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Pack RPG

Posted: Mon Jan 05, 2009 6:20 pm
by Wingman
As a few of you might know, I'm in the process of writing my own tabletop RPG system.

The time has come where I feel the need for playtesters, people to help me shake it around to see what rattles.

In all likelihood it will be here, on IRC, or on MSN messenger, or something.

Ideally, I'm looking for around 4-6 players, to have enough variety to actually strain both myself and this system. I want to make sure that it had hold up under pressure.

For more information, most of what I have written for the system and setting is located on my wiki.


Update: Game thread located here.

Re: Pack RPG

Posted: Mon Jan 05, 2009 7:47 pm
by White_Wolf
*Throws hand in the air and bounces around in chair* I'm interested. I'm a seasoned RPG player and am always looking for new ways to occupy my time. :lol:

Re: Pack RPG

Posted: Tue Jan 06, 2009 3:59 am
by Wingman
Awesome, that's one.

Now, my information on the wiki is probably a little sketchy, since I put most of it up there in the wee hours of the morning while in the process of revising it.


As some setting details for the game's starting point:

Five years ago(Current year is 2017), Time and Space slid out of synch. The real reason for this was that the sun went supernova, we're all actually dead, and now everything is a fading memory of what was. Thus, as time goes by, things unravel more and more.

But, subjectively, very little has changed. The one main thing that has changed is that "thresholds" have begun appearing. Each threshold leads to somewhen else. There are two types, one that directly links to the destination, and ones that instead transfer you to a halfway state where you exist at once in both times, but in neither of them. You can see the material world for a short distance around you, but after that it's just shadows and fog. While in this halfway state, you're invisible and intangible to pretty much everything, though earth, dirt, and stone blocks you rather effectively.
A few rare thresholds lead to times that have never existed, and over the years these have been increasing in number, and leading to times and places increasingly stranger.

Think of it like Stargate, essentially, except instead of a single gate, they're popping up all over the place, and it's becoming a fairly common occurrence to see places in the cities roped off to keep people from blundering into the invisible thresholds.

Only some people can actually "see" these thresholds, to everyone else they are utterly invisible, though there is now also equipment that can detect them. On average, a threshold is rather small, averaging a little larger than a door, but the placement of them varies wildly. There is no noticeable rhyme or reason to their location.

As time passes, the world is becoming increasingly unstable, and more and more of the actual universe is bleeding through.

I'll work to flesh out the wiki some more, but please ask me some questions.

Re: Pack RPG

Posted: Tue Jan 06, 2009 1:33 pm
by Aki
*raises hand and bounces as well* Pick meeeee! Me! Pick me!

Seriously though, I'd love to play and to help test it out. I've RPed quite a bit (more freeform than ruled, but I've done quite a bit of that) and have kinda-sorta worked in testing homebrew systems before (a friend's on another site, and Baphnedia's )

Also:
First off, this system is intended to reflect the setting, one in which skilled individuals are able to absolutely dominate those with less skill. The single warrior who can plow through mobs of common soldiers, the over-the-top antics of many anime/manga/comic book universes, that is what this system is working towards catering to.
That is awesome. I love being able to plow through eight-bazillion dudes like nothing.

Re: Pack RPG

Posted: Tue Jan 06, 2009 9:21 pm
by White_Wolf
Since I'm a Stargate Atlantis fan, I know what you're talking about! It all sounds very complicated, are the beings in this shifters or human? And what kind of "missions" will we be able to partake in?

Will there be good vs. evil? I wanna be an evil wolfie, I like being evil... :howl:  :oo

Re: Pack RPG

Posted: Wed Jan 07, 2009 2:45 am
by Wingman
Well, there are many kinds of beings, though during the start of the game it's just humans.

Well, actually I've yet to work out a moral axis for this game, since that's one of the things I've always disliked about games. The fact that some actions are always evil, or that some things are always good. You're certainly free to be "evil", but it's not really something that's governed by a game mechanic at the moment.

And now, to actually put the information on my shifters up there.

Though, a major point of this setting is that ANYONE can use Will to augment themselves, within good reason. And after a while, things like form and appearance begin to become a little less important than they were before.
The starting point of the game will essentially mark the point when the Aether dream that is the Earth begins to literally fall apart, and things come to investigate why an entire solar system just exploded, and to get what they can before it fades away to nothing. So, if you want to play something that doesn't fit into the designation of "human", you can, but reactions are going to be varied. Essentially, The Day the Earth Stood Still(the new one at least, I haven't seen the original) is a pretty good example of some of the stuff that's starting to happen.


