The Official RPG Planning Topic

[Toru Nui]

He's an idea: a Federation of Fear RPG. Much like the canon Federation of Fear, the players would be prisoners of the Order of Mata Nui sent on missions too risky to send actual agents to deal with. Brutaka (or someone else) would be a NPC who accompanies them and keeps them in line, in order to make sure they actually do as they're told.

[Krayzikk]

That is a pretty good idea. I'd be leery of using a single (or even multiple) NPCs, though. Tends to make players try and beat them. What might work better is opening the Order up for PCs who act as part of the escort group for the prisoners, forced to cooperate towards a common goal. Then use Brutaka, or someone like him, as an NPC commander for those PCs.

[Khromatose]

@Tower-

 

Looking good so far. From what I've read, though, I think we could do with some size estimates for each floor- is each floor the size of a swimming pool, or a football field? You get the idea. I'd also say watch out for tenses- I spotted a few random bits of past tense in there, whilst the rest is in present.

Size: I'll add this in, but the floors are pretty large and of varying degrees of large. I'll write it in later.

 

Proofreading: That, my friend, is my only weakness in writing. That and simply writing itself in general. I have someone willing to help proofread it when I have the time.

[Click]

THE TOWER

[snipped]

 

Well, first of all, I love the idea. In particular the EP mechanic. It provides an easy way for players to refine or remake characters without having to resort to adding another character to the game. It would make a character limit, should that become necessary, far more tolerable than it was in Bionifight.

 

And of course there's the proving ground for these characters to test their powers against. Seems like something that could be really fun, but if done incorrectly, can just appear tedious. You spend a dozen posts fighting some monster, only to go up a floor and face another. But as long as the floors maintain some variety and plenty of opportunities for characters to interact and feel like they are in control, I'd say go for it.

 

 

Now, the biggest problem I see with the game right now is the over-reliance on an RNG. RNG decides how much of your gear drops for the next player to come by. RNG decides where you start and how much you remember. RNG decides your challenge on certain floors. Now, I'll admit that it's far more fair than having the GM or players throw out some arbitrary number, and less likely to cause problems, but it also causes a new host of issues.

 

I think the most prominent is that the RNG would require GM feedback. If not for the simple running of the RNG, then for the interpretation of the results. Only the GM would have the list of challenges your player may encounter on the randomized floors. And with how frequently you have estimate deaths and new floors to occur, and assuming you have better things to do than stare at your RPG topic 24/7, it's going to bog down the game significantly.

 

So, three options:

1. The GM runs the RNG and displays the results for the players. Seems the most fair and least exploitable method of RNG (depending on the integrity of the GM (something I'm not questioning for you, Arctic) and the frustration of the playerbase (no matter how honest you are, someone will claim you're against them at some point)). The problem with this, as stated above, is the game will have to wait for the GM to be on before gaining these results.

 

2. Player-run RNGs. In discussing this over Skype, someone pointed out that there are sites where people can come on, roll a digital dice, and publish the results for all to see. In theory, players check each other to make sure the roll was fair and treated properly. Personally, I think it would be frustrating for players to have to switch over to another site, roll the dice, and then post the results of their roll OOC for others to check. It breaks the immersion of the game and turns it into a tedious task where everyone is afraid to make a mistake, and may require accounts or cookies that some players may be opposed to.

 

3. In my opinion, the best option would be to abandon the RNG entirely. For the memory system, use a firm rule, ex. "Characters remember 1/3 of the floors they beat, or up to floor eight." For the randomized floors, run the simulations beforehand so the next floor can be revealed as soon as possible. The gear drop is a bit harder though. The only thing I can think of is using a combination of common sense and GM feedback. If your character died in a lava pit, there shouldn't be much to recover. For the traps and monsters, the GM can determine (via RNG if you must) how much is retrievable.

 

 

 

So... that's my thoughts. Pick it apart.

[Naota Takizawa]

Why not just drop the RNG for floors and memories while sticking with RNG for weapon/item drops and monsters?

[Timageness]

He's an idea: a Federation of Fear RPG. Much like the canon Federation of Fear, the players would be prisoners of the Order of Mata Nui sent on missions too risky to send actual agents to deal with. Brutaka (or someone else) would be a NPC who accompanies them and keeps them in line, in order to make sure they actually do as they're told.

A game where players get to create their own villains and send them out on missions as part of the Bionicle version of Task Force X, better known as the Suicide Squad?

Sign me up.

[Toru Nui]

That is a pretty good idea. I'd be leery of using a single (or even multiple) NPCs, though. Tends to make players try and beat them. What might work better is opening the Order up for PCs who act as part of the escort group for the prisoners, forced to cooperate towards a common goal. Then use Brutaka, or someone like him, as an NPC commander for those PCs.

