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Well, I let players have lots of control, twisting things the way they wanted in Asylum.

 

It died.

 

As I recall, Asylum died because you railroaded the players every time they tried to do something themselves. 

 

The players had pretty much no control over anything at all in that game. 

Edited by Of Australian Origin...
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Wrong. I decided to pass Chumpu jumping ship and magically appearing from the city and back again.

 

And Icarusben's theory of "Needing to ask permission before killing". That was the main topic in the PMs.

 

And deciding to wreck half the storyline for it so people could be happy.

 

I let the players break it. And then they blame me for every single step.

 

 

 

I intend to have this RPG be run by either all myself, independent GMs or very trustworthy players. I'm not risking the same ridiculous nonsense from last time.

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What you're doing right now is showing everyone on the forum that you haven't learned a thing from Asylum - since it sounds like you're now threatening to be even more oppressive and heavy-handed with your GMing then you were back then.

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Coming from running what was effectively a railroaded RPG in the past...

 

Things like what you're describing is mostly the results of a railroaded RPG being continually railroaded and when the illusion of player control is given and then taken away multiple times... It becomes a trainwreck.

 

If you're going to have a free and open RPG, you need to do so from the very start... Adding in more control is just going to make things worse, especially in the sort of RPG you described earlier, Ghidora...

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Wrong. I decided to pass Chumpu jumping ship and magically appearing from the city and back again.

 

And Icarusben's theory of "Needing to ask permission before killing". That was the main topic in the PMs.

 

And deciding to wreck half the storyline for it so people could be happy.

 

I let the players break it. And then they blame me for every single step.

 

 

 

I intend to have this RPG be run by either all myself, independent GMs or very trustworthy players. I'm not risking the same ridiculous nonsense from last time.

1. What Chumpu was allowed to do had little to no impact on the story whatsoever, and none of the other players were given anywhere near that amount of freedom at all. So no, Nato's point still stands.

2. We've been over this already; while it is normally an implied courtesy to ask before attempting to off someone, the rules state that if a character is the subject of an attack that would normally kill them, and they have no means of defending themselves, they should die. This usually doesn't apply to GM NPCs though, as it's their job to keep them alive in a way that doesn't make the majority of the playerbase cry foul, if they are indeed supposedly necessary to move the plot along. Also, if I remember correctly, the monster was a prime example of this as well (which led to an entire week of inactivity at one point), and last time I checked, Icarus wasn't in control over that portion of the game.

3. If the storyline was making people unhappy in the first place, then it needed to be wrecked. Also, the vast majority of the changes were never really played out IC, which was where the real problems were.

4. As Tiragath mentioned previously, it wouldn't have broke so easily if its structure was more malleable. The only thing we did was to help drive the final nail in the coffin.

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Epics: 

Hero Factory: Contagion

RPG Characters:

BZPRPG Characters

RPG History:

The Asylum, Bionifight Infinite, Year 60,000, Matoran und Panzer, HF RPG 2.0, Wasteland, Corpus Rahkshi, Skyrise

GM Résumé:

Matoran und Panzer (Formerly Appointed Co-GM), Corpus Rahkshi (Former Substitute Co-GM)

 

 

Feel free to shoot a PM my way if you're waiting for me to respond to something and I've been taking a while to do so.

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Oh... dang... We doing this again.

 

*sigh.*

 

Wrong. I decided to pass Chumpu jumping ship and magically appearing from the city and back again.

 

And Icarusben's theory of "Needing to ask permission before killing". That was the main topic in the PMs.

 

And deciding to wreck half the storyline for it so people could be happy.

 

I let the players break it. And then they blame me for every single step.

 

 

 

I intend to have this RPG be run by either all myself, independent GMs or very trustworthy players. I'm not risking the same ridiculous nonsense from last time.

No, Ghidora. It wasn't 100% because of the players, alright? WE SCREWED UP. ACCEPT AND MOVE ON.

 

Also, don't even act like you're the one getting "all the blame." I got just as much, if not more, blame than you did. Don't act like you've taken a bullet or anything, because I went through the exact same thing you did.

 

I will dive into a pool of hammerheads wearing a loincloth of raw meat before I ever approve another game by you.

 

-Tyler

Dang... That's... firm.

 

 

Wrong. I decided to pass Chumpu jumping ship and magically appearing from the city and back again.

 

And Icarusben's theory of "Needing to ask permission before killing". That was the main topic in the PMs.

 

And deciding to wreck half the storyline for it so people could be happy.

 

I let the players break it. And then they blame me for every single step.

 

 

 

I intend to have this RPG be run by either all myself, independent GMs or very trustworthy players. I'm not risking the same ridiculous nonsense from last time.

1. What Chumpu was allowed to do had little to no impact on the story whatsoever, and none of the other players were given anywhere near that amount of freedom at all. So no, Nato's point still stands.

2. We've been over this already; while it is normally an implied courtesy to ask before attempting to off someone, the rules state that if a character is the subject of an attack that would normally kill them, and they have no means of defending themselves, they should die. This usually doesn't apply to GM NPCs though, as it's their job to keep them alive in a way that doesn't make the majority of the playerbase cry foul, if they are indeed supposedly necessary to move the plot along. Also, if I remember correctly, the monster was a prime example of this as well (which led to an entire week of inactivity at one point), and last time I checked, Icarus wasn't in control over that portion of the game.

3. If the storyline was making people unhappy in the first place, then it needed to be wrecked. Also, the vast majority of the changes were never really played out IC, which was where the real problems were.

4. As Tiragath mentioned previously, it wouldn't have broke so easily if its structure was more malleable. The only thing we did was to help drive the final nail in the coffin.

