Watch the Footage

Alright, so I've taken into consideration a few chatroom conversations I've had over the past couple of days, and from the sound of it, my first RP attempt seems to be carrying a bit too much baggage for a good RP experience, or something along the lines of that. Well, since this morning, I've been nursing the idea of changing the hiatus from "until people's schedules are free enough" to "indefinite, pending rewrite" and pulling out my original two RP ideas for full campaigns, Bound by Faith and Sunset Drift. Here's a quick rundown of what I'm thinking of:

Sandbox RP: Bound by Faith- eight players, split into groups of two and scattered throughout the RP world, then given free reign over what they want to do. It's heavier on backstory/plot than Sunset Drift (bolded because everyone seems to be talking about an absence of plot rather than an abundance), but not as much as Crossfire; essentially, there's a world map, with nine sentient races and more subfactions spread out all over it, and about 5 in-universe years of relevant history, and then you're allowed to screw around however you wish. Expect some plot twists and character drama, but, again, not on the level of Crossfire.
And now, since you all keep bugging me about it, a few tidbits about the plot- a world war just ended. Every faction that didn't leave the continent is either avoiding the situation completely, a pale fraction of what it was before the fighting began, or completely absorbed into the victorious kingdom, the newly-christened Illorran Empire. At its head is the renowned arcane metalcrafter and war hero Soreave, once a patriotic and reverent soldier, now acting increasingly erratic and irrational the longer he stays in power. The players start out in one of four groups- a token force of Illorran soldiers guarding an important imperial structure, a pair of high-security prisoners in the Illorran dungeons deep below the capitol, a scouting team from the settlements on the other side of the planet, or members of an underground resistance team seeking to undermine the empire by whatever means available.

Exploration RP: Sunset Drift- you, a member of one of the three or four playable alien races, have just emerged from the cryo-pod you were hibernating inside, finding yourself the only conscious individual in a chamber filled with others of your kind, sealed in similar pods. The room and corridors outside are all twisted jumbles of failing machinery and rusting metal plating. You have no memory of where you are or why. Your job: find the others who woke up and figure it out. This RP is less about screwing around and more about uncovering the secrets of your setting, with a focus on discovery and exploring rather than combat. There's still some plot to it, if mostly to provide a direction.

Story RP: Crossfire- yeah, like I'm going to abandon the Myrmidons that easily. :P Still, I'm completely reworking the setting- gone are the missions and straightforwardness, because nobody likes that sort of thing in a game. Instead, we're visiting a part of the canon that I already have planned out, throwing out pretty much everything but the setting, and dropping a bunch of PCs into the mix to carry out whatever agendas they/you might have. (SCREW THE PLOT I HAVE FREE WILL) The massive amounts of backstory and biology info are all going into the Google Document as flavor text, the main topic only containing the bare minimum of what you'd need for character creation and interaction, and I'm increasing the allowed number of Agents to six, spread between the Forged and the Agents. The RP itself will have more freedom than the missions did, what with the massive underground base, but it's still relatively plot-driven and is bound to contain a bunch of plot twists and character drama. There's gonna be at least three factions involved- the Boss's Agents are for those who want the most freedom to do crazy stuff, whereas the Forged team is generally going to stick to same mission plan throughout, and von Flugelhorn's minions are pretty much just enemy NPCs.
Now, details- a man named Phillip von Flugelhorn just so happens to be the owner of a massive underground factory for the mass production of war mechs and robot soldiers, and- surprise, surprise- he works for the Boss. Well, used to work, actually- as of late, there's been a few hints that he's been secretly resisting the influence of the Boss and his august lord, supplying only inferior tech while he prepares a robot army of his own to TAKE OVER THE WORLD!!!1!! Naturally, this isn't a good thing for the Boss, so he sends a small group of Agents to check up on him and dole out punishment as necessary. These aren't the only factions involved, though- a small team of rebel Agents, teamed up with the Boss's creator, have discovered the factory's location and slated it for demolition, pretty much guaranteeing trouble from both other sides, and then there's the possibility that some of the Boss's Agents might not be as loyal as they seem...

