Watch the Footage

Wait wait hang on, this character does it have to be a human?

Because if so: bugger, I've designed an android >.<

Well, yes. Everyone is human at first. But, there's magic in the Castle. You might find technology there too.
Though technically it means your character could eventually become a Cyborg instead of an Android...

So I can't be any other race?

Nope.
Humans only. How you'll end up is a mystery to me. But everyone starts with a mix of the basic options. Human, common weapons, that sort of thing.

When in doubt, PLAY A THIEF. >=D STEAL ALL OF THE PRECIOUS THINGS!

Two things: Do we have mounts for this? and Is there an edge we can drive the cattle off of?

The design of the city is not really determined, so, up to you. There's all sorts of farm animals in there, not only cows, if you get some non-stampeding horses you might be able to use them.

An update.

I did release only one quest so far mostly so we can get a feel for the time it takes to write a turn. After all, collaborative writing takes longer than just writing by yourself. As some have asked me about future quests, I'm writing the next batch right now, so that I'm good to go soon after the Quest resolution is up. And then there will be parallel quests, so more people will be involved simultaneously from then on.

Yaaaaaaay!

Moving it down here to keep it while I remove it completely from the first post for ease of reading.
=== Old first post content, or the rambling for all the reasoning behind the rules. ===

Code: Select all

:? Pixel running an RP? [i]What can go wrong with that?[/i]

[b]The concept[/b]: Each player has one character with a number of skills, or Roles, as i'd classify them. Each turn consists of encounters, exploration and eventual boss fights as you complete quests for your guild. Each boss guards one floor, each floor cleared allows for new and hopefully fun quests. Can you reach the hundredth floor?

All characters are humans, and power levels are on the lower side of things. We will be starting from zero. No character is exceptionally powerful in any specific area, or have any special abilities (such as extreme dexterity or reality-warping). There are opportunities to build your character, but they will come the hard way, and not by starting off as powerful. So, to begin with, you will have a very squishy wizard, ranger, rogue or soldier. Another note is that there won't be only fight scenes and bosses. Some quests will require cunning and non violent interactions. You could even build your character to focus on these types of quests if you really want to.

As a background, everyone is member of the same guild. As quests are unlocked, members of the guild get sent to handle it. You might wonder, if the characters will be weak, how will you manage to beat boss battles and complicated quests? The soul of of this RP: Collaborative writing.

Each quest will be assigned to a duo. Said duo will have to make one collaborative post narrating their progress through the quest. For some quests there will be twists added after the duo returns. Boss battles will involve a rotation of a number of duos. No one will play alone, and no one will be tied to the same writing partners all the time either (Unless we only get a few players). Of course, you can create parties naming characters that work well together as a preferable outline for the selection.

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--- [url=http://forum.watchthefootage.com/viewtopic.php?f=46&t=1077&p=41324#p41324]Character Sheets[/url] ---

Some explanations:
[b]Role[/b]:
[list]
[*][i]Fighter [/i]~ Pointy end towards enemy. Your main focus is exchanging pain. Protect stuff, raid castles whatever is necessary when violence is involved. This means picking up any weapon you want, mastering a variety of fighting styles. Call it Knight, Barbarian, Soldier... Your role is that of bashing heads together. You can't use magic, but might just learn some flashy moves in time.
[*][i]Scout [/i]~ Locate and understand. The name is misleading but I can really think of anything else. You're a city dweller or an explorer. You can defend yourself, the world is dangerous after all. But what you excel at is at finding things and dealing in diplomacy. You can wield any sort of weapon, of course, but some do not suit your demeanor as well as others. How can you expected to be well received in a meeting with an halberd larger than you are? Is it wise to not take a bow with you to the wilderness and risk your skin in a brawl against a bear?
[*][i]Mage [/i]~ If at first they don't burn, apply more fire. You also play a role of diplomacy, but you're no slouch in combat either. In your defense, you rely on the arcane powers. Carry whatever weapon you want, but maybe there's a reason behind all those squishy wizards and their Oak Staffs? What with not really knowing how to move the same way a fighter does with all those pointy things.[/list]

