Brian Rogers (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
subplotkudzu) wrote2006-09-04 05:00 pm
subplotkudzu) wrote2006-09-04 05:00 pm
Entry tags:
The Third Prospectus
So now we have the third prospectus, which produced a major failure of a game - burned out after 2 sessions -, and shifted us away from my doing a Prospectus for a while and going with a new GM directed fantasy setting, described below in 'The Bard Debate'. So the question is, what went wrong?
Ghostbusters: Hartford of Darkness for Ghostbusters(A3, S2, K2, B2 = 9)
“The franchise rights alone will make you rich beyond your wildest dreams.” With the number of CHI (Chargeable Haunting Incidents) in Connecticut rising, now is the perfect time for entrepreneurs and researchers to buy into GBI and take the Nutmeg State by storm! It won't be easy, what with prying reporters, wary politicos and competition from the Warner Exorcist Group. Oh, and ghosts, whose frequency rates are disturbingly high...and rising. Anyone want a Twinkie?
I don't often put out game ideas that are pure humor, but this is one. I'll be using the Ghostbusters RPG, which is simple and captures the feel of the movie nicely. Yes, movie: Ghostbusters II never happened. This will be semi-episodic, with an ongoing thread of making the business viable. Don't worry – no spreadsheets required.
The Psi-Men for Marvel Super Heroes(A3, S2, K3, B3 = 11)
The year: 2004. The place: Earth. The power: Unlimited! 20 years ago the first psychic powers manifested. For fifteen years Psis were dismissed. In 1999 a new generation appeared: kinetics rather than ‘paths, their ability to change the world could not be denied, and in the post 9/11 world, the fear took root. Now a Psionic band must make their way in the world, building a place of safety and defending a world that hates and fears them from the renegades of the growing Psi community.
Yes, it's the X-men. Specifically, it's the X-men from the movies in both tone and style. Everyone gets one Psionic power, with the younger psis being more powerful, the older ones more experienced. Right now, this is my demo case for GURPS 4E, but that may change [it did, to the MSH engine]. One thread will be building a place of safety, but I leave the methods to you.
Northern Knights for Pendragon (A1, S1, K1, B3 = 6)
The call of the round table carries even into the wilds beyond the Hadrian's Wall! Follow the saga of northern clan finding its way between Christian and Pagan, Civilized and Wild, Riches and Ruin, Clan and Self. Explore the Celtic lands as knights and warriors in the days of glory, where sorcerers and fell beasts contrast against beauty and pageantry. Live in a time when passion ruled, honor was assumed and glory was the benchmark against which all a man's accomplishments were measured.
The game mechanic is Pendragon, and it will be episodic – each session will cover one year's worth of adventure, with chances for you to improve your clan and your standing during the ‘winter phase' between sessions. On the softer side, romance and marriage are integral parts, even if they don't always go together like a horse and carriage....
Blood Red Soil for Castle Falkenstein (A1, S2, K3, B2 = 8)
“Wanted: Hard Working Settlers. The town of Cairo, Syria Planum, Mars, is looking to grow. We offer land grants and repayment of passage to any bodies after one year of profitable residency. Slackers, connivers and wastrels need not apply.” Naturally, there are problems: Martian wildlife, opposing colonial powers, established land barons, the iron soil barring faerie, and the Martian Pyramids on the horizon. But with the American west nigh unto full, the Mars' red soil might be last frontier.
Yup, it's a Martian Western. It's Castle Falkenstein (with its benefit of my wife possibly joining us) mixed with Space 1889 and barring some of the more outre concepts. You are all Terran (where on Terra I leave to you...) settlers in Cairo, either an established family, meeting on the Aetherflight/Train, or some combination of the two, trying to make a go of it for a year.
Firestorm Effect 2000 for Silver Age Sentinels(A3, S3, K3, B1 = 10)
"Firestorm: The aftermath of a nuclear explosion." "Firestorm Effect (FE): a person, place or thing placed outside physical laws by through encounter with a Firestorm or similar mutanegen." 50 years since FE's appeared and the world is a strange, scary place. Fortunately, some use their inhuman power to serve humanity, protecting us from cosmic forces, alien invasions, criminal cartels and FEs who have succumbed to power's corrupting nature. The world needs saving, and it's up to you.
If the Psi-Men are the X-Men movies, FE2000 is the Justice League or Avengers. The PCs are the greatest heroes of the world that housed the Trilateral Headquarters on Energy Management and the Ossuary in the 1950s. I'll be doing this in Tri-Stat, and really letting my inner comic book geek go nuts in terms of major threats and versatile powers.
The Russia Campaign Book 2: Descent (A4, S3, K3, B1 = 11)
Maksyn's worst winter in a generation is finally ending. Months of practice and strange new companions make opening the door in the seashell tower a possibility. The Reptoids have fled below, into the depths that drove the old Boyar mad and inspired the images on the Apocalypse Tapestry. Dare you follow? Dare you not? What waits below is known only to God and the Kindly Old Woman of the Forest, and neither reveals much.
