The Official RPG Planning Topic

[Ghidora131]

I just wanna get a spot reserved, y'know.

[Voltex]

But you... already have a spot. It's Asylum. 

[IcarusBen]

Actually, it was supposed to be more of a "what if?" scenario. Instead of Toa going crazy and getting locked up, it's Toa turning evil and turning Metru Nui into a 1984/HL2-styled dystopia. I got the idea while looking through my computer and I found this picture.

 

 

If you couldn't tell, it's Ta-Metru with washed-out colors and super-imposed onto a different background.

[Ghidora131]

 

Ben... Lemme PM you about that! just had a brilliant idea!

[Chro]

I've got a brilliant idea - let your RP run its course before starting spin-offs.

[Ghidora131]

Asylum won't last that long, Chro. Maybe half a year. Spin-offs gotta be planned now.

[Ehksidian]

Asylum won't last that long, Chro. Maybe half a year. Spin-offs gotta be planned now.

Or

or

you could wait until it's over, then start planning.

[Ghidora131]

I never heard anyone say how bad it is to plan ahead.

[IcarusBen]

It's not really a spinoff. It's an entirely different RPG but with a similar setup. I doubt the possibility of spinoffs, since the great thing about The Asylum is that it's small in scope. 

 

Basically, it's comparing The Elder Scrolls to Runescape. They're both RPGs in a fantasy setting, but the two are pretty much unrelated in every other way.

[Chro]

Ah. The first sentence here made me think otherwise:

Actually, it was supposed to be more of a "what if?" scenario. Instead of Toa going crazy and getting locked up, it's Toa turning evil and turning Metru Nui into a 1984/HL2-styled dystopia. I got the idea while looking through my computer and I found this picture.

I think it was something about how you contrasted the two.

 

Anyway, I think a Dark Mirror / Toa Empire RPG could be really cool.

[IcarusBen]

Yeah, only now did I realize that Toa Empire kinda already did this.

 

Of course, looking at the logo I made, it kinda makes me think Fallout: Metru Nui. That, obviously, would be awesome.

 

Because war, war never changes.

[Voltex]

It's not necessarily bad, but with an RPG you should let it run its course before fully setting future story in stone, just in case you get good inspiration later on?

 

I think I've lost whatever point I was making.

[Chro]

No, you covered it well.

For example, we're planning out Bionifight Infinite stuff in advance, but we aren't writing anything concrete enough that it can't be altered organically to suit our needs later on.

[IcarusBen]

I know, I'm just saying, this isn't future story for The Asylum, it's unrelated. 

 

Unless, of course, that was general advice and not directed at me or Ghidora.

[Ghidora131]

You need to have a basic setting storyline and a close for an RPG before making it. Asylum already has that. City In the Dark seems to have had that as well, but it died.

[silo]

City in the Dark was going strong but The Lorax (the GM) disappeared...

On a completely unrelated note, Ben, what do you use to create the Asylum and City banners? 

Anyway, might post an RPG idea I've had for quite a long while here eventually, if I can dedicate enough time to running it.

Edited February 20, 2015 by Sil

[IcarusBen]

I use Paint.NET for all the after-effects and text and stuff. It's actually really useful for erasing background elements from a picture so I can put something behind there. The actual source images just come from Google searches. I'm actually pretty proud of the way the City banner turned out, though something looks off to me.

[Makuta Miras]

A Pacific Rim/BIONICLE crossover RPG
by Makuta Miras and VahkiDane
 

 

Welcome to the Matoran Universe. It is a world of biomechanical beings and Toa-heroes, strange beasts and elemental powers.
Or at least, it was.

When an interdimensional rift opened inside Mount Valmai’s caldera in year 47,000, the universe thought nothing of it- the area’s guardians hardly noticed it. There was the matter of the magma draining away through the rift, but nobody cared.
For all instances and purposes, it was non-existent.
Until the Kaiju began coming through.

Monstrous creatures, even the smallest among them 50 bio tall, it took entire Toa teams to stop the first waves.
But then the Toa’s powers stopped working on the beasts.
And then a plague hit the universe, wiping out the Toa. No more Toa. No more resistance against the Kaiju.
Or so they thought.

In response, the Xians began building their own monsters: Jaegers. These colossal mechanical behemoths, piloted by Matoran or Vortixx- Turaga were too weak, and it’s a bad idea to give a Skakdi something with a fist the size of a Ta-Metru forge- began winning the war. They drove the Kaiju south to the Southern Islands, and a portal created and maintained by Brutaka above the rift in Mount Valmai prevented any from getting into the civilised universe.