Good point, the PC's thinking the NPC commander must die was the downfall of the Asylum (that one was my favourite). But that might lead to too many people choosing the escort group rather than the prisoners, defeating the whole point of playing a game with nothing but evil or amoral characters.

 

 

A game where players get to create their own villains and send them out on missions as part of the Bionicle version of Task Force X, better known as the Suicide Squad?

Sign me up.

Hmm... according to the rules, five RPGs are allowed, including the BZPRPG. Currently there are three open slots. Anyone else like this idea? It was only ever meant to be an idea, but if enough people want to play something like this, I'm sure we could come up with something...

[Silvan Haven]

If people want to play the RPG for the villains then they will play it for the villains. Forcing everybody to play as bad guys is just going to push away people.

[Voltex]

 

That is a pretty good idea. I'd be leery of using a single (or even multiple) NPCs, though. Tends to make players try and beat them. What might work better is opening the Order up for PCs who act as part of the escort group for the prisoners, forced to cooperate towards a common goal. Then use Brutaka, or someone like him, as an NPC commander for those PCs.

Good point, the PC's thinking the NPC commander must die was the downfall of the Asylum (that one was my favourite). But that might lead to too many people choosing the escort group rather than the prisoners, defeating the whole point of playing a game with nothing but evil or amoral characters.

 

 

A game where players get to create their own villains and send them out on missions as part of the Bionicle version of Task Force X, better known as the Suicide Squad?

Sign me up.

Hmm... according to the rules, five RPGs are allowed, including the BZPRPG. Currently there are three open slots. Anyone else like this idea? It was only ever meant to be an idea, but if enough people want to play something like this, I'm sure we could come up with something...

 

 

I'd be down for it.

[Nik the Three]

@The Tower

 

As someone, who recently became addict to The Binding of Isaac, I would love to try text-based Bionicle roguelike.

 

This idea makes me think about creating text-based Bionicle roguelike, but I mean text-based video game (like Zork and Adventure). Kind of an experimental thing, where you wouldn't even have to register, just create one-use character. Considering it an experiment, it wouldn't even need a lore. I really don't want to stole your story, so I'll use you-woke-up-and-remember-nothing cliché.

 

EDIT: I like some other ideas in The Tower. There might be some sort of daily-dungeon thing. New dungeon might generates every day. Some things will stay dropped on floor after death of character. But them, this might cause problem, because if there is glitchy or hard part of dungeon, it will be impassable for a day. But as I said, it will be experiment.

Edited November 13, 2015 by Nik the Three

[Shadowhawk]

@The Tower

 

EDIT: I like some other ideas in The Tower. There might be some sort of daily-dungeon thing. New dungeon might generates every day. Some things will stay dropped on floor after death of character. But them, this might cause problem, because if there is glitchy or hard part of dungeon, it will be impassable for a day. But as I said, it will be experiment.

I'd hazard against a daily dungeon, since playerbase activity is typically... rather too slow to make such a thing workable. Weekly is about as frequent as you'd want to go; maybe even ten days or two weeks.

 

E: ...Wait, just noticed that you were talking about a video game, not a text-based RPG. So... forget I said anything.

Edited November 13, 2015 by Shadowhawk

[SnowyAegis]

I had an idea, and with my creative mind being about 90% of it and being too active to let me think about much else, it kinda exploded.

Bonkle Zombies (Name under improvement)

I could go with generic undead zombies or something, or work off an idea of mine for my own zombie apocalypse universe.

I'm gonna go with the honestly more horrifying latter for now.

Makuta has created strange slug-like creatures(like the Kraata or Parakuka, functionally more like a Parakuka) that latch onto a host, taking over their bodies, although the mind still remains conscious, and able to vocalise to a degree(mostly guttural screams for help). The infected, known to the survivors as Hosts, Screamers or Zombies, come in masses; entire cities, entire islands infected and overrun. Only somewhere around 10% of the population remains uninfected.

 

Players could play in, say, Metru Nui. They could interact with the environment, making barricades and even potentially making crude settlements in the ruins of Civilisation(if a settlement is safe enough and draws enough attention, I may even add it to a map). They can fight zombie NPCs, and a player might even get infected. If a player character was infected, they might even be able to continue playing as a member of the Screaming Horde, screaming incessantly at the uninfected as they try to kill them. Who knows. As I said, this is just an idea I had just now.

 

If people like it, I might even work upon it.

[Silvan Haven]

Believe it or not there have been a couple RPG that at least ran in the contests that had a similar premise to that, one of them even placed and played out for a round. That one was more mutations than zombies though.

 

Seems like a solid enough premise. Just killing zombies would get boring though. Do you have any plans on how to spice it up?

