Brainstorming oWoD Games
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I'm thinking of putting together a 20th Anniversary game. I want to do something different. I'm thinking potentially a multicity type grid where the game is mostly ST. While PRPs will be available, they will definitely have an outcome on the game. I'm tired of sandboxes.
Right now, the two main story possibilities are:
- The Pure Ones existed and are responsible for Avatar lineages (related Avatars that tend to have the same manifestation, and paradigm), Archmasters and Masters are relatively common, the Marauders and Nephandi are rare, Nodes are rare and other means are used to gather Quintessence, reality zones are potent, the Traditions do not cooperate but are internally organized, the Technocracy is shattered after a Nephandic purge, and users of linear magic are rare.
In this world, the avatars of the First Cabal/Council of NIne came back forgetting their previous lives but still have access to their powers. They broke the world, and the globe is now discrete districts focused on different magickal practices. It's a new High Mythic Age where the Traditions effectively won the masses and the Technocracy is the underdog.
- A world where things were fine until recently. Something happened (still to be decided the details) and now, the hunt for reality deviants is on strong, Marauder and the Nephandi are common, hedge mages don’t work much with their Awakened counterparts, Nodes are contested and the Traditions are largely in disarray.
In this world, it's chaos. Not exactly post apocalyptic but chaos. The Technocracy and Traditions are in a huge fight trying to cover up all the crazy Marauders trying to bork with the reality while Nephandi are trying to make everything descend.
As you can see, I wanted something totally different from City by Night settings where people just wait in coffee shops looking for something to do until they find their regular TS partner Would love thoughts as I continue to brainstorm.
Thanks!
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So, just Mage, then? No other 20th-edition splats?
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@greenflashlight I don't know the other splats, so I wouldn't run it. However, there is room in my ideas for other splats since I have crazy things happening to them alongside the mages. I'd just want someone more knowledgeable than me to sanity check it. Make sense?
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@chibichibi said in Brainstorming oWoD Games:
@greenflashlight I don't know the other splats, so I wouldn't run it. However, there is room in my ideas for other splats since I have crazy things happening to them alongside the mages. I'd just want someone more knowledgeable than me to sanity check it. Make sense?
Yep! Just checking.
Unfortunately, I can't really help with the brainstorming because the ideas involved seem to require more access to supplementary lore than I have, so, best of luck to those of you who are that deep into the setting.
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Nephandi = Mage that worships demonic cthulhu type dudes.
Marauder = Mage that is so crazy their insanity protects them from Paradox so they can do some off-the-wall magic and you can't.
Pure Ones = old platonic ideals / primordial gods from which all things in the universe descend as a fragmented copy.
First Cabal / Council of Nine - The mythical progenitors of the nine most commonly accepted magical traditions.
I thiiiiiink that might be the only stuff outside of the core book?
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@chibichibi said in Brainstorming oWoD Games:
In this world, it's chaos. Not exactly post apocalyptic but chaos. The Technocracy and Traditions are in a huge fight trying to cover up all the crazy Marauders trying to bork with the reality while Nephandi are trying to make everything descend.
My initial advice is to ground your project's high-brow notions early on to its intended gameplay.
In other words this is what you want the game to be about, but what will PCs do on a day to day basis? How will this relate to them in practical terms?
Once you have the answer then it's time to ask another question; since you don't want a sandbox, what kind of resources (in terms of code and automation, player- or staff-STs, etc) will it take to support that vision?
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@chibichibi said in Brainstorming oWoD Games:
As you can see, I wanted something totally different from City by Night settings where people just wait in coffee shops looking for something to do until they find their regular TS partner Would love thoughts as I continue to brainstorm.
This all might be pretty plain to you already, and is not intended at all to be critical, but if you're looking for feedback from passerby what strikes me is that this as presented honestly sounds like a project that works better as an OTT for friends you already know will really dig it, so you can focus on drilling down and telling the story you want to tell.
I can see some inherent appeal in a place for diehard fans of a game who are super into the lore where you are not expected to hold hands, but in terms of draw for MU*ers at large where the population is already fairly small and seem to vastly prefer more generic places that are easier to grok, I dunno how many people you're going to pull off the street. Like @arkandel mentioned I can see what you really want this to be about, but not what you'd expect people to do in this medium if you take away the coffee shops and bars and social aspect and expect everyone to focus on the plot.
TL;DR a really niche setting and a strict focus on ST sessions instead of casual RP works great for a tabletop campaign (online or otherwise), but doesn't seem to translate all that well into a MU* you want to open to the public.
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@wizz said in Brainstorming oWoD Games:
TL;DR a really niche setting and a strict focus on ST sessions instead of casual RP works great for a tabletop campaign (online or otherwise), but doesn't seem to translate all that well into a MU* you want to open to the public.
I concur.
You've got a great setting, but I think it's too narrowly-tailored.
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MUs without walk-in RP are failed MUs, or OTTs.