This is continuing the D&D Russia game, with the added hitch of Arkadj going to Constantinople while the rest of you plunge into the caverns below the mines below the church below the Mad Boyar's basement. There are threats, but you have stout hearts, strong limbs, nimble fingers and unshakeable faith. What's the worst
Of the above games, four of the six specifically mention building things, maintain families and the other things that are common to play directed games. The 5th was likely going to be built league style, and the players would have a ton of control over the world and setting. Only the 6th was clearly GM directed and a return to something we'd done recently. For reference, D&D was not the only flashback:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
netcurmudgeon and ashacat had both played in the original Firestorm Effect game; kriz1818 had been in a later session of that and was a player in an older game which was a C Falk Martian Western.
With that in mind, let's look at the scores. First observation: the high scores were lower this time around. The players were by the numbers less enthused with the choices. Part of that was replacing Jason, who just liked everything, with Karen (listed as B), who didn't want to step into an ongoing game: anything that was ongoing she rated a 1. That 1 in The Russian Campaign was what put Psi Men ahead in the numerical tie - otherwise we would have gone back to the familiar GM directed campaign.
Second observation: The returning players went for the familiar, and building things was not a draw. Excluding Karen the Russia Campaign scored a 10, FE2k a 9 andkriz1818 gave Blood Red Soil its only enthusiastic score. Northern Knights got hammered, while Hartford of Darkness got a respectable middle finish: netcurmudgeon was afraid we wouldn't be able to maintain humor), but ashacat wanted to carry around an unlicensed particle accelerator.
This left Psi Men. Like the Mage game in the first prospectus, I suspect that Psi-Men was rated as well as it did because of the popular movie analogy. Unlike the Mage game, I wasn't smart enough to avoid that.... As has been mentioned in the second prospectus thread the game was not limited to a single flaw, but part of the problem was the players not deciding on a direction. Or if they did, they weren't passing it to me.
The failure of the players to absorb genre conventions and the disconnect between the players perception of game reality, the GMs perception of same and the game mechanics not matching either didn't help, and I think we were best served by pulling the plug when we did rather than wrestle with it for another 4 sessions of communication disconnect.
Ghostbusters: Hartford of Darkness for Ghostbusters(A3, S2, K2, B2 = 9)
“The franchise rights alone will make you rich beyond your wildest dreams.” With the number of CHI (Chargeable Haunting Incidents) in Connecticut rising, now is the perfect time for entrepreneurs and researchers to buy into GBI and take the Nutmeg State by storm! It won't be easy, what with prying reporters, wary politicos and competition from the Warner Exorcist Group. Oh, and ghosts, whose frequency rates are disturbingly high...and rising. Anyone want a Twinkie?
I don't often put out game ideas that are pure humor, but this is one. I'll be using the Ghostbusters RPG, which is simple and captures the feel of the movie nicely. Yes, movie: Ghostbusters II never happened. This will be semi-episodic, with an ongoing thread of making the business viable. Don't worry – no spreadsheets required.
The Psi-Men for Marvel Super Heroes(A3, S2, K3, B3 = 11)
The year: 2004. The place: Earth. The power: Unlimited! 20 years ago the first psychic powers manifested. For fifteen years Psis were dismissed. In 1999 a new generation appeared: kinetics rather than ‘paths, their ability to change the world could not be denied, and in the post 9/11 world, the fear took root. Now a Psionic band must make their way in the world, building a place of safety and defending a world that hates and fears them from the renegades of the growing Psi community.
Yes, it's the X-men. Specifically, it's the X-men from the movies in both tone and style. Everyone gets one Psionic power, with the younger psis being more powerful, the older ones more experienced. Right now, this is my demo case for GURPS 4E, but that may change [it did, to the MSH engine]. One thread will be building a place of safety, but I leave the methods to you.
Northern Knights for Pendragon (A1, S1, K1, B3 = 6)
The call of the round table carries even into the wilds beyond the Hadrian's Wall! Follow the saga of northern clan finding its way between Christian and Pagan, Civilized and Wild, Riches and Ruin, Clan and Self. Explore the Celtic lands as knights and warriors in the days of glory, where sorcerers and fell beasts contrast against beauty and pageantry. Live in a time when passion ruled, honor was assumed and glory was the benchmark against which all a man's accomplishments were measured.
The game mechanic is Pendragon, and it will be episodic – each session will cover one year's worth of adventure, with chances for you to improve your clan and your standing during the ‘winter phase' between sessions. On the softer side, romance and marriage are integral parts, even if they don't always go together like a horse and carriage....
Blood Red Soil for Castle Falkenstein (A1, S2, K3, B2 = 8)
“Wanted: Hard Working Settlers. The town of Cairo, Syria Planum, Mars, is looking to grow. We offer land grants and repayment of passage to any bodies after one year of profitable residency. Slackers, connivers and wastrels need not apply.” Naturally, there are problems: Martian wildlife, opposing colonial powers, established land barons, the iron soil barring faerie, and the Martian Pyramids on the horizon. But with the American west nigh unto full, the Mars' red soil might be last frontier.
