Which canon property/setting would be good for a MU* ?

[D-bone]

Poking this thread. Currently I am toying with some ideas about starting up a mush that has more of a spine (coded backing) but having a difficult time coming up with some decent themes.

Ideas being pitched around and curious on peoples thoughts:

Dune
Star Trek
Fallout
Witcheresque styled game (without witchers, but definitely focused on the murderous shitsack world and monsters)

Got some pitches for a couple, and some code to go with it, but generally just trying to gauge interest and maybe find help if needed.

[Sammi]

@D-bone said in Which canon property/setting would be good for a MU* ?:

Witcheresque styled game (without witchers, but definitely focused on the murderous shitsack world and monsters)

This. Gritty, nasty high fantasy is the only good high fantasy.

[Z-01]

@Ominous said in Which canon property/setting would be good for a MU* ?:

@Bobotron said in Which canon property/setting would be good for a MU* ?:

• Fullmetal Alchemist

That would be interesting. I am surprised no one has tried it yet.

This has been done. I don't remember the exact name of it and my application was sent using an older email account so I'd have to do some digging to identify it. It didn't work out though, just kind of petered out.

It had a very Super Robot Taisen MUSH-esque combat system. There was a guy who played a person that was totally ensconced in automail extensions of his body and thought of himself as a monster because of it.

[Lithium]

I am in the process of developing a homegrown game system for my new project. I've been watching to much Black Sails lately (I own all 4 seasons) and I need a pirate game. I know there's 1 or 2 (I think 1 might have been cancelled by the project runner) but my need is strong!

Once I hear back from the guy who owns kydance I'll start moving on that.

[golgoth]

@D-bone

Degenesis: Combine Dune, Fallout, and Witcher.

[D-bone]

Not interested in combining them- more trying to determine interest in the genres

[golgoth]

Then I'll put my vote into the Fallout bucket.

[Coin]

@D-bone said in Which canon property/setting would be good for a MU* ?:

Witcheresque styled game (without witchers, but definitely focused on the murderous shitsack world and monsters)

I would also be totally okay with it having actual witchers, especially if you could also play some of the more sentient supernaturals, too.

[D-bone]

The problem with playing a game like the Witcher straight up is..

how do I represent witchers versus normals in terms of sheet and stats? The code base makes that sort of representation inherently unfair unfortunately. Just doesn't sit well with me.

Same thing with playing supermutants or deathclaws in f4. If all players start with X... what is the bonuses or penalties that might make it 'fair'? That answer isn't clear to me.

Also I've never read the witcher books and have no interest in watching the hexer series either. (So you know)

[Rook]

Any setting in which there are characters based on a theme where one or a few characters go out and save the world is an inherently bad system for a MU. You cannot have a game full of Witchers, Jedi, Sailor Moons, or Buffys. Either every character on the game is going to be one of those, crammed into a small geographic location, or you will have characters that are second-class citizens. It's a bad game design for a social, cooperative media such as MUSH. It works fine in MMO and small-group games or table-top.

My opinion.

[Ganymede]

@Rook said in Which canon property/setting would be good for a MU* ?:

Any setting in which there are characters based on a theme where one or a few characters go out and save the world is an inherently bad system for a MU.

Then you're in luck, because that's not really what The Witcher series is about.

Witchers are just enhanced humans, probably closer to Captain America than a mutant. Like Dragon Age's Grey Wardens, they are made for a purpose. Otherwise, they are rather reviled, like lawyers: you sort of hate them until you really need one.

Although Ciri is Goddess-like, Geralt is not. Neither is Lambert nor Vesemir. And Witchers are a dying breed from a seemingly-dead time, who really have no choice in The Wild Hunt but to save the world.

I could see a Witcher game being fun and successful. I'd probably use FS3 for it, with some tweaks.

[Lithium]

@Ganymede Something like the Witcher I'd probably be inclined to use something like Amber Diceless.

Just remove the Amber powers (Pattern, Broken Pattern, Logrus) and put in something more thematic. Sorcery and such should prolly still work right.

Never played any Witcher games though, so don't know, Trump Cards might have to be removed as well.

[Ganymede]

@Lithium said in Which canon property/setting would be good for a MU* ?:

Something like the Witcher I'd probably be inclined to use something like Amber Diceless.

For a MUSH, I wouldn't use Amber Diceless. I understand the system, and it's good for dramatic role-play, but I don't think that's what a majority of folks want from a Witcher game. They want adventure and violence, and FS3 is good for that. Otherwise, I'd use COD, and modify its Merits and Mage system tremendously in order to create Witcher and Sorceress templates.