[Nik the Three]

@Bonkle Zombies

 

Can anyone explain word Bonkle? Is that short for Bionicle?

 

Pretending I understand that word, I would suggest name 'The Walking Bonkles'. Other than that, seems like interesting idea.

 

@Other RPGs

So far, most interesting ideas I heard here were 'Suicide Squad' and 'Ghidora's Space RPG'

[SnowyAegis]

@Silvan Haven

Perhaps. As I said, it's not much at the moment and I'm happy to take suggestions for ways to, as you said, spice it up. Maybe new zombie types, perhaps survivors from other islands show up, who knows. If anyone has ideas, go ahead. Put them here, PM me, whatever.

 

@Nik The Three

Yeah, Bonkle is slang for Bionicle. I don't remember where I picked it up.

 

@Nobody in particular

Whoo, just imagine zombies that are screaming at you to help them as they bash down your door. Just a thought that I had.

[Naota Takizawa]

I really don't see how anyone can do a survival RPG in bionicle, even the weakest beings in the bionicle universe are going to hold out longer than the toughest humans on earth since they are trained to fight, have multiple powers and weapons at their disposal and above all, they barely consume food, eliminating the need to constantly eat and drink to survive.

[Sassy Dalmation]

I had an idea like zombies, but it does have its differences. Here's the link: http://www.bzpower.com/board/topic/126-the-official-rpg-planning-topic/page-66?do=findComment&comment=1013962

[Timageness]

I really don't see how anyone can do a survival RPG in bionicle, even the weakest beings in the bionicle universe are going to hold out longer than the toughest humans on earth since they are trained to fight, have multiple powers and weapons at their disposal and above all, they barely consume food, eliminating the need to constantly eat and drink to survive.

1. It doesn't matter how much battle training you have if your enemy simply outnumbers you.

2. See Point 1 for powers as well. As for weapons, don't let people start out with any at all, and put a shelf-life on them when they do get their hands on some. Knowing that their equipment is more likely to break during an encounter should have players focus more on tactical awareness and less on blindly charging into dangerous situations, of which there should be many, just waiting to reveal themselves.

3. That's mostly canon. Since the RPGs tend to play off characters as just a little more humanoid, eating and drinking usually comes hand-in-hand, which is why games like Corpus Rahkshi and Asylum have cafeterias. The reason why it might not happen very often IC is because, just like sleep, some people like to play their characters during the more active parts of their day and save that stuff for places like timeskips and such, so just because something like that isn't explicitly written, that doesn't mean it doesn't happen. In short, the need to do so is still there, and even if the desire to fulfill it isn't played out IC, it can still have a negative impact on a character (such as hunger, thirst, fatigue, and loss of morale) if it isn't satisfied.

 

Speaking of hordes of both infected/mutated beings, these have been threats I was planning on introducing in at least 3-4 areas of Relentless as additional obstacles for quite some time, though they're more similar to the variety seen in Resident Evil, The Last Of Us, and Fallout. So yeah, Caelum Insula (better known as the place Sal and Amorigiahna were teleported to at the end of Bionifight Infinite, which also simultaneously gives away some of the setting for those of you who are at least somewhat familiar with Latin) is not exactly a fun place to be.

[Silvan Haven]

Also if this takes place on Metru Nui all you have to do is get rid of the Ga-Metru recharging station and people will have to survive like you would normally expect in a game like this.

 

As far as the MU people being better then normal people. Well, so are the zombies.  It all more or less evens out.

 

On the subject of tools, I would suggest letting players start out with basic things. Stuff that they would have easy access to at whatever workplace they were at before the outbreak.

[SnowyAegis]

Yeah, Silvan got my point out before me. Sure, Matoran and all that are superior to humans. Doesn't count for anything when the infected are too. If anything, since the parasites don't follow the inhibitions most living things have to prevent muscle damage(I'm assuming MU inhabitants still have these, like we do), they appear stronger.

 

As for weapons, simple things are acceptable, because if everyone started out with no weapons, then everyone would die off real fast and there wouldn't be much of an RPG. Parts and tools would be something you could find in the world and you could make new things, if you know how OOC. No, that doesn't mean have masses of mechanical knowledge, I came up with a 'Drill Javelin' from 'Pneumatic nail gun that shoots large drill bits'. Kanoka launchers may be acceptable, seeing how prominent they were in Metru-Nui, but would have some rules to balance them out.

 

There could likely be reasons why Ga-Metru isn't available. Perhaps in the chaos of the initial attack somebody damaged the recharging stations beyond repair. Perhaps somebody locked the district's gates down for miles. Chances are the chutes are out, so they're not an option either. That's also a question, I imagine everyone starting in one district, but I'm not sure where to make that.

