Potential: Sign-ups Closed

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nikohl
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Potential: Sign-ups Closed

Post by nikohl » Wed Apr 01, 2015 7:02 am

Alright, so I miss GMing, and I really like the basics of the system Spider set up for SCH which is also used in CoA.

I had originally opened this up as a "tell me what you wanna play" thread, but then I got an idea and I really wanted to run with it - so, scroll down a bit for the actual game details, because sign ups are open. Ask me any questions you want, give me any feedback on rules you might have, discuss anything you want to discuss. Let's hash it all out here.
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Re: New Game: discussion thread

Post by BadgeAddict » Wed Apr 01, 2015 7:08 am

World of Darkness themed would be interesting..mm...or star wars...(I used to play in a Star Wars Saga Edition Group)

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Re: New Game: discussion thread

Post by nikohl » Wed Apr 01, 2015 7:42 am

What about - brain dump - normal world humans zapped unceremoniously into D&D town? Normal mechanics don't apply because they're not normal, they have to figure out how to live and get by - they could adventure, they could try to become merchants, they could join wizard school. But they don't have normal stats and skills. A little bit Erfworld, but with less puns and intrigue?

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Re: New Game: discussion thread

Post by Theis2 » Wed Apr 01, 2015 9:14 am

Hmm haven't read Erfworld but it sounds interesting :)
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Re: New Game: discussion thread

Post by thinkslogically » Wed Apr 01, 2015 9:30 am

Have you seen that episode of the Simpson's (it's a Halloween HOuse of Horror) where Lisa accidentally creates sentient mini-life in a petri dish, and eventually gets shrink-rayed into their civilisation where she is worshipped as a god even though she has absolutely no powers? Something like that could work as the initial setting... It would stop everyone from trying to murder the out-of-place PCs immediately (except for the world's existing, now-jealous, high-level good / bad guys), while simultaneously increasing NPC expectations to stupid levels. The PCs then get to do whatever they want, but start with a level of fame that means they are constantly getting hounded by fans / murderers etc. That could be pretty good fun :)

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Re: New Game: discussion thread

Post by nikohl » Wed Apr 01, 2015 9:58 am

The more I think about this (and I thunk'd about it a fair bit at work, because I'm a secretary and I don't need to do much thinking about my actual job) the more I like the "zapped into an unknown but not entirely alien world" idea. While the shrink ray thing sounds majorly cool, I think it's a bit more modern than I had in mind. It might be a fun one-shot though... *plots*

The reason I like "mostly D&D but not using their actual rules" as a setting is that most weird and wonderful fantasy elements can be introduced, so if someone reaaaaally wants a game that includes vampires - make it so! You want magic? Got it. Goblins and orcs and trolls and tree nymphs and werewolves and humans coexisting semi-peacefully sort of? Yep. And it allows people to wander off, type what they roughly want into Google, and come back to me with some obscure piece of shit sourcebook which I can then bodge into the format.

I'm gonna type something up here. If no-one's down with it, so be it. But I'm feeling creative, so we'll see where it goes. Gimme an hour or so and check back.

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Re: New Game: discussion thread

Post by GathersIngredients » Wed Apr 01, 2015 10:07 am

That sounds pretty cool. Mereneth's "raptor at heart" was a little bit like this, as a couple of humans lost consciousness/went to sleep and woke up in as raptors possibly on an unknown world, or the same world, but at a completely alien (to them) time.

I sincerely hope this is no "april fools day" joke, like ECR pulled some years ago. :paranoia:
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Re: New Game: discussion thread

Post by nikohl » Wed Apr 01, 2015 11:06 am

Raptor at Heart was one of my favourite games, that's one of the elements I kind of wanted to capture and definitely something I'm going to be drawing inspiration from as far as the start goes!. I promise it's not an April Fools though :)

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Re: New Game: discussion thread

Post by SeeAMoose » Wed Apr 01, 2015 11:09 am

So you're not going to pull an ECR on us with some kind of elaborate prank? Color me disappointed. :lol:
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Re: Potential: Sign-ups Open

Post by nikohl » Wed Apr 01, 2015 12:36 pm

(Nope, no April Fools - I forgot it was even April 1st, sorry :lol:)
Potential: an RPG
---
If you found yourself in an unfamiliar world, a familiar but not-quite-right body, with your former memories fading fast and half-replaced by those of someone else, how would you react? If the rules that constrained everyone else in the world didn't seem to apply to you, what would you do with your new life?
---
You are, for an unknown reason and through an unknown method, dragged into an alternate reality; the D&D world. You are knocked out or fall asleep in the 'real world' and wake up in the alternate universe, occupying a body that closely resembles your own, but is not it.