Yup, it's a Martian Western. It's Castle Falkenstein (with its benefit of my wife possibly joining us) mixed with Space 1889 and barring some of the more outre concepts. You are all Terran (where on Terra I leave to you...) settlers in Cairo, either an established family, meeting on the Aetherflight/Train, or some combination of the two, trying to make a go of it for a year.
Firestorm Effect 2000 for Silver Age Sentinels(A3, S3, K3, B1 = 10)
"Firestorm: The aftermath of a nuclear explosion." "Firestorm Effect (FE): a person, place or thing placed outside physical laws by through encounter with a Firestorm or similar mutanegen." 50 years since FE's appeared and the world is a strange, scary place. Fortunately, some use their inhuman power to serve humanity, protecting us from cosmic forces, alien invasions, criminal cartels and FEs who have succumbed to power's corrupting nature. The world needs saving, and it's up to you.
If the Psi-Men are the X-Men movies, FE2000 is the Justice League or Avengers. The PCs are the greatest heroes of the world that housed the Trilateral Headquarters on Energy Management and the Ossuary in the 1950s. I'll be doing this in Tri-Stat, and really letting my inner comic book geek go nuts in terms of major threats and versatile powers.
The Russia Campaign Book 2: Descent (A4, S3, K3, B1 = 11)
Maksyn's worst winter in a generation is finally ending. Months of practice and strange new companions make opening the door in the seashell tower a possibility. The Reptoids have fled below, into the depths that drove the old Boyar mad and inspired the images on the Apocalypse Tapestry. Dare you follow? Dare you not? What waits below is known only to God and the Kindly Old Woman of the Forest, and neither reveals much.
This is continuing the D&D Russia game, with the added hitch of Arkadj going to Constantinople while the rest of you plunge into the caverns below the mines below the church below the Mad Boyar's basement. There are threats, but you have stout hearts, strong limbs, nimble fingers and unshakeable faith. What's the worst
Of the above games, four of the six specifically mention building things, maintain families and the other things that are common to play directed games. The 5th was likely going to be built league style, and the players would have a ton of control over the world and setting. Only the 6th was clearly GM directed and a return to something we'd done recently. For reference, D&D was not the only flashback:
netcurmudgeon and ashacat had both played in the original Firestorm Effect game; kriz1818 had been in a later session of that and was a player in an older game which was a C Falk Martian Western. With that in mind, let's look at the scores. First observation: the high scores were lower this time around. The players were by the numbers less enthused with the choices. Part of that was replacing Jason, who just liked everything, with Karen (listed as B), who didn't want to step into an ongoing game: anything that was ongoing she rated a 1. That 1 in The Russian Campaign was what put Psi Men ahead in the numerical tie - otherwise we would have gone back to the familiar GM directed campaign.
Second observation: The returning players went for the familiar, and building things was not a draw. Excluding Karen the Russia Campaign scored a 10, FE2k a 9 and
kriz1818 gave Blood Red Soil its only enthusiastic score. Northern Knights got hammered, while Hartford of Darkness got a respectable middle finish: netcurmudgeon was afraid we wouldn't be able to maintain humor), but ashacat wanted to carry around an unlicensed particle accelerator. This left Psi Men. Like the Mage game in the first prospectus, I suspect that Psi-Men was rated as well as it did because of the popular movie analogy. Unlike the Mage game, I wasn't smart enough to avoid that.... As has been mentioned in the second prospectus thread the game was not limited to a single flaw, but part of the problem was the players not deciding on a direction. Or if they did, they weren't passing it to me.
The failure of the players to absorb genre conventions and the disconnect between the players perception of game reality, the GMs perception of same and the game mechanics not matching either didn't help, and I think we were best served by pulling the plug when we did rather than wrestle with it for another 4 sessions of communication disconnect.
no subject
Well, as a GM I walk into this knowing that the players are going to do things with the setting I hadn't anticipated. The whole point of the design is to see how someone else changes it. As a playing saying "I want to play in this", I suspect it more like a producer turning to a screenwriter and asking them to write you a film based on X premise, getting it and saying "this isn't what I asked for at all!" In my experience the person with the initial idea should be the one building the framework for the other players to build on (unless it is something designed as a communal series pitch).
As for Tudor Talents being more bashing and thumping, well, you can blame the ease of bashing and thumping plots and the mental drain of dealing with DD. What did you tell me last month? "Hack and slay all the way" now that the child is around?
no subject
It's this potential for disconnect between idea and implementation that sinks a lot of campaigns, I feel, and that's only really addressable by talking through expectations and desires before the game begins. While I have a lot of time for the GM-led campaign design I know from bitter experience it's all to easy to build a world or campaign idea up with lots of preparations that doesn't really grab the players' imaginations when it comes to the table.
'Hack and slay all the way'? Well if it ain't broke...
I hope your DD is thriving, by the way.