[Silvan Haven]

 

Parts and tools would be something you could find in the world and you could make new things, if you know how OOC. No, that doesn't mean have masses of mechanical knowledge, I came up with a 'Drill Javelin' from 'Pneumatic nail gun that shoots large drill bits'.

Mwahahahaha.

 

Would it surprise anybody that I actually started my headache inducing inventions for another person in one of theses RPGs?

 

 

I would suggest against blocking off the entirety of Ga-Metru. It would be easiest to just say that the recharging station was destroyed. Maybe fixing it could be an objective for the survivors or something.

[Toru Nui]

Here's the idea in more detail.

 

 

 

Setting:

 

 

It has been a thousand years since the reformation of Spherus Magna, and things are generally getting better for the forces for good. But evil is on the rise, with the mysterious deaths of several powerful beings, the Dark Hunters and Skrall allying, the Barraki regrouping and forming new armies, wild Rahi that escaped the Matoran Universe before it collapsed and small raider groups of Skakdi, Zyglak, Bone Hunters and other miscellaneous threats that the Federation must deal with.

 

You will play as one of the Federation, and deal with the problems nobody else wants to deal with. However, you will be supervised at all times by Brutaka. You can TRY to defeat him, but try is the key word here, since betraying him a few times may lead to you contracting a terminal case of death.

 

 

 

Locations:

 

 

The game will take place on Spherus Magna, so… yes… since the characters’ missions will probably take them to various different places, it’s hard to list EVERY possible place they can go to. However, I can give a few key locations…

 

 

Southern Region: This is where the final battle between Mata Nui and Makuta happened. It is no longer the vast desert it once was; thanks to Mata Nui giving it new life, though some places still remain arid. New Atero is located here with a recreation of the original Arena Magna at the centre, and the new headquarters for the Order of Mata Nui located on the city’s outskirts, which is made out of a small fragment of the Mata Nui robot’s head that went quite a distance when that chunk of Aqua Magna came crashing down. Some parts of the Matoran Universe have also been used to create other settlements, and some others have just been made from scratch. It is not perfect, however, with raiders terrorizing many minor settlements.

 

Northern Region: If the Southern Region is where good reigns, the Northern Region is where evil reigns. Among its landmarks are the River Dormus, the Forest of Blades, the Great Volcano, the Valley of the Maze, the Stronghold of the Great Beings and the Energized Protodermis Spring. This is also the new homeland of the League of Four Kingdoms. Why four? Because Carapar is dead and nobody knows where Takadox is. Probably up to no good, especially since he has the Heart of the Visorak…

 

The Great Sea: Created out of Aqua Magna, this is now the main body of water on Spherus Magna. Sea travel is considered safer than land travel, since there’s not much in the way of raiders. Instead there are sea monsters and pirates. Yarr.

 

The Great Jungle: Created out of Bota Magna, this place is filled with biomechanical dinosaurs. Roar. Also hidden inside is the headquarters for the Dark Hunters, and New Roxtus, the new Skrall settlement. There’s also the remains fortress where Velika tried to kill several powerful beings with explosions, which didn’t work. But the creed of the Great Beings is: if you don’t succeed, try, try again…

 

Northern Frost: Even further north than the Northern Region, it is an icy wasteland where only the scarcest of settlements can be found. Makuta Miserix departed here recently, for unknown reasons…

 

White Quartz Mountains: Apart from a few settlements, there’s not much here.

 

Black Spike Mountains: Or here.

[FallenAtlas]

 UPDATE ON ARK #351:

 

 About done, just finishing location descriptions. The one thing I would really like though is a floor-plan map; I am not a graphic artist of any kind, so can I get a volunteer perhaps? Otherwise, I should be posting it in the next day or so for review.

[SnowyAegis]

@FA

I am absolutely up for drawing a floor plan map.

[fishers64]

Shard's RPG reminds me of a really creepy computer game that my friends played back in the early days of the internet where you had to go up through a bunch of levels of a pyramid past harder and harder obstacles. When you died, you had a chance of just going down 1 level or totally back to the beginning. 

 

I think that should be instituted (either 1 level or back to the beginning mechanic) in order to reduce player fury. Also, the GBs should have staff character names, and drops should be decided based on their whims, not an RNG.

 

My suggestion.^  

[Specter Knight]

UPDATE ON ARK #351:

 

 About done, just finishing location descriptions. The one thing I would really like though is a floor-plan map; I am not a graphic artist of any kind, so can I get a volunteer perhaps? Otherwise, I should be posting it in the next day or so for review.

 

I VOLUNTEER AS TRIBUTE!