What becomes immediately clear is that someone else used to live in this body; a few moments of headsplitting pain ensue as your psyche fights for dominance and wins. It is not a complete victory; your memories seem to merge with those of your host, and the original medieval owner of your new brain managed to reject anything he or she could not comprehend before disappearing entirely. Whether or not that person is walking around confused in your body in 2015 on Earth, you do not know - but they are not with you any more. All you have is a faint understanding of who they were, glimpses of people and places they knew, and a selection of skills that you didn't have before.
---
Fluff and stuff:

So, here's where the fun part comes in. Whatever brought you to this world broke reality in such a way that the rules here don't apply to you. Everyone else in this world abides by the basic D&D rules; any skill, feat, class, spell, template, race, ability etc that someone has, they have to meet the prerequisites for. They have fixed statistics. They earn EXP, level up, pick a class, pick a selection of skills based on that class, maybe get a spell or two, or a feat, or learn a combat move. Clerics cast Divine spells, Wizards cast Arcane spells, Druids can Wildshape, Rogues can sneak attack. A single-classed fighter cannot pray to his god for the power to heal others. A barbarian cannot disarm magical traps other than by standing on them and hoping not to die. This system doesn't apply to you! You learn dynamically - you put in the effort on something, you can do it, no matter what. Even the gods of the realm have no sway over you unless you choose it. As characters, you don't know this explicitly, but you have a feeling that you're different - and as soon as you start trying to learn, you'll see just how different you are.

As a player, you can bring me something from ANY D&D sourcebook (and, at a push, other games - subject to individual approval) and say "this is something I want to be able to do/have" and I will try and work it into the future landscape of the game for you. There will be plenty of opportunity for magical learning in this game straight away, because it's frickin' D&D, and lots of skill-based improvement, for the same reason...but I can add in all sorts of weird and wonderful stuff on request. Just remember, this is and will remain a D&D world. It is medieval-ish fantasy. There is no technology. It is not steampunk. There is nothing futuristic, and there will not be. I'm not budging on that one.

Beyond the opening 'scenario', I don't have a plot all laid out. I have things that can happen, things that may happen, things that will happen, but the direction the game actually goes in will be entirely player based. If you want to become adventurers in a traditional D&D sense and see how you fare, okay. If you'd prefer to settle into medieval life and use your strange knowledge and abilities to get ahead in life as merchants, traders, politicians or even arcanists, you'll find that path open to you. If you want to try and find a way home? Sure. If you want to try and take over the world? That can be arranged. You guys have unlimited potential; what you choose to do with it is up to you.

Crunch:

Because we aren't using D&D stats, you don't need to be defined as "Level 2 Fighter!" or anything like that. You can, if you like, choose to refer to your character in terms of a D&D class so that other players know what sort of person you're playing or what you're aiming towards, but I get the feeling everyone's going to be a little non-standard ;)

We are using a modified version of Spider's system, as devised for Surviving Castle Heterodyne - anything that can be classed as a "Skill" will use the Unskilled 1d3, Lv1 1d5, Lv2 1d7 etc system with Completion Points for prolonged tasks. Gained special abilities, feats and so on will be applied as modifiers to rolls where necessary (e.g. in D&D, the feat "Endurance" gives a bonus to generally being a badass; in Potential it would probably add a +1 to all applicable skill checks) or occasionally remain as individual things that are always active, or can be activated at specific times for set periods, or so on (like Damage Resistance, or the effects of a Polymorph ability). Spells and so on will be individually tracked, many (but not all) will be learnt with a Learning roll just like reading a book, and once you know it, it's in your head (and on your sheet) - their effects will be pretty close to what happens in D&D, modified to suit our game.