(And goddammit, guys, this has nothing to do with Bionicle at all, other than both having elemental cyborgs, which is a passing resemblance at best, so STOP MAKING COMPARISONS. SERIOUSLY.)

...so yeah, that's what I've thought up! ^^ What do you guys think?

Bound by Faith: Needs a goal. That's pretty much it. Say, overarching end point being unifying the 9 races under one rule, to end conflicts. Just throwing an example here, could be anything. Just a thing that as players we can say "Ok, time to end the RP and move on. Let's complete the Main Quest." But yes, the sandbox format there can work well.

Sunset Drift: My personal favorite of the bunch, but bear in mind that GMing a mystery-type RP is pretty different than something combat-oriented. You have to get a good amount of lore for it and make sure to scatter it around so that we learn as we go. No dumping all info at once, but if we never get any clarifications, it can get very frustrating.

Crossfire: My same points remain about the setting in that I'm not very interested in Bionicle. But comparing this to the previous version, the cut in the need for massive amounts of lore and more freedom regarding actual gameplay is a massive improvement. You'd still need mission prompts, to some extent, in order to give it a direction. But you did clean up the idea very well so far.

Applying to all three, they'll all need some serious GM planning in some points. Outlining the limits of the sandbox, so to speak. But the ideas are nice enough.

Bound by Faith: I like it, though given the forum-format I'd say it needs a boundary, a mission of sorts so the players can say "well, we've done everything, let's finish this thing", like "there is a prophecy of a big evil coming somewhen, so whenever thep layers feel like it will appear". Other than that it seems nice.

Sunset Drift: Interesting. I find non-combat RPs very complicated to plan. Though I didn't understand much of the race-waking up thing. All the players are the same race?

Crossfire: I don't understand Bionicle but I think this is kinda neat. Beware of not plotting too hard and trying to orchestrate the player's every move.

Also can I use this thread to outline some RP or UA? I want to try and GM a very simple RP so I can start learning how it is.

In response to, well, both of you-

Bound: Alright, I bolded the part about there being more plot than Drift and added a note highlighting that. Just to clarify. To elaborate- there are indeed big things happening in the world of Oenlas, but there's also an entire continent (or more!) to muck around in. I used the term "sandbox" because there's just so much more freedom in Bound by Faith compared to the other two RPs.

Drift: Oh, there is a definite plot structure to this one, but compared to Bound and Crossfire, it's kinda sparse/contained. Rather than oodles of backstory or a planet-wide setting, you're pretty much confined to [DATA EXPUNGED], which I've got planned out to an extent but still needs some finalizing for the details. And yes, there are three or four playable races. That's why I said there were three or four playable races. It's kinda self-explanatory.

Crossfire: GODDAMMIT STOP TALKING ABOUT BIONICLE WHAT DOES THIS RP HAVE TO DO WITH BIONICLE ABSOLUTELY NOTHING THAT'S WHAT SO STOP MAKING COMPARISONS YOU'RE SCARING PEOPLE AWAY AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUGH

...um.

Anyways, yeah, there's gonna be mission prompts; I mean, how else would anyone know what the goal is for something like this? Granted, this time around they're gonna be assigned to the GM-controlled mission leaders rather than the players themselves. Also, while I'm trying to keep the plot moving at a steady pace in this one, the players are going to be free to do whatever they want inside the base, although I'll probably be using NPCs to give suggestions on where to go next. Just suggestions, mind you- railroading is something I'm trying to avoid, even with something as plot-driven as this.

...seriously, guys, this feels more like Metal Gear to me than anything else. Metal Gear with elemental androids, that is.

I've already said that I don't have much of anything to comment on the actual content, or on the mechanic, due to my lack of experience with RPs, but there is something I've had drilled into my head from my writing-classes background-- more of a technical note, and one which is useful to ANYONE who hasn't heard it a hundred times before (if you HAVE heard it a hundred times before, I'm sorry).

It is this: "Show, don't tell".
This means that if people are seeing something in your writing that you hadn't intended-- for example, in this case, a lack of overarching plot or a comparison to a different show-- then instead of just writing in "Actually, it's X" (TELLING), you should think about what's making them read that meaning in it, and find a way to rephrase such that people naturally see the implications you want (SHOWING).