[b]Powers[/b]: [Only if Mage role, other roles will get powers too... Over time.]
[list][*][i]Fire, Ice, Lightning and Healing[/i] ~ Pick two. Everyone will start at basic level, so if you take fire, don't expect to burn down a whole forest in one go, or to throw a lightning blast so strong that it crumbles walls instantly. Just, weak and small things for now. The powers will grow in time, allowing for other types and stronger spells.[/list]

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For the actual mechanics: Everyone is on the same team here, just not necessarily walking together to the same places all the time. The main goal is to beat the castle. Completing all quests on each floor and beating the floor bosses to proceed until there are no floors left to explore!

For the guild aspect. Since this RP will be played in duos, people will have to do writing in pairs as well. This raises an issue where I have to assign two people to take on a quest and they might not work well together, like having very different writing styles or living in timezones that are opposite to each other, making it hard to actually write together. Being a Solo player, means to me that I can pair you up with anyone at anytime. While if you create a guild I'll give preference to pairing people from the same guild together. While I'll still consider pairing people from different guilds, for this case I'll clear with both to make sure they're ok with it. As for solos, they can be paired up with anyone from any guild, I'll just ask the guild person for the go ahead.

To create a guild, make sure it has at least 3 members and up to 7 maximum. Depending on the number of guilds we get, I might run parallel quests for different guilds, but that will depend on the headcount, so no promises yet. Floor Bosses will involve more people, like a rotation of 3 or 4 duos. In that case, I could for instance, bring 1 duo from each guild to take part in that quest. Detail about Floor Bosses will take a while though. You'll see them when you get to them. :twisted:

As to the mechanics, each quest completed will reward the whole faction with something (I'm sure someone will want to get his hands on a katana ;) ), unlocking the option and resources to everyone, and the actual duo who did the quest will add another completion to their track list and gain some unique minor loot, like an enchanted arrow to be used on a rainy day.

What this means is that, if someone is off and unable to play for a while, no problem! Once you get back, you'll still have all the resources and tools available to everyone, so if you decide to join in when we're on Floor 30, you'll still be on a power level compatible with that floor, only without the customization and quirks awarded to the characters who have completed quests.

Now, for the actual update. I have to address 2 things.
1- Guilds are boring.
2- I want to play too.

1- On the guilds. As they are now, they're work for nothing. Sure, they help me as a GM to pick pairings that you want. But they're not a restriction, I'll still be asking around before assigning quests and you get absolutely nothing for organizing them. That can't stay like that. So, after some brainstorming, I'm updating the guild rules.

Quest rewards will be partially shared with all guild members.

What this means is twofold. First, if you're in downtime and is a guild member, your character still grows passively. Slower than an active quest taker, but you do earn something out of being in the guild. Second, it creates guild identity as each guild will assemble traits shared among the members.

This may sound like a punishment to solo players, but consider that while as a solo you don't get anything out of your downtime, all quest rewards you receive are exclusively yours. Meaning, while guilds grow into teams and do it slightly faster, solo players will be able to craft unique characters. And of course, the basic competence level to take on the quests of the current floor carries over to everyone, so effectively this is a difference only in customization rather than actual character power.

As to how and which rewards will be shared, that's up according to what makes sense. If you earn a shield, it's your shield. Guild or no guild, that's something that can't be split. But say you got a batch of healing potions from a friendly neighboring alchemist, well, everyone in the guild can take one potion. Or if you, as a mage learn a new spell, no reason not to teach the other mages of your guild that same spell.

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2- Playing with other people is nice. I'll try my best as a GM, but I do want to play too! But I realize it's not fair for me to GM myself, that's why I'm nominating Eli to co-GM with me.

