interested in #3 especially if it is futuristic; more sci-fi than fantasy.

 

I definitely like the plot of #1, and also would be interested if it's a futuristic type setting.

#4 looks really cool, but I have to admit it does seem complicated.

 

Yeah, it happens - but it isn't encouraged or worked towards. I'm thinking of this being the focus of the game with thought being directed explicitly towards putting in the details and making them work together coherently, as well as forcing the players to learn about the setting (as in - having to learn the language that's being created rather than just jumping to some dictionary, learning what the rituals are and how they're done, etc.).

Just to tally it up:

Idea 1: Daie, Felinoid(ish - in another setting), Maurolava (futuristic setting)
Idea 2: Ah ... no-one
Idea 3: Daie, Nakia (sci-fi)
Idea 4: Daie, Maurolava (seems complicated)

Will give it a bit more time to cook, though my own thoughts are:

Idea 1: not as interesting as the others. (edit: just to clarify this: I don't think this setup takes enough advantage of the PBP format - it would be better done in IRC/real time. Sure, it would work fine here, but the others are far more PBP-specific.)

Idea 2: Could be really cool and result in a useful product, but if no one else it enthused, oh well.

Idea 3: Something that I've been wanting to do for a while - the more alien the culture and setting the better. Highly enthused for this one.

Idea 4: Apocalypse Girl is one of those games that I'm really interested in playing but can't because of logistical problems (the setout of the table is important, but difficult to do in an IRC game) - still, it might be a bit difficult especially since the rules will be a patchwork of stuff from the version there and stuff that the designer has posted elsewhere. OTOH, this game can be played with 3 people optimally, while with the other ideas more would probably make the game run best (especially for 2 and 3 - they need lots of people adding content, I think).

[ April 14, 2006, 08:34: Message edited by: Aikanaro ]

 

Aikanaro can you go over Idea #3 in a little more depth, I kind of like the whole alien world/culture, but I want to know more about what you have in mind.

As per Idea # 1, what I really like is the plot:

It really doe snot matter the setting or time frame, maybe the plot can be incorporated into idea #3?

 

#2 the Nomicish one seems to me to be about rule making which I think would work best in real time. Forum RP's often drag as it is because of the problem of people having time to post and the different time zones.

 

Okay, I'll try and put exactly the kind of thing that was floating around in my head out:

The very basics of the idea are (this is setting neutral): The players start of playing characters which are not part of the culture which will be built during the game (this is because - at this point, the player won't know much about it either, so it's better to have the view as from an outsider). For some reason (study? Making diplomatic contact?) they go to this new culture which is where the game will be played. The plot here is largely inconsequential, I feel (though I hope that a decent one will emerge through the characters rather than what's initially set up - which should just be the barest bones).

At this point the characters are interacting with the culture as best they can. The players are sketching the world through their character's eyes - in language, cultural practices, etc. The characters will be in a good position to see a lot of society and such and a lot of material should be spun out.
Naturally things are been smoothed over OOC - but mostly, so long as it's not horribly contradictory or ridiculous - what's narrated in the RP is setting canon and needs to be kept in mind when making further additions.

Now, onto language, which I see as an important part of this. The end goal is, by my thinking, for us to be able to eventually write fluently in the language we create through the game. This can be done by gradually introducing the language, rather than big infodumps.

The most viable way I can see of doing this is by starting off the game with some kind of translation to English (we could flounder around with sign language and stuff - but that might get eye-stabbingly painful). Either we can write out what the other group is saying in their language phonetically and then provide translation - or we can just do straight translation to English except for certain words which are untranslatable - and meaning can be derived from context, then slowly wean ourselves off the translator by introducing more and more natural words as the characters start to learn the language. We learn with the characters, basically (we probably have an advantage over them, seeing that we're also making up the language as we go...).

At this point it's starting to sound like a whole lot of work - and yeah, it might be that, but probably less than what it sounds like there ... and I'm not really sure if my explanation is clear. It should be a long slow process anyway, which should make it easier.
(if you've ever read the book Always Coming Home by Ursula Le Guin you might have some idea what I'm about here)

Now onto setting specific thoughts - there are requests for science fiction abound, and I'm all for that. What I propose as the setting sketch is this:
Our characters are ambassadors/intellectuals/whatevers from (a country on) Earth or its orbital colonies (or maybe other colonies from within our solar system) which have been sent to make contact with another group who left Earth a long long time ago due to ideological disagreements - this was as many hundred years ago as need be for them to emerge as something totally different.

I further propose that the group that we're seeking contact with are transhumanists ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transhumanism ) who left because what they were trying to do was suppressed for ethical reasons that they considered invalid. So they left Earth and colonised an interstellar planet ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstellar_planet ). They'll have made radical changes to themselves in order to adapt to their new environment.

Our characters shouldn't be too far removed from us culturally - just like Western culture plus a few hundred years and anticipated developments. They, on the other hand - should be totally different.

If you're open to this idea (feel free to throw in whatever content you like - or propose something totally different) then I guess we can start. But as you can see, this idea isn't going to work with idea #1 very well at all.

But how about this: why don't you come into the chatroom one day and we'll play it out on IRC? They take a relatively short time (as compared to a PBP game which can easily take years and not have gotten very far, and are very easily abandoned halfway through), and I think it will work just as well there as it will here.

I honestly can't imagine #2 working in IRC - both parts (the rules-making and the RPing) would be bogged down horribly by the players trying to focus on both at once. With PBP it's easy to multitask in a game as you have no pressure to respond immediately.

Maybe a simple version could work in real time - but I'd hate to try something full-blown...

 

It sounds intriguing, Aik. I'll keep an eye out for further developments and let you know if time permits me to play.

 

I'm seriously interested in #3. Preferably sci-fi but let us be honest even that is fantasy so I would probably join a fantasy one. Part of the reason I would like sci-fi is to get away from the 'magic rules' syndrome.

 

I will actually start this soon, believe it or not. I've just decided that the second starting post I've written sucks however, and don't have the energy to redo it tonight...

 

No rush, Aikanaro. Take your time and do it right.