 

1. In fact, I was very much against it, but Chumpu apparently didn't agree with me.

2. It also proved that GM characters should never be in a position where they can get killed. Also, I think I had control of the monster three times; once when it first appeared, once when it killed Caetus, and once when the Asylum turned to Silent Hill for some odd reason I can't really remember.

3. Yep. Pretty accurate, I'd say.

4. The RP was a railroad, the GMs were guardrails, and the playerbase was a drunken hobo trying to walk in a straight line. Needless to say, that did not go well.

 

I won't say the playerbase is entirely guilt-free. You did do some things that really frustrated us to no end. But, I will admit, you only drove a nail into the coffin. We were the ones who put the body in there.

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Thanks for admitting your mistakes, but I want to address one thing:

It also proved that GM characters should never be in a position where they can get killed.

This isn't really true - the best GM characters are ones that guide the plot, but don't own it, let alone be the main stars in it. In an ideal world, the GM characters should be just as vulnerable as any other character, but, going back to T's analogy, the plot should be malleable enough to accommodate a sudden change of circumstances, including the death of a GM character.

Edited by OLISI
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.


Kathok

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I will dive into a pool of hammerheads wearing a loincloth of raw meat before I ever approve another game by you.

 

-Tyler

Dang... That's... firm.

 

seems like the best way to get the point across

 

-Tyler

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SAY IT ONE MORE TIME 

TELL ME WHAT IS ON YOUR MIND

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Thanks for admitting your mistakes, but I want to address one thing:

It also proved that GM characters should never be in a position where they can get killed.

This isn't really true - the best GM characters are ones that guide the plot, but don't own it, let alone be the main stars in it. In an ideal world, the GM characters should be just as vulnerable as any other character, but, going back to T's analogy, the plot should be malleable enough to accommodate a sudden change of circumstances, including the death of a GM character.

I agree strongly with this.

 

There have been far too many(I don't know if is a problem here) RPGs where NPCs/GM Characters are deemed unkillable "because they are important to the plot."

 

If the plot is so dependent on a few characters, non-player characters, you really don't have a game; you have a story you want to write with minor interference from players under the guide of a game.

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It used to be a bigger thing. Now it's something more like "Please don't try and kill these people, they really help the plot move."

 

I suppose it helps that those characters tend to be rather overpowered anyway.

 

EDit: I suppose a better way to put it would be to say that we are moving away from relying entirely on GM plots that require certain characters and have more or less gotten rid of plot armor.

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It used to be a bigger thing. Now it's something more like "Please don't try and kill these people, they really help the plot move."

 

I suppose it helps that those characters tend to be rather overpowered anyway.

 

EDit: I suppose a better way to put it would be to say that we are moving away from relying entirely on GM plots that require certain characters and have more or less gotten rid of plot armor.

 

This is an apt summation; once upon a time, particularly in the hey day of the RPG Contests, Plot Armor was frequently present in force. This was in part due to the way things worked at the time, but also because many of those games were designed to run within three months. That was, after all, all the time that a winning game was guaranteed. So an RPG had to be able to rely on certain factors in order to run.

 

This way of doing things is a lot less common, and never happens to the same degree. Plot Armor is an artificial construct, and one that can be highly damaging to a player's ability to play the game as though it truly is an RPG. With the time limit gone, more or less, and with the more sandbox nature of many of the games preceding the Judging System, Plot Armor is much less present.

 

And, actually, is usually regarded as a bad thing if it exceeds a certain reasonable level.

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1. Chumpu had every right to try to escape. It's not like all of our characters were fitted with explosive collars to prevent us from doing so, so if he managed to make it past everything that was thrown at him, which he technically did, then then that possibility should've been accounted for. Part of the player's job is to try to muck up every "perfect" plan that the GM thinks they're throwing their way, so if an RPG is being played like it's a closed-off highway with no breathing room whatsoever, isn't it only logical for someone to eventually try to ram through the guardrails at some point?

2. Here's an idea; instead of making GM characters overpowered/giving them plot armor so they become less likely to die, why don't we actually start taking the extra time to make them more likable so people don't actually want to kill them in the first place? With the debatable exceptions of Nyhe and Kazak, the vast majority of the staff NPCs were practically on the top of everybody's hit list because they were complete and utter Karz-Heads. They didn't care about the patients, everyone knew that they were withholding vital information since Day-Freaking-One, and they did practically nothing but stand around and clean up the monster's mess every time it offed somebody, so the fact that roughly 80% of the active players were trying to kill them off towards the end of the game shouldn't have come as that much of a surprise to anyone.

And at what point exactly was The Asylum ever channeling Silent Hill?

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Epics: 

Hero Factory: Contagion

RPG Characters:

BZPRPG Characters

RPG History:

The Asylum, Bionifight Infinite, Year 60,000, Matoran und Panzer, HF RPG 2.0, Wasteland, Corpus Rahkshi, Skyrise

GM Résumé:

Matoran und Panzer (Formerly Appointed Co-GM), Corpus Rahkshi (Former Substitute Co-GM)

 

 

Feel free to shoot a PM my way if you're waiting for me to respond to something and I've been taking a while to do so.

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Guys, while I understand Asylum's downfall is still a rather touchy subject, it'd be appreciated if we could keep it out of this topic. Given that part of planning is knowing what has already happened, I know that's not entirely possible. But it would be best to not make it a primary subject. :)

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On this eve, the thirtieth anniversary of that first colony, many are left to wonder; is the world fast approaching a breaking point?

 

 

  Breaking Point: An OTC Mecha RPG

 

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I will dive into a pool of hammerheads wearing a loincloth of raw meat before I ever approve another game by you.

 

-Tyler

Can I join you? Hammerheads are my favorite species of shark and free-swimming with them is on my bucket list. Though the loincloth may be a solo bit. Not really relevant to the conversation I would just like an invite. :D

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Except a Pony RPG; that could never work. Ever.