Now on to the rambling. See the brainstorming I mentioned above? Well, I'm discussing this RP with Eli from before posting it, so for one thing she is aware of most of my ideas and knows my frame of reference. I can also use the help, being a first time GM, especially considering that this one is open to everyone in the forums and will probably be a lot to keep track of once it gets running multiple quests at once.

I'll still be GMing most of the time, and will not take part on Floor Bosses as those will require some extra attention from me. For the quests I get sent in, Eli will take up the writing, so I'll not be creating quests for myself at all. And in a similar vein, I'll hold no GM authority over my own character. Same for Eli, she won't be able to GM her character. In the occasion me and Eli get assigned to go do a quest together, we'll ask someone to write the quests. So... An opportunity to send the GMs on a quest may come up.

So, counting on you Eli.

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Thoughts everyone?

Right soo... Guilds and how they work... part 2!

A guild in this context is a lot more fluid than what I've seen in other areas. Mostly, it's a way to find those similar to you in writing style and personality, in order to make writing (and organizing) collabs a lot more easy. but you are free to switch guilds at any time, and you can go from guild, to solo, to another guild in three turns, if you like.

power distribution? well, it works like this... Say I'm in The Severed claws, and I get some sort of guild upgrade.. If I switch over to PTA, I and I alone have that guild upgrade in PTA. It doesn't suddenly become shared with another guild because I decided to switch.

And yeah, this is meant to be a fun exercise.. so.... have fun I guess?

Now to how GM-ing will actually work... Right now Pixel and I are in the same guild. This is a problem, right? This is actually a detriment to Storm and Drive, because it will mean at least one of us is always out of the fight. We aren't going to be writing missions that boost one guild or character over another, and there's actually a counter on the profile pages that show how many missions a character has gone on.

If it becomes more of an issue than it needs to be, or if anyone has a serious issue with it, Pix and I will become solo players. We'd both rather see people have fun than to waste time boosting our own projects. so, uhm, yeah... comments?

Also, I'll keep track of quests completion per guild as well as per player. Any inconsistencies can be resolved by simply giving more screen time to the ones who are getting less. Until everyone has a lot of screen time.

Like Eli says, we can switch to Solo if you guys feel it would be best for balance.

I'll be honest-- while I think it might be a problem to have the GMs part of guilds, especially as part of the same guild, I think the bigger problem is the guilds themselves.

It was introduced first as a construct to help the GMs figure out logistically who's good to pair together, but they've already said that the guilds aren't necessary for that-- they can just ask around, or we can add an OOC line to our bios saying people we're particularly good to work with, writing-style and/or timezone- wise.

But when the guilds become an in-character thing, it blurs lines and becomes extremely confusing. For one thing, what about people I'd be happy to work with timezone-wise, but who, in-character, it makes no sense to be in the same guild as my character (for example, Mimsy-- much as I'd like to work with him, Ben isn't joining a kleptomaniac guild)?

For another thing, the whole structure seems overly complicated, with sharing benefits and switching guilds and such. So much to keep track of, for no apparently good reason. If the sharing benefits thing is popular, it could be easy enough to say that characters who have already met on quests can, if they want, share benefits they've won-- but the guild structure to enforce that? Seems kind of pointless.

We don't need them for organizational purposes, and in-game, it just seems like a distraction that would detract from the story. So I think, personally, that we should dump guilds altogether.

So, that's my two cents...

For the little it's worth, here's my view.

In essence, guilds to me provide another layer of interaction between characters. If we stay on duo-writing, our characters won't get to interact and flesh out their personalities that much except on Floor Bosses when we alternate the duos. At least this way, we can at least have some kind of an excuse for characters to know each other. A roleplay isn't only focused on the story; it's on the characters and their dynamism.

Sharing benefits doesn't seem that complicated to me. Join group. Group member gains; guild members gain. Done. If you want to work with other characters who are in a guild that you've got no reason to join, why, you don't HAVE to join his guild even if you're working with him. GMs already said members from different guilds can duo-write.

I like to think it's in our nature to group up and band together. I know I like that. Besides, me being a lazy fool, I think some people (ie, me) feel like they've already put a bit of effort into guilds. So, why erase it?