The industrialisation required by the daily strains of holding off a few hundred Kaiju eventually turned the Southern Continent, previously a barren wasteland, into a thriving area of commercial and industrial life, teeming with beings, with enough political clout in the universe to rival even that of Metru Nui- the most advanced city in the world.

But now, in Year 60,000, new rifts are opening randomly across the universe, spewing out a single Kaiju and then closing again.

LOCATIONS
Map

 

THE SOUTHERN CONTINENT

ORO NUI
The greatest city on the Southern Continent, Oro Nui takes up a good amount of the coast just south of the eastern end of the Tren Krom River. Dirty, polluted, and made of concrete, Oro Nui is, although a powerful place, one where a knife in the back is all too likely to happen. Built off of the rapid industrialisation after the establishment of Hau-Eh, Oro Nui is an industrial powerhouse, butting heads with Xia over trade frequently.

HAU-EH
Hau-Eh is the name of the great wall placed across the entrances to the domes containing the Southern Islands and the thin city behind it. It suffers multiple Kaiju attacks per day, but luckily, the heroics of the Matoran and Vortixx defending it in Jaegers have saved it from destruction many times. Almost a military outpost, everyone seems gaunt and grim at Hau-Eh- and with good reason.


FORT VALMAI
Fort Valmai is a settlement built around the feet of the volcano of the same name on Voya Nui. It is little more than a town, but it is wholesome, unlike its neighbour to the east, Oro Nui. Vine jumping into the volcano through small magma vents is a common dare among the less diligent workers of the town. At the crest of the volcano stands a fortress, manned by the Order of Mata Nui, which monitors the rift’s activity and maintains the portal.

METRU NUI

Ta-Metru
A Metru of mask-makers and the creators of fine metal objects and components, Ta-Metru has a constant pall of smoke smothering it, dimming the murky orange glow of the furnaces. The canals of molten protodermis almost seem to be begging to have someone thrown in there.

Ga-Metru
The home of theoretical science, the pathways of Ga-Metru are quiet, calm affairs, with plants interspersed among the stone blocks at the perfect points. Protodermis canals wind their way all through the Metru, passing through parks, plazas and even laboratories.

Le-Metru
The home of practical science, Le-Metru is a raucous, exuberant Metru, the chutes throughout it twining about buildings like ivy. The Le-Matoran have a tendency to throw wild parties all night until dawn, and even then, they are able to work diligently.

Ko-Metru
Ko-Metru is filled with elegant Knowledge Towers, the crystals gleaming in the fresh, sharp sunlight. The frosted paths always seem to contain a slight reflectivity to them, shining the light back at the suns in the sky far above.

Onu-Metru
Although not very impressive aboveground, Onu-Metru’s Archives dominate the underside of the city. Filled with examples of everything to have existed in the universe, the Archives are a true wonder. They also happen to be a good place to hide from the law. Or to kill somebody.

Po-Metru
Composed of vast plains and the odd Assembler’s Village, Po-Metru isn’t exactly what you would call a city as such. Herds of Kikanalo rampage across the landscape, and the odd canyon lends a sense of variety to the Metru.

THE SOUTHERN ISLANDS

Artidax
Previously home to Makuta Miserix, original leader of the now destroyed Brotherhood of Makuta, Artidax is now a major staging point for Kaiju to launch their attacks on Hau-Eh. The seas around it are badly polluted, coloured bright cobalt from all of the Kaiju Blue produced by fights between the Kaiju. Every now and then, the volcano erupts, meaning BBQ-style Kaiju for all of the others.

Galonuhi
The largest island out of both island chains, Galonuhi is home to Sharky, the Kaiju Alpha. The land is littered with makeshift shelters constructed by the Kaiju and the skeletal remains of dead Rahi, slaughtered when the Kaiju were driven south. Sharky is the only permanent fixture on the island, spending most of his time sleeping, to the point where Galonuhi appears to have a mountain in the middle of its landmass- when in reality, it is a perfectly level plain.

XIA

Xia is an island of pure industry, shipping arms, armour and technology all over the universe. The chemical runoffs made it a prime target for the Kaiju before they were pushed back to the Southern Islands, and so, because the Vortixx were feeling daring that day, they decided to build the first Jaegers there in an act of defiance against the Kaiju. There is a small island near Xia nicknamed “Area 510” on which Jaeger and weapon tests are conducted.

