[Discussion] Community RPG Anyone?

[ooZer0]

That's pretty much what I said, Sarov - freeform instead of a set system.

Caution: Thin Ice Ahead

RP's that don't have a set system ALWAYS fall apart. It's not a question of IF its when. In such a system if there are too few people, it becomes boring, like all RPs. However unlike a structured RP, the more people added, the more things get ugly, incomprehensible and down right messy. Making an RP is srrs business... It can't simply be thrown down and work, it needs not just discussion, but planning and careful thought.

Srrs business...

Srrsly...

[Sarov]

Srrs business...

Srrsly...

Perhaps but it's not as serious as running a new World of Darkness campaign in which you make all the NPCs as well as additional organizations (plus prominent figures). There's also the fact that the game is more mature (there's death, torture, countless depressing situations, sex, gore, etc). :P

And free-form can mean many things. The way I would be using such a term would be to point out that it does not use a D&D-like system - after all, there isn't a dice roller on SC:L. As for having guidelines for hits and misses, starting qualities (think abilities and/or talents and whether they are expert level or lower, etc), reputation with factions, equipment, and so on and so forth... that is a no-brainer. In fact, I think I've pointed out my dislike for not having rules for these types of things several times.

[Articorse]

We could make a very basic trait system. I don't think we need stuff like physical attributes like strength, dexterity, etc. But we could have stuff like 'marksman' or 'dextrous', with each having, say, 3 levels, with each level costing more than the previous one.

For any kind of reputation system to be put it, the game would have to be pretty complex and large in scope, which, I think, was something we're trying to avoid.

As for an equipment system, it isn't something that'll need a lot of work, I think.

And by the way, there's already 6 of us (if Twilice is joining us) so maybe we should think about closing the doors soon.

[Sarov]

For some RPs I've been in, there are several levels of existing traits, numbered one through five. We can also use the World of Darkness method of determining strengths in each trait:

Skills (Demolitions, Acrobatics, etc):

1 - Novice. Basic knowledge and/or techniques.
2 - Practitioner. Solid working knowledge and/or techniques.
3 - Professional. Broad, detailed knowledge and/or techniques.
4 - Expert. Exceptional depth of knowledge and/or techniques.
5 - Master. Unsurpassed depth of knowledge and/or techniques. A leader in the field.

[ooZer0]

Exactly.

You don't need billions of rules and codex upon codex just to play. However, like you said, there needs to be some rules. Such rules require some decent amount of thought so that they aren't cumbersome but also defined and to the point. True Free Form, does not work. However, too many rules slows things down.

The very inspiration for this endeavor should tell us everything about this. Is Sc2 fun because each race can do what ever they want? No, its the rules and limitations of each race that make the game fun and entertaining. Give the Dark Templar abilities that are suited to subtlety and picking off lone high priority targets, but abilities that aren't suited for fighting good sized mobs of units. Give Zealots abilities that are suited for dealing out damage in a wide area encouraging them to wade into the front lines and protect the rest of the party. Give High Templar large indiscriminate attacks that do large damage, but have either a large cost or warm up.

It's unnecessary to make things like dodge % and dice rolls. However it would be wise to make the classes nice and diverse to make the playing fun both for individuals and teams.

[Articorse]

I like the WoD method, so maybe we should just get a Vampire: The Masquerade character sheet and just modify the skills that don't fit into a StarCraft world, as well as add any we think we need.

[Sarov]

Actually, it's better that we use the new World of Darkness sheet. It's made for mortal characters and the system in new World of Darkness makes much more sense than old World of Darkness. This is a fact that has been admitted by many people and sites - even my group acknowledges this, especially the one or two people who played the oWoD.

[mr. peasant]

I think taking some aspects from the nWoD character sheets does makes sense. However, copying it wholesale wouldn't really work. Take attributes for instance; what purpose would it serve in our RPG? We would definitely need to assess these bits slowly before incorporating them, less we needlessly complicate the character sheet.

[Sarov]

Oh, I never suggested taking everything. It's just that, of all the WoD sheets, that is going to be the most useful since it doesn't have any of the supernatural related attributes/traits. Even though this is an online RP, I'm still going to treat it like any other RP. Careful thought and planning is something you learn in P&P RPGs, especially if the DM likes to think their job is to kill everyone rather than provide challenges and a fun game. Heh.

[Articorse]

So who's going to be the GM? I have some experience as an online roleplayer, but I've never been a GM, so I don't think I'm qualified. Sarov doesn't want the responsibility of yet another RP group.

How 'bout you, mr.Peasant?