Stats are HP, MP, Atk and Def. As is standard for our lovely little forum, you get 10, 10, 1 and 1. I'm going to say these are abstract representations for the sake of easy use - while 10HP in D&D is nothing, for our sake, in Pointless, 10HP is "full health", 5HP is 50% health, etc. That way I don't have to start throwing big numbers around too early on ;)

MP is because I don't want to have to worry too much about spells per day, so you will instead have mana for anything spell-like, which regenerates over time and which is spent to do anything with a magical, supernatural or spiritual element. A lot of the basic (especially non-offensive) spells or effects will be 0MP, i.e. cast at will. I may be able to be talked around on this, and if anyone has any good ideas, speak up.


Creating Characters:

To apply, all I need from you is:

Description (including age, detailed appearance, gender - which will be carried through into your D&D-world character), a background/history, and profession.
Your submitted character should be a 2015 Earth Human!
Feel free to -suggest- the kind of skills you think this person might have if they lived in a D&D world. I will bear them in mind, but expect curveballs ;)

What you will get back from me before we begin:
Description (95% matching what you have given me; I will not genderbend you or anything o:) )
A list of knowledge you are missing. This is not like the SCH mindwipe "I'm sure I used to know..."; it is gone and you don't even know you used to know it. Your host rejected these things because they were so alien to a medieval person that they just didn't accept them into their brain. The knowledge didn't make it over with you. I will be mildly annoyed to see bad roleplaying in this respect. Ask me to explain this if you don't get it. Your missing knowledge has been replaced by...
A list of new knowledge you have (important memories which were left over in your host body)

You will also have:
A selection of starting skills (based on the merge of your past self and host)
A selection of starting items (as owned by your new body)
---
I feel like I could run with anywhere from 3 to 8 players. I'd like 5, though, that seems pretty good. I will select my favourite characters and dice off for the remaining spaces if I get lots of interest. I really hope you guys want to play! :)
Last edited by nikohl on Wed Apr 01, 2015 2:50 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Potential: Sign-ups Open

Post by thinkslogically » Wed Apr 01, 2015 2:42 pm

Cool! I will come up with something in the morning, but I'm posting now to placehold my interest :)

EDIT: All righty. Something a bit like me (but not my name :)) it is:

Name: Nix
Description: Driven almost entirely by a curiosity about the natural world, but especially the (deep) seas, I enjoy learning (in all forms) and seek out a comfortable existence (where possible). I have less interest in people or politics, but would be far more at home in a coastal town or boat rather than out in the wilds. I have greying blonde hair, blue-grey eyes, 5'7" or so, and an athletic build (but quite lazy when I don't have to do anything). The discovery of magic would be mind-blowingly cool, and I would almost certainly be a wizard, leaning towards manipulation of the elements (because that would be awesome), with knowledge of maps & navigation, tides, sailing and basic survival at sea / in coastal environments. Exploration (providing it's not too dangerous) is the name of the game.

If we could have a coastal / marine campaign I would be delighted :)
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Re: Potential: Sign-ups Open

Post by ChuckDaRighteous » Wed Apr 01, 2015 3:26 pm

Name: Timothy Jones
Gender: Male
Age: 26
Profession: Paparazzi
Background: As a kid he was always the best at hide and seek. Always knowing where others would be and exactly where to hide. When he discovered his love of photography, he naturally combined the two and became a "photo journalist." Unlike other paparazzi though, he doesn't like in-your-face tactics. No, he prefers to go after the more elusive targets. He'd go after the more reclusive stars who try to keep their lives private. He'd read up on them, studying their interviews and habits for insights. He'd figure out how to track them down. Then he takes photos of them when they least expect it and at the worst possible times. Because its one thing to submit one of a thousand photos of a star leaving a restaurant but getting that one photo of a star during her secret intimate rendezvous with a married man.... that's the real money maker. Particularly when they don't find out they've been discovered till its published.

