W20 Game Concept
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Heya.
So I've been kicking around a concept for a W20 game involving an Ahadi-style alliance set in the Northeastern U.S. and Canada, running from, say, Pennsylvania to Maine, possibly including Ontario/Quebec/New Brunswick/Nova Scotia. Games have concentrated their setting down into one city since FOREVER, and I'm not sure that has to be the case.
Thoughts? Could this be made to work? Is there any interest? I can get space and I can get a coder. The only problem is, I work 9-to-5 and teach when I'm home, so I couldn't hope to spearhead this alone.
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I'd be interested in seeing this in practice. I agree that the 'one town/city' format used for so long does get claustrophobic. It also prevents more defined areas, such as for varied things like local dialect and culture that can be a part of a character's background and shape them.
I think the key is being able to do it where it's not congested. Separate areas, 'thoroughfares' to connect them all. So it's possibly like having a bunch of stories/games within one single MU, but it's all under one cohesive theme.
I'm cautiously optimistic.
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Well, here's the thing. Instantaneous travel is a Thing in Werewolf. If there's a Moot in Maine a dude scouting the Pit in Centralia, PA's travel time is mostly getting to the nearest Caern and hopping a Moon Bridge.
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@The-Tree-of-Woe Even better, sounds like it. That would work with teleport areas yes? I'm not familiar with Werewolf so please forgive my ignorance. I'm interested in the format and how it can be discussed so it can apply to your theme and maybe others.
If that specific system/theme doesn't need a bunch of 'in betweens' then that makes it, by nature, less congested. The rest is planning out the grids.
What I like about this idea is it keeps groups of similar characters together by IC mechanics (ie geographical location). But only by similarities. Because as you said, it only takes a hop, skip and jump to visit someone in the next state or even country (by IC mechanics anyway).
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@purldator
Moonbridges all day erry day. That's how you'll get around. -
We need a thread just to pitch WoD settings. I still want to see 'Dubai Nights' somewhere. (Doesn't quite roll off the tongue as Dubai by Night').
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I think the concept of 'multiple cities/settings' can work, but the problem you're going to run into is critical mass, and reasons for Pack A to help Pack B; I have no idea how much cross-pack assistance and posturing and stuff like that happens in Apocalypse. But you'll have to rely on cross-pack assistance and play in order to have the potential stuff going on all over the place.
The TF and Megaman MU*s I come from do this, but it works because there's always a way to transport around easily (teleporters, flying, whatever) and there's always reason for Group A to assist other people from Group A against Group B. That's where you're going to have to figure out what to do and what you want to push, otherwise RP might focus on one sole area to the exception of others (or worse, people will not want to travel around).
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I think the concept of 'multiple cities/settings' can work, but the problem you're going to run into is critical mass, and reasons for Pack A to help Pack B; I have no idea how much cross-pack assistance and posturing and stuff like that happens in Apocalypse. But you'll have to rely on cross-pack assistance and play in order to have the potential stuff going on all over the place.
Aye, that critical mass can happen in a blink if there isn't some extra special attention to scaling. Light touch in others, heavy-handed "no we are not making more rooms" reminders in others.
What you mention sounds like TP/plot material. In that case perhaps it might be an idea for these packs/areas to have players that collaborate with one another to instigate these cross-pack instances in a wider range.
The TF and Megaman MU*s I come from do this, but it works because there's always a way to transport around easily (teleporters, flying, whatever) and there's always reason for Group A to assist other people from Group A against Group B. That's where you're going to have to figure out what to do and what you want to push, otherwise RP might focus on one sole area to the exception of others (or worse, people will not want to travel around).
Agreed. Not simply to have the areas and rooms but give in-game reason too. Via plot at the very least. This would take some storytellers. I am surmising more than the usual and have a bboard set up to facilitate it between groups.