Challenge accepted.

 

*ahem*

 

Swiping permitted. Criticism, ripping this apart, complaints, and any other commentary welcome! 

 

Bionicle: West

 

Yee haw! Welcome to the Wild Bionicle West! Where outlaws run for their lives against the Sheriffs of NotNuibutter! Better get on your hat and saddle up for a ride under the stars. 

 

Hi, cowpokes, I'm Sheriff Smitty here with dem opportunitistic introduction. You better listen up, or dem outlaws will have yer head on zee cactus tommorrow night. 

 

Where We're At

 

Welcome, folks, to the land of NotNuibetter(or is it butter?), home to a buncha peaceful villages, trails where the outlaws go raidin', and one darn spooky train track I'd advise to stay away from if ya value yer life, sonny. 

 

Waterfall Village - Dis place is where the fine lady Serena lives, and she's a good looker, I must say. If yer a farmer, dis place is where ya turn your grain to be ground into bread for dem Agori to eat, and where you git your water if the river or the sky don't give it to ya. Also a good place to rest your weary bones. Lots of good healers dere is you're injured, and plenty of fine ladies if ya ain't. Just may sure to give dem a tip and a smile. 

 

Old Martha's Cafe and Saloon - Dis place is good food, and a lot of it. It's a good place to find me, since I enjoy a good slice of Old Martha's pie after a day on the beat. Plenty of good ale and good conversation with fine folk, I'll say. Located just outside the Waterfall Village, next to some fine inns for staying the night. 

 

Farmer's Fields and Villages - These are the places where the villagers and the ones who defend them work. Dese places can be darn dangerous, because dere's only a few people in 'em, and outlaws love to raid 'em for food and treasure. If you spend da night in dem place, watch yer back and keep yer gun loaded. 

 

Rolling Hills and Cacti - This place is the wilderness. No one in dere right mind ever goes here yonder, but there's rumors of treasure littered out here amidst all the gila monster. 'ersonally, I think the treasure some folks bring back is just what other parties lef' with, but it ain't like I've ever been wrong. 

 

The Mountain - This is actually what it sounds like. Some farmers grow stuff up there, there's a bunch of members of a strange religious cult up dere that believe that the mountain is closer to the "Orginal Beings", whatever they are. Bunch of malurky. Of course, there's this crazy story about a secret pool up there where powered gemstones can be found, but that's probably the cult's ploy to get more believers. I ain't buyin'. 

 

SherWheni Forest - This is were those blasted outlaws hang out. Nooks and crannys for them to hide, hideouts underground and in the trees, this place be ludicrously well defended, which is why me deputies an' I 'ave so much trouble gittin' rid of 'em, the buggers. Dey definately 'ave some healers and provisions stored up in dere somewhere, they do. Nasty buggers. 

 

Haunted Train Track - I advise you to stay afar away from here. Dis be where the spirits of dem dead players hang out, and they attack anyone who get near. Buncha fools have gone dere to talk to the corpse of dere granma, only to git killed by da spirit of dere worst enemy. No good. 

 

{MAP coming soon}

 

Who's Around Here Yonder

 

Villagers - A wide variety of folk live around here who are jus' peaceful villagers tryin' to survive. From the tough Agori growing food and raising animals, to the blacksmiths and craftspeople, to the teachers for the little Agori and Matoran and the healers, there's all sorts. Villagers usually have one steed and a weapon, and sometimes a power or two.

 

Sheriff/Police - These are my folks. We're the ones who defend the villagers from the evil outlaws and all that. We spend our time escortin' groups of villagers as they move around and expeditions into Sherweni forest. We usually take two weapons in 'ddition to our mounts.

 

Outlaws - These are dem rogue criminals I mention before. Dem no good, and unfortunately we don't know too much about 'em, other than what I mention before. 

 

Sealed Train of Doom - Every so often I see a train go by on the haunted train track. Rumor has it that there is a bunch of poor fellas inside, with protosteel and poison trappin' 'em in dere. Nobody knows were it comes from an' where it goes, and few want to. Personally I'd like to find out, but I got a job to do, folks, and no time fer chasin' funny legends. 

 

How to Git from one place to 'nother

 

Donkey: Attributes: Toughness. Speed: Slow. 

 

Donkeys aren't the best for speed, but they're the wilderness traveler's favorite, because they can eat most anything and don't require much water. 

 

Pony: Speed: Moderate. 

 

The standard animal for villagers, ponies will take you at a decent speed. You have to feed 'em regular, though, or they drop over dead. 

 

Horse: Speed: Fast. 

 

An outlaws choice of steed, a horse is what you need for swift approach to a fleeing villager. But a horse wilts easily in the hot sun of the west - if this is your ride, travel at night and camp in the shade during the day. And stay out of the wilderness. 

 

Biomechanical Dinosaur: Attributes: Toughness and Strength (or Flight) Speed: Slow (for land dinos) Fast (for flying ones)

 

Dinosaurs are big and strong. Villagers like them for carrying heavy loads or as intelligent guards for their villages; outlaws like their vicious pets with claws and teeth. Either way, these animals can pack a punch. 

 

Dragon: Attributes: Flight, Strength, Powered Breath Speed: Moderate to Fast.

 

Dragons are a force to be reckoned with. Their flight, combined with their strength and breathing powers, leave most enemies in the dust. But be careful - if your dragon is injured, you will be left without much means of defense, since many dragon riders ride light. 

 

Custom steeds are allowed, but they must be approved. 

 

Staff Folks

 

Name: Sheriff Smitty

Gender: Male

Species: Toa

Faction: Sheriff

 

Power/Weapons: My standard pistol for shootin' bad fellas. I also got me a baton for breakin' into places legal, an' some handcuffs for dem outlaws. Elemental Powuh of Electicity, suitable for zappin' fools so we can take 'em away. 