Besides, it'll be fun!

agoraoptera wrote:I like to think it's in our nature to group up and band together.

I liked to think it was in our nature to all form one group, though ... that's what got us the way we saved the world, after all-- our refusal to be split up.

I dunno, the whole 'guilds' thing confuses and irritates me.

Actually, I like the idea. As he said, it adds an additional layer to character interaction, as opposed to simply being a loot sharing mechanic, if you think about it and actually use it well. I agree with Agora on this one. Although I'm still a little miffed about not getting any members...

AMimsyBorogove wrote:Actually, I like the idea. As he said, it adds an additional layer to character interaction, as opposed to simply being a loot sharing mechanic, if you think about it and actually use it well. I agree with Agora on this one. Although I'm still a little miffed about not getting any members...

Sorry Mimsy, I've done too many klepto characters already

Mimsy, I'd be up for joining your guild, BUT, from an in-game standpoint, my character wouldn't want to openly identify as a thief. She gets by on people not noticing her, or not assuming much of her when they DO notice.

I think in the discussion of guilds maybe we should address how visible guild membership is to NPCs and how it affects the way we interact with our world. So far it sounds like it wouldn't affect much outside of interactions with other players and individual character evolution, in which case I could probably safely join a guild of thieves and not worry about it.

narrativedilettante wrote:Mimsy, I'd be up for joining your guild, BUT, from an in-game standpoint, my character wouldn't want to openly identify as a thief. She gets by on people not noticing her, or not assuming much of her when they DO notice.

I think in the discussion of guilds maybe we should address how visible guild membership is to NPCs and how it affects the way we interact with our world. So far it sounds like it wouldn't affect much outside of interactions with other players and individual character evolution, in which case I could probably safely join a guild of thieves and not worry about it.

Well, I'm thinking they'll know you're in a guild IF you openly declare it. I mean, a guild's basically you guys hanging out. If NPCs never see you guys together, they'll never know you're together, right? It's not as though we walk around with our names and guilds above our heads like WoW or something Shouldn't be a problem narra.

See, that's the thing-- Mimsy's character I could perfectly see Ben hanging around with, and meta, you're someone it would make sense for me to be in a guild with, but Ben would never join a guild that's exclusively for thieves.

...Which takes me right back to why I think guilds should be EITHER purely meta/organizational, or purely character-interaction, but not both. Or... not a thing at all...

Personally I'd rather it just be in-character fluff to encourage some roleplaying.

Final guild update:… we hope

So yeah, due to complaints and whining (yeah yeah we <3 you too)… guild are being super streamlined. More of an in-game immersion thing, rather than a serious measure of a character.

So, this is what we came up with; Guilds, for the majority of the time, behave like game immersion tools, connecting you to the other characters and NPC’s that will be popping up. They also act as a way for us (as GM’s) to keep up with what’s what and who’s who. (I’m personally following the logic that you won’t join a guild with people you don’t like working with, regardless of character stance)

Also (Pixel here, see, collaborative GMing for a collaborative RP!), feel free to add the OOC footnote to your character sheets naming players you wish to be paired with regardless of in-character personality. Keep the guilds for immersion's sake and in-game interactions and tell us who you want to be paired with outside of the game. Of course, doing so is completely optional.

>_> rude....

Another thing is that guilds don’t receive any special upgrades; this has been transitioned over to mission upgrades, because apparently you guys want to play on hard mode. This means that you will receive EXP from actively participating and etc. rather than slowly accumulating unearned EXP.

Guilds will not be disbanded, because the ones we have now are pretty awesome, and we’d like to see where you guys take them. (by all means, make more)

And, yeah.. there are some surprises down the road for all of you…. So I’d think long and hard about the choices you are having your character make now. >:D

Pssst! Hey, all you people who have already posted (which is about... four).

Present for y'all: http://www.sendspace.com/file/m5sylr

Scarab!