The RPG Concept Thread
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Eddie Brock
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As far as the general structure and everything, I'd probably be fine. But yeah, crafting a one-season storyline that could incorporate a lot of characters and promote interaction is where I'd like other people to help focus our energies. Something like Project Purity or the Second Battle of Hoover Dam to unite the characters as the season progresses.
Optikal
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Yes yes yes yes!
I put this suggestion forth about 8 or 9 months ago but it didn't really take. You get on going though and I'd be all over it.
Catman_prb
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I'd be up for that.
Red_Robin77
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So, I've been throwing an idea around in my head for a while that I just feel like put out there for now. Basically, it'd be set in the Inception universe, and based around the whole idea of it. It'd be GM-run and fit into the new short-term RPG system. Still sorting out an elaborate plan but I was thinking as a twist, two (PC) teams could be entering the dreams, both to put the idea into the victim's mind. Anyway, anybody interested?
trustyside-kick
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Cool concept.
Blacklight
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Just an idea for a one-shot RPG I crafted:
In the distant past, an ancient, yet very technologically advanced race known as the Forerunners had dominance over the galaxy. They used their advanced technology to protect all life in the universe. But things changed when the parasitic race known as the Flood caught them by surprise...
Able to feed off of and spread their control through any species with enough biomass, the Flood were nigh unstoppable. Through this method they were able to threaten and overrun many worlds before the Forerunners could contain their infestation. So, seeing no other options, the Forerunners conceived a final plan to end the Flood's reign of terror once and for all.
Constructing an installation simply referred to as "The Ark", they stored all of their information on every sentient species, miscellaneous Forerunner artifacts as well as a few of the very sentient species they catalogued and protected. From there, they began manufacturing 7 ring-shaped megastructures or "Halos" and scattered them across the galaxy. Their purpose: to eradicate all life throughout the universe to deprive the Flood of their food. Including themselves.
They then activated the "Halo Array", and thus, all life, including the Flood and the Forerunners, had been destroyed. Then, life throughout the universe had the chance to begin anew.
Tens of thousands of years later, more specifically the 26th Century, Humanity, under the auspices of the The United Nations Space Command or UNSC for short, have began colonizing worlds thanks to the invention of faster-than-light "slipspace" travel. However, tensions escalated between the older but more stable "Inner Colonies" and the remote "Outer Colonies", which led to a civil war amongst the groups.
To suppress the rebellion covertly, the UNSC recruits Dr. Catherine Halsey to head the newly commissioned SPARTAN Program. A program with the purpose of creating an elite group of supersoldiers.
These Spartans, equipped with MJOLNIR exo-skeletal powered armor suits, surpassed the physical abilities of even the most experienced and battle-hardened marines tenfold. But the project was very costly and due to this the project only produced a small number of SPARTAN-II and SPARTAN-III soldiers. But what few they had were enough to serve their purpose of quashing the insurrectionists.
But nothing prepared them for what was about to come...
In the year 2525, the Earth colony of Harvest fell under attack by a theocratic alliance of alien races known as the Covenant Empire.
The Covenant, believing the Forerunners to be Gods, and the Halo rings to be the key to their salvation via allowing them to take the "Great Journey" into Godhood as the Forerunners did before them and not knowing their true purpose of eradicating all life, saw the human race to be heretics and thus began the systematic and methodical extermination of the Humans and their worlds, beginning with Harvest.
In the initial attack on Harvest, a lone Covenant ship bombards the Harvest colony with plasma, turning the planet's crust into molten glass. The lone ship, broadcasts the Covenant edict, "Your destruction is the will of the Gods... and we are their instrument", and destroys several UNSC ships sent to attack it.
However, the real truth was discovered prior to the attack on Harvest by the newly crowned Covenant Hierarchs, the Prophets. A Forerunner relic that came into their possession had revealed that the humans were the true descendants of the Forerunners. Knowing this would splinter the Covenant, they decided to obliterate the humans instead, declaring that a new Age of the Covenant has come.
The Covenant's superior technology allow them to annihilate the outer human colonies within four years; the Covenant begin to destroy the inner colonies soon thereafter. As a defensive measure, the UNSC creates the "Cole Protocol"; human ships are prohibited from directly traveling to human worlds to avoid detection by the Covenant, and destruction of a ship's navigation databases and artificial intelligence if threatened with capture.
This, however did not stop the Covenant. In 2552, they managed to track the UNSC ship Iroquois via a hidden transmitter to Earth's most well-defended colony. The crown jewel.
The Covenant has found Reach.