Steed: My good ol' horse Becky. Not so fast as she used to be, but a bit tougher than the faint ones corralled by dem young blokes. 

 

Appearance: C'mon, man! I'm the Sheriff of NotNuiBetter! Obviously I wear sheriff badge, uniform, and cowboy hat over my blue and white features. 

 

Bio: Sometime after dem big robot crash, I was handed a Toa stone and I got taller. Then some folks near where I was livin' thought I'd be good at huntin' dem criminals that were stealin' from 'em. I didn't argue. Turns out I was quite good an' 'ave been doin' it fer about 20 years yonder. 

 

Personality/Other: If you haven't figured that out yet, you haven't been readin', sonny. 

 

Name: Serena

Gender: Female

Species: Toa

Faction: Villagers

 

Powers: Teleportation. Serena can appear anywhere she wants in NotNuiButter, save on the Sealed Train itself via a special device she has. Elemental Power of Water and Kanohi Pakari.

 

Bio: Serena is the judge and arbiter of NotNuiBetter, resolving disputes between villagers all over the land. If you've got a dispute goin' and resolvin' it yourselves ain't workin', you take it to Serena. 

 

Personality/Other: Serena is a gentle and wise being. Some say that she's got somethin' to hide, but my guess is that dem people are mad because her resolution wasn't what they had in mind.    

 

Name: Robert Robin IV

Gender: Male

Species: Skakdi

Faction: Outlaws

 

Powers: Mass Teleportation. Robert is able to teleport the people and things around him to other locations. Impact vision.

Weapon: Cudgel. Robert carries a staff with metal rings around it which he uses in brawls. Sometimes he also carries a bow to take down enemies from far away. 

Steed: Horse, which he uses to git away. 

 

Bio: Robert is one nasty feller, but he's also brilliant and seems to outwit me and my deputies every time. To him, people are assets, profit is the highest goal, and anything else be not important. Pretty sure he traveled to NotNuiBetter from someplace, but wherever that place is I really don't want to know. 

 

Apparence: Robert is a green Skakdi to blend in with the trees of Sherwheni Forest. From what I seen of him, he wears lots of gold necklaces and rings, despite the fact that would slow most beings down. But not Robert.

 

Character Profiles and Rules: 

 

Name: (this be who ya are. Must be in letters, not numbers, thank yall.)

Gender: (Male, Female, or nonbinary. Kids these days and their nonbinary.)

Species: (any species that would be on yonder Spherus Magna. Toa, Glatorian, Agori, Matoran, Vortixx, Skakdi...)

Faction: Villager, Sheriff, Outlaw, or Sealed Train of Doom passenger. 

 

Power/Weapon/Steeds - What powers, weapons, and animals does your character have. 

 

 

Bio: Character backstory.

 

Appearance: What they look like 

 

Personality/Other: Basic personality, and anything else you wish to add. 

 

Rules: 

1. Animal Characters are not allowed, since sapient species will be riding on them. If you want a custom steed, give it a rider/owner. 

2. Passengers on the Sealed Train of Doom are not allowed to have steeds. They may find hints to their destinations as they interact or try to escape. 

3. All RPG rules apply. No bunnying without permission, God-modding, or auto-hitting. 

----------------------------------------------

 

And that's all. Go!

Edited by fishers64
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This feels like an April fool's RPG. I also like the idea of giving matoran powers, it makes them a bit more desirable to play as one. What do you mean by powers though, like elemental powers or kanohi powers? Not so sure about the animals though, how would you tame a T-Rex or Dragon?

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I have to admit, this looks pretty cool.

 

I do have a few concerns, though: 

 

  • Why are we limited to three power slots? That system made sense in Bionifight because of the way the game was designed. But in this setting, it seems a bit strange, since there are no security systems preventing people from carrying more stuff. I would perhaps suggest taking a look at some of the other RPGs on this forum to see how they set out their profiles, rather than simply copying the Bionifight profile template, which is a little barebones for a game like this. 

 

  • Considering the setup you already have - a sheriff, outlaws, a mountain cult, and a huge, possibly treasure-filled desert to explore - I'm not sure if the addition of an inescapable haunted train is the best idea. The way players are trapped inside, unable to leave or interact with anyone outside reminds me a lot of the solitary confinement area they had in the now-deceased Asylum RPG. The few players who made characters for solitary spent the first few weeks of the game being unable to properly interact at all, because nothing ever happened. 

 

  • The list of allowed steed species seems kind of small. Do canon rahi and creatures not exist in this RPG's setting, or would those fall under the heading of "custom" mounts? 

 

  • The factions seem a little restrictive. You mention a cult in one of the location descriptions, but that isn't listed as a faction. In addition, will players be allowed to form their own factions, or just go off on their own?

 

  • What's the tech level of this game? Guns seem to get mentioned quite a lot, but are they real world guns, or more like Bionicle weapons? Do powered canon weapons like Cordaks, Zamors, Rhotukas, Midaks, Kanoka launchers, etc. exist? 

 

  • Finally - and this is something I think numerous RPers can attest to - it takes a lot of time and effort for just one person to run an entire RPG. Most games have at least two GMs, but I've heard that three or more tends to work best for resolving issues. 
  • Upvote 4

Embers - a new Bionicle Epic - Coming 2024 

Class Is Out - A Farewell To Corpus Rahkshi - Chapters/Review

BZPRPG Characters - Minnorak, Kain, T'harrak, Savis, Vazaria, Lash

BZPRPG Mercenary Group - The Outsiders - Description - History - Base

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This feels like an April fool's RPG. I also like the idea of giving matoran powers, it makes them a bit more desirable to play as one. What do you mean by powers though, like elemental powers or kanohi powers? Not so sure about the animals though, how would you tame a T-Rex or Dragon?

