In the meantime...

[Manus Celer Dei]

points of discussion on my upcoming rpg:

 

 

1. player etiquette, how do you feel players should interact with each other in a freeform roleplay (such as the innumerable bar threads of 17th history

 

2. how in-depth should we roleplay? what kind of character would be, so to speak: outside the rules, and should general silliness and physical impossibilites be stopped?

 

3. should I, as "gm" for lack of a better !@#$%^&*le use npcs to further the story? should other players be able to do the same?

 

4. how do you envisage this rpg to work if it contains different locations? different threads? making players prefix locations to their posts?

 

5. how far should characters be able to extrapolate the universe in order to create their characters? In a previous run of this rpg, almost every player created their own factions rather than use any of those I provided.

 

6. I'm thinking of adding, along with the resources of the universe, a thread requiring participants to post a character, which will return a yea or nea before it can play the game, good idea?

 

more points added later maybe.

[Aileron]

1) What's wrong with the bar? Maybe you can have some kind of government or military facility instead.

 

2) Allow people who to be somewhat superhuman, but not demi-gods.

 

3) Please GM

 

4) Prefix should be fine

 

5) Factions: Allow ppl to have their own factions, but if they do, they must have a parent faction, and the child faction follows the parent. For example, they might work for a corporation that operates in Terran space. Then, the corporation would have Terran technology and a Terran disposition. Upon creating the faction, the player must name the parent.

 

This requires that you add a fifth "Outcast" parent faction, for those that want to be smugglers, pirates, slavers, etc. They get all technologies (stolen), no territory, maybe a few colonies, and are hostile with all other factions.

 

6) Character sheets is good...here's my suggestion

 

Proffession: Just one word to describe what the character does. For example, Arther of Camelot would be "King", Long John Silver would be "Pirate", and Han Solo would be "Smuggler"

 

Nationality: Where was the character born and grow up?

 

Parent Faction/Child Faction: example: Terran/Ail's Mining Co.

 

Disposition: Good, Evil, in the middle, etc.

 

Brawn/Sneak/Brain: Describe a character's abilites in terms of a percent that adds up to 100. Such as 30/30/40 or 50/50/0 with 100/0/0 being some kind of ogre, 0/100/0 being the invisible man, and 0/0/100 being a mad scientist. This shouldn't be used for stats or to say that someone with a fight score of 40 will always beat a 30, but to give a rough estimate about what your character is all about. In terms of piloting ability, it corresponds to how well the ship matches the pilot. An invisible man in a weasel will pilot as good as an ogre in a jav. Recommended values for ships:

 

Warbird: 60/0/40

Javelin: 100/0/0

Spider: 0/50/50

Levi: 90/0/10

Terr: 30/0/70

Weasel: 0/100/0

Lanc: 40/0/60

Shark: 60/30/10

 

(Optional: Nightwasp 0/0/100 - just imagine a ship with no weapons or cloak but a !@#$%^&*load of specials)

 

Still, these shouldn't be used as stats in the traditional sense, just to give a rough idea of what the pilot likes to fly.

 

Biography: A summary of the char's past. In it, require that the char has made friends of at least one faction and make enemies out of one faction. (note: it CAN be the same one, at which case they both love you and hate you)

 

Abilities: If your character has any special skills, state them here.

 

 

 

As for ships, I say only allow playable ships, or something qualifying as a capital ship, and have all capital ships need a crew. So either they are flying Warbird, Javelin, etc. or they are on a huge ship with a 100 man crew, leaving no option for custom fighters.

[The Maurauder]

It isnt fun if you are limited to only a few ships, etc... This coming from a 6-year DM (D&D).

 

The following are my suggestions regarding your questions:

1) The player interaction should be separate from battles and adventures and such. I suggest creating a thread for each major location (the station, planetary systems, and in cases where a planet has an important role, the planet as its own thread) and a separate thread for the bar or whatever our main interaction point will be.