Reach. The Crown Jewel.
An Inner Colony planet residing in the Epsilon Eridani System, Reach is the UNSC's main Military hub as well as the home to over 700 million civilians. And the Covenant have found it, and won't stop until it has been destroyed.
Winter Contingency is about to be declared...
But there is hope. For there are a small group of individuals who may be able to turn the tide in humanity's favor...
They are Noble Team.
The year is 2552. Humanity is at war. And we're losing...
But there is hope. For YOU have the power to stop the Covenant.
...Accessing Database
...File Found.
Subject: The Great War.
Displaying Archives...
THE FORERUNNERS...
...File Found.
Subject: The Great War.
Displaying Archives...
THE FORERUNNERS...
In the distant past, an ancient, yet very technologically advanced race known as the Forerunners had dominance over the galaxy. They used their advanced technology to protect all life in the universe. But things changed when the parasitic race known as the Flood caught them by surprise...
Able to feed off of and spread their control through any species with enough biomass, the Flood were nigh unstoppable. Through this method they were able to threaten and overrun many worlds before the Forerunners could contain their infestation. So, seeing no other options, the Forerunners conceived a final plan to end the Flood's reign of terror once and for all.
Constructing an installation simply referred to as "The Ark", they stored all of their information on every sentient species, miscellaneous Forerunner artifacts as well as a few of the very sentient species they catalogued and protected. From there, they began manufacturing 7 ring-shaped megastructures or "Halos" and scattered them across the galaxy. Their purpose: to eradicate all life throughout the universe to deprive the Flood of their food. Including themselves.
They then activated the "Halo Array", and thus, all life, including the Flood and the Forerunners, had been destroyed. Then, life throughout the universe had the chance to begin anew.
THE SPARTANS...
Tens of thousands of years later, more specifically the 26th Century, Humanity, under the auspices of the The United Nations Space Command or UNSC for short, have began colonizing worlds thanks to the invention of faster-than-light "slipspace" travel. However, tensions escalated between the older but more stable "Inner Colonies" and the remote "Outer Colonies", which led to a civil war amongst the groups.
To suppress the rebellion covertly, the UNSC recruits Dr. Catherine Halsey to head the newly commissioned SPARTAN Program. A program with the purpose of creating an elite group of supersoldiers.
These Spartans, equipped with MJOLNIR exo-skeletal powered armor suits, surpassed the physical abilities of even the most experienced and battle-hardened marines tenfold. But the project was very costly and due to this the project only produced a small number of SPARTAN-II and SPARTAN-III soldiers. But what few they had were enough to serve their purpose of quashing the insurrectionists.
But nothing prepared them for what was about to come...
THE COVENANT...
In the year 2525, the Earth colony of Harvest fell under attack by a theocratic alliance of alien races known as the Covenant Empire.
The Covenant, believing the Forerunners to be Gods, and the Halo rings to be the key to their salvation via allowing them to take the "Great Journey" into Godhood as the Forerunners did before them and not knowing their true purpose of eradicating all life, saw the human race to be heretics and thus began the systematic and methodical extermination of the Humans and their worlds, beginning with Harvest.
In the initial attack on Harvest, a lone Covenant ship bombards the Harvest colony with plasma, turning the planet's crust into molten glass. The lone ship, broadcasts the Covenant edict, "Your destruction is the will of the Gods... and we are their instrument", and destroys several UNSC ships sent to attack it.
However, the real truth was discovered prior to the attack on Harvest by the newly crowned Covenant Hierarchs, the Prophets. A Forerunner relic that came into their possession had revealed that the humans were the true descendants of the Forerunners. Knowing this would splinter the Covenant, they decided to obliterate the humans instead, declaring that a new Age of the Covenant has come.
The Covenant's superior technology allow them to annihilate the outer human colonies within four years; the Covenant begin to destroy the inner colonies soon thereafter. As a defensive measure, the UNSC creates the "Cole Protocol"; human ships are prohibited from directly traveling to human worlds to avoid detection by the Covenant, and destruction of a ship's navigation databases and artificial intelligence if threatened with capture.
This, however did not stop the Covenant. In 2552, they managed to track the UNSC ship Iroquois via a hidden transmitter to Earth's most well-defended colony. The crown jewel.
The Covenant has found Reach.
REACH...
Reach. The Crown Jewel.
An Inner Colony planet residing in the Epsilon Eridani System, Reach is the UNSC's main Military hub as well as the home to over 700 million civilians. And the Covenant have found it, and won't stop until it has been destroyed.
Winter Contingency is about to be declared...