Well the Rex is basically a giant bird so treat it like a killer parrot. Dragon for their part are majestic and typically very protective of their "treasure". So become that and you'll have a loyal companion for life. Though they could become over protective so it may become your only companion. Either way getting one as a hatchling would be your best bet as it would have a chance to grow on you. Also it is an RPG all this are possible without requiring complicated explanations. Yes I realize I gave one prior to saying that but I stand by what I said just the same.

"A stranger will always be a stranger unless you give them a chance."

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Why are we limited to three power slots? That system made sense in Bionifight because of the way the game was designed. But in this setting, it seems a bit strange, since there are no security systems preventing people from carrying more stuff. I would perhaps suggest taking a look at some of the other RPGs on this forum to see how they set out their profiles, rather than simply copying the Bionifight profile template, which is a little barebones for a game like this.

It's trying to avoid the guy with 27 sword arms vs. the guy one sword arm. I don't want a barrage of OP characters to imbalance the game, or worse, people using character creation as a race to create an OP character to combat someone else's OP character, etc.

 

But you're right that we can have a little more variety. I'll look into it.  

 

Considering the setup you already have - a sheriff, outlaws, a mountain cult, and a huge, possibly treasure-filled desert to explore - I'm not sure if the addition of an inescapable haunted train is the best idea. The way players are trapped inside, unable to leave or interact with anyone outside reminds me a lot of the solitary confinement area they had in the now-deceased Asylum RPG. The few players who made characters for solitary spent the first few weeks of the game being unable to properly interact at all, because nothing ever happened.

The train does eventually get to its destination, where players will be able to exit. Also I have a number of clues and threats planted aboard said train, which point to the mystery I've hinted at - there's not going to be much downtime in there.

 

(As I've pointed out, this is Spherus Magna, so some changes have to be made to give us a haunted train track, treasure (???) and other things.) 

 

I'm more worried about the interactions outside the train bogging down or getting dull because the PCs could be spread out, traveling, or just talking in a bar. While I'm not barring such interactions from existing - they make the RPG for some people, I understand - I want to keep this a little interesting. 

 

But then again, open to modification. 

 

The list of allowed steed species seems kind of small. Do canon rahi and creatures not exist in this RPG's setting, or would those fall under the heading of "custom" mounts?

 

The latter. 

 

I'm open to expanding the mount list, but I don't want it to be too long. I think Rahi in general would take one power slot...until I fix the profile system. 

 

The factions seem a little restrictive. You mention a cult in one of the location descriptions, but that isn't listed as a faction. In addition, will players be allowed to form their own factions, or just go off on their own?

Er, I'm not sure I want players joining that cult. It could be interesting, but it gets problematic when dealing with the mysterious stuff on that mountain.

 

Yes, I will allow players to make their own factions later. I would encourage pure adventurers to be of the village faction, but it is possible for them to be of the outlaw faction as well - cue the "young girl dragon rider gets raised by outlaws" story or something else like that. I'm not going to curtail those possibilities and others.  

 

What's the tech level of this game? Guns seem to get mentioned quite a lot, but are they real world guns, or more like Bionicle weapons? Do powered canon weapons like Cordaks, Zamors, Rhotukas, Midaks, Kanoka launchers, etc. exist?

I was thinking real-world guns, yeah. And I think that the other weapons would exist, but mostly in handheld capacities.

 

I would not be approving Cordak blasters because I have been told they are overpowered. Them and Midaks I would be inclined to say no because those weapons were found in the MU in the limited quantities, and we're on reformed Spherus Magna.

 

Finally - and this is something I think numerous RPers can attest to - it takes a lot of time and effort for just one person to run an entire RPG. Most games have at least two GMs, but I've heard that three or more tends to work best for resolving issues.

I'm open for co-GMing requests for this game. I'm just pitching this idea out here to get thoughts, especially since I haven't run a game in yonder forum before. :)

 

Whoever co-GMs this will have all the mysteries spoiled for them, however. I'm not making the mistake Voltex made on the HF RPG when he didn't tell me the solutions to the mysteries and I wasn't able to run the game as a result. :P

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Why are we limited to three power slots? That system made sense in Bionifight because of the way the game was designed. But in this setting, it seems a bit strange, since there are no security systems preventing people from carrying more stuff. I would perhaps suggest taking a look at some of the other RPGs on this forum to see how they set out their profiles, rather than simply copying the Bionifight profile template, which is a little barebones for a game like this.

It's trying to avoid the guy with 27 sword arms vs. the guy one sword arm. I don't want a barrage of OP characters to imbalance the game, or worse, people using character creation as a race to create an OP character to combat someone else's OP character, etc.

 

But you're right that we can have a little more variety. I'll look into it.  

 

 

This is what the approval period is for. It's not a problem as long as the Staff are good on the uptake.

"I serve the weak. I serve the helpless. I am their sword and their shield. If you want to strike at them, you must go through me, and I am not so easily moved."

zsUPm2E.jpg?1

 

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Er, I'm not sure I want players joining that cult. It could be interesting, but it gets problematic when dealing with the mysterious stuff on that mountain. 

 

Well, now I'm only more curious about what's on the mountain. :P

 

If easy access to mysterious stuff is a problem, perhaps a cult hierarchy of sorts could allow players to join the cult without all the secrets being revealed. Like, upon joining, you don't actually get to see anything (or very much); only high priests or shamans or what-have-you (GM characters) are allowed access to the secret stuff. Promotion within the cult, and the associated permission to see the more sacred/secret things, could be used as a reward for followers devoted and competent enough to go and succeed on quests. And cultists guarding the mountain would prevent other outsiders' prying eyes from easily gleaning its secrets.