2) We should be able to interact as freely as we wish, but there will always be consequences. You be the judge manus; if someone does something too wild, then they will be imprisioned, shot down on an uninhabited planet, etc...

3) Of course npcs must be used! You should create as many as you need to further teh story, but remember that you will have to keep up with them all. For example if an npc fighter pilot saves a character in a game, the npc cant just dissapear after the battle, their life has to continue just like all the pcs'. As for players creating npcs, they should have to approve them with you first and should be limited at a max to one player created npc for each character. An acceptable player created npc would be a sidekick, spouse, etc so long as the characters stick together. If one leaves the area of their pc, then you (the GM) will take control of them and may or may not return them to their pc's control.

4) As i said, give each major location its own thread. For example, some uninhabited planetary systems could only take up one thread, but some important planets (such as a capitol planet or major military base) could take up an entire thread themselves. Also, in the case of a very large battle (2+ flagships,multiple smaller battle vessels, and up to hundreds of fighter ships involved) an entire thread could be created for this. These threads would be pinned, and after the battle concludes, they will be locked. For example: the Federation military base Gamma-3 (which already has its own thread)is !@#$%^&*ualted by the Alliance, who brings along 3 frigates and multiple gunships to destroy the base. A new thread would be created for this battle only, and would be separate from the Gamma-3 thread. In the case of a planet/base/system being destroyed, the thread would be locked, but never deleted.

5) In my opinion you should not be able to create your own factions. You could create your own guild or similar noun, but this would be limited to only a few members, and would be an enemy to everyone else. Of course there are sub-divisions of the different factions, and these could be squadrons, battalions etc.

6) Yes, all forum rpgs ABSOLUTELY need a chharacter thread. It would be approved by manus before being allowed to participate. Your ship's specs woyuld also be here. Any new aquisitions (such as a new ship, weapon systems, etc) would have to be listed here. If it isn't on your character post, then you cannot use it in the game.

 

On another note i suggest not limiting ships to those found in ss as aileron suggested. At most i would set the limitations on weapons to those in ss. Never limit the ships themselves.

[StockholmSyndrome]

Hmmm... so different to what I like as an RP.

 

To me, an RP should be almost free flow.

 

We are basing things around Continuum? So therefore a limit on the ships is better, it stops people MODding. Also creating all these different threads for so few people... it seems almost pointless to what is happening.

 

As a rule, I don't create character sheets. I want to RP, not DnD. The only exception is probably Madhaha's thread because it's an interesting idea upon an RP.

 

Provide a brief synopsis of your character, but don't list numbers, values and other things in - then you are practicly including modifiers, dice and other rubbish I have no want for in a proper RP environment.

 

I know many a RP forum which did not require a character sheet bar anything at most of a few structured sentances on the rough idea of your character. This also allows you to develop your characters later on.

 

Also stating you have 'experiance' does not help either. The last thing we need in a RP is a although prehaps misunderstood - bigheaded mun throwing his 'knowledge' around in mid-roleplay.

 

No offence to you Maurauder, the ideas aren't bad but do not forget, limited are the people to do RP here.

[The Maurauder]

Stockholm, i wasnt saying to use a "Character sheet" or anything. Wat i meant by a character thread was to list your character and their background and ship, etc. Numbers are bad in a RPG like this one. I am the one who said NOT to base it around ss, because it isnt. It's a space rpg, not a ss one. The ships arent just warbird javelin etc, although some people did this on the last RP here. I participated much in that, and i can truthfully say there were only a few problems. One of them was that everyone was posting their things in one thread. The was a huge battle going on and then someone wouls begin typing about how they were doing something on some space colony 100 lightyears away. It was confusing, and that is why we need multiple threads. The oher main issue was that people would try to make their own story and make it overrun everyone else's; i distinctly remember someone bringing a huge battlecruiser into the game last time on their own accord. Things like that are the GM's job, not the players'. I don't know why you are bashing me stockholm, because you basically restated what i said. Maybe your are arguing against Aileron? Anyways I also believe that numbers and strict limitations are bad. Only being able to use the 8 ss ships is REALLY lame, and that isnt how this RP worked last time anyway.

To Manus: Keep it the same as last time, but require charater and ship specs to be approved and don't let people take the plot off on a tangent and then throwing everything in the RPG off. Be sure to keep a handle on things. Keep it interesting, but not out of control and create multiple threads as i

stated above.

To Stockholm: Try to remember who you are arguing against.

:maur:

[StockholmSyndrome]

My above post was not 'bashing' anyone. It was not to inspire an argument yet you seem to try it make it so. The last wasn't and this one won't be either. I don't lower my self to deregotary terms.

 

In response to your comments upon the ships, I heavily disaprove for the simple fact this should very much be based upon a SubSpace theme in some light. If you want any ol' Spaceship themed RP there are plenty out there which will satisfy. What is wrong with varations upon the ships? Better than some random ship you have created from which we have no idea of what it's capabilities are even if you do describe it a little.

 

Afterall, did you not say someone brought in a random space cruiser? Maybe because the open any ship idea led to this?

 

We have our opinions but you seem to be more willing to derail yourself from a theme and develop into something I think is much too big for you to handle.

 

At the moment i'm feeling a bit touchæ» - which probably relates to my slightest anger upon your post; one that seems full of contradictions and mindless thoughts. Maybe tommorow i'll lighten up.

[Aileron]

As for my parent/child factions idea, if the child is tied to the parent as I suggested, it makes no difference. For example, if Ail's Mining Co. is a child of the Terran Faction and the Terrans declare war on Exis, Ail's Mining Co. has to declare war also, and any of their mines may be subject to Exis attack. Thus, it really makes no difference if Terrans own the mines or the company does. The child faction, while named a different faction, is really merely a limb of the parent.

 

This model barrs many options, such as an international mining company or maybe one that changes sides. In these cases, the factions are no longer tied to their parents, and thus are illegal.

 

 

About the ships, read what I said CAREFULLY...I said you could use your own ship, it just would be considered a "capital ship" and would require a crew. If you want a custom fighter, just say that you are flying a small capital ship that requires a crew of two.

 

As for the stats, I hate stats too. An rpg based on stats can get real dumb real fast.

 

However, the reason I want to limit custom ships and put some limited stats on the chars is to add a little structure to them. In a game of chess, rooks can only move horizontal and bishops can only move diagonal. If you have custom ships, one can easily have something that's out tanking a levi one moment, cloaking past 10 defenders the next, dodging 5000 shots after that, and then outrunning a terrier that is hunting them. Any single one of these would be perfectly acceptible, but without well defined abilities, one can easily dream up something that seems to grow new abilities just as the pilot needs them.

 

Basically, make somebody decide before the game whether their character is a rook or a bishop, and hold them to it.

[The Maurauder]

Thats why i said their ship and its abilities/weapons must be listed on their character post. Then when manus approves their character, he also approves the ship, which must be gagued not to be too powerful.

6) Yes, all forum rpgs ABSOLUTELY need a chharacter thread. It would be approved by manus before being allowed to participate and any new aquisitions (such as a new ship, weapon systems, etc) would have to be listed here. If it isn't on your character post, then you cannot use it in the game.

About the parent/child factions, i like the idea. I simply don't think that it should be called a "child faction." Let it be named a guild or something.

You could create your own guild or similar noun, but this would be limited to only a few members, and would be an enemy to everyone else. Of course there are sub-divisions of the different factions, and these could be squadrons, battalions etc.

 

About being based on ss, this rpg isnt ss ships only. Stockholm, if you had played it before (as i have) you would understand. Sure, you can fly a jav or whatever you want, but being limited only to ss ships and variations is lame. Half the fun of this game is making your ship and showing off what it's special features are. Again, if you had played the old rpg that was here you would understand. Some people flew modified ss ships; some others, like me, flew ships that didn't remotely resemble ss ships. Also, why should you have to call a modified ship a "capital ship"? I simply see very little point in that.