NOBLE TEAM....
But there is hope. For there are a small group of individuals who may be able to turn the tide in humanity's favor...
They are Noble Team.
...Accessing Files.
...File Found.
Subject: Noble Team.
Video Playback initiated...
[YT]1M5D8jb3aW0[/YT]
FROM THE BEGINNING... YOU KNOW THE END...
...File Found.
Subject: Noble Team.
Video Playback initiated...
[YT]1M5D8jb3aW0[/YT]
FROM THE BEGINNING... YOU KNOW THE END...
The year is 2552. Humanity is at war. And we're losing...
But there is hope. For YOU have the power to stop the Covenant.
...Accessing Database.
...File Found.
Subject: Battle of Reach.
Video Playback initiated...
[YT]k9ez7iNjoVg[/YT]
This is the "Halo: The Fall of Reach" RPG.
***
...File Found.
Subject: Battle of Reach.
Video Playback initiated...
[YT]k9ez7iNjoVg[/YT]
This is the "Halo: The Fall of Reach" RPG.
***
Last edited:
Eddie Brock
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Why regurgitate Reach's plot? If you're going to do a Halo RPG, do something new.
Batman
Dramatic Example
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I'd be down for a Halo RPG. To be honest, I'll never understand the annoyance that it and other popular franchises get. Sure, the Halo brand specifically might be overhyped by Microsoft to be god's gift to gaming, but if you throw the marketing aside, you can be able to judge each game on it's own merits and evaluate it from a gameplay and storytelling standpoint. I still feel like it's an impressively crafted series.
Then again, I also like the character of Wolverine, and alot of people are sick of his popularity aswell. Maybe it's me just me and my failure to understand that type of mindset.
Then again, I also like the character of Wolverine, and alot of people are sick of his popularity aswell. Maybe it's me just me and my failure to understand that type of mindset.
Not a big fan of Halo, even after playing what my friends and their grandmothers told me was the lord savior of all shooters, Halo Reach. Doing an RPG centered around Reach doesn't really grab me but, yeah, do something with that world that hasn't been in a a game and I'd be in.
Alexander Tau
Civilian
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Hello everyone.
I am very new around here and still have much to read. But what I am not new to is running RPGs. I started with table-top games quite a few years ago before moving online. The text-based Muds were my domain for a number of years. These days when I run games they are in Forums. One of my last ones ran for a year and involved 50+ people.
Since I am not exactly sure how many people play games and what kinds are really popular I have begun to consider 4 very different Game Concepts. Any comments are welcome at this point as I am just trying to get the feel of the place. Here are two of them...
1) "The Wreck of the Excalibur"
This is a mix of Social and Grind concepts. The basic story would be pretty simple. One character finds a very large crashed alien spacecraft. It's resident AI is barely functional but manages to communicate with the human. The character does a few things at the request of the AI and the ship gains a spark of life. Enough to verify that some big alien menace is on the way to Earth.
Players would be those people recruited to put the Ship back into operation and then fly off to defend the Earth. There is a bit of Buck Rodgers feeling to the whole idea. There would be a number of simple things to do each day and of course plenty of time for RP interactions. The Ship and the Characters would have some Stats and work could be done each day to advance those.
The mechanisms would all be pretty simple. This concept was designed from the ground up as a PbP Game and intended to play fast. So as a simple example lets say your Character is a Pilot. You might over the span of a few posts launch from the Ship, fly a fair distance, encounter an enemy, kill it, and return home. This might take 6-8 posts. If you have some RP skill you can make them exciting but the basic game mechanics are very simple.
This game would require a bit of Dice rolling. I have not seen anything here about a Roller. If not there are off-site places that work very well. Characters would have some Gear and there would also be the possibility that work on the Ship could lead to personal transformation. This would be the SuperHero connection as Players could gain the ability to fly and fight in Space among other things.
2) "The Past comes to Life"
In this more basic PbP game a small group of PCs gain access to some powerful items. The basic Story would be about a Character who learns that in the distant past there were powerful non-Human beings walking the Earth. Even though the truth of the surrounding events is nothing like what was recorded in the Myths what this means is that people like Lord Shiva or Odin did indeed exist.
They created items, mostly weapons, that have powers far beyond those of mortal men. But they do not simply work when handled. They need to be activated usually though the proper sacrifice of some common item. Once this is done the item comes to life. The first one is a sword...
"You have all been looking at this sword the whole time. It is beautiful. Hard not to look at it. That very special weapon is at least 10,000 years old. It was made by a being that mythology would call Lord Shiva. It's name is Chandrahas."