[D-bone]

If this wasn't obvious, the code system I have is a homebrew made by a coder I know already in use on two other games. It'll work pretty well for the system.

except that magic isn't at all implemented which is something I'm not particularly interested in players having access to anyway.

I'm much more interested in the sort of even the most basic or simple beasts are more than a match for a trained monster slayer sort of thing. The world sort of functions but there are large swaths of land where people just do not go.. that sort of thing if I were to go down a witcheresque path.

Again though, because of this how does one represent a witcher in game without it being totally unfair to Bob who apps a regular human soldier dude because he doesn't want to play a witcher? This is an insurmountable problem of player agency.

A good quote: In a Star Wars game- everyone plays a jedi or no one is a jedi. Everyone plays a witcher or sorcererss or NO one plays a witcher or sorcereress

[Coin]

@Ganymede said in Which canon property/setting would be good for a MU* ?:

I'd use COD, and modify its Merits and Mage system tremendously in order to create Witcher and Sorceress templates.

Yup, this. It'd be easy to model Merit groups for each different type of Witcher ability. Or you could even gravitate towards using Werewolf Gifts as models for different types of Witcher powers.

[Coin]

@D-bone said in Which canon property/setting would be good for a MU* ?:

Again though, because of this how does one represent a witcher in game without it being totally unfair to Bob who apps a regular human soldier dude because he doesn't want to play a witcher? This is an insurmountable problem of player agency.

A good quote: In a Star Wars game- everyone plays a jedi or no one is a jedi. Everyone plays a witcher or sorcererss or NO one plays a witcher or sorcereress

I don't actually see a problem here, unless you were planning on having a limited number of Witchers/Sorceresses, and everyone else is screwed. If anyone can play a Witcher/Sorceress, then it shouldn't be an issue. People who play normal people or soldiers or whatever are just people who prefer lower-tier characters, which is actually a thing.

[Ganymede]

@D-bone said in Which canon property/setting would be good for a MU* ?:

Again though, because of this how does one represent a witcher in game without it being totally unfair to Bob who apps a regular human soldier dude because he doesn't want to play a witcher? This is an insurmountable problem of player agency.

For all their power, witchers have no real influence. They have to peddle their services for money. They have to work for people like Djikstra or assist people like Crach, who are human. So, the fix is simple: make an entire section of the game inaccessible or stupid difficult for non-humans.

A political or economy system would do wonders.

[Coin]

@Ganymede said in Which canon property/setting would be good for a MU* ?:

@D-bone said in Which canon property/setting would be good for a MU* ?:

Again though, because of this how does one represent a witcher in game without it being totally unfair to Bob who apps a regular human soldier dude because he doesn't want to play a witcher? This is an insurmountable problem of player agency.

For all their power, witchers have no real influence. They have to peddle their services for money. They have to work for people like Djikstra or assist people like Crach, who are human. So, the fix is simple: make an entire section of the game inaccessible or stupid difficult for non-humans.

A political or economy system would do wonders.

Yeah, basically this.

[golgoth]

@Coin said in Which canon property/setting would be good for a MU* ?:

@D-bone said in Which canon property/setting would be good for a MU* ?:

Again though, because of this how does one represent a witcher in game without it being totally unfair to Bob who apps a regular human soldier dude because he doesn't want to play a witcher? This is an insurmountable problem of player agency.

A good quote: In a Star Wars game- everyone plays a jedi or no one is a jedi. Everyone plays a witcher or sorcererss or NO one plays a witcher or sorcereress

I don't actually see a problem here, unless you were planning on having a limited number of Witchers/Sorceresses, and everyone else is screwed. If anyone can play a Witcher/Sorceress, then it shouldn't be an issue. People who play normal people or soldiers or whatever are just people who prefer lower-tier characters, which is actually a thing.

True. I'd probably work on playing a Rogue-like or local Ranger/Hunter-like over playing a Witcher.

[Ganymede]

@Coin said in Which canon property/setting would be good for a MU* ?:

It'd be easy to model Merit groups for each different type of Witcher ability. Or you could even gravitate towards using Werewolf Gifts as models for different types of Witcher powers.

With the dark fantasy game I was working on, I basically took The Hurt Locker and other Fighting Merits, and grouped into categories. Each House (in the game) had its own soldiers which had access to a handful of categories, but not all of them.

As for magic, there's Mage.