Reference Interest Measurement Thread

I wonder . . . does anyone remember a game called The Forever War?

I am thinking about a remake. Got the GMs blessing and I always felt it died to early. So would there be anyone intersted in it?

 

Interesting, tag me and i'll join

 

So I've had myself a field day and written three separate OPs for potential games, and would like some input on which one sounds the most exciting. Rather than post the entire OPs here, I'll simply post the introduction scene for each and gauge interest that way. Please let me know what you think about them, and don't hold back!

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Far Cry: An Island Survival Horror Adventure

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Spring break, 2016. For some, it is a time of freedom, an act of mercy, a most welcome break from the ceaseless grind of the day-to-day struggle. Students throw their books in the air at the arrival of their week-long recess. Teachers relieved by the peace given to them for the next seven days. Workers, employees, employers, cashing in their vacation time and spending it however they see fit. The friendly sun beams down on the welcoming earth, beckoning in a new season of warmth and joy.​

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For a select few individuals from various walks of life, this spring break in particular will be one to remember. A vacation they'll certainly never forget... if they survive it.​

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A plane ticket to Portugal is firmly in your possession. Whether you're going alone or bringing along family or friends, you rest easy knowing that the next five days of your life will be spent in one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Nothing could possibly remove you from this bliss.​

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So. Today is the day. Are you ready? Got everything packed? Told your families goodbye, or to hurry because you don't want to be late? The plane's boarding soon. All that's left to do... is get on.​

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Black Moon Gulch: A Supernatural Western

North Texas​

The 19th Century​

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The kid paused for a moment, looked down at his drink and asked the question he'd been waiting to ask all night. “You ever been down to Black Moon Gulch?”​

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The old man's head didn't move. His face was still, as if he'd been expecting those words. He took a sip from his glass of whiskey, and set it back down on the bar. “Yeah,” he said finally. “I been there.”​

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The kid perked up, surprised he even got that much out of the conversation. “I heard stories. 'Bout all the funny things that happen there.”​

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“Hm. Funny.”​

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“I heard a man been hanged there, they say his body was still for hours. And when they finally come to cut him down from the tree, he just pulled out a knife and cut himself down, then killed the men come to get his body. Like the noose didn't do nothin' to him. You ever heard o' that?”​

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The old man shook his head, took another drink.​

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“And it ain't just that. I heard a bunch other things, too. Someone told me they seen a man turn into a wolf. Just right there! One second he was just a normal man, then fur started comin' out of his skin and-”​

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The old man put his index finger up to his lips.​

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“...and,” the kid whispered, “and he grew twice the size he was! With fangs and yellow eyes and claws instead of hands. You ever seen somethin' like that?”​

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The old man responded by taking another drink.​

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The kid sighed. “I'm leavin' in the mornin'. I wanna see it for myself.”​

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“Black Moon Gulch ain't no place for a boy like you to get mixed up in. That town belongs to the Devil himself.”​

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“I ain't scared.”​

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“Boy, you don't even know what scared is. But you go there, you sure as hell gonna find out. Stay away if you know what's good for ya.”​

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The kid pursed his lips, took a swig of his bourbon. “You survived, didn't you?”​

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There was a pause. “No, kid. I didn't survive.”​

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The young man stared at his elder for a moment. Then he took one last drink and stood up from the bar and put on his hat. “Thanks for the talk. I hope to see you again someday. I'm sure I'll have some stories to share with you next time.” And with that he tossed some money on the bar and walked out the door into the frigid night air.​

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“God help you, kid. God help you.”​

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The Forgotten: A Star Wars Murder Mystery

“I've got a bad feeling about this.”​

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The young detective looked at his older partner, a human man of nearly sixty years with greying hair, a scruffy beard, and a voice that sounded as if it'd been devoid of any sort of excitement for decades. “Have you ever had a good feeling about one of these?” he asked with a raised brow.​

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The two men stood in a dark alley in one of the many shady districts of Coruscant, lit only by various neon lights adorning the rundown walls on each side. The wind was soft but cold. The older man pulled the neck of his coat up higher around his face as he and his partner observed the dead body that lay before them. “What do we know so far?”​

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“Well,” the young detective stepped towards the body and knelt down beside it. “Twi'lek female. We pulled an ID. Nineteen years old.”​

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“What's her name?” The older man stayed put several yards away, observing from a distance.​

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“Shereen Vex. She's a dancer at one of the cantinas around here.”​

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“Any witnesses?”​

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“Nothing yet. Guy who called it in just said he was in his apartment when he heard a scream through his window. Came outside and found the body just like it is now. We talked to him, that's all he's got.”​

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“Which cantina does she work?”​

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“Hop's.”​

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“Hop's. Okay. We know the C.O.D.?”​