 

In all seriousness, I like the Idea of your RPG, but Didn't comment on it because... well, I'm lazy. But I feel like I could make a decent map for you. Here's an Example of What you may expect.

Of course, If everyone else wants to volunteer, I'm not stopping you.

[Wyrd Bid Ful Araed]

The game will take place on Spherus Magna, so… yes… since the characters’ missions will probably take them to various different places, it’s hard to list EVERY possible place they can go to. However, I can give a few key locations…

 

 

I would question why you would need to list every location. I mean, the whole point of Task Force Fear is that they're not heroes going around solving problems of their own volition, they're crooks and outcasts who've been shanghaied into the job because they're expendable. This RPG would not suit being open world, because if you're giving people the freedom to go wherever they want, in what way are they prisoners? Brutaka can't be everywhere at once so what would be stopping them just not doing any missions?

Personally I would stick to having the Locations just be whatever the base for the Federation is, what rooms it has, what means of holding the various members it has, if they have anything to do for leisure time when not on a mission and so on. When you have a mission for the team then describe the area its taking place in, but you just don't need to otherwise. Save your efforts for other things

[Toru Nui]

I would question why you would need to list every location. I mean, the whole point of Task Force Fear is that they're not heroes going around solving problems of their own volition, they're crooks and outcasts who've been shanghaied into the job because they're expendable. This RPG would not suit being open world, because if you're giving people the freedom to go wherever they want, in what way are they prisoners? Brutaka can't be everywhere at once so what would be stopping them just not doing any missions?

 

 

Personally I would stick to having the Locations just be whatever the base for the Federation is, what rooms it has, what means of holding the various members it has, if they have anything to do for leisure time when not on a mission and so on. When you have a mission for the team then describe the area its taking place in, but you just don't need to otherwise. Save your efforts for other things

I questioned why the canon Federation didn't run off either, but thanks for the feedback. So how about this: the entire team has bomb collars around their throats, with a built-in tracking chip. Brutaka has a device around his wrist that allows him to see these tracking chips for about a Mio (which is a really long unit of measurement in the Bionicle Universe), and therefore can see where the team is and see if any of them have run off, in which case he can set off the bombs from there. Now it doesn't automatically set off when they reach a certain distance away from Brutaka, because Brutaka might send them off with a different guy i.e. Axonn should the Federation need to split up. The collars are also programmed to detonate if someone tampers with it.

 

Also the Federation doesn't really have a base, because they are constantly on the move. You might consider the Order HQ their base, but visits there mostly consists of reporting just what happened on the mission, then sleeping the night in a cell, then receiving their new mission, then leaving. They'll probably have a small caravan to stay in or something, which I might give a description for if I have time. Maybe something like this:

 

 

But Bioniclish.

[Eyru]

 

There is shadow under this red rock,

(Come in under the shadow of this red rock),

And I will show you something different from either

Your shadow at morning striding behind you

Or your shadow at evening rising to meet you;

I will show you fear in a handful of dust.

-T.S. Eliot, The Waste Land

 

I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness,
starving hysterical naked,
dragging themselves through the negro streets at dawn looking
for an angry fix,
angelheaded hipsters burning for the ancient heavenly
connection to the starry dynamo in the machinery of night

-Allen Ginsburg, Howl

 

* * *

 

1.0 - Intro

 
You awake.
 
When did you lie down to sleep, and for how long? You know not the answers. Your memory retreats to the darkest corner of your mind, leaving nothing but your name. You know your name... or you think you do. Perhaps it is only a fragment of sound, a piece of something you used to be called.
 
Whatever it is, that name will serve for now.
 
Your eyes are weak, but your surroundings come into focus as you blink the dust away. You lie upon grey sand, underneath a grey sky. Low-hanging clouds threaten rain, but the surrounding desert bears no witness to the threat. Everything is parched and dead. This land has been thirsty for so long, it has forgotten the taste of water.
 
You struggle to your feet. In the distance, you can make out mountainous silhouettes rising above the endless expanse of dusty land, their peaks lost in the clouds. Before them, yet still many miles away, you see a black tower jutting out from the sand. Its foundations obviously long decayed, it leans over the desert like a dead tree, perpetually on the verge of crashing to the ground.
 
Your gaze drifts downward; you see a settlement (if it can be called even that) only a mile or so off. There- that's where you must go. Perhaps the settlement will have water, and some shelter against the bitter wind that begins to pick up, pulling at the sand and at your skin. Perhaps its inhabitants can tell you where you are.
 
Or perhaps it is deserted, like the rest of this desolate land.
 
But you have no other options, so you begin to trudge across the sand. You are desperately thirsty, and your muscles ache; you feel like you have not used them for a very long time. But you are strong enough to walk, at least, and you reach the outskirts of the settlement within half an hour.
 