I sorta wanted a legitimate modern day stealth profession. Paparazzi fit the bill. Normally I'd say you have to be an asshole to be one so it will be an interesting change of pace to roleplay one. As for this memory wipe thing, is it sorta like oblivion-lite? If I forget what a camera is for example would I remember getting pictures of them and selling them but not remember how. If I thought about it I might realize something was up but otherwise would be oblivious to it?
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Re: Potential: Sign-ups Open

Post by lingrem » Wed Apr 01, 2015 3:35 pm

Oh this seems cool! Y'know, since this character is really going to end up changing and stuff, I'm just going to use a loosely based version of myself :P

Plus, brain is dead and can't think. hahahaha. May change later.

Lindsey:
30 year old female.
Profession: Teacher.
Appearance - look at my fb nikohl ;)

History/Personality: likes to travel, read, write, fairly social, not close with family/family isn't a very good one, gets along well with most people, able to adapt to large variety of groups. good with animals.

LOL! Seriously. Brain is dead. Add/change what you want :P

ETA: Less brain dead right now, so will put in more information ;) Casting is always the sort of role I RP. I'm non-violent and would keep it that way. Been told I control the weather ;) I'd most likely be some form of a caster that isn't a Druid in any normal sense (I like cities and travelling too much!) but I would lean towards nature and social magics. I have a fairly high Charisma ;)

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Re: Potential: Sign-ups Open

Post by Theis2 » Wed Apr 01, 2015 3:38 pm

I'll have to think about a character but so far Lin is trying to get me to play as myself.. Not sure if that's a good thing or not xD
Oh well here goes.

Name: Theis
Description: Similar to Lin, You got pictures! (and so does the rest of you somewhere on the forum :P ) but in short. Blonde hair, blue eyes and red beard below the mouth (it's blond above) average body leaning towards an athletic build (fun bonus fact: I apparently have extremely open hips I've been told. Ballet dancers all over the world would be envious of my genetic superiority!)
A very laid back person studying biology shifting towards medical biotechnology soon though, not that the latter matters with what is about to happen. Even though he's a nonbeliever of the divine he has accepted that there might still be some sort of spirituality in the world even if it just a feeling we create amongst our self. Surprisingly good with animals, especially cats.
I'm feeling like a modern druid now.. xD
Got some tech skill, mostly towards the software side of things (going to become use magic device skills? :D ) Alright people skill but absent minded and likely to forget keeping in touch properly I'm just focusing on the present. Likely lying somewhere between neutral to neutral good.
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Re: Potential: Sign-ups Open

Post by nikohl » Wed Apr 01, 2015 3:45 pm

Okay, so in answer to Chuck and for reference to all - cameras for example - your guy could vaguely remember that he followed people for a living, and that he found out and shared information on them. But he wouldn't be able to visualise or even conceptualise a camera OR a photograph. I don't see it being a case of "why are there great big gaps in my memory?!" so much, either. You don't know that you don't know it, because there's not much that you -do- know... I just wanted to specify some important anachronistic things that definitely didn't make it through to the "new you", to avoid situations where the chemist and the physicist and the engineer team up and build a bunch of future tech from memory. But overall, I envisage it that your memory of your past life is fuzzy at best, you know who you are and your personality is in tact, but that burger place you like is a blur, your boss' name is gone, your job doesn't define you so much as feel like a niggling thing you feel like you should remember, even important life events are fading away. You can recall bits and pieces here and there for roleplaying's sake, for character interaction and development, I'm not going to make you guys forget every single thing and I leave what you dredge up from memory for that up to your discretion. But I was planning/hoping on having you all only really remember vague things (apart from actual skills) to represent the brain breakage from being dragged through space and time. Does that make sense?

Lin and Theis: I love the "being kinda me" ideas! :D

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Re: Potential: Sign-ups Open

Post by lingrem » Wed Apr 01, 2015 3:56 pm

I thought you would ;) Theis can be Theis, no matter what he says ;) You've met him so he can't get around it!
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Re: Potential: Sign-ups Open

Post by Theis2 » Wed Apr 01, 2015 4:02 pm

For more info on how a Theis is, I can recommend the fourth picture on day 5 of the london photo evidence.. xD
Considered spoiling the picture but I guess that won't belong here
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Re: Potential: Sign-ups Open

Post by lingrem » Wed Apr 01, 2015 4:07 pm

Day 5 Pic 1 is ALSO very representative of Theis ;)
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Re: Potential: Sign-ups Open

Post by WearsHats » Wed Apr 01, 2015 4:59 pm

I'll have to think about a character. I'll come back later tonight. But I definitely want in.

