Best posts made by Botulism

Trying to run a Ludovica scene today! Idealist, Scientist, Scholar, Perfectionist and Competitor, come play!

Currently down, I'm aware. Getting it back up in the next 2 hours.

@admiral
Not really sure why skeletons can't be scary - a different kind of undead/zombie. As for the nuke, if governments found out the dead were rising on an isolated island I think it's plausible they'd nuke the shit out of it. That said, I get that it's not for everyone. Not your thing, totally cool with that.

I do kind of resent the 'cool kids club' comment. I knew none of these people very much before the game started, assigned roles entirely at random as people showed up, and the first story barely went a month. The 'cool kids' died in the middle. That's maybe 2-3 weeks for a few people to become 'the cool kids'.

And yes, I mixed stuff up with shuffling groups to prevent 'popular cliques' from hopefully being a thing.

@thenomain

In an attempt to take this into more constructive ground, the problem really centers around a few things, all of which I've mentioned before and have been working to address.

First, this game goes a LOT faster than most, and as a result casual players can easily fall behind and feel left out. This second story, I've slowed things down some, but it can still feel like you're out of the loop if you can only RP once a week or so. This means that the players who are on the most and most active tend to be in the middle of everything, regardless of the role they've been given, because they're on and finding ways to get involved. These are what are being termed the "cool kids".

It really has nothing to do with me giving them better roles or more hooks - for instance, we're doing an Aliens story, and every single Weyland-Yutani scientist dealing with the black goo and potential xenomorph are new players in their first story. By comparison, who are the most active players? A dock worker, a security contractor for a mining ship, and a former marine guarding the Weyland-Yutani crew, who has noped the hell out of their project. So if you feel that moving cargo, guarding rocks and running AWAY from the heart of the story are the prime roles, uh... okay? But they ARE the ones on the most, doing the most, and that's because of the effort they put in. Other players aren't as active - and that's NOT a knock on them - and are still pretty involved.

It's a fast-moving game. Activity has advantages. That's just how things work.

I can get a bit nasty - the chest burster alien in our game is a face burster, and I wasn't shy in describing that. But it wasn't Clive Barker level reverential gore described in four paragraphs.

Mostly it's the psychological aspects I play to.

Alien: Mutation ends Sunday (tomorrow!), and the next story in the pipeline is Prosperity's Price, a turn of the century Western set in a boomtown with a dark secret. Monsters, demons, and the Devil Himself await!

We begin a more in-depth look at the Eager Beaver Lodge with brochure material about the lodge in general.

Nestled deep in the Oregon woods is Beaver Lake, where a small, man-made island is home to Eager Beaver Lodge. A bridge connects the wooded island to the mainland, and the nearest town is over 80 miles away, making it the ideal vacation spot to get away from the world and enjoy nature at its most beautiful.

The lake offers swimming, boating and fishing opportunities, there are hiking trails through the woods of the island, and the lodge offers a full-service restaurant with indoor and outdoor dining. An indoor pool makes swimming enjoyable year-round, and a separate converted boathouse building gives discerning guests a more private experience. Enjoy the best of the majestic Oregon wetlands at the Eager Beaver - we're eager to serve you!

Over forty acres of forest island surrounds Eager Beaver Lodge, filled with hiking trails and ancient trees wider than a Winnebago. A gently sloping lawn leads down from the main lodge to the beach, where canoes, kayaks and other small boats await. A majestic gazebo is a wedding favorite, and all around are picnic tables and benches for a delightful picnic or romantic moonlight dinner.

If hiking is your thing, there are several trails that weave through the woods, with gorgeous brooks and waterfalls along the way. Take in the breath-taking views from all over the island and maybe find a private little beach of your own.

The lake is full of fun year round for fishing, but swimming in the Summer can't be beat. Have a party with a bonfire late into the night and refresh in the cool waters of Beaver Lake. We can even cater your event by the water with a full-service bar!

The main lodge is centered on a massive fireplace and big bay windows that give a stunning view as you get warm by the fire. Two floors of rustic, luxurious rooms keep you nice and cozy, and our indoor and outdoor dining offers even more views of beautiful Oregon at its finest.

This area, surrounded by high chain-link fence, is off limits to guests for their own safety. Long ago condemned after a terrible accident, we advise our guests to obey the signs that surround it and keep to the public areas of the grounds.

@surreality Yeah, we are. We have a cap of 40-some archetypes, and we're generally pretty close to it. We'll never be a huge game, and we wouldn't work if we were.

Good luck on this project! Always nice to have more non-WoD options out there!