CHARACTERS

Staff Characters

Name: Arkie
Species: Ko-Matoran
Gender: Female
Items: a powerless Hau and a crossbow
Personality: Cheerful, bubbly and hyperactive, although the years of constantly fighting Kaiju have taken their toll on Arkie’s bright persona, leaving her as a mostly battle-hardened warrior without any empathy for Kaiju.
Appearance: Arktinen is stark white all over, except for her green eyes and heartlight. She’s taller than most Matoran as well.
Bio: A Matoran from Karzahni, Arkie was shipped off to Voya Nui thousands of years ago. She was one of the first Matoran to volunteer as a Jaeger pilot when the Xians brought them to the Southern Continent, and so as a reward for her courage she was rebuilt. Now the head of the Jaeger Corps, it is Arkie’s duty to oversee all Jaeger operations.
Jaeger: Jat

Jaeger Nickname: Jat
MK: MK V
Weapons: Twin plasma cannons on the shoulders, capable of taking down a Category 5 Kaiju; Rocket fists; swords stored in the arms, able to cut through a Kaiju’s hide with ease; “The Godkiller”- a hammer which easily crushes Kaiju skull.
Appearance: Painted white and blue in memory of a close friend lost in a Kaiju attack, Jat is the largest Jaeger in the fleet, standing at around 100 bio, or around half the height of Sharky, the Kaiju Alpha.
Pilot: Arkie

Name: “Sharky”
Species: Kaiju
Category: 5
Adaptation: Knifehead, with huge teeth that leak kaiju blue when they bite, and a large dorsal fin on its back. It also has jagged claws on each of its arms. Its tail has a large axe like feature on it.
“Gender”: Male
Appearance: He is a Knifehead. Much bigger than most Kaiju, with light green energy markings on his body. His “knife” is jagged.
He also has a pair of “fins” on his back, which are actually wings.
Personality: Definitely the Alpha of the Kaiju. He is regal, but fierce, and has killed many Kaiju.

Player Characters

Profile creation

Profile templates:

Matoran and Vortixx profile template:
Name: What’s your character called?
Species: What species is your character: Vortixx, Matoran or Kaiju?
Gender: Pretty self-explanatory.
Category: What category is your Kaiju? The pros and cons of each Category are outlined below.
Items: What items does your character have? This could be a Kanohi for a Matoran or some sort of small weapon. You’re just about unlimited with what you can fit in here.
Adaptation: What unique adaptation does your Kaiju have?
Personality: What’s your character like? Are they nice, or are they horrible?
Appearance: What do they look like?
Bio: What’s their life story?
Jaeger: What Jaeger do they pilot if their a Matoran or Vortixx?

Jaeger profile template:
Jaeger nickname: What’s the Jaeger called?
MK: What model of Jaeger is it? The pros and cons of each MK are outlined below.
Weapons: What weapons does the Jaeger have? Don’t put too many weapons here, okay?
Pilot(s): Who pilots this Jaeger?
Appearance: What does the Jaeger look like?

Profile guidelines:

Allowable species are Matoran and Vortixx if you want to pilot a Jaeger. If you want a Kaiju then go for it, but obviously Kaiju can’t pilot Jaegers.
Allowable categories for Kaiju are 1-3 for balancing purposes, and likewise, MKs I-III Jaegers are allowable. Staff characters are exempt.
MK I Jaegers and Category 1 Kaiju are faster and more melee based than higher MKs and Categories, MK IIs and Category 2s are long range fighters which are slower than MK Is and Category 1s, and MK IIIs and Category 3s are heavyweight powerhouses which are slow but pack a big punch.
MK III Jaegers and Category 3 Kaiju are about 80 bio tall, MK II Jaegers and Category 2 Kaiju are around 70 bio, and MK I Jaegers and Category 1 Kaiju are around 60 bio.

RULES
Boring, I know, but they’re necessary. We don’t want anyone to break this game, after all.

1. All BZP rules apply.
2. Use the tag “IC” at the beginning of a post to indicate writing that advances the story. Use “OOC” to indicate what doesn’t, like short player-to-player comments which aren’t long enough for the discussion topic.
3. No god-modding. Unless you want to be smited by Arkie or Sharky. Which Dane and I would both enjoy.
4. No bunnying- controlling other players’ characters- without their permission or, if it comes to it, the staff’s.
5. Metagaming is a big no-no. This means using information gathered as a player IC- an example could be, if you are in a fight, you look at the profile of the character you’re fighting, discover their weaknesses, and then have your character suddenly discover your opponent’s weaknesses.
6. No insta-items- aka, items that appear out of thin air. You can’t have your Jaeger run out of rounds for its machine gun and then fire the machine gun again in the next post.