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@purldator
Honestly, with me only having ever read the Apocalypse end of the world book (and only then because a friend was begging me to play in a WtA game that never materialized; we did Ascension instead), the only thing I know of multiple packs coming together is near the end of the world.You could feasibly (it's what I'm aiming for with TheatreMUSH and Masquerade) run a game that pushes towards the end of the world with a finite lifespan and play up that angle to give people the opportunity and impetus of cooperation.
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In OWoD you have septs which are multiple pack units that operate out of the same caern, (similar to loci in NWoD) so you already have a reason for some assistance.
And the Ahadi-style mentioned by Tree in the beginning is a think from OWoD Africa which was basically a loose alliance of all Gaian shifters. There is some politics involved but still the basic idea of it is for them to work together, the lines ended really before giving a firm meta plot answer weather it worked or not but I do think it would be a neat thing to try. I don't think I have heard of a mush trying it.
Question for Tree, would you plan to include various non-Garou in the game as well? Use of the term Ahadi implies but I don't want to assume. -
@Bobotron said:
You could feasibly (it's what I'm aiming for with TheatreMUSH and Masquerade) run a game that pushes towards the end of the world with a finite lifespan and play up that angle to give people the opportunity and impetus of cooperation.
"Preventing apocalypse" plot? Sounds about right, if I read your explanation correctly. Nothing like mutual adversity to bring the gang together. "The enemy of my enemy is my friend." (Meta quote, whoo.)
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That was the idea, yes. Changing Breeds 20 discussed the Ahadi in some length. The preamble to any game I cooked up would set up events that led to a similar alliance in North America, or at least the part of it covered by the game's geography.
Part of the meta would be that not all shapechangers had bought into it -- some remain deeply opposed to it, though I'm not really a fan of splitting a playerbase against itself. The playerbase would be operating from within the alliance. But one of the things noted about the Ahadi is that it takes any shapechanger willing to join. While the more exotic stuff would be controlled, I would want to allow it.
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@purldator
More or less. Have the lead-up plot be the lead into Anthelios appearing, Rorg's attempt to destroy the Wyrm (and by physical association, Gaia), and the Triat's release, and the overarching plotlines leading into the prevention of such. -
The Protectorate-level story seems really, really interesting. Especially if you allow 2e Werewolf to add in your sheet's Wolf-Blooded. You could have an entire plethora of related PCs to play in the skin of, and to portray. And that can lead to a very unique experience.
Right now it's a shrieking COI discussion when someone plays related characters. But 2e kind of turns that on it's ear. If you could have 3 or 4 related characters, working with 3 or 4 other people, the volume of stories has a very real possibility of becoming super interesting, because while you might be playing your Retainer, or your Wolf-Blooded, or your Werewolf, or your Totem, you're still focusing on your Territory, and how it relates to those in it, and those bordering it.
And the instant travel part of 2e ties it all together in this enormously interesting way. Can you imagine a game of that size, and then change the scope to add a Shadow of the same dimension? It'd be enormous! Just, enormous! You could have all of Mt. Rainer to your group, along with all the towns around it.
Now, you do have to take a breath and think, that's really sandboxed. So, how can you carrot people into playing in one another's territory? Otherwise it'd be very lonely after a time. Your barp is going to suffer, and sometimes you really do just want to barp. So there has to be a mechanism or a benefit to going to other people's towns and rolling down other people's highways to increase the world building. Maybe the bigger cities aren't Territory and everyone can use them, and certain types of resources only come from there? I don't know. I'm neither intelligent enough to come up with that carrot or visionary.
But a huge Protectorate would be amazing with that layered sheet in 2e Werewolf.
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@Bennie
I think you're mixing genres here. The game that was originally posited in the thread is Apocalypse, WtA20.Not that your idea isn't an interesting one itself, but it isn't lining up exactly with what @Arkandel posited (though shamelessly ripping ideas is totally good).
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@Bobotron I steal so much I don't even know where I originally found it any more.