So I think I killed about a quarter of the PCs tonight - mine included. That's probably an exaggeration, but not by much. Oh the joys of a game where you can blow shit up and everyone enjoys it instead of losing their shit.

Other ideas I have still for future stories:

A sci-fi story best described as EVENT HORIZON meets AT THE MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS.

A modern day alien invasion story, a la WAR OF THE WORLDS.

A post apocalyptic, MAD MAX style grindhouse.

A coming-of-age horror tale, like IT and STRANGER THINGS.

Silver Screen Hollywood, where it's secretly run by a Cthulhu-ish cult.

A Western take on BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA, as it was initially envisioned.

A psych ward or old sanitarium where your Archetypes are more pronounced and you're not sure who you are.

And so on.

Just killed more PCs! Yay!

I come up with a premise and a rough idea for an end game, then let the players do what they want. I tend to have scenes where a thing happens and they react to it, and from there they do follow-up, RP fallout, etc. I try not to have a 'right' and 'wrong' way to resolve the plot, and often let them try some crazy shit. Sometimes it works, sometimes not.

We almost had the shortest story ever. They were all an inch from dying in the opening scene because of hilariously bad rolls. So close!

@bored Aw! Thank you! Sad you faded away, but I appreciate this.

I freely admit I love WoD games/themes and started playing it TT long before MU. I also fully believe that it's a flaming dumpster fire as a MU. The fact that the exact same things are being done over and over to this day is frustrating. Also, insanity is doing the same thing again and again but expecting THIS TIME it will be Different (TM).

I really wish others would try new things like this. I'd play the shit out of a game with revolving stories and themes, where stats regularly reset so everyone is equal, where everyone gets a chance at being in leadership instead of calcified groups running factions or areas. It's why I made one.

It's been fun running it, and I have lots more stories in mind.

I live.

RL ate me. It does that. Not bringing HM back, but may set something up similar-ish that's more static, but with more player-plot control. If there's interest. Unlimited mortals, 1 minor-power non-human (think the kids in Bonds of Blood),1 major-power non-human (think the gods in Carnival). No XP. Sorry, just not doing it. It ruins everything in the end.

Set in modern Vegas. I seed some plots you can run. You can make your own monsters/plots. I run a few. Enjoy whichever you like.

The basics:

Introduction

We are an Ares-powered FS3 game of high adventure, chilling horror, and everything in between set across all of space and time. Historical romps and dark dystopian futures await. Here you can explore space and tell stories of strange aliens and robotic monstrosities. You can also meet titans of history and help preserve the timeline from treachery. Even modern day Earth is full of surprises behind the curtains. Anything and everything you can come up with can be worked into play with a little effort.

Think of the game as a giant sandbox where all of time and space is in your toybox. You can tell stories of any genre, on any planet, anywhere in time We've made character creation very easy and you can be approved and RPing in as quick as 5 minutes. We are based around troupe RP, so group apps and bringing friends is highly encouraged, but not required. This helps make sure you have RP partners to play with, but we'll do our best to find you a place in the stories.

Hey, Isn't This Doctor Who?

Yes and no. While the game is set in the universe of the Doctor Who TV series and related media, it is not a Doctor Who game. For starters, unlike the show, The Doctor is not the star of our game, or even a playable character. This game is about your stories, and can have little or nothing at all to do with the Whoniverse. Time travel stories of all kinds can be woven in, like Legends of Tomorrow, Sliders, Stargate, or pretty much anything else along those lines. We frame it all in a Doctor Who metaverse, sure, but it's a BIG metaverse, and there's room for everyone. You can have as much or as little Whoniverse involvement as you like. It's all up to you.

What You Can Be

Honestly? You can be just about anything here: humans, dozens of different ready-made aliens, your own original creations, or even a robot or android. Characters can be from Earth's history or future, or from modern day, or not Earth at all. There are very few limits on the kinds of characters you can make, except for one big one: no canon characters from existing IP. You can be a Time Lord, but not The Doctor, or The Master, for example. You can be from the Time Bureau, but not a Legend. You can be from Torchwood, but not Captain Jack.

Types of Characters

There are two classes of characters here - Time Travelers and Companions. A Time Traveler is someone with access to technology that allows them to travel through, well, time and space. Companions are everyone else, those who are taken on by Time Travelers and join them on their adventures. Human, Alien, or Robot, they come from all walks of life. A player may only play one Time Traveler at a time, but may play unlimited Companions with one catch we'll get to in a bit.

Time Traveler Requirements

Anyone who plays a Time Traveler must try to run stories for others, ideally 2 scenes a month. As a Time Traveler player you're being asked to help carry a bit of the burden of running the game and entertaining others. Playing a Time Traveler here is a responsibility as well as a privilege.