An Important Note: Actual character creation is still a bit...iffy, since I can't actually post some of the stuff without looking over my shoulder for copyright lawyers, and I've been unable to find the time to sit down and overhaul certain portions essential to a character, such as the merits system, to the point at which I can claim them as my own. Yes, I just realized this. *facepalm*
But, feel entirely free to start working on elements of your characters that are not dependent on specific mechanics. Pretty much every character concept you can come up with can be made, so no need to fear.

Re: Pack RPG

Posted: Mon Jan 26, 2009 11:35 am
by Silvermoon
I've watched almost every season of Stargate, and Stargate Atlantis, so I understand! Can I do it?

Ja ne,
Silvermoon

Re: Pack RPG

Posted: Mon Jan 26, 2009 12:02 pm
by wolfward
Hey, I'll play as well. I love RPGs. Is this one a dialog, or stats? hwlwnk

Re: Pack RPG

Posted: Mon Jan 26, 2009 6:19 pm
by Wingman
Cool, that's four people so far.

As for the game itself, it's going to be a bit of both, roleplaying and rollplaying.


http://the-highway.wikidot.com/
That's where I've put the vast majority of what I've got for this setting so far. Though, I'm still unsure as to what I can do for a merit/feat system, or if I should even have that at all.

I admit I was a bit premature in posting this thread, since it's going to be a while before it's playable.
If you go here, the one third from the bottom "Shifters" is what I've got for shapeshifters, werewolves included. As you can see, I'm largely leaving the cosmetic details up to individual players, likewise with the hows and whys.

As a breakdown of the "plot" for this. Essentially, localized reality begins to break down, 'nearby' places begin to bleed in. This takes many forms, in the prime Earth, it manifests as an increasing number of mostly-invisible portals leading into alternate versions of Earth, mostly centered around 200 years ago. The reason for which you'll find out in the game. Eventually, it's going to reach a point where it's time to locate your planetary emergency exits, because the ship is sinking and scavengers start to come investigating.
So, at the beginning, it's going to largely be a normal world, though slightly in the future to allow some equality against some of what's going to be poking it's nose in. It's going to be mostly like an X Files/Stargate mashup, and then it starts to get weird.

Re: Pack RPG

Posted: Mon Jan 26, 2009 6:33 pm
by Silvermoon
...ok that confused the hell out of me. Let me reread all that and it'll click. :D ...eventually. :(

So like, we (characters) would have stats and stuff like that? Oh wait... rpg, not rp. lol okay now everything makes sense. Sorry!

But yeah I do both so either way is cool.

Ja ne,
Silvermoon

Re: Pack RPG

Posted: Mon Jan 26, 2009 6:52 pm
by Wingman
Yeah, the information is kind of all over the place at the moment.

Re: Pack RPG

Posted: Mon Jan 26, 2009 7:20 pm
by Silvermoon
That's okay. :D I know how you feel. And I finally understand everything!

Ja ne,
Silvermoon

Re: Pack RPG

Posted: Tue Jan 27, 2009 10:48 pm
by Aki
Very interesting. So is the keeping in control thing for shifters only in certain forms, whenever they're transformed or all the time. I doubt the last since it would be tedious for everyone involved ("Bill's got nutters again. Grab the restraints!").

Re: Pack RPG

Posted: Wed Jan 28, 2009 12:18 am
by Wingman
Not so much certain forms as certain limits. Basically, every shifter has a "safe zone" and as long as they use less than that much power they're fine, but when they go over that limit then they start getting dangerous.

Just so you get an idea, the average person has 2 Composure, and 2 Resolve, and a player might have 3s in both, or even a 4 or 5 in one.
2 points may not seem like much, but the shifter in question only starts with 3 to play with, and 2 points is around a +100% increase in an ability(assuming it's a starting value of 2).

So, for Bill going nutters, maybe he got a little careless and got injured, and then committed some points towards speeding up his healing(an ability that can be learned), and then got attacked again and committed more points to defend himself. It's easy to do, and is the reasoning why Composure is the governing trait. So less of him randomly freaking out one day and starting to foam at the mouth, and more of him going berserk from stress, or in the middle of a fight.
That's all before the whole god complex issue, after all, if you're used to having the strength and speed of two men, you might start getting addicted to it and push yourself further and further, until no one can stand in your way and you're beyond all hope.