 

(How well a cult fits into a wild west sort of setting is another issue entirely, but I'm envisioning the cultists as roughly Indians to the townspeople's cowboys, which I think would work well.)

00_gaeas_reaper.jpgjrfightmeditatesmaller.gif00_shadowboxer.jpg

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Er, I'm not sure I want players joining that cult. It could be interesting, but it gets problematic when dealing with the mysterious stuff on that mountain. 

 

Well, now I'm only more curious about what's on the mountain. :P

 

If easy access to mysterious stuff is a problem, perhaps a cult hierarchy of sorts could allow players to join the cult without all the secrets being revealed. Like, upon joining, you don't actually get to see anything (or very much); only high priests or shamans or what-have-you (GM characters) are allowed access to the secret stuff. Promotion within the cult, and the associated permission to see the more sacred/secret things, could be used as a reward for followers devoted and competent enough to go and succeed on quests. And cultists guarding the mountain would prevent other outsiders' prying eyes from easily gleaning its secrets.

 

(How well a cult fits into a wild west sort of setting is another issue entirely, but I'm envisioning the cultists as roughly Indians to the townspeople's cowboys, which I think would work well.)

The cult is not that elaborate. What you're describing is more like the outlaws' power structure.

 

It's more like five insane guys fooling around on top of the mountain and coming up with answers to the meaning of life. Maybe 10. But they have discovered more than the villagers below in their messing around and come up with insane explanations to explain it. 

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So, I have been working on this for a little bit. I feel like it is finished, but I know it isn't. I'm posting what I have here to get some direction! Formatting is a little off, I apologize, so it might be hard to read.


 


 All criticism will be gladly accepted. Everything helps. Also, fishers64, I apologize for posting this so soon after yours. It looks good though!


 


 


 


 


 


 


FALLEN CITY


 


 


 


 


INTRO:


 


Miserix paced the length of his chamber, brow furrowed. The news from the north was troubling; The Matoran have picked up arms over petty trade disputes, and threaten the entire universe with their warring. They abandoned their duty to the Great Spirit, but Miserix knew his: Protect the Universe while Mata Nui did his.....whatever it was.


 


He pushed those thoughts out of his mind as he turned and approached his desk, a series of maps and reports laid across it. He narrowed his eyes; The League of Five Kingdoms had pushed in two directions, towards Xia and Destral. Teridex left with most of the Brotherhood's forces to stop them before they took Xia, an important stepping stone to the south. The last report that came in wasn't pleasing: Takadox was discovered to be a spy for the Brotherhood and was now dead, his portion of the Kingdoms' conquests split between the remaining five.


 


The door pushed open, and an aide rushed in, report in his out-stretched hands. Miserix took without a word of thanks and scanned it quickly. His faced paled as he finished it. “Mata Nui....”


 


Teridex was dead. The League ambushed his forces and scattered them. The League was marching on Destral to destroy the Brotherhood. Miserix looked up at the aide. “Summon the others. We either march to battle or we die here, and I will not fall hiding in this fortress.” The aide saluted and rushed out. Miserix turned to look at the map of Metru-Nui on the wall and sighed. The Matoran would have to wait.


 


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


The League of Five Kingdoms marches on Destral, and has occupied the Brotherhood's attention. Without the intervention of the Brotherhood in Metru-Nui, the Civil War has spiraled downwards into deeper chaos.


 


Ta-Matoran against Po-Matoran, Onu-Matoran against Le-Matoran, Ga-Matoran against Ko-Matoran, which side will you take?


 


 


CURRENT EVENTS/QUESTS/DEATHS:


 


 


YOUR ROLE:


 


It has been over a year since the start of the Matoran Civil War, and everything is changed: Chutes are down, electricity is sporadic, and your old friend from another Metru is now trying to collect your head.


 


Jaller of Ta-Metru, Ahkmou of Po-Metru, Marvah of Onu-Metru, Kongu of Le-Metru, Macku of Ga-Metru, and Nuju of Ko-Metru have consolidated control of their armies and their districts. The Alliances formed at the start of this war have fallen away to six independent belligerents; Uncertainty clouds a hopeful future.


 


As a Matoran trapped in this nightmare, you will fight and you may die. You reap the benefits of victory and weep bitter tears in defeat. You are a soldier, a historian, a survivor. Do what needs to be done for your Metru.


 


Everything is permitted except defeat.


 


 


LOCATIONS:


 


Ta-Metru:


 


Once the bustling center of masks and tools, the Metru of fire has changed their production standards to armor and weapons. Every building that can produce some good is spewing black smoke into the sky, giving Ta-Metru a dirty feel in the air. Most surfaces are blackened, and the once gleaming red towers are now black and ill looking, an analogy for most of the city.


 


The Great Furnace has been transformed into a POW camp, the heat strong enough to keep it's occupants from escaping. Near by, covered in banners, is the Headquarters for the Metru, where Jaller issues orders and views the overall situation in the city.


 


The streets are crowded as one moves into the center of the city, leaving the outskirts are all but abandoned. Don't mistake it for easy raiding though; it's thick with landmines and traps.


 


 


Po-Metru:


 


The once empty plains of Po-Metru's Sculpture Field have become thick with camps and bonfires; the sign that this is no longer a united city. Easily the most militant of the districts, all access points to Po-Metru have been either sealed with large pieces of rubble or are so heavily guarded, any form of attack is suicide.


 


The main parts of the district, the carver's sections, are where weapons and supplies are stored. This is also where Ahkmou leads his army, if he isn't already in the camps among his troops.


 


The Canyon of Unending Whispers seems to be abandoned completely, but a small contingent of Po-Matoran stand guard, and not even them seem to understand why.


 


Onu-Metru:


 


The Archives have been torn apart by the Onu-Matoran. Exhibits have been moved to lower tunnels, and the first floor under Onu-Metru is now where the vast majority of the population resides. It is safer there, Marvah insists, as he directs his troops to attack from below.


 


A shantytown of sorts has erupted among the resettled population, causing a massive increase in black market activity. If one is looking for hard-to-find goods, all you need to do is go to Onu-Metru. If their Rahi guards don't kill you first.


 


The lower levels of the Archives have become a POW camp of sorts. Marvah insists that prisoners are not disappearing down there, but recent headcounts seem to conflict with this claim.


 


Le-Metru:


 


The street level of Le-Metru is almost as dark as the Archives, and the reason known as soon as one glances up: Airships dot the sky, and are everywhere in the district. Green and yellow, some carry paratroopers, others act as floating tanks, ready to remove a block from existence.


 


Kongu controls the city from a red airship, the only one in the fleet. Don't mistake it for an easy target however: Le-Metru has nearly perfected airship defenses.


 


Kongu is currently trying to move most of the population into the sky, away from dangers on the ground; this move has left Le-Metru the second-most deserted district after Onu-Metru.


 


Ga-Metru:


 


Ga-Metru is the only district left with any form of fast travel. When the chutes failed, Macku had them rebuilt using pure water, with pumps providing the pressure. This travel is restricted in-district however. Ga-Matoran have also taken control of the waters surrounding Metru-Nui with a massive fleet of warships, ranging from one-Matoran patrol boats to a floating fortress.


 


The Great Temple has become Macku's headquarters, and the Ga-Matoran believe that Mata Nui is on their side, as they control the Temple. The Temple itself is covered with weaponry of all sorts, all aimed at the neighboring districts.


 


The district, given the reputation as being peaceful, as has become the center of neutral parties and citizens. Macku has allowed them to stay, as long as they perform basic tasks to keep the Metru running.


 


 


Ko-Metru:


 


Most information from Ko-Metru is based on rumor. Nuju sealed the district off from the rest of the city with the formation of crystal walls on all sides. All Ko-Matoran caught outside have been branded as outcasts. Nobody is allowed in or out.


 


Nobody knows what is happening in the Metru, but sometimes at night, there are flashes of colors from over the wall. This has created much unease among the other leaders of the city.


 


 


Coliseum:


 


Deserted and in ruins. While still standing, the area around it is cracking and full of holes from battles. Some say the Turaga still resides in the very top of the building, but the last group of Matoran that went up the staircases never returned.


 


 


 


NPC SYSTEM:


 


You can form your own squad of troops for combat in battles if you would like! I mean, what fun is a game about war if you can't be in charge, right? It's pretty simple: Simply create up to four NPC characters using the following form:


 


Name:


Gender:


Species:


Appearance:


Weapons/Tools:


Weakness:


 


Once that is done, create a name for your squad, choose which Metru they fight for, and select one of your Characters as the leader of the squad. Once this is done, PM it to a/the GM. Once approved, post it in the discussion thread and begin playing!


 


Want to form a squad with player characters? Go right ahead! I encourage you guys to work together like that, even. One rule though: All players can only have two squads under their command at any time, but they can be part of as many squads as they want.


 


NOTE: Your NPC(s) are not invincible. I will be watching the usage of these characters carefully. They will most likely die. If they avoided death in some way or another, I will expect a good explanation IC.


 


NOTE 2: You can turn your NPCs into actual Characters: Just fill out the PC form for them and post it. It'll be considered pre-approved if it hasn't changed from the NPC form. If it has changed AT ALL, it will need approval again.


 


NOTE 3: Neutral Loyalty characters cannot form squads.


 


 


LEGACY SYSTEM:


 


What is the Legacy System? Well, it is a promotion through the ranks for each character in the game. Depending on how well your character fights or shows diplomatic cunning, it is possible for you to move up the ranks; you can go from being a single soldier to commanding all squads for the district. It is even possible for you to run a district in the war, if the previous leader is killed off.


 


 


PROFILE:


 


Name(Your name.):


 


Gender(Male, Female, Neither):


 


Species(Ta-Matoran, Le-Matoran, etc.):


 


Appearance(What do you look like?):


 


Loyalty(Pick a Metru or None):


 


Weapons/Tools(What are you carrying?):


 


Weakness(You are not invincible.):


 


Biography(Optional)(Who are you?):


 


Personality(How will you react?):


 


APPEALING:


 


It happens. The GM makes a decision that might make you unhappy. Maybe they killed you off, maybe they denied something you wanted to do. It happens, and sometimes that GM won't care what you think.


 


Not here.


 


At any point whatsoever, if you have a problem with the GM, you need to do the following two things:


 


PM the GM with your complaint(Politely please!).


Post in the discussion thread that you are appealing a recent GM decision.


 


The first gets the message across, the second holds the GM accountable to all players to resolve the problem. The final decision will be posted in the discussion thread for all players to read. There are no hidden agreements here!


 


I have an open door policy: You can ask me any question(no matter how silly), complain about anything(even if we talked about nine times already), and suggest ideas(no matter how lame)! I will respond as quick as possible to all players.


 


 


RULES:


 


1. Follow all site rules.


2. Play nice.


3. No Godmodding, Unauthorized bunnying, or other actions that are likely to tick everybody off.


4. You are not going to kill hundreds of enemies with one swing of your sword, so go away Conan.


5. Nor are you going to destroy city blocks in one hit. Massive amounts of destruction must be approved first.


6. Have fun!


 


 


 


 


 Thoughts? I need all the criticism you guys can spare.


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Uh...
 
This sounds like a massive handful (especially that last part) for someone to handle by themselves. You may want to appoint another GM to help with the Appeals & Approving of characters.
 