As you approach, you realize the shelters you saw from a distance are little more than pieces of rusty metal hammered together and erected over holes dug in the sand. One or two have four walls and a roof; the rest can't even be called huts. You attempt to call out, but nothing more than dusty cough escapes your throat.
 
It's enough to alert the inhabitants to your presence. First one pair of eyes, then another, then another; you see gleaming orbs appear in the cracks of each shelter, but their owners say nothing.
 
“Please...” you whisper. “Water...”
 
A long silence follows, then a Matoran emerges from one of the larger shelters. Clad in dark green-brown armour (the metal almost indistinguishable from the rust), he carries a crude spear in one hand and a canteen in the other. He eyes you warily, then speaks.
 
“Wh'are you?”
 
His voice is half-strangled by a thick accent, but you understand well enough. You tell him your name.
 
“Don'now you,” he says with a frown. “Where y'come from?”
 
You point back across the sand, and his frown deepens. “No'ne comes from there.”
 
You shrug. He waits, mulling this over, then tosses you the canteen. You barely catch it, fingers scrabbling greedily over its surface. The water inside is lukewarm and tastes metallic, but you don't care.
 
Sated, you hand the tin back. The Matoran takes it, then beckons for you to follow him deeper into the settlement. You figure he could have killed by now if he wanted to, so you might as well follow. Perhaps you will find the information you seek.
 
 

2.0 - Overview

 
Welcome to the Wasteland.
 
It is a vast desert, dry and dead, overhung by dark clouds that promise rain but deliver only acid. Everything is bleached grey and brown, from the harsh sand to the bleak mountains to the handful of villagers who manage to scrape a living out of the rocks. Little lives here, and less survives.
 
You are a being who has awoken on the sands a little south of the Settlement. You do not remember how you got there or even who you are; all you remember is your name. Travelling north, you have been allowed to make whatever living you can in the Settlement, which its inhabitants call Canus.
 
Canus is populated by roughly two dozen Matoran who do what they can to survive. No Toa live here; the villagers say that all Toa serve the Queen, who lives in her Tower to the north. The Queen controls the only fresh spring in the Wasteland, trading water for artifacts and supplies scavenged from the desert.
 
The villagers are all half-mad -it's the only way to cope with an eternity of barely surviving- but most are relatively harmless until you threaten them or their belongings. Each day, some of them venture into the Wastes to scavenge what materials they can find to trade for water. At night, when the desert turns bitterly cold, they will stay in their huts and swap stories, each more outlandish than the last. Perhaps there is some truth in their tales, but it's not an easy job distinguishing the two.
 
A stranger in this land, your destiny is up to you. Whether you wish to brave the Wastes or merely survive another day in the Settlement, the choice is yours. Be wise in your decision: the desert holds many mysteries, but it is not forgiving towards those who dare to seek them.
 
 

3.0 - Locations

 
The Settlement, named Canus by its inhabitants, lies on a plateau of sorts, elevated above the Wastes. The ground is rocky and barren, but some few things manage to survive here, including the villagers. The Settlement itself is little more than a collection of rusty metal shacks, built of material scavenged from the Wastes.
 
To the north of the Settlement stands the Tower. Once a proud iron spike that rose high into the sky, it now leans precariously to one side. It is here that the Mad Queen makes her court, and it is also here where the only spring in the Wasteland can be found.
 
To the north, beyond the Tower, lie the Black Mountains. Tall and jagged, their peaks pierce the clouds. No one in living memory has scaled them, or crossed through them to see what -if anything- lies beyond.
 
To the west and the south lie the Wastes, a vast desert bordered by low cliffs. It is a deadly place, ever threatened by acid storms and terrifying sandstorms. It is here the villagers scavenge most of their metal and inorganic supplies, but few dare to venture farther than a mile or two, fearing the storms that may rise up at any moment.
 
To the east lies only sand. Beyond that, Raka, a legendary city made entirely of metal, said to have been taken over long ago by nightmarish beasts. No one is sure if the city or the beasts really exist, but anyone desperate enough to make the journey is never seen again.
 
 

4.0 - Major NPCs

 
The Blue Queen is the “ruler” of the Wasteland. No one would say it to her face, but this Toa of Water is often referred to as the Mad Queen, as she is unpredictable, pleasant and hostile by turns as her fancy pleases. At some point in time, she took control of the only spring of fresh water in the Wasteland and has kept it under close guard ever since. This is the key to her power: without that water, nothing in the Wastelands could survive.
 
Takava is the right hand of the Queen, guarding the Tower and the spring it houses. Thin and menacing, his armour is bleached white as bone, giving him a skeletal appearance.
 
