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radical game idea

Posted: Mon Aug 04, 2008 4:39 pm
by Rusty
I know nobody wants to hear about me announcing online games, but I have a thought....please hear me out.

I would like to co-run an NWOD vampire game with several other people, exclusively online. We would discuss NPCs, plot elements, timing, everything would be planned out as a group, and any one of us could make appropriate posts. We would circulate an email among GMs for this game coordinating plot ideas, listing mandatory talking points for various encounters, and would each write or co-write important characters. Time committment for any single GM for this game would be minimal. I would like at least three people to jump on board with this, at a minimum two others, for a moderate time committment and we would discuss plot points together by email.

Here's the cunning twist, and I've thought about games like this for a while.

Exactly one player. That's right. The usual GM to Player ratio would be reversed. The pro's of this game are:

No player disputes.
The player can explore his own past, merits, relationships with his sire and other kindred, and can develop as a character in the spotlight on his own.
Any fledgling GMs out there can get some more running time, without the worries of recruiting a group of players, or the worries about introducing a bad plot line, plots would be peer reviewed.
The storyline can extend into time, the player might make an Ordo Dracul member, for example, who spends two years in the library studying. No need to account for other people's activities during that time, the GMs can simply consult eachother about time dependent plot lines, and advance the NPCs.
The plot would be character driven, The Player and his decisions would make a profound impact on what the GMs do and do not do, the Player could simply pull up roots and move to a new city. The GMs might need a few days to sort out NPCs and various feuds in the new city, but the Player would be free to do that.
The curse of vampirism and personal horror could be more thoroughly played out, quirks involved in hunting could be the basis for sub-plot.
The player would never know 'who to trust' based solely on the fact that they are playing the game with them, there would be no artificial alliance with other vampires created out of necessity to run a coherent game, the game would be, by definition, coherent.

the cons?

the player must write an interesting character, and the GMs must be satisfied with telling a good story, and playing out a host of NPCs. Which could be fun in and of itself, and might help a player explore various possibilities and angles with their characters, even those that are somewhat scripted.
if GM communication breaks down, the game breaks down. Also if GMs are never online, then obviously...well that's not dependent on this game style at all is it?

All in all, this game would be an interesting challenge to run, and to play, though perhaps very rewarding for all involved.

People please post feedback, and I have already identified a player that I think would be very capable of handling focused attention from several GMs, and is known for making dynamic characters that grow and change with their playing. Cheyne.

Posted: Mon Aug 04, 2008 6:30 pm
by rydi
goddamnit, lol :lol:

i was going to voluntear to run, and ask who would play... lol not sure what to say. might be fun to play too.

it sounds fun. as long as it isnt time consuming it would be neat, but we would have to commit to actually giving a shit and playing, as gurpforge, chtullu, and encounter are showing us what happens to alot of online games.

Posted: Mon Aug 04, 2008 6:53 pm
by durden
hmmm... I would love to sign up to play, but I will be way too busy to do interesting things. It's my first year teaching, I'm starting my phd program, and other excuses. I like the idea.

Gid, why aren't you playing Dark Ages?

Posted: Tue Aug 05, 2008 4:49 am
by Ivanovich
i do not think playing in it would be good for me with my schedule, but some light GMing might be fun.

Posted: Tue Aug 05, 2008 7:58 pm
by Rusty
as far as generalized plot and scope goes, I was thinking a period of about a hundred years of american history would be nice. Maybe, post WW I to present. That gives us a long enough period to develop NPCs during their rise to power, the PC could, with some degree of realism, ascend from Neonate status to near-elder in the modern day. Also america changed greatly during this time period.

If a non-american plotline is desired, though more brushiing up would be necessary, Britain would be interesting, as would, quite honestly, Germany and France. We don't usually play Europe, but it's possible.

Basically, GMs for this game will help design plot, and run a handful of well thought out NPCs, some of which will recur at various times in various places. It'd feel like playing with the blinders off.

I suppose a good question about when and where would be to cheyne: When and where would you like your character to be from?

We may as well custom fit the entire plot to the PC, and follow Cheyne's lead as to where things start, but design plot that is classic vampire, interaction based, and transcends time and space.

Also, if people are interested in doing this, a new forum would be needed, entitled "soliloquy". I can't think of a more appropriate name.

If people would like to play NPCs for this, without contributing to plot development, that'd be fine as well, but they would be appraised of how their character is intended to interact with the PC, and what they're hiding....

Posted: Tue Aug 05, 2008 8:01 pm
by Rusty
I should add that I'd like to play this from before the embrace onwards. Does the Player have preference towards clan and covenant?

Posted: Tue Aug 05, 2008 8:42 pm
by rydi
wait... I didn't say yes...

fuck it.

i want to start as a japanese female child of immigrants during the depression era.

Posted: Wed Aug 06, 2008 7:17 am
by Rusty
cool, you're dragged behind a watershed and shot for being paul harness.

way to go guys, shortest game ever!

Posted: Wed Aug 06, 2008 11:34 am
by rydi
no. seriously. lot of interesting possibilities there.


and like sam beckett, this gives me the chance to put right that which once went wrong... or twice... or 18 times... (paul is going to the hell of the horny japanese dog when he dies)

Posted: Wed Aug 06, 2008 12:19 pm
by Rusty
well, there is the complication of child vampires being killed on sight...are you wanting to play out part of your life until you reach near adulthood?

or am I mistaken about the tradition of not embracing children?

I can see some really cool plot elements with being japanese during that era, and the era that immediately followed it, but we'd have to work past the whole "child vampire" thing.

Posted: Wed Aug 06, 2008 12:50 pm
by Avilister
rydi wrote:child of immigrants
This does not mean 'still a child'

Posted: Wed Aug 06, 2008 12:52 pm
by rydi
well, if i'm born into the depression, then i get to experience that wonderful time period, and the prejudices against immigrants that are always high during hard economic times. then wwII hits, and i get the wonderful camp experience. i figured that whould be a good time for embrace, putting me in late teens. or it could be after even, but that seems a good time.

Posted: Wed Aug 06, 2008 12:54 pm
by Rusty
well, as long as its to specifically redeem the character class, then that sounds...depressing but fine.

I still need some GMs. We need plot people!

Posted: Wed Aug 06, 2008 1:00 pm
by rydi
i will run myself.

i will create walls of text filled only with me talking to me. like a novel, but less interesting and without the potential to be sold.

then i will take pictures of myself masturbating, and post them here for everyone to share.

now, to get the ball rolling...

Posted: Wed Aug 06, 2008 1:06 pm
by Rusty
I just spent five minutes staring at your post, lost in imagination and possibility.