Also, you should specify what kind of weapons are allowed, since people could just whip out a Cordak or Skyblaster and OP their way through the game.
 
Finally, Y U mean to Conan? :crying: :P

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I think you have a bit of an issue with the set up for Fallen City. You have a brief mention of the Civil War, then go on about the fight between the BoM and the LoSK for several paragraphs. Then we snap back to the Civil War. 

It should kind of be the other way round there, with only a brief mention of why the BoM isn't intervening like they did in canon and the rest taken up with describing whats going in the Civil War that we're actually supposed to be playing in. Otherwise it looks like we've got the intro from an entirely different RPG.

 

Marvah

Mavrah. Minor quibble I know but you do misspell it a couple of times.

 

Is keeping Ta's POWs in the Great Furnace really a good idea? I get that the heat basically keeps them too broiled and exhausted to do anything too strenuous but they're in one of, if not the, top producing facility in the whole Metru. It puts them close to the headquarters as well, it would take much for one of them to really throw a spanner in the works and ruin Jaller's day.

 

How do those new chutes in Ga stay up? The old ones were liquid too, yes, but they were held in place by magnetic force not any solid tubing or anything. You replace them with water and its all going to pour out, it isn't bound by magnetism.

 

Is the section on appealing necessary? Its kind of what people do already

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Uh...

 

This sounds like a massive handful (especially that last part) for someone to handle by themselves. You may want to appoint another GM to help with the Appeals & Approving of characters.

I'll be thinking about that as the idea gets refined. This is in no way a complete product just yet.

 

 

Also, you should specify what kind of weapons are allowed, since people could just whip out a Cordak or Skyblaster and OP their way through the game.

 

Excellent idea. I'll have to pull that together.

 

I think you have a bit of an issue with the set up for Fallen City. You have a brief mention of the Civil War, then go on about the fight between the BoM and the LoSK for several paragraphs. Then we snap back to the Civil War. 

It should kind of be the other way round there, with only a brief mention of why the BoM isn't intervening like they did in canon and the rest taken up with describing whats going in the Civil War that we're actually supposed to be playing in. Otherwise it looks like we've got the intro from an entirely different RPG.

Now that somebody pointed it out, I completely see it. That will have to change.

 

 

Marvah

Mavrah. Minor quibble I know but you do misspell it a couple of times.

 

Thanks. Unfortunately, my spell-check thinks it is all wrong.

 

 

Is keeping Ta's POWs in the Great Furnace really a good idea? I get that the heat basically keeps them too broiled and exhausted to do anything too strenuous but they're in one of, if not the, top producing facility in the whole Metru. It puts them close to the headquarters as well, it would take much for one of them to really throw a spanner in the works and ruin Jaller's day.

Good points made. I just simply liked the idea of putting the POWs in a furnace. I'll probably have to rethink that portion. However, the rest of the Metru is now producing as well, more than making up for the lack of the GF.

 

How do those new chutes in Ga stay up? The old ones were liquid too, yes, but they were held in place by magnetic force not any solid tubing or anything. You replace them with water and its all going to pour out, it isn't bound by magnetism.

Interesting point. I figured they were more glass based. Unless, of course, that's what they decided to replace them with.

 

Is the section on appealing necessary? Its kind of what people do already

I'm not sure what people do here already, actually. I haven't been around enough to see any massive problems that require that.

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  • 3 weeks later...

So, I had a really weird idea for an RPG yesterday.

 

Essentially, what it would be would be something like:

 

Two alternate timelines.

Both of the timelines are currently in limbo because of something or other, so each timeline has to send people back in time to the point at which the two timelines diverged. Stuff happens, and so basically the whole thing is sort of like "Fight in the past to make your version of the present come to be" or whatever. I think I tentatively decided that so that the end result could be more player-decided and it isn't an obvious choice, one alternate future could be, for example, a very fantasy epic-styled place (Think something like Lorwyn from MTG) and the other could be a more sci-fi oriented reality instead of, say, one reality being an obviously "good" one and the other being an obviously "bad" one.
Anyway, feel free to steal my idea, since I'm running Y60K at the moment. :P

VBWj75sh.png

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  • 2 weeks later...

https://docs.google.com/document/d/155mT1Sw4VyjWks_4h3JykzWaH7HofxBGhv6SvhH2Ai8/edit?usp=sharing

 

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1PPBaay8s0PSzrExq47YeGCqNVkqXQxNgKBxT_cmiZv0/edit?usp=sharing

 

Like, rate and subscribe. First twenty subscribers get a free t-shirt!

 

Really though, I figured I'd put these up here instead of letting them sit in g docs.

Edited by Kaneo Takarada

...but close to it

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Working Title looks okay, but I'm not sure I'd want to play another RPG centered around a school with Corpus Rahkshi still in existence. Even though I recognize the numerous differences, it seems a tad redundant to me, especially since playing a Matoran doesn't seem nearly as awesome as playing a Rahkshi. :shrugs:

 

I really like Untitled Document, though. Just a bunch of minor things I'm wondering about:

 

- Is a Master locked to one specific Servant, or can they trade them out somehow?

- What happens when a Master has used all three Seals? Do they lose the Servant, get ejected from the war? Or is it as simple as not having any more seals?

- Are the 'one hour' for information to appear in the Anonymous Grimoire, and the several hours to transfer another Master's book's information to yours, IC or OOC time?

- Does the 'no duplicates' rule out summoning different forms of a hero, like say Matoro Inika if Matoro Mahri is already taken?

- Is there an IC reason for the rule, and would Masters know about it, and thus be able to deduce from the fact that they were unable to summon Matoro Inika that someone else already had?

 

Probably someone more widely experienced in RPing can offer a better critique, but this is what I see.

00_gaeas_reaper.jpgjrfightmeditatesmaller.gif00_shadowboxer.jpg

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