Posts made by Auspice

@wildbaboons said in Potential Game / Temperature Read:

If you did your original setting would you make your writings/notes/etc available?

I would, yes. I mean, they'd have to go into the game. But any short stories, etc., that I've written up that are suitable would be shared, too.

I think my big worries for it are:

a) How long it'd take me to put everything together. I don't have the 'brain' to format a wiki and organize it. I have yet to find an organizational method for my own stuff. My notebook is a mess of post-it flags, highlighting, and me needing to flip all over the place to find stuff. I have a lot color coded, but that's it. I'd almost need a wiki master who could put together a framework and be like 'OK put setting here, put this there, put that there.'

b) I still want to write stories in that 'world' and while I'd never use anyone's characters, I'm afraid that even if I had a warning of 'this game is a living setting that I write with/about,' people might get really antsy about the idea.

The more I think about it, the more I think Expanse may be best.

I just can't think of a system I personally like enough / would be happy with for Magicians. Especially since I'd be doing the bulk of / all STing at the start.

@insomnia said in Dead Celebrities: 2017 Edition:

John Dunsworth - Trailer Park Boys, Haven, 71.

Mr. Lahey!

@collective said in Potential Game / Temperature Read:

Something sci-fi with room for space merchants (ala Andre Norton's Solar Queen novels or other vintage 'space trader' SF of that era) would be amazing. So, you know, like Firefly but with 1000% less Confederate fetishism.

Well, Expanse would allow for space merchants too. But for my personal setting they are def. a part of things.

There's a whole society on one station nicknamed 'Junkers' so.

@rnmissionrun said in Potential Game / Temperature Read:

I had a good start on an Evennia-based Expanse game, but then I lost interest in the setting and shoved the project onto the back burner, where it's sat for a good 2 months or more now.

If I was a stronger coder, Evennia would be great. Part of why I'd focus on a single space station (beyond expecting only a handful of players) is that I'd want a proper space system. The potential for one of these in Evennia is huge, but it's beyond my capabilities.

I'm lucky to not break things with MUSH code. Make it Python and well, yeah.

@faraday said in Potential Game / Temperature Read:

@auspice Yes I agree it has advantages in character building. That's its whole point. I thought we were talking about storytelling though.

People who are more comfortable with a system from the word 'go' (CG) are more likely to ST in said system. They want to have a grasp of what they're doing.

So if they feel confident in character building and how the sheets work and function, they'll have an easier time stepping into that roll of ST. They'll be able to confidently ask for certain rolls, for example, rather than floundering for 'What would be best in this situation...'

It all feeds into each other.

@faraday said in Potential Game / Temperature Read:

@auspice said in Potential Game / Temperature Read:

Which is why I really like FS3. It's just easiest for 'dive in and go.'

Really? I mean, sure if you're doing mass combats it's comparatively easy for running something, but for anything else? It's a basic "roll and count success" system just like a million other RPG systems out there. I don't see how it's any easier to dive into. And it certainly doesn't help with generating content, as @Arkandel says. What will the players do in those settings other than relationships and BarRP... that's the key question.

For combat in general, it's easier to dive into. For character building, it's far easier than most systems. I never had trouble 'learning' FS3 and I don't know many that do.

In nWoD 2.0, for example, I generally still need help building characters and even then, it's a headache. There is no "just rolling" in that unless it's just a raw skill, but even then most people have half a dozen things to stack on with weird rules.

FS3 is straight-forward.

As for generating content- no system is going to support that in an approachable way. That's for the setting. But having a system that just about anyone can step in and understand will make it more likely that people would do so.

@arkandel said in Potential Game / Temperature Read:

@auspice Unless you plan to do a whole lot of STing yourself (or you have an army of GMs to do it for you), you should also pick whichever system/theme allows for players to generate as much of their own content as possible.

Right. Which is why I really like FS3. It's just easiest for 'dive in and go.' Mage, as was suggested above... the learning curve is high for players and STs. We've had discussions on how people don't like STing Mage in other threads.

So a low-crunch system that's approachable. But has to be able to support Magic.

It's not a question I see answered anytime soon, unfortunately. Not unless I just ditch system altogether and make it wholly consent, but... at the same time, Magicians is still something where characters are balanced an specialized in their own ways. I can see people wanting some measure of system. I'd want some measure of system.

It may be best left to the 'drawing board' until a good system (and code for it) shows up and I could work on Expanse instead, which FS3 fits perfectly for.

@ganymede said in RL things I love:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2007660791/cataclysm-the-rpg-of-feline-proportions/description

My cat needs to be in this. But I am poor. CURSES.

It seems Magicians might be 'winning' over Expanse. But the issue of 'what system' still lies. I don't want anything too crunchy because I want the focus to be on storytelling. The system should be a secondary driver, not a primary.

And I don't really want to design one from scratch. I really lack the time for that- if it came down to that, I'd rather help someone else with such a game than make one myself.

As for the atmosphere- I agree. I've been on the games where everything is micromanaged. I don't want to do that. I want to setup a place where people are free to play how/what they want. Want just the BarRP? Ok. Want to run plots? Great, here's the tools, just give me a heads up if it goes outside of X or Y parameters so I can help you shape it or make sure it fits.

@wildbaboons said in Potential Game / Temperature Read:

@auspice
Depending on where you played that never really stopped. That's been common place on MUs I've played on all along. It's up to staff to make players feel empowered to do that and trusting players to do it without wanting to micromanage everything.

See, my experience the last few years has been different. 80% or more of players just sit around engaging in BarRP or even just moaning about 'nothing to do' unless Staff (and only Staff) run +events.

