Choose Your Own Adventure (Game)
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I like to randomly talk with people about game ideas I have, and this one came across in one of our discussions and I thought I'd see what folks thought. While I'm pretty committed to Victoriana for my own game (if I can stop playing KD long enough to do anything), I wonder if it might be worth exploring. Possibly as an OTT, possibly even as a mush, or something else entirely.
The whole game would basically be based on categories that points go into.
The game would include specific pre-work from the ST; the 'timeline of events', the triggers, whatever you want to call them. At #X, y happens. You can either just maintain an entire 'world' timeline, do it by area, or you could have separate category 'timelines'. Any number of things. What's important is that as the players (as a whole, it's a game level thing) spend points, it moves the ticker along the track. This ticker/timeline is behind the GM screen, so to speak.
Beginning of game: Everyone makes completely real-world sorts of people. Whoever they want to interesting people all on their own, but standard accepted reality no magic or monsters or super tech or super heroes or gods being real or any of it.
The game is played normally. People play. Initially, supernatural things are closed. Then, the ST would run 'plot number one', and depending on the choices and outcomes of that plot, the players can spend their XP in a number of ways.
- Increase self as is
- Buy points in whichever 'weirdness' category the conclusion of the plot allowed for.
Points spent in a weirdness category would do two (more?) things. It'd open up powers for them to buy, and it would move the timeline either along the world's line, or the specific weirdness bought. Whenever all the points put in by various players hit a milestone, whatever is supposed to happen at that point does.
To get access to things that are not open, either participate in the big chapter plot where that month's Game Points are allocated, or run a plot for other people, at which point staff would review the PRP log and assign a rating for folks for whichever category is appropriate.
Okay. That's the general idea.
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So, I want to run a game. There's some things I know -- I want politics, a lot of opportunity for social stuff, and a huge focus on character goals and development. I also want to tell a coming of age type of story, so I know I want the world itself to go through a massive upheaval while right alongside, the characters all have the same thing happen to them.
My categories are:
Super Science!
Magic
Mutation
Mythology
Time Travel
Gothic horror creatures
Psychic AbilitySo I do a few things; I have a 'world' category, and any points that anybody spends on anything add to that total. Every so often -- every month or two, figure out how many points that means for my game, adapt as I go --some big event triggers, predefined. For example, at 5000 points, the specific category with the most points becomes the dominant paradigm. Characters and the world changes accordingly. Game over? Restart? Same thing? Who knows.
But the second thing I do, of course, is my specific timelines. At 300 Gothic Horror Creatures hit, anyone could choose to have their character bit by a werewolf or vampire, or other strange things like Frankenstein's Monster. At 500 Time Travel points, the whole populace understands the fluid nature of time, that's how the world is. At 2000 Mythology points, people can start making Zeus's children.
I also, for each category, make sure I have laid out what people are getting for their points. So for that kick-start plot, the two options I give people to solve the problem, they end up going for Psychic Ability. So at the end of the plot, I tell them all: you can buy 10 points of psychic ability.
Then that's open for them, and they can go look and see what that lets them buy with their XP, going forward.
End result is that the system itself actually supports making sure that everyone who is playing has at least some amount of say in what sort of game they're playing. The trick is to just make sure that all your categories, as the ST, are things you would enjoy.
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Little further discussion, things pointed out to me:
Your XP spent always would benefit you, it's just that sometimes that benefit is similar to buying a secret society merit (or whatever) that just opens up the ability to buy other things.
Some sort of IC mechanism (quest, goo, something) needs to be present to allow people to 'respec'; with the world being malleable, the characters should be to a certain extent as well.
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I clicked on this thinking it was a MUX where I'd be able to futz around in the Cave of Time.
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Glitch for President. Or something.