(Because "No there really is plot" doesn't convince someone who's just not seeing it, and "it's not like that show" only reinforces the comparison to people who otherwise wouldn't have noticed it.)

Sunset Drift sounds the most compelling to me out of all of them, but what I'd need to really get interested in any would be a hook. A "here's the setup, here's why you should care, here's what's interesting and compelling about this RP!" Basically, if you want to attract players, you really need to SELL what you're planning. Right now none of these catch my attention particularly strongly.

Of course, even if you do have really catchy descriptions/intros, that doesn't guarantee interest.

And as for the Bionicle comparison: You used a link to a Bionicle wiki to explain some mechanic regarding your idea in your previous thread. And, well, the OTHER response, if not "oh this is some sort of Bionicle thing I guess?" would be "WTF is a Myrmidon?" And I think the answer is "some sort of magically animated plastic thing" and to be honest that just doesn't sound interesting to me.

And I don't know Metal Gear at all either, by the way.

Yeesh, you people are giving Endless a really hard time in the chat logs. For a PREVIEW of an RPG idea, ALL of these should suffice. It's about as much as we usually get on other RPGs before they start. For people complaining about lack of plot details and whatnot, please remember that none of these are final. I'm sure he will be releasing more information over the next few days as he finishes putting ideas together. As of now, I can't say I have a full character for any of them, since, as I pointed out, these aren't full RP descriptions with character creation guidelines and sheets. However, I might have the beginnings of a few ideas here and there...

Endless Sea wrote:Drift: Oh, there is a definite plot structure to this one, but compared to Bound and Crossfire, it's kinda sparse/contained. Rather than oodles of backstory or a planet-wide setting, you're pretty much confined to [DATA EXPUNGED], which I've got planned out to an extent but still needs some finalizing for the details. And yes, there are three or four playable races. That's why I said there were three or four playable races. It's kinda self-explanatory.

I still say Sunset Drift is by far the most appealing one for me. I could totally play as an alien hopping out of a cyropod, there are all kinds of crazy potential ideas people could come up with there

Would we be working with a mostly not-inhabited planet, or would the inhabitants not become clear until later on? There could be some really creepy, coool ghostly ideas surrounding this one. (What? Why yes, yes I do have to make everything supernatural even in a sci fi setting, why do you ask? :3)

narrativedilettante wrote:And as for the Bionicle comparison: You used a link to a Bionicle wiki to explain some mechanic regarding your idea in your previous thread. And, well, the OTHER response, if not "oh this is some sort of Bionicle thing I guess?" would be "WTF is a Myrmidon?" And I think the answer is "some sort of magically animated plastic thing" and to be honest that just doesn't sound interesting to me.

...that link was just to explain a shout-out. Nothing else. I mean, I linked to a Kingdom Hearts wiki and a Halo wiki, and nobody's making comparisons about THOSE, even though they were actually relevant to character design. As for the animated plastic bit, that's a fairly condensed and somewhat misleading version of what I said, which was itself mostly irrelevant except for dealing with character deaths. I didn't even come up with the name Myrmidon until last summer, even. >_<

Qara- I'm a writer. I know what SDT is. Still, you can't expect me to give you a complete rundown of everything I've got planned so far for the RP in a short teaser, especially when said planning isn't even complete yet. I'm not trying to get people hooked just yet; I'm asking if I should shelve The Sword is but the Focus in favor of the rewrite and the other RP ideas, along with giving some info on how they're going to play out. If all of you want info that badly, fine, after lunch I'll see what I can edit in without spoiling anything I don't want to spoil, but don't expect much just yet.

Scarab- eh, I've revealed pretty much all I want to about the setting so far, so I'll just let you stew in your WMG for now. :P Trying to stay mostly tech-y for now, though, and I'm planning to choose the races myself so I can make sure of the range of skills they cover and the amount of species available (although I AM willing to take suggestions :P).

Endless Sea wrote:Scarab- eh, I've revealed pretty much all I want to about the setting so far, so I'll just let you stew in your WMG for now. Trying to stay mostly tech-y for now, though, and I'm planning to choose the races myself so I can make sure of the range of skills they cover and the amount of species available (although I AM willing to take suggestions ).

Yay!