ETA: The power of Lingrem compells me!

Name: Paul
Color: Blue
Age: 36
Description: You've met me. But! If not for my immune system going bonkers, I'd have brown hair and be more physically active and able to think faster and more clearly and wouldn't need a cane. I'd like to wake up in the body I should have had.
Skills: Science and engineering are out. I can cook and sew. Used to do some gardening. But in a D&D world, I'd be a cleric. (Which seems weird given my feelings about religion in this world.) I'll be working to develop D&D powers that belong primarily to clerics, paladins, rangers, and druids. Cure spells, detect & smite evil, protective spells, speaking to animals, communing with plants & nature, and eventually shape-shifting. So it might make sense to have my D&D self be an acolyte at a LG temple. (I'd say a nature deity, but those are generally more neutral, and I've been disappointed to discover that I'm more LG than NG. Thunt actually laughed at the idea I might be NG.)
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Re: Potential: Sign-ups Open

Post by spiderwrangler » Wed Apr 01, 2015 8:03 pm

In the 'play as nikohl's alteration of something close to me...' vein....

Ryan

color=#BF0000

Early thirties, tall, bearded, long black hair. A graduate student studying arachnid behavior, and the pheromones that influence it. His main hobby is brewing and consuming beer. Likes to bake and cook as well, which has turned his moderately athletic physique of his youth a bit heavy around the middle.

((In terms of closest class, I'd probably be at least cross classed in druid... as far as in game goes, who knows... with no limitations on our potential, we could be anything!))
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Re: Potential: Sign-ups Open

Post by askstoomuch » Wed Apr 01, 2015 9:08 pm

also ryan

age 21
ginger tall and weird
profession student nurse/ comic relief
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Re: Potential: Sign-ups Open

Post by GathersIngredients » Thu Apr 02, 2015 1:59 am

hehehe. I really like the idea. It would be even more hilarious if that London meet-up last year would be the cause for the transition over to the D&D world (in story). :lol:

Name: B.J.
Age: mid thirties
occupation: super secret international spy
appearance: brown hair, brownish eyes, height: 1,70m , weight: way too heavy to lull opponents into a false sense of security
skills: highly intelligent, but plays down that part occasionally, again to take potential enemies by surprise; very perceptive; can use everyday objects to kill (and has the license to do it, too) and/or overpower opponents to take them in for questioning; broad field of interest in many subjects (think James Bond and similar, they undergo a thorough training before they are released into action); horse back riding; web comics

closest class: probably rogue, possibly with a level of swashbuckler (prestige class) on top of it? I'm not so good with D&D classes
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Re: Potential: Sign-ups Open

Post by Theis2 » Thu Apr 02, 2015 3:27 am

Guess I should post and say I actually edited something in by now.. :P
Also seems the london meetup went awry and Nikohl decided to toy with our minds or something like that :paranoia:
If Thinks follow the rest of us by creating something similar to herself we are going to be team druid.. xD
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Re: Potential: Sign-ups Open

Post by thinkslogically » Thu Apr 02, 2015 4:06 am

Me too. My description is now up :) Fuck, I'd love to be a wizard!

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Re: Potential: Sign-ups Open

Post by spiderwrangler » Thu Apr 02, 2015 4:19 am

Well, in this premise, the characters can BE anything... In wondering if everyone is going to develop a Neo complex.

Personally, I'd like the challenge of RPing whatever changes are made, and we'd have the opportunity to do and become anything we can think of, whether or not it's related to current motivation or any particular class feature.


Caution, rampant speculation ahead:

(Perhaps something similar is how the D&D gods came to be!? :shock: Unconstrained, and able to gain whatever powers and abilities they care to practice... I wonder how they'll respond to a new pantheon arriving? Generally not well, I'd suppose.
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