So, you can be transformed all the live long day, but only with a certain amount of superhuman abilities. A lack of composure, or stressful conditions, are the prime reasons for shifters going berserk. Part of it is a feedback loop, a new shifter might be freaked out by what's happening, and so develop superhuman senses to detect the danger, which freaks him out even more, and so forth, until he goes berserk. Kind of like the Hulk, if Bruce Banner could partially transform safely, but still had to stay calm or he'd lose it.
The section about Shifters wrote:A character can withstand up to their Composure in committed Will before they need to roll Composure against a TN of (20 + 10 for each Will point they are over their limit +2 for every round they have been committing more than their limit)
The roll needs to be made once every (Resolve) rounds.

So, a Composure 2, Resolve 3 person who goes 1 Will over their limit needs to roll 4d10+10 against a TN of 30 the first round, and against TN 32 the fourth round, against TN 34 on the seventh round, TN 36 on the tenth round, and so forth.

A failed roll means that the character looses control of themselves for the remainder of the scene. This means that their Id has taken over, and they are essentially a different person.
1 point of Will can be spent to wrest control back for a turn, and all their Will can be spent to immediately regain control.

The more Will a character has committed to their Shapeshifting, the farther from human they are. Even a single point might manifest as golden eyes, slightly pointed teeth, or bulging veins and taunt muscles. Each additional point moves the character an additional step away from human. Their body becomes increasingly different, allowing for increasingly abnormal functions. This is largely limited to what abilities are being increased at the moment, so a character boosting Dexterity might develop hyperflexibility, and be able to reverse all his joints with ease, and someone boosting their strength might be able to exert all their strength even in ways that shouldn’t be possible.

Re: Pack RPG

Posted: Wed Jan 28, 2009 1:30 am
by Thunderclaw
(slowly turns around) I can aid you in role-play. For the last four years or so, Wolfward and I have been doing role-play together. It's quite the interesting outcome

Re: Pack RPG

Posted: Wed Jan 28, 2009 12:07 pm
by Silvermoon
wow and I thought my one month role play was long... and we're still going!!!

Dude, seriously, that is awesome.

Re: Pack RPG

Posted: Wed Jan 28, 2009 12:28 pm
by Aki
Wingman wrote:[snipped for length]
Aha, I understand now. Makes plenty of sense then.

Re: Pack RPG

Posted: Tue Mar 10, 2009 5:49 am
by Wingman
Just to clarify, are you folks still interested in this?

I realize now that I was a little hasty in trying to use the entire system, as it's not complete. Though, the core of it is stable enough. So, for the sake of actually being able to start this some time before the apocalypse I'm just going to use the core of the system for this.

I'm going to break it down to the bare bones, which means no dicerolling necessary on your part, and none of the insanity that comes with it. It'll really just be Attributes, Skills, and the rest is up to you.

For simplicity's sake, I'm also breaking down the setting. For all extents and purposes it'll be Real World Plus You, to save me the agony of creating a world for you guys to run around in. I just want to make sure that I won't be wasting my time if I whip up the stuff necessary to play. If it works out, I might introduce some of their weird stuff I had planned, but if not it's no real loss. So, who's still in?

Game thread located here.

Re: Pack RPG

Posted: Fri Mar 13, 2009 11:53 am
by Thunderclaw
(nodding head) Yes, I am still interested in this.

Re: Pack RPG

Posted: Sat Mar 14, 2009 2:21 am
by Wingman
Thunderclaw wrote:(nodding head) Yes, I am still interested in this.
Awesome, the game information and stuff is here.

Re: Pack RPG

Posted: Thu Mar 26, 2009 11:33 am
by Silvermoon
I am still interested as well

Re: Pack RPG

Posted: Mon Mar 30, 2009 2:36 pm
by blackwolfhell
I like this. I seen almost every season of the stargates. I'd love to join! BRING IT ON!!!!! :roll:

Re: Pack RPG

Posted: Mon Mar 30, 2009 2:55 pm
by Grayheart
The game is already on, blackwolfhell - just have a look at the links in Wingman's signature :wink: