I'm currently at work, so don't have the time to write out a lengthy reply. However, I wanted to note that I am one of those weirdos that doesn't like playing MU*s set in pre-existing IPs. However I do like some sort of elevator pitch description that does use existing IPs. For example: "It's Gothic meets Minecraft, Breath of the Wild, and Horizon: Zero Dawn."
@Coin Speaking of trailers for new series, I saw the one for "The Boys" today. I had never heard of the comic or the new series until today. After reading the premise - a CIA group of superheroes dedicated to monitoring and stopping out of control superheroes - I now want to play a MU* of that. Considering that I have never been interested in superhero MU*s, this is a big step for me.
EDIT - Thinking about it, this idea and the Wuxia idea are kind of similar. You have a semi-secret group dedicated to rooting out evil in the world with unnatural powers.
@friarzen It is GURPS level heavy, so I'm not joking when I say your criteria #2 probably won't be met, but have a look. I really like the magic systems.
@friarzen Might I interest you in Mythras, once known as Runequest 6, and one of my favorite BRP games? It comes with a free ruleset that anyone can download to get the basics, which would meet criteria #1. It is a bit like GURPS in that it is flexible enough that it can be used for almost any setting, and they have a free download for handling firearms. Additionally, it has five different magic systems, allowing you to pick and choose which one works best for the setting, or use all five to make for magic being alien, so players never know what's exactly going on. That should meet criteria #3. The only issue is that the rules aren't exactly the quick and dirty sort. Combat is very precise and tactical with action points and special effects, etc, and intentionally so, as the designers are members of ARMA and wanted gritty, realistic combat. So your criteria #2 might not be met.
After playing Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, I want a game of wuxia-ish monster hunters who go around banishing ghosts and demons and killing monsters and shit and absorbing their powers to become even more badass at the risk of corruption and going mad. This idea is not thought out at all, but it sounded really fun in my head.
I am going to type some stream of consciousness thoughts about this and the game you want to make to try to help you come up with some ideas, so apologies for the word vomit.
The problem you are trying to solve is the issue of players not stumbling across an important clue due to a bad die roll. Retro-D&D can have this problem and bloggers have come up with some solutions. The easiest solution - don't hide plot essentials behind secret doors - is not applicable, because the style of game you are aiming for is all about mysteries and puzzle solving. Finding the secret doors is the plot essential. However, there are other options.
First is the Three Clue Rule by The Alexandrian, which is a bit self-evident from the title - every chokepoint should have at least three clues that point to the solution. (He also talks about GUMSHOE in the article and isn't a fan.)
Second is avoiding "pixel bitching" with your descriptions. If there is something important in a room or scene, give some hints when describing the room or scene. For a secret door in D&D, you would describe the size of the room, a few objects in the room, and note the worn scratches in the floor next to a nondescript wall, hinting at the door that swings out from there.
The third, and probably the one I would recommend the most, is relying on the in-built resource management of the game. I have no problem with a player in my D&D game taking the action of "I will search the entire room exhaustively" and I will let them definitively know the locations of every secret door, item, etc. without a roll. However, I run a strict Retro-D&D game, which is a game about exploration, looting treasure, and managing resources. It's Indiana Jones. Exhaustively searching a room takes 1 hour, so all the torches that were lit at the beginning of the search are now burned out and I make two wandering monster checks - one for the hour, and one for the noise of the heavy-handed searching (I'm assuming the PCs are banging on the walls with abandon trying to find hollow spots, throwing furniture and fixtures around as they check underneath them or in them, etc.)
How does the third option help you? From the description in your advertisement of the game, it sounded like the PCs would always be in a time crunch during their missions. You can combine all three of those options - put three clues in a mission, make sure that the potential clues are in the descriptions of the scene, and the PCs can always "take a 20" to be guaranteed a clue but it's going to eat up precious time. Thus, the PCs must decide whether it is worth wasting the time and resources and risking up to two fights (old-school D&D is particularly lethal) just to have a guaranteed success on finding anything, assuming there is anything to find.
So for example, the players enter a private library in a mansion. You describe the room as being 30 feet be 20 feet with numerous shelves of books occupying most of the floor space. While most books are mundane, one whole shelf is dedicated to esoteric and arcane tomes including a large black one that stands out from the others. In one corner of the room sits a leather chair and a table with an open letter sitting on it as though it had been set down in a hurry after being read. The book is the Necronomicon. The letter is some other clue that leads in another direction. If they grab the Necronomicon and a player has the "Language: Aramaic" they can translate it. They can roll to see if they can translate it in a few minutes for the clue/magic spell/whatever it is the scenario leads to them finding. If they don't want to roll for it, they botch the roll, or no one has that skill, they can send it off to headquarters and get a translation back in a few hours.