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The young detective looked down at his gloved hands and stood up. He sighed. “This is where it gets interesting, Red.”​

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“Great.”​

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“There's only one wound. A circular hole burned through her abdomen. In and out, clean through.”​

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“No blood?”​

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“No blood.”​

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“Clean through.”​

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A nod.​

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An expletive.​

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“Yep.”​

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“Who else has wind of this?”​

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“No one right now. Just a matter of time.”​

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“And we're stuck with it.”​

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“Mm.”​

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The older man sighed. “Have we contacted the Order?”​

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“Waiting for a response.”​

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Red shook his head. “This is a time bomb.”​

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The young man shrugged. “Time's up.”​

 

I feel like that Murder Mystery game has a lot of juice. It would make a really nice small, perhaps, shorter game. Definitely intriguing.

So, I've got a little bit written for the beginning of a game I've been toying with for years now. The idea is that the focus is considerably smaller scale. A sort of realistic look at war, as seen from the eyes of the individuals directly affected by it.

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A burgeoning galactic power, unburdened by significant enemies or resistance, saw untold prosperity. With the promises of safety and order, they expanded across the galaxy like wave. This Republic’s fuel, was an idea of unity; was hope. But with all great societies, as wealth and power came so too did corruption. The idea that had started this age of growth, became twisted by greed. Expansion continued unchecked into the wildest, and most resource laden, edge of the galaxy.

After many years, the Republic, spread far too thin, became unable to govern the edges of their territory in the Outer Rim. Rather than bankrupt the core trying to police the galaxy, the Republic abandoned their outer colonies, leaving no infrastructure for regime transfer and throwing the Outer Rim into chaos.

Whole systems were ravaged by civil wars. Corporations, previously held in check by Republic law, became free to sap the life out of mining and logging worlds. Piracy became the rule, rather than the exception. And on the edge, a looming presence from the depths Wild Space slowly crept over this abandoned region. A dark power, fueled by the chaos, destruction, and suffering, wormed its way into the hearts and minds of the disenfranchised.

The Republic, hearing of a power growing as fast as they had, saw a true threat for the first time in hundreds of years.

As the indoctrination of the Outer Rim became complete, the dark force that had formed into a Federation of Systems slowly began to push into the Mid Rim, discontent and hungry for more. The darkness that enveloped the Federation could not thrive without consuming the anguish and suffering they had initially felt in the Rim. They were pushing the galaxy towards war.
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Characters would be split between civilian and military, but all would be experiencing a first-hand account of the horrors of galactic war. My idea is to explore the motivations of either fighting or not, and the consequences of both.

 

That actually sounds pretty large scale. I'm curious as to what exactly is the dark force taking over the galaxy, and who's fighting who in this particular war.

 

The overarching concept itself is certainly large-scale, but in terms of what each player would be dealing with and what I as a GM would be writing would be very specific to each character. I don't know if this is just wishful thinking, but I want to focus on the idea that every character would have their own preconceived notion of both side, which wouldn't necessarily be true. Basically create a personal propaganda for each player, so that from an individual's perspective their side is the "good guys." And in reality both sides are manipulative and arguably bad.

 

Sounds good to me!

 

So, I've been reading a lot of comics and watching a lot of Daredevil lately, with the natural result being I'm considering trying my hand at yet another one of those always intriguing but frustratingly short lived superhero games. So, I guess the interest I'm gauging is twofold: would folks be interested in that sort of thing, and if so, would there be interest in using the (helpfully open source) Mutants & Masterminds system (which is basically a simplifed, one-die fits all version of DnD, but for superheroes)?

My concept stuff is all fairly nascent so feedback will be taken into active consideration, thanks. Mostly I just want to get back on the wagon, I've spent too long letting larger TFN concerns distract me from my favorite board pastime.

 

I loved the last superhero game I played, which was x-men.

I think it definitely depends on powering down some of the stronger heroes to allow the game to survive. Having several characters as strong as Superman would be way overkill unless they were all dealing with separate world ending threats, which might stretch you thin.

But if you can do a Daredevil/Jessica Jones style game and keep everyone fairly close it could work really well.

 

I'm always down for a good superhero game, though I tend to balk when confronted with anything involving dice and/or numbering systems. I've never played in a game involving a DnD rule set, as it just never seemed fun to me. I like writing, not number crunching. But I'm not totally opposed to the idea either, and if something comes along that convinces me to give it a shot, I'll keep an open mind (and expect lots of questions).

 

That balance concern is precisely why I'm toying with the potential albatross of a formal system - M&M is designed to keep four to six players on roughly equal footing regardless of what type of superhero they want to play as. That said, it obviously weighs things down behind the scenes.