Sadly my lead character does not read all the information he finds before he activates Chandrahas. The sword can literally cut through anything but there are some problems. The first is that the power of the sword was used to finally bind a huge powerful monster under a mountain. That creature has woken up, created some earthquakes, and is probably digging it's way free. To re-bind the monster the lead Character gathers all the PCs. They will get some more items and stop the monster.
In doing this they will all learn that the items are sentient. They have powerful personalities that will slow bend their users in interesting ways. A powerful sword wants to be used and will manipulate it's owner into situations where it must be used. What makes this whole idea even more complex is that the lead Character is trying to be a Hero to cover for causing the problem. If he would just give up the sword the monster would be put back down. But he will not. He is both the cause and the solution to the main problem.
As the other Characters find items to use they too will have to face consequences. How long it will take for everyone to really see what is going on is a big question.
There is room for a lot of mythology in this one. I always find that connecting fictional games to real lore gives them a feeling of extra depth and realism. This is also very much an RP-focused game.
A.T
(-)
I am very new around here and still have much to read. But what I am not new to is running RPGs. I started with table-top games quite a few years ago before moving online. The text-based Muds were my domain for a number of years. These days when I run games they are in Forums. One of my last ones ran for a year and involved 50+ people.
Since I am not exactly sure how many people play games and what kinds are really popular I have begun to consider 4 very different Game Concepts. Any comments are welcome at this point as I am just trying to get the feel of the place. Here are two of them...
1) "The Wreck of the Excalibur"
This is a mix of Social and Grind concepts. The basic story would be pretty simple. One character finds a very large crashed alien spacecraft. It's resident AI is barely functional but manages to communicate with the human. The character does a few things at the request of the AI and the ship gains a spark of life. Enough to verify that some big alien menace is on the way to Earth.
Players would be those people recruited to put the Ship back into operation and then fly off to defend the Earth. There is a bit of Buck Rodgers feeling to the whole idea. There would be a number of simple things to do each day and of course plenty of time for RP interactions. The Ship and the Characters would have some Stats and work could be done each day to advance those.
The mechanisms would all be pretty simple. This concept was designed from the ground up as a PbP Game and intended to play fast. So as a simple example lets say your Character is a Pilot. You might over the span of a few posts launch from the Ship, fly a fair distance, encounter an enemy, kill it, and return home. This might take 6-8 posts. If you have some RP skill you can make them exciting but the basic game mechanics are very simple.
This game would require a bit of Dice rolling. I have not seen anything here about a Roller. If not there are off-site places that work very well. Characters would have some Gear and there would also be the possibility that work on the Ship could lead to personal transformation. This would be the SuperHero connection as Players could gain the ability to fly and fight in Space among other things.
2) "The Past comes to Life"
In this more basic PbP game a small group of PCs gain access to some powerful items. The basic Story would be about a Character who learns that in the distant past there were powerful non-Human beings walking the Earth. Even though the truth of the surrounding events is nothing like what was recorded in the Myths what this means is that people like Lord Shiva or Odin did indeed exist.
They created items, mostly weapons, that have powers far beyond those of mortal men. But they do not simply work when handled. They need to be activated usually though the proper sacrifice of some common item. Once this is done the item comes to life. The first one is a sword...
"You have all been looking at this sword the whole time. It is beautiful. Hard not to look at it. That very special weapon is at least 10,000 years old. It was made by a being that mythology would call Lord Shiva. It's name is Chandrahas."
Sadly my lead character does not read all the information he finds before he activates Chandrahas. The sword can literally cut through anything but there are some problems. The first is that the power of the sword was used to finally bind a huge powerful monster under a mountain. That creature has woken up, created some earthquakes, and is probably digging it's way free. To re-bind the monster the lead Character gathers all the PCs. They will get some more items and stop the monster.
In doing this they will all learn that the items are sentient. They have powerful personalities that will slow bend their users in interesting ways. A powerful sword wants to be used and will manipulate it's owner into situations where it must be used. What makes this whole idea even more complex is that the lead Character is trying to be a Hero to cover for causing the problem. If he would just give up the sword the monster would be put back down. But he will not. He is both the cause and the solution to the main problem.
As the other Characters find items to use they too will have to face consequences. How long it will take for everyone to really see what is going on is a big question.
There is room for a lot of mythology in this one. I always find that connecting fictional games to real lore gives them a feeling of extra depth and realism. This is also very much an RP-focused game.