If you really like what The Alexandrian had, I recommend further reading. He praises Masks of Nyarlathotep for how it handles finding clues. For handling mystery adventures and campaigns, he recommends what he calls Node Based Scenario Design.
Hopefully my rambling and those articles I linked to helps you come to some insight that works for you.
I like Gumshoe but my experience is limited to one session with it. It was run RAW for Trail of Cthulhu, and I wasn't the GM, so I have no idea how hackable it is.
@friarzen said in Section 14 - Discussion:
I don't trust my ability/time to run a quality, full-blown RvR game...
If there is one truth to MSB, it's that we aren't about quality here.
@krmbm Software can inform culture and culture can inform software.
From my understanding, The Secret World has RvR gameplay with the Illuminati, the Templars, and the Dragon working against each other. Will Section 14 have this? Perhaps certain agents are actually infiltrators with ulterior motives. Or are you shooting for a more cooperative 'it's us against the horrors of the otherworld' vibe?
As for a system, Burning Wheel/Mouse Guard RPG might have some elements to borrow. I bring up Mouse Guard because it's a cooperative 'us against the horrors of the world like snakes and weasels and we are but tiny mice people.'
@Sparks said in What Types of Games Would People Like To See?:
@friarzen - Give me literal Secret World. Modern conspiracy horror fantasy yes plz. I will put on my Paladin's dress whites, grab a sword, charge my cell phone, snag a few tacos, and set out to be the thin red line between the innocents of the world and the monsters in the shadows or clawing at the walls of reality. #teamred #templars #honorandtradition
What about Delta Green or Call of Cthulhu in a modern setting. Would that work for you?
If I ever make that MU* where all the characters are permanently on a roster and you just grab a character for the night, all of the logs will have to be public and all the secrets known. The server would have a more collaborative writing project feel than a game feel, and the players would hopefully discuss how a scene is going to go ahead of time. "Hey, this banquet scene can be where Bob reveals that he is actually Count Evilbad, the big bad for this season, and he has poisoned random dishes."
It comes down to what you want the server to achieve. If you're going for a more collaborative writing experience or a server where intrigue and secrets aren't a factor, having no private secrets and logging all scenes wouldn't be a problem. In fact, the opposite might be detrimental. If you're making Secret Hitler the MUSH, then private secrets are going to be essential.
@Ghost You forgot the +burninate command.
@Sparks Ooooh, that sounds interesting. It's got a bit of RWBY in there.
@ZombieGenesis I was aiming more for the setting and "feel" of the world. Mouse Guard is a bit of a post-apocalypse without the apocalypse. It's a bunch of very small yet clever and courageous knights defending a collection of cities from a harsh, unforgiving environment filled with predators that are as small and sapient as they (the weasels) to things that can eat them whole (owls, which are basically a stand-in for dragons; snakes, which are a stand-in for...giant snakes; wolves, which are a stand-in for "Oh my God, it's Cthulhu, Godzilla, and Galactus teamed up! We're all going to fucking die!", etc.)
Dark Souls is a bunch of knight like characters trying to hold back the darkness of monstrous creatures that are threatening the crumbling remains of civilization.
As for the Mouse Guard RPG, I recommend. It's fun, and I kind of want to steal it for a MU*. I think it has potential for helping Storytellers run tinyplots for group, because there is a set order of phases and there are rules for what the GM can do during his/her phase.
@saturna said in What Types of Games Would People Like To See?:
@Sparks said in What Types of Games Would People Like To See?:
...actually, wait, forget just the "general post-post-apocalyptic setting" part. What I want is a game literally based on either Nausicaä or Horizon Zero Dawn, or with a very similar feel to one or the other. Probably the latter, as it'd be more accessible to people.
10/10 would play this game.
As would I. I love Horizon: Zero Dawn. A sequel can't happen soon enough.
Mouseguard RPG or Mouseguard RPG only with humans. Add some Ars Magica-ish wizards and a dash of Dark Souls and Breath of the Wild and that would be nice.
For sci-fi Instellar Trading Company, Blade Runner, Mass Effect, Firefly and Tales from the Borderlands in a blender. You get the dystopian megacorporation cyberpunk mixed with the rogue trader/Traveller-esque small crew trying to make money mixed with explorative Indiana Jones sci-fi style, letting players explore whichever appeals most to them.
Well, we haven't done great things with the technology we have, so maybe keeping us at Roman levels would be a good thing.