7. All profiles must be approved by both Me and Sharkydane before the characters in them can be played.

 

This is just a first draft, so there are a lot of holes in here, but feel free to point them out.

Edited March 17, 2015 by Miras: Makuta of Awesome

[Nato G]

Monstrous creatures, even the smallest among them 50 bio tall, it took entire Toa teams to stop the first waves.

But then the Toa’s powers stopped working on the beasts.

And then a plague hit the universe, wiping out the Toa. No more Toa. No more resistance against the Kaiju.

Or so they thought.

 

I know backstory isn't hugely important, but this just seems a little convenient to me. "Suddenly, the Toa's powers stopped working for no apparent reason. Oh, and then a plague randomly came along and killed them all. The end." Perhaps consider reworking this to something with a bit more explanation to it? Heck, even saying that they all died/drained their powers after holding off a huge Kaiju offensive would probably work better than this. 

 

 

They drove the Kaiju south to the Southern Islands, and a portal created and maintained by Brutaka above the rift in Mount Valmai prevented any from getting into the civilised universe.

 

This seems a little convoluted. Why did you bother putting the portal in the volcano if you're going to do this?

 

But now, in Year 60,000, new rifts are opening randomly across the universe, spewing out a single Kaiju and then closing again. 

 

While this is a nice idea, I think making your game encompass the entire Matoran universe is a bad idea, something I'll elaborate on a bit more in my next point.

 

LOCATIONS

Map

 

The RPG is far too big. There's too many locations, not enough story beyond Kaiju and Jaegers smashing each other, and depending on the playerbase you get, there probably won't be enough to get decent representation for all of your locations. 

 

My suggestion would be to make there be just one rift, and move it to a different location - perhaps the area of ocean between Xia, the Southern Continent, Zakaz and Stelt. Each island could have a different playable race, and specialise in making different type of jaegers, with specific strengths and limitations (eg. Vortixx Jaegers have more tech, Skakdi Jaegers could require two pilots to drift in order to use elemental powers, etc.) 

 

Rather than makiing the entire continents playable areas, consider creating maybe two or three coastal villages on each of the islands with different sorts of defences, perhaps make some staff characters (or assign player characters) to run each one. This brings me to the issue of there being no plot. Perhaps every few days/weeks/whatever you could stage staff events where the Kaiju must coordinate to attack one of these villages while the Jaegers stationed there must defend them. Or the reverse, where the Jaegers can team up to attack Kaiju strongholds. 

 

These are just some ideas, but I really like the concept of this proposal, and I'd love to see it become an RPG. 

Edited March 17, 2015 by Roman Torchwick

[(Daedalus)]

I think Roman pretty well covered what I was going to mention. Mainly that there were far too many locations. I'd also like to see a little more plot. While mechs and big aliens beating the tarnation out of each other might make for a good spectacle, I think an RPG needs a little more than that.

 

Also, I think it would help if you had a section (or sections) dedicated to the Jaegers and Kaiju. At the moment, you have brief descriptions for the different types, but the placement under Profile Guidelines seems a little strange. It'd be easier to spot under a Jaegers or Kaiju heading (maybe something like in Matoran Und Panzer; not the same exact thing, of course, and it doesn't have to be very in-depth,  but something that's easier to spot).

Edited March 17, 2015 by (Daedalus)

[Eyru]

Is anyone interested in an RPG based on Okoto?

[Nato G]

Considering we know next to nothing about Okoto, I think it's too soon to be considering anything like that. 

[Eyru]

We could worldbuild to fill in the gaps, just like we've adapted and changed Mata Nui in the BZPRPG. Give it some texture, but leave a lot of it open for the players to fill in as well. We could even correspond in-game events and stuff to the official story as it progressed.

[Voltex]

I'd be interested in trying out an Okoto RPG.

[Makuta Miras]

I agree with Nato- Okoto's too hollow at the moment for an RPG, although I think one which fills in a lot of the gaps and is set in an alternate world where Makuta was able to bring the MoUP under control and take over the Island might be interesting.

[They]

I was going to ask about Okoto, seems like I'm not the only one!  I was thinking something were everyone is a villager to start, and then at some point there could be a quest to "send for" the Masters of each element, and then also the good old temple of time delve...  