I'm also leaning towards some setting that would encourage PCs to work as a team, rather than pursuing multiple tangents (at least at first), while still allowing some diversity of abilities; your X-Men, your Avengers, JLA, that sort of thing.

 

Well if there's a genre that's enticing enough to persuade me to figure out the workings of a d20 system, it's the superhero genre. I can certainly understand the need to keep players balanced with all those abilities, and it clearly worked well for Tide of Flames. I'd be on board whether you decided to go with it or not.

Will it be a licensed game or original?

 

I haven't quite decided, honestly. I've gone licensed for my previous attempts and I think it worked out okay, but with that route there's a greater risk of someone really wanting to play as, like, Superman, while everyone else wants to be Blue Beetle and the power levels just don't gel well. With original stuff I have the added advantage of getting to just ask folks to pick a power suite if I use a system, but the disadvantage is that where it's easy to fit a custom character into a licensed system, the reverse usually just nets lots of Captain Ersatz (I'm Arachno-Guy, with the proportionate abilities of an... uh... arachnid!). So, again, could break either way.

 

This is just me, but the original route seems like the way to go. Gives you and the players more freedom from a storytelling perspective, what with not having to adhere to set storylines and preestablished personalities. And like you said, it's easier to create a balance of power that way. Just have to trust your players to resist the urge to pilfer from the Marvel database.

 

It always depends on the systems, but a lot of great systems aren't all that crunchy – the current D&D successfully simplified a lot of mechanics, and it's easy to get going once you get the hang of it. 9/10 rolls are 1d20+x. It gets a little more complicated when you're the GM.

The issue from there is that many of these systems tend towards tactical gameplay because of the math underpinnings. This isn't a problem if that's your bag, but for a player interested in narrative, you'll have to push against the natural tendencies of most systems. But then again, there are other systems (specifically Apocalypse World, Dungeon World, their fam) that strive to focus more on narrative drama and often succeed. Dungeon World's often described as "What I thought D&D would be like" by many newcomers who might have been put off by D&D's emphasis on mechanics.

I've actually been thinking about launching a roll20 campaign in Apoc World or Monster of the Week, which was actually why I dropped by for a look in this thread. Not happening yet though.

 

Powered by the Apocalypse is an incredibly elegant engine that I'd love to get to try out in practice, so hey, keep me posted.

 

Will do. I'm reading through the AW manual right now, and have been meaning to get a hard copy of Monster of the Week. I've also been poking around in roll20, but honestly I don't expect to do much with it besides handle dice and draw the occasional approximate map.

 

How does this sound?

Fading Lines

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It has been a thousand years since the last iteration of Sith were defeated and exiled to the shadows. The Galactic Republic, built up by its Senate and the venerable Jedi Order, reigned over the galaxy like a bright light, after so many years of darkness. The Republic was created as a beacon of hope for the disenfranchised suffering at the hands of so many past oppressors. And as the Core flourished, the Republic began to steadily spread its influence outward. Unopposed, their reach seemed to stretch across the entire galaxy.

However, after so many years, the original purpose of the Republic has been forgotten, and its leaders have begun to look only inward. Corruption and greed have driven economic growth at the expense of the people. Corporations, previously held in check by Republic law, became free to sap the life out of mining and logging worlds. The Republic has slowly become unable and unwilling to police the edges of Outer Rim.

In its wake, much of the region was thrust into chaos. And from the disorder, a power long thought eradicated reemerged from the deep expanse of Wild Space. What began as a flagship carrying the last remnants of the Sith, crept over the top of the galaxy and grew. The many pirate bands that plagued the region fell in and were united under the Sith banner. Each system they swept through was given the option to be destroyed or assimilate. While some planets resisted the yoke of this new tyrant, many more, disillusioned with the corruption in the Republic, joined willingly. Discontent with their new Empire, the Sith began branching out into the Unknown Regions, Hutt Space, and ultimately the Core.

It seemed that for the first time in a millennia, the galaxy was on the edge of war.

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Welcome to Fading Lines! In this game we are going to attempt to explore the relationship between choice and consequence in the theater of war. While the story may seem uninspired at first, the true depths of our story will come from each player. This game will rely on each player becoming truly “in character.” As is true in real life, your characters will have their own preconceptions, opinion, and hang ups. This will result in a vastly different experience for each player. Through personal propaganda, each player will operate with their character’s distinct mindset and have a unique view of the war.

Continuity wise, this game is an alternative universe, but would roughly be set in the time of the clone wars. For technology and planet history, reference information between 32 BBY and 19 BBY.

Characters

This game will be heavily character driven, so take special care in creating your persona. For this reason, you may add to the character sheet if you feel it’s necessary. Please don’t skip any sections, however.

Public Information
Name:
Gender:
Age:
Species:
Birthworld:
Homeworld:
Appearance:
Equipment:
Biography: Don’t share anything about your character that you wouldn’t feel comfortable sharing with a stranger. This section may be as long or short as you feel appropriate.