Time Travel Crews

Whether a TARDIS in Doctor Who, the Waverider in Legends of Tomorrow, or any of a number of other examples, there's a cast of characters working together – a Crew – and this is what we are basing our troupe-oriented design on. To help keep players clustered together instead of all spread out through everywhere and when, we want to organize people into Crews so you have some guaranteed RP partners. Whether you and some friends come in together as a Crew, or we help hook you up with others, the goal is to get you situated with people on at similar times as you and, hopefully, with common interests and tastes. You aren't required to be in a Crew, but being an Independent means you're on your own to find RP and get involved in stories.

Since RP is centered around the Crew, the Time Traveler who leads it is expected to tell stories for the group, as mentioned above. Obviously you get to be in those stories with them, but we ask that you share the spotlight and let them all be stars in their own right. Anyone can run stories, of course, you can never have too many stories! But Time Travler players have requirements.

There is no hard cap on how big a Crew can be, though ideally it would be 4-6 players so that the scenes aren't too big and overwhelming to play in. There can also be more than one Time Traveler in a Crew, but only one time travel device, and each Time Traveler must tell stories, either for your Crew, for Independents wanting stories of their own, or for other Crews where the Time Traveler(s) wants to just play sometimes. Teaming up with the other Time Travelers in your Crew and 'co-running' a scene doesn't count for your individual requirements, or else everyone would just do that. Only one Time Traveler per scene gets credit for running it.

You can play as many Companions as you like, as mentioned before, but can only play one per Crew. That's the catch. Companions and 'extra' Time Travelers can come and go, changing up a Crew's membership over time. It need not be static.

Independents

If, for whatever reason, you opt out of joining a Crew, that's okay. Time Travelers on their own still have to run scenes, though, and Companions may find some success 'freelancing' with various Crews for a story but not staying long-term. Another idea is to pick one of the static locations in the game - 'public' areas that are set in a certain time and place - and call it home. Now when Crews come through, you get to be the locals they interact with. A few of these are provided for you.

Independent Time Travelers get a time travel device and can do as they please, but again, you are expected to run stories.

Those are fair points. I'm trying to keep groups together, but yeah.

Stat-wise, Time Travel will be a skill only TTs can have, Companions would be Incapable. I will let all TTs have access to their own device.

Thanks for the feedback! I DO listen!

So an idea I had a while back was for a survival horror game that was done in anthologies - and yes, I had the idea before AHS, dammit. Anyway, it would be a game with a set ending (date, at least), after which a new one would start. Maybe the first one is a zombie apocalypse, then the next one is a post-nuclear setting, and so on. Each would have a set story and direction, and would last 4-6 months before wrapping up.

I'm tempted to do it this way because 4-6 months is the average burnout time I've noticed as far as running plots, storytelling, staffing, RL eating people, etc. The downside is some people get attached to characters and want to play longer than that. One possibility is letting people play the same character in each new game, just as a new iteration of that character - like alternate universes. Still, for some that wouldn't be enough, and I get that.

One thing I really like about it, though, is that Shit Will Happen. I think Breaking Bad, especially in the last season, was fascinating because no one was safe and anything could happen at any moment. Having one-shot short-term games means you can get lethal and not worry about killing a character someone has played for years.

I have no idea if there is an audience for this, but I'm curious.

I've forgotten a ton of the earlier games, but here's what I can remember.

STAFF
Jodie Whittaker @ Across Time and Space (Doctor Who) (Showrunner)
Stardust @ Fear and Loathing (Head Staff/CB Wiz)
Botulism @ MUSH of the Dead (Head Staff)
Botulism @ World of Wonders (Head Staff)
Cassiopeia @ Cold Space (Head Staff)
Phrynia @ Metro 2, Electric Bugaloo (Demon Wiz)

PLAYER
Aziza @ Paris (Spider Pooka)
Charlotte @ SYE (Malkavian)
Devin @ Crescent City (Dreamspeaker)
Charlie @ MUSH of the Dead
Monoko @ Cold Space
Luna @ World of Wonders (Redcap)
Karma @ Metro (Redcap)
Elvis @ Darkwater (Wizened)
Aziza @ Fallcoast (Spider Beast)
Morning Glory @ Fallcoast/Fear and Loathing (Fairest)
Lupe @ Fear and Loathing (Porcupine Feral)
The Muse @ Across Time and Space (Time Lord)

@theonceler Yeah. I learned a while ago the hard way that players are going to do what they want to do, and it's better to say yes and get out of the way. If you expect people to only make the kinds of characters you want and tell the stories you want, don't run a game. Write a novel. Or a play.