[Eyru]

I agree with Nato- Okoto's too hollow at the moment for an RPG, although I think one which fills in a lot of the gaps and is set in an alternate world where Makuta was able to bring the MoUP under control and take over the Island might be interesting.

 

That's an interesting idea, although it does sort of mirror Arc One of the BZPRPG.

 

I was going to ask about Okoto, seems like I'm not the only one!  I was thinking something were everyone is a villager to start, and then at some point there could be a quest to "send for" the Masters of each element, and then also the good old temple of time delve...  

 

A cool idea, although I'm not sure how much demand there would be for a game where you can only be a villager. Maybe if all the villagers were allowed Protector-like guns/weapons and maybe limited elemental powers.

[They]

mm, yeah I was definitely thinking protector-type weaponry for the adventurers.  What if elemental powers were attributed to masks scattered throughout the island, so a protector or villager could gain elemental powers without having to be a "Master" of a given element?

[Hunter Serge]

I'd be up for it. As others have said, we'd probably have to fill in the gaps since G2's story is pretty barebones currently. The idea of corresponding in-game events to events happening in the actual story is pretty cool.

[Eyru]

mm, yeah I was definitely thinking protector-type weaponry for the adventurers.  What if elemental powers were attributed to masks scattered throughout the island, so a protector or villager could gain elemental powers without having to be a "Master" of a given element?

 

That's a neat idea. Everyone could start out as villagers, but go on staff-issued quests to find masks to grant them elemental powers. The Protectors also have weapons that can shoot blasts of their element, so those who don't get masks don't have to be defenceless. 

[They]

That sounds really sweet!  Especially if there were a few adventures being run that paralleled Bionicle's canon storyline for Okoto this year.  

[otter]

Weren't all the masks supposed to be at least slightly powered and able to be used? That was what I understood from the animations and stuff, anyways.

[They]

OH really? I thought only the masks for the Masters were elemental in nature...  that's cool to think about that the Protector masks are elemental as well...  maybe like a noble version?

[Eyru]

Weren't all the masks supposed to be at least slightly powered and able to be used? That was what I understood from the animations and stuff, anyways.

 

The Protectors (the six leaders of the villages) have slightly-powered masks that are handed down from generation to generation. Regular villagers don't appear to have powered masks.

[They]

generation to... wait a second I need to go read up on the current canon.  Biological reproduction is a thing now... *stunned*

[Nato G]

I still think it'd be a good idea to put off an Okoto RPG until we have more information. This disagreement regarding the powered/not-powered nature of the Protector masks is a good example of why. 

[Eyru]

I still think it'd be a good idea to put off an Okoto RPG until we have more information. This disagreement regarding the powered/not-powered nature of the Protector masks is a good example of why. 

 

I'm not sure where you're seeing a disagreement. Grochi was unsure as to the nature of the Protectors' masks, and I provided the information (courtesy of BS01). I understand that you might not be hot on the idea of an Okoto RPG, but there's no need to go around reading conflict into situations where there is none.

[Nato G]

My bad. I misinterpreted the previous posts. And I have nothing agaisnt an Okoto RPG, I'm just thinking right now - when we know next to nothing about Okoto and have numerous successful RPGs running - probably isn't the best time to be making one.  

 

But that might just be my opinion. 

[Prowl Nightwolf]

I still think it'd be a good idea to put off an Okoto RPG until we have more information. This disagreement regarding the powered/not-powered nature of the Protector masks is a good example of why.

I am sorry but I am going to have to agree with the above post. While we do know that the Island of Okoto was landscaped by the masks of power and we presume it was the ones used by the Protectors and not the Toa Golden Masks(could that be the case?) I, believe that all the masks have elemental power thus why it has not be stated villagers don't have such power. Or that maybe they helped in the landscaping of Okoto. I don't really think the village leaders did it on their own. Though I guess that is possible right along with them being able to use the Toa Golden Masks of Power.

 

And courtesy of The Okoto style Kit I have already made a character design for the Gen2 line, Still, making one with little to go on leaves a lot to be user generated and that could lead to trouble...

[CeeCee]

Hey so we have a little discussion here I see, that's great!

 

For those saying that there is nothing to do for Okoto I see your point, but let me just say that the BZRPG only really uses a bit of 01. Everything else is it's own story. Anyway, I was going to try and host one if thats okay. Would really appreciate some help to admin though. Also for story ideas too.

Edited March 23, 2015 by r34daka