Private Information
Political Leanings: Do you support either the Republic or the Sith? Are you a part of another organization or are you neutral? You have several answers for this.
Motivations: Explain your character’s reasoning for his affiliations.
Personal Goals: What does your character hope to accomplish in his life and within the confines of the war?
Prejudices: Be it against species, gender, religion, political affiliation, or otherwise.


Guidelines

• Send all character information to me for approval.
• Questions are encouraged, but some things are purposefully vague. Your character should be operating only with what they learn in game.
• Start posts with your character’s name and end with a Tag to the user you are addressing.
• This game will operate with a certain level of realism. Whether you are playing as a Force-user or a civilian, reckless behavior will have consequences and they may be fatal.
• If you go more than a month without responding to tags, I will be forced to take control of your character as is necessary.
• Feel free to discuss your character’s arc with me at any time. If you have ideas, I’d love to hear them. I can’t promise to accomplish all of your hopes and dreams, but I will cooperate with you to make this a positive experience.

 

Wow

I love it, i would love to play it also.

 

So will we be able to create any type of character we want, from wherever we choose? Or would we need to be someone who'd be an active participant in the new "war?" Some clarity on this would benefit the Characters section of the OP, but either way it's a safe bet I'll be sending you a sheet when it launches.

 

I'll add something to the post about it, but yes.

Your character can be an active participant, like a soldier, or a Jedi/Sith, a passive participant, such as a senator opposing the war or smuggler who happens to transport to either or both sides, or a nonparticipant, like a civilian, or someone specifically trying to stay out of the war.

 

Definitely something I'd be interested in. Only thought is that it seems very broad – are you going to hone in on a couple focal points to start things off, or leave that more up to the players?

 

Is it naive to trust the players to work with my concept? In my head I have like 6-8 players and they have a somewhat personalized sandbox. While I have an overall direction for the story, the specifics really depend on each characters desired direction. Or, am I just being lazy?

Edit: The story is broad because I want to focus on the development of each character as they deal with the various facets of war and the resultant consequences. So I guess I'm leaving a lot of it up to the player, to make their arc as simple or as complicated as they want it, and then the story will flesh itself out from there.

 

I understand that most DM want to fulfill player's inner desires, but thats hard and at a certain point reduce the criativity to the story

 

So the old Sith Trials series (originally by Darth-Vassago, I'm sure some of you will well remember) is back, and I just wanted to post a draft for the first third of the OP here to gauge interest. Essentially, for those not familiar with Sith Trials, the idea is you play as a new Sith apprentice in a Sith Temple (not really connected to any timeline per se, but set post-ROTJ), heavily evocative of KOTOR, TOR and the Darth Bane series of books, sort of Indiana Jones meets Star Wars with tasks and exploration of Korriban and its tombs, ancient spirits returning from the dead, fighting your fellow apprentices, a great Sith Civil War... death... mayhem... Trials.

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"The call of Korriban is strong, but it is the call of the dead." ~ Darth Sion

"Korriban shall be as it always was. A graveyard for the darkest of the Sith Lords, still whispering within their tombs. It shall always be a source of evil, spawning threats throughout the millennia. It, like Malachor, brushes the edges of the empire that waits in the dark. And like Malachor, the Sith have forgotten it… for a time. They will remember." ~ Darth Traya

"If you find this, go. Leave this place now. Some things should stay dead. This planet should stay dead. I should stay dead. But something tells me an old friend isn't going to let me. I can hear him calling my name, and I'm not going to be able to resist. So go while you can. Don't wait until dark." ~ holotape recorded by Naz Felyood

Moraband. Pesegam. Korriban. Many names, one world, the utterance of any of them bringing with them deserved dread.

It is a wasteland of red sands. Its face is caked in rock that form crumbling mountains hewn by the ravaging wind from the ruins of ancient temples, to tower above wind-cut badlands, sun-scorched sand dunes that weep grit with every updraft, and chasms formed by deep fractures gouged into its depths. Dried-up valleys, that had been dismal brooks and gulches before they were plied by ancient hands into their present state of monument, appear as blackened scars from space, puckered by the fissures that web out from them into the crust, the disfigurements left on a withered corpse. Built on the crooked backs of a thousand long-dead slaves, tombs of buried treasure, grand Temples dedicated to the dark side, Academies the crucible on which prospective Sith are flayed into raw embodiments of the dark side's primal power; these are the testaments to Moraband's past, present and future.

For this is the birthplace of the Sith, the mortuary world of their greatest Lords, the homeworld of the new Sith Empire.

If one should look at Moraband with the omniscient eyes of the Force, they would see the currents of dark power that the world breathes. They