Alright, plot tidbits for Bound by Faith are now in the first post. Is that enough?

Endless Sea wrote:Exploration RP: Sunset Drift- you, a member of one of the three or four playable alien races, have just emerged from the cryo-pod you were hibernating inside, finding yourself the only conscious individual in a chamber filled with others of your kind, sealed in similar pods. The room and corridors outside are all twisted jumbles of failing machinery and rusting metal plating. You have no memory of where you are or why. Your job: find the others who woke up and figure it out. This RP is less about screwing around and more about uncovering the secrets of your setting, with a focus on discovery and exploring rather than combat. There's still some plot to it, if mostly to provide a direction.

Niiiiiiiiice I like the idea of a good mystery

(bump)

I think out of all these I'd be most interested in Sunset Drift. They all seem like reasonable concepts, but SD looks like the most fun.

...Starting to get a bit vexed here that everyone seems more interested in the RPs I'm having more trouble with planning out. I still don't know how I'm going to GM Sunset Drift. C'mon, guys, no (relative) interest in Bound? Crossfire? I'm at least fairly certain what I'm doing with those. Drift seems a bit more suited to live-chatted roleplay than text-based from the looks of things so far. >_<

Welp, at least I'm certain everyone's interested enough to go with the whole scrapping thing. Buh-bye, Sword- you were a necessary learning experience, and I hate to see ya go, but you're just not what the forums are looking for at the moment. :(

Endless Sea wrote:...Starting to get a bit vexed here that everyone seems more interested in the RPs I'm having more trouble with planning out. I still don't know how I'm going to GM Sunset Drift. C'mon, guys, no (relative) interest in Bound? Crossfire? I'm at least fairly certain what I'm doing with those. Drift seems a bit more suited to live-chatted roleplay than text-based from the looks of things so far. >_<

Welp, at least I'm certain everyone's interested enough to go with the whole scrapping thing. Buh-bye, Sword- you were a necessary learning experience, and I hate to see ya go, but you're just not what the forums are looking for at the moment.

Could Sunset drift work in a similar way to Floating castle, with missions presented in some way? You're right it is seriously sandboxy and while that gives us a lot of potential to do asll sorta of things, it also runs the risk of trailing off, which you can prevent by presenting missions that in some way keep us heading towards that specific goal.

Scarab wrote:

Endless Sea wrote:...Starting to get a bit vexed here that everyone seems more interested in the RPs I'm having more trouble with planning out. I still don't know how I'm going to GM Sunset Drift. C'mon, guys, no (relative) interest in Bound? Crossfire? I'm at least fairly certain what I'm doing with those. Drift seems a bit more suited to live-chatted roleplay than text-based from the looks of things so far. >_<

Welp, at least I'm certain everyone's interested enough to go with the whole scrapping thing. Buh-bye, Sword- you were a necessary learning experience, and I hate to see ya go, but you're just not what the forums are looking for at the moment. :(

Could Sunset drift work in a similar way to Floating castle, with missions presented in some way? You're right it is seriously sandboxy and while that gives us a lot of potential to do asll sorta of things, it also runs the risk of trailing off, which you can prevent by presenting missions that in some way keep us heading towards that specific goal.

That's the thing- it's not sandbox-y. There's going to be a definite outline of everything important that's going to get found in that RP, such as why everyone's there, what "there" actually is, who's running it and why and how, and so on. If I use the mission format, there's a good chance that I'll end up giving things away before the reveal is supposed to happen, in case the players end up including stuff in their posts contrary to information about the setting yet to be revealed. It's like saying, "Okay, go into that dragon's lair,", with the intent that the player character goes in and slays the dragon, but the player decides to write in that there is no dragon, just an alien warship fueled by black holes that just so happens to be called "Dragon's Lair" and belongs to an ancient race that colonized the planet long ago and the pilot recruits the players for an interstellar war with Satan and his servant race of Time Lords.

Granted, I could just let everyone go off the rails and write around what they end up doing, but I'm not exactly certain I want to do that, considering it means throwing any and all preconceived setting and plot ideas I've been planning for the RP out the window and letting the players dictate what I can write in next, whereas I generally prefer to have some idea of what I'm going to write before I need to write it.