I've had games where I'll run plots/events once a week and get maybe 4 people at best, while others sit on Pubchan and cry about nothing to do.

Does anyone else remember, about 10-15 years ago, how Staff could be hands-off and players would entertain themselves? And it wasn't all BarRP? People ran plots for themselves, for their friends, etc...

that is my goal with whatever game I put together. And a large part of why I want FS3 is it's super approachable. I've seen people who have never run things go from being really nervous at the start of their scene to 'Oh this is easy!' and running half a dozen more.

@tempest said in Potential Game / Temperature Read:

Assuming magicians, how would you handle the uh..."bonus powers" stuff like the teleporter guy? Like it's not normal magic, but that guy can do normal magic too on top of his OMG RARE ABILITY.

(As you can see, I am clearly an expert on Magicians theme.)

Well, for one, Travelers won't be allowed. The problem with OMGRARE abilities like that is everyone wants one. And if everyone has one, it negates how rare they are. Just like hedge witches, Travelers won't be played by PCs. One might show up as an NPC for plot someday, but that's it.

@wizz
Of the nWoD 2.0 systems, I think Mage is the most headache inducing. I hate it. I hated making a character in it. There's shit that's not properly described in that book. Blurbs that are vital to your character, but never actually fleshed out.

So while it may draw Mage players, I think it'd turn away people who want to just delve into the setting. I don't want to go for that 'how much can I break this system to be THE MOST POWERFUL' that draws so many Mage players.

@wildbaboons said in Potential Game / Temperature Read:

but what would characters on the MU actually do? outside of classes/baRP?

Well, my metaplot has my own designed 'big evil.' Plus, the opening of the Neitherlands would allow people to design their own worlds.

I'd want it to be a game that encourages people to run their own things. Have your characters (once the Neitherlands are there) find a portal. Design what that world is like (and post it on the wiki). Then run stuff there.

@wizz

Awakening 2.0 makes Auspice's brain hurt. She is not a fan. >.>

I also feel I'd lose a lot of potential players if I just recolored nWoD.

@lotherio said in Potential Game / Temperature Read:

No, Magician, for what @Arkandel said, modern world, nothing new to learn and people can figure out other things to do when not Magician'ing.

I will note that I plan to keep the focus on the school and only the school. If your character graduates (on 1:1, that's a long ways off), you'd be able to shift them into an instructor (or other support figure for the school) role.

Because opening up a 'city' or other Real World location leads to a mess of a grid, characters spread out, and then people wanting to play non-Magicians (like, no hedge witches will be allowed, for example).

Having the Neitherlands and countless portals to other worlds should satisfy peoples' needs for non-school RP (as it'd be part of the initial plot to discover the portal at the school and the Neitherlands).

The books/show already showed that the school itself has time travel devices (ones students had made), so people could even run plots to visit X points in history.

Eliott and Janet/Margo have a portal to their favorite pub in London.

So being able to "venture out" beyond the school is super easy in that setting.

I don't think Eclipse Phase fits Expanse at all, personally. The requisite level of transhumanism just isn't there.

Now, Eclipse Phase + Dark Matter? You'd have something.

I do think putting together an Expanse game would be easy on the scale of 'how hard is a game to build.' My plans there are to set it on Ceres to start. Have the option for the 'I can only login a couple days a week at best' people to play those who work on / own ships (so hey, you can only be around a couple days a week, but here's a cool way to use that in your character/story). Make a big focus on Star Helix and the 'underground' (gangs, other criminals) types.

PCs could then have the strife/interaction they want there, but it's not necessary to force interaction (SH got paid off to look the other way a lot, after all... and there's always NPC crime).

But beyond those two 'major' groups, you'd also have dock workers, store owners, families, those coming/going on ships, etc...

And I thought, down the road, once the game is healthy, I could open up, say, an ice hauler. It'd be geared for alts, specifically, and it'd return to Ceres every X months and the rest of the time... PCs run ship-based plots. It'd prob. be more appealing to the sort of people that prefer interpersonal drama, but enough of those exist that I think it could work as a secondary char option vs. primary.

Unfortunately, I'm still sort of kicking at metaplot ideas and nothing stands out. Tho one is that I could go pre-books/show and focus some of the story on the forming of the OPA.

Phone interview today for a position at a small company (a startup, but a really healthy one). It's a rather unique kind of role. As in the phone call ended with him saying he needs to decide how he wants to approach the next stage, but will get in touch once he does (meaning he's interested, yay!).

If I get this, it'd actually use my writing skills. And pay well.

I'm too scared to get my hopes up so someone else do it for me.

@three-eyed-crow said in Potential Game / Temperature Read:

Which one are you most passionate about? That's going to need to be what carries a person through the giant PITA that is running a game.

Right at the moment? The Expanse.
But every time I bring it up, I get more 'omg you should do Eclipse Phase instead' than any interest in an Expanse game.

And Eclipse Phase != Expanse.

@lithium said in Potential Game / Temperature Read:

All three of these could be doable, but I think for the Magicians and the Expanse you have to figure out what you're going to do with the book/show characters. Either get rid of them entirely, at which point how do you feel the game would work without them, or do you allow them as FC's or NPC's only?

Personally, I would love to see an Original Sci-Fi written by you, and that intrigues me more than the other two.

In both cases, I'd get rid of the characters. For The Expanse, I might use some of the bigger background characters (Dawes, government officials, etc.) for plot purposes, but I think both settings can operate fine without those people as well.

I think my big worry for an original one is figuring out how much data I need to provide and how to present it.