Nua has led the Settlement, Canus, since time immemorial. It was this Turaga who first struck the bargain with the Queen to allow his villagers to trade scavenged goods for water. That was many years ago; now he spends most of his time in his hut, lost in dreams of the past.
 
As Nua slips deeper into his memories, Maru, his right hand, has taken on more and more of the Settlement's responsibilities. A thoughtful and cautious Matoran, he seems more sane than most.

 

 

5.0 - Character Rules

 

The only hard and fast rule here is that your character's profile must be substantial enough for others to interact with you, and it must include a legitimate weakness. You may use any profile template you like, but it should be similar to the template below:

 

Name: (what are you called?)

Species: (Toa, Matoran, Turaga, Skakdi, or Vortixx?)

Gender: (male, female, neither, or other?)

Mask: (see list of banned masks below)

Powers/Abilities: (what are your powers and skills?)

Weapons/Equipment: (what weapons and equipment do you carry? See notes on equipment below)

Appearance: (what do you look like?)

Personality: (what are you like? List your likes, dislikes, pet peeves, etc.)

Weaknesses: (list any flaws and weaknesses you have. This section is mandatory)

Biography: (what events have taken place since your awakening on the sands?)

 

 

5.1 - Banned Masks

 

These masks are not allowed to be possessed by a player character, except at GM discretion:

 

 

Komau (mind control)

Iden (spirit)

Garai (gravity)

Jutlin (corruption)

Avsa (hunger)

Felnas (disruption)

Mohtrek (time duplication)

Crast (repulsion)

Avohkii (light)

Kraahkan (shadow)

Rua (wisdom)

Aki (valour)

Rode (truth)

Olmak (dimensional gates)

Olisi (alternate futures)

Mask of Light and Shadow

Mask of Clairvoyance

Mask of Emulation

Mask of Growth

Mask of Charisma

Mask of Possibilities

Mask of Elemental Energy

Mask of Mutation

Kanohi Nuva

Legendary Kanohi

 

 

 

5.2 - Equipment & Weapons

 

Your character wakes on the sands with nothing. Therefore, any equipment and weapons they possess must have been scavenged from the Wastes, or made with scavenged materials. Advanced technology is nonexistent, basic tech is unreliable, and even things like basic weapons and armour are likely to be rusty and in poor condition. This is a wasteland, after all.

 

* * *

 

This RPG has been my pet project for awhile. I finally wrote it out properly while procrastinating the many papers I should be writing instead, so here it is. I don't know if I'll ever actually run it, but it'd be nice to get some feedback nonetheless. If people seem to like it, maybe I'll give it a shot.

Edited November 18, 2015 by Eyru

[Naota Takizawa]

Is this going to be matoran only or can we play as toa to go bully everyone else or even other species like Vortixx and Skakdi? Where can we find water if it's incredibly limited and will there be a system for finding junk and loot?

[Shadowhawk]

<snip>

Well now... look at that! Been a long time since I've seen an RPG like this one. Blood, grit, rust and gore, all deftly crafted and tidily packaged in a minimalist, post-apocalyptic wrapping that blends easily with the 'old-school' BIONICLE feel. I like it.   

 

But yeah, I also am wondering about character building and so forth? I'd suggest you add a section, just to clarify. Which species are playable (possibly just Matoran...? that would be awesome), how would the playerbase go about setting up profiles, what about starting equipment, etc?

[Eyru]

Is this going to be matoran only or can we play as toa to go bully everyone else or even other species like Vortixx and Skakdi? Where can we find water if it's incredibly limited and will there be a system for finding junk and loot?

 

I originally toyed with the idea of only allowing Matoran, but Toa, Turaga, Skakdi and Vortixx would also be allowed.

 

The only known water source is the Mad Queen's spring, and the only way of obtaining any is to barter for it (or try to seize control if that's more your style).

 

Scavenging would be handled on a case-by-case basis. Players would be free to go into the Wastes to search for resources, and would be able to collect regular junk like pieces of old armour, strips of leather and cloth, dysfunctional tech, etc. without staff approval. Going deeper into the Wastes would increase the likelihood of staff intervention, either in the form of finding more valuable items or encountering environmental dangers. 

 

 

 

<snip>

Well now... look at that! Been a long time since I've seen an RPG like this one. Blood, grit, rust and gore, all deftly crafted and tidily packaged in a minimalist, post-apocalyptic wrapping that blends easily with the 'old-school' BIONICLE feel. I like it.   

 

But yeah, I also am wondering about character building and so forth? I'd suggest you add a section, just to clarify. Which species are playable (possibly just Matoran...? that would be awesome), how would the playerbase go about setting up profiles, what about starting equipment, etc?

