5634 replies to this topic

[Lloyd: the White Wolf]

Seems too vague--you just described X-Men fairly well, for one. Now, if we made the other faction science fiction instead of vaguely-defined future, I'd be interested. I'd also be interested in helping flesh out the plot.

 

[Lord of Adders Black]

I'll be honest, I was with you until you brought up the "suspicious government hunting them down" thing. That just seems a bit....overplayed lately. To me anyway. And it jars a little with the more whimsical aspect of a bunch of old school magicians going round having fun with actual magic

[Basilisk]

Technocracy and Mages.

 

Yay!

[Lloyd: the White Wolf]

@ Power: It's really all in how it's done, isn't it?

 

[Darth Alex Humva]

I would like to see a more light-hearted take on magic myself.

 

But not a spiritual one. I've called dibs on that with my tribal RPG. =P

[Toast of Awesomeness]

Well my government idea was really going to he centered more towards the one-World faith thing- Everyone hating the "gifted" for religious reasons.

So what would you suggest for an antagonistic party?

[Lloyd: the White Wolf]

I don't like the idea of a one-world faith, because it just seems so unlikely that it would ever happen. I can certainly see people freaking out because suddenly magic is real and it's a very powerful, very present Other. It's more universal and more realistic.

 

[Lord of Adders Black]

Mad scientists? If we're going with Copperfield-esque tropes for the good guys lets go with Tesla tropes for the others

[Lloyd: the White Wolf]

Suddenly my enthusiasm has dulled. I much prefer something like Wh13. Also, magic guys aren't necessarily good.

 

Edited by Lloyd: the White Wolf, Mar 17 2013 - 03:22 PM.

[Toast of Awesomeness]

Alright, sounds fine with me. Mad scientists.

So a few of my ideas for ability categories were:

Acrobats: Are less affected by gravity.
Fire-breathers: pyro-kinetic.
Pincushions: Healing factor, bone spikes.
Strongmen: Well.....
Animal tamers: limited mind control I suppose.
Clowns: A mild form of shape shifting maybe?
Contortionists: Cartilage skeletons.
Psyhics: There's several things that could fit under here, so I won't bother listing them.
Magicians/Illusionists: See above.

Within these categories(admittedly, some more than others) you'd have a great degree of freedom in designing the abilities of your character and how exactly they work. I just thought these would help keep the theme.

[Lord of Adders Black]

Why bother with the categories? It just makes it look like you're designing specific mutant powers and we have the X-Men RPG for that

[Toast of Awesomeness]

Well, they're not entirely needed. I just wanna make sure the theme is somewhat kept. And it helps divide them better- that's why I never really liked the idea of a HP RPG. Everyone has access to the same abilities. But I suppose you're right, the players I'm sure can be trusted to keep to the theme.

[Ymper Trymon]

I'm kind of wondering about the necessity of the antagonistic faction - why unite the magicians and their ilk at all? What would be much more fun would be competition between them, flavoured somewhat like Thomas Edison's business-dealings, or, well, the way one might imagine things went down between, say, P.T. Barnum and his competitors.

 

While it would be stupid to say that one faction fighting another is overdone - it is, after all, a very broad category - I will say that a bunch of independent agents conniving with and against one another is very much underdone.

[Toast of Awesomeness]

That's quite true as well.

So. Circus and performance inspired magicians fighting one another. I like it. I was wanting to have some sort of religious organization that would zealously hunt them down, but that's just a personal preference- if no one else wants it, not a problem.

[Axilus Prime]

Sounds like X-Men.

 

Also, Page 117! I hope I'm not the only one who understands the "significance" of that.

[Nebula 2.0]

A Grey vs Gray Morality would really make this Circus Magician RPG interesting. Both Circus Troupes could be unscrupulous magicians trying to gain power and prestige with dirty, underhanded tricks but ultimately having standards in how far they would go to do so.Far more interesting than an unambiguously good side with a few anti-heroes thrown in versus the completely and irredeemably evil side that has at least one person that isn't.

 

Perhaps one faction is simply out to establish a new world order with a mageocracy but isn't willing to compromise their morals to achieve their entirely self-centered goal. Conversely, the other faction wants to achieve world peace and enlightenment but is willing to throw away many innocent lives for a brighter future. Just throwing my two cents in.