A.T
(-)
Alexander Tau
Civilian
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Well now that a couple of people have been kind enough to fill me in a little I want to detail my first Concept a bit more. Since there is not a huge playerbase I have been thinking about getting people without much/any RP experience involved.
So far I have seen some very good stuff in the Games. People doing great dialogue with good use of both color and pictures. I know those people can adapt to any sort of RP concept and do well. But what about others? I am of the opinion that anybody can Role Play but not everybody enjoys the same sort of activities. For those that want more than the character interactions and normal activities I have some different ideas.
The resident AI of the Ship will not be as flexible as the Humans would want. It will insist on ranks and ratings for people. Because of this the stats and most of the other game numbers can be IC information. The AI is smart enough to track what someone does and assign numbers to what they have learned. Experience can be quantified basically.
There are 6 different areas of activity. Each would have a leader who would make some of the overall decisions but otherwise it is a very loose structure. People could log in at any time of day to get something done.
Command - Manage Events, Lead Crew & Helm unless delegated (AI real Helm)
Engineering - Maintain, Repair, Upgrade Ship & Build new Craft/Gear/Other
Flight Wing - Ops, Maint, Upgrade Fighters and other Craft
Science - Operate Sensors, Research, Navigation, Study & Create new Tech
Weapons - Operate Off & Defense weapons, Turrets, Beams, Torps & Shields
Specials - Fighter Wing operations and other, develop self
The game would run in real time. A specific time of day would be designated 0600 and things would move from there. To make life simple lets say that 0600 ship time is 6pm USA time. If you logon at Noon you have 6 hours you can spend on some activity. Most will just be based on your Stats and the time but some would involve a die roll. Perhaps you spend these 6 hours on some personal training.
That takes care of those 6 hours but not you should spend some time working for the Ship. Your Character is part of Engineering. The group is building a very large Fighter that is more a light cruiser. You will spend time adding to that effort. But a couple hours later something happens involving the whole ship. You post and abort the actions you had been taking. All that means is you only get credit for the time actually spent.
But now you are part of a battle. The Ship gets hurt and you work with other Engineers to hold it together.
It is a Concept with a lot of influences.
A.T
(-)
So far I have seen some very good stuff in the Games. People doing great dialogue with good use of both color and pictures. I know those people can adapt to any sort of RP concept and do well. But what about others? I am of the opinion that anybody can Role Play but not everybody enjoys the same sort of activities. For those that want more than the character interactions and normal activities I have some different ideas.
The resident AI of the Ship will not be as flexible as the Humans would want. It will insist on ranks and ratings for people. Because of this the stats and most of the other game numbers can be IC information. The AI is smart enough to track what someone does and assign numbers to what they have learned. Experience can be quantified basically.
There are 6 different areas of activity. Each would have a leader who would make some of the overall decisions but otherwise it is a very loose structure. People could log in at any time of day to get something done.
Command - Manage Events, Lead Crew & Helm unless delegated (AI real Helm)
Engineering - Maintain, Repair, Upgrade Ship & Build new Craft/Gear/Other
Flight Wing - Ops, Maint, Upgrade Fighters and other Craft
Science - Operate Sensors, Research, Navigation, Study & Create new Tech
Weapons - Operate Off & Defense weapons, Turrets, Beams, Torps & Shields
Specials - Fighter Wing operations and other, develop self
The game would run in real time. A specific time of day would be designated 0600 and things would move from there. To make life simple lets say that 0600 ship time is 6pm USA time. If you logon at Noon you have 6 hours you can spend on some activity. Most will just be based on your Stats and the time but some would involve a die roll. Perhaps you spend these 6 hours on some personal training.
That takes care of those 6 hours but not you should spend some time working for the Ship. Your Character is part of Engineering. The group is building a very large Fighter that is more a light cruiser. You will spend time adding to that effort. But a couple hours later something happens involving the whole ship. You post and abort the actions you had been taking. All that means is you only get credit for the time actually spent.
But now you are part of a battle. The Ship gets hurt and you work with other Engineers to hold it together.
It is a Concept with a lot of influences.
A.T
(-)
SenseiofCheese
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I'm gonna go ahead and start us off with a completely half-assed idea I haven't thought even halfway through.
A short-term RPG taking place in the Marvel MAX Universe.
Yes, I've been re-reading Punisher
A short-term RPG taking place in the Marvel MAX Universe.
Yes, I've been re-reading Punisher
SenseiofCheese
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I call dibs on Matt Damon!
trustyside-kick
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Are you going to propose that game byrd instead of putting the Murdery Mystery one up for vote again in February?
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