[Aileron]

ok, dump all that I said about ships and put it this way:

 

Barr custom one-maned fighters.

 

(note to self: sometimes typing less can get the point accrossed more clearly)

[The Maurauder]

Why barr them when they can simply be monitored, with all their specifications and abilities (cloaking etc) listed on character thread?

[Aileron]

Because ships are replacable and transferrable, but a char sheet is usually set in stone. Generally though, its less information that has to be processed. While it limits degrees of freedom, it allows more efficient communication. Say I wanted an X-ship that is mostly a dog-fighter, but has X-radar and three repels. Is it really worth all the description necessary when I could just say "Warbird with two extra repels"?

[Greased_Lightning]

heh you guys are shooting off these acronyms that I have no idea what they mean... whatever you guys decide just figure it out and then dumb it down for me and I'll follow it.... although I really like the idea that separate planets,colonies, etc whatever get separate posts to keep things from getting confusing

[The Maurauder]

Leave it open for people. For example: My ship of choice for the last rpg and this one is a tear-shaped ship whith an extremely shiny coating which reflects 99.99% of all light. Its only weapons are a single-barrelled rapid fire pulse cannon and an EMP torpedo launcher. (Equivalent to a fast shooting lv3 stream and a lv1 emp bomb) It is very fast but has virtually no armor. Other than its hull and silver coating (easily piercable by almost any weapon) it is protected only by a light energy shield.

[Manus Celer Dei]

wow, lotsa replies all in one go.

 

First to address some concerns:

 

The rpg will be SS (specifically 17th parallel) related, within the bounds of the universe which was partially outlined in the last bar.

 

All the ships from SS will be included in different capacities in the ship list I'm building. So far I have

 

Exis Ship Classes - Freedom(Fighter), Justice(scout Corvette), Liberty(long range Frigate), Truth(support Frigate), Endurance(anti-fighter Destroyer), For!@#$%^&*ude(anti-capital Destroyer), Victory(Dreadnought)

 

Kanatis Ship Classes - Sedan(Interceptor), Kursk(Gunship), Lepanto(heavy Corvette), Tushima(long range Frigate), Leyte Gulf(light Carrier), Arras(Destroyer), Marathon(heavy Cruiser)

 

Ithkul Ship Classes - Tarkan(heavy Fighter), Samurai(Interceptor), Chu ko nu(Bomber), Warbird(Corvette), Spear(anti-capital Frigate), Javelin(long range Destroyer), Arqebus(Battleship)

 

There will of course be Terran and civilian ship classes, but I'm too lazy to post them right now.

 

As for factions, you may create your own minor factions as you like, they do not need to be affiliated with any of the major factions, but your character will probably still be a citizen of one of the main nations yes? Keeping in mind that as a minor faction, it will not be in the same position as the major factions in terms of power, money, military etc.

 

 

Also, I don't really want to get bogged down with numbers as thats not what freeform rpgs are about. I trust all of you to use your judgement as to what your charatcer is and is not capable of doing. If your charater is a merchant, don't expect them to defeat an Alliance soldier (npc or otherwise) in single combat. And so forth.

 

More to come later.

[The Maurauder]

Cool, when can we get started?

And can we have custom ships such as mine?

[Manus Celer Dei]

Cool, when can we get started?

And can we have custom ships such as mine?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

I've a lot of work going on at the moment (working at a polytech, our semester starts on the 7th, so I probably won't be done for another 2 weeks.

 

Yes there will be custom modified ships. But your character had better be inordinately rich to be able to create their own design rather than altering existing ch!@#$%^&*is.

[Guest Guest]

Mine robbed Fort Knox

[The Maurauder]

In the first RPG I traded a modified weasel with really nice guns for it... plus some extra cash.

[The Maurauder]

My ship, WOOT WOOT!!!

[Guest Guest]

is that the milenium falcon?

[The Maurauder]

Umm... no...

Look at the picture.

[Aileron]

erm...that second guest wasn't me.

[The Maurauder]

i'd hope not.

[Arianax]

it was me