Edited by Nebula 2.0, Mar 17 2013 - 10:43 PM.

[The Zytrix]

@Axilus I do now, thanks to Google.

 

So, yeah, this magician RPG sounds like a fun idea. However, if I may ask, how would the distribution of powers work? Would it be like Harry Potter, where a select few are just born gifted, or would the abilities stem from a curse or some such thing?

[Toast of Awesomeness]

I want to leave the origin of the abilities up to the players, within reason, but most will be innate abilities from birth.

Nebula, I love those faction ideas.

[Nebula 2.0]

The origin of a magician's abilities could come from either making a pact with some supernatural creature (elementals and demons) or simply being born with those abilities. Conflict would arise between magicians of different origins due to different views on whether or not making a pact with some immensely powerful and morally ambiguous creature is a good idea. The two factions would take opposite stances on which origin is superior but ultimately take in anyone to avoid forcing players to pick a faction based on their character's origin.

 

Where and when does this RPG take place though and just how big is the world? I assumed that it would be between rival troupes and take place around the 1900s to 1920s in Europe. A modern setting would be a bit stranger in my opinion given the lack of traveling circuses.

[Toast of Awesomeness]

I was thinking in the U.S., but Europe's a but underdone, and you're right on on the time.

[Basilisk]

1920's?

 

I am so playing an overzealous detective.

 

Don't try to stop me.

[Toa Onarax]

1920's?

 

We so need a Mafia.

[Toast of Awesomeness]

Yay, more interest!

So would anyone like to help me plan this out?

Edited by Toast of Awesomeness, Mar 18 2013 - 07:56 PM.

[Toa Onarax]

I'd be willing too, just shoot me a PM sometime.

[Basilisk]

1920's?

 

We so need a Mafia.

 

I fought the law and the law won....

[Ymper Trymon]

Overzealous detective? I can top that. Overzealous wizard detective.

 

No I'm not playing as Harry Dresden this is in the 1920s.

 

(I still say we shouldn't have prominent factions from the word go.)

[Basilisk]

This is going to be awesome. 

 

Law enforcement officers with varying degrees of sanity....magic...

[The Zytrix]

Of course we need a mafia.

 

A magical mafia.

[Nebula 2.0]

Don't forget the about the Circus Magicians. A magical mafia would probably end up being the direct result of someone in one of the troupes screwing up terribly and giving the local thugs access to reality-warping powers.

[Toast of Awesomeness]

Remember, most magicians still work as psychics and entertainers- thugs are much less common. A partial reason for this is having "the gift" doesn't make you an instant powerhouse. A gun still works great no matter who has it.

Also, there will be varying degrees of magical affinity. For example, a D-level magician might be able to levitate small stones or control a rat. An A-level would be someone who could levitate automobiles or control multiple lions.

[Ymper Trymon]

Which is why one could most likely get by with a 'magician' who is in fact indistinguishable from real-life stage magicians - lots of sleight-of-hand and clever trickery, lots of cunning and no magic required.

[Toast of Awesomeness]

I was considering playing one of those- they'd be rare, but it could be quite a fun character to play with.

[Basilisk]

Just a friendly threat.

 

We just got a bunch of new RPGs approved. You lot had better be there for them. With bells on.

 

ENJOY. ANYONE NOT HAVING FUN WILL BE BEATEN.

 

BEATINGS WILL CONTINUE UNTIL MORALE IMPROVES.

 

Edited by Basilisk, Mar 18 2013 - 11:01 PM.

[Toast of Awesomeness]

For the 1920s Magic RPG, would a location in Paris, London, or New York be preferred?

[Toa Onarax]

Why not all 3, these were traveling circuses after all.

[Toast of Awesomeness]

That's true, but I figured a central location would be easier. Eh.

[Nebula 2.0]

Agreed, we should have those three as locations. We could fit the World's Fair in.

[Darth Alex Humva]

I'm of the mind that one city would be best, unless ALL the players moved at the same time. Otherwise you get what ultimately kills a lot of RPGs like this; people get stuck someplace with no interaction.

[Nebula 2.0]

Since most players will end up in a circus troupe or following one they'll probably all move at the same time to the same location.

[Ymper Trymon]

Well, New York would make certain things easier - such as, say, having a magical mafia.