 

 

I'll edit that information in.

[Timageness]

@Federation: I like the bomb idea, but it might be better to go with implants instead of collars. That way, it would lessen the chance of an enemy getting off a few lucky shots and potentially taking the team out before they've even had the chance to complete their mission, since the devices would be burried beneath the subject's natural armor and would be more difficult to hit.

Another possibility to consider replacing them with an artificial capsule filled with poison, acid, or a more controlled version of the Protodermis-eating disease commonly carried by members of the Zyglak species. These options have the potential of reducing collateral damage as well.

 

@Wasteland Discussion: I'm on the fence about adding in Toa (and by extension, Skakdi) as playable species. If the game is centered around the spring being the source of the Mad Queen's power, then the arrival of Ga Elementals (or even Ko Elementals) could feasibly upset this and potentially make her somewhat obsolete.

That, and the possibility that she probably wouldn't take to kindly to a bunch of upstarts challenging her authority, of course, though this could simply draw people in as part of the game.

Edited November 18, 2015 by Timageness

[Shadowhawk]

@Wasteland Discussion: I'm on the fence about adding in Toa (and by extension, Skakdi) as playable species. If the game is centered around the spring being the source of the Mad Queen's power, then the arrival of Ga Elementals (or even Ko Elementals) could feasibly upset this and potentially make her somewhat obsolete.

 

Ditto the above. Definitely something to consider.

[Wyrd Bid Ful Araed]

I questioned why the canon Federation didn't run off either, but thanks for the feedback. So how about this: the entire team has bomb collars around their throats, with a built-in tracking chip. Brutaka has a device around his wrist that allows him to see these tracking chips for about a Mio (which is a really long unit of measurement in the Bionicle Universe), and therefore can see where the team is and see if any of them have run off, in which case he can set off the bombs from there. Now it doesn't automatically set off when they reach a certain distance away from Brutaka, because Brutaka might send them off with a different guy i.e. Axonn should the Federation need to split up. The collars are also programmed to detonate if someone tampers with it.

 

Also the Federation doesn't really have a base, because they are constantly on the move. You might consider the Order HQ their base, but visits there mostly consists of reporting just what happened on the mission, then sleeping the night in a cell, then receiving their new mission, then leaving. They'll probably have a small caravan to stay in or something, which I might give a description for if I have time. Maybe something like this:

 

<Image Snip>

 

But Bioniclish.

 

I think the canon Federation didn't try to run off because Brutaka was right there all the time and its hard to run from a guy who can create portals to anywhere with his mind. And even that didn't stop Spiriah from trying to get out of it. Given that the team of the RPG is going to be split up a lot more, heading out on different missions, Brutaka can't personally watch all of them at once, so you're going to need some other way of keeping them in line.

I'd recommend having somewhere they can stop, rest and recharge. Expendable is one thing but there's no sense sending them out exhausted and wounded, because then you just won't get the mission done. A base, mobile or otherwise, would also allow new player characters to have somewhere to hop in that wasn't just in the middle of a mission. 

 

 

With Wasteland, I do think adding in Toa takes something away from the RPG. You introduce one helpful Ga-Toa and suddenly the Queen's stranglehold over water sources is gone. Why worry about trying to eke out a living farming, when here's a Bo-Toa who can magic up all the delicious plants you need. Got a cut and worried it will be infected, and you don't have the gear you need to patch yourself up? Well no problem, here's a Toa with a mask of healing, they'll cure what ails you. At least with Skakdi their elemental powers are limited and they've got no aptitude for Kanohi, which means they've mostly only got their vision powers to rely on, but playing as a Toa seems far too much like putting the game on easy mode

[Eyru]

I definitely agree that a Matoran-only game would make more sense both thematically and in practice. My only qualm while designing this RPG was that a lot of players might not appreciate only being allowed to play Matoran. I'm just not sure how much of a demand there would be for a game where you can only play as the little guys (even though they're awesome).

 

Sure, there are some adjustments I could make to allow Toa. Maybe give the Queen a little army of Toa who make sure she stays in power, or limit the elemental abilities of PC Toa. But you're 100% right: Matoran just make more sense.

[Keeper of Kraata]

One could go for the Dark Sun approach, and have elemental powers irreparably damage the world.

[Timageness]

What if the Mad Queen's forces sought out and abducted all of the Ga/Ko Toa/Skakdi once they entered the region, and then brainwashed them into serving her in said army?

That way, the players would still have the option to play as those two species, just not one with an ability that could potentially break the game.

[Wade.]

I'm just not sure how much of a demand there would be for a game where you can only play as the little guys (even though they're awesome).

 

My demand is all the demand you need 

[Ghidora131]

My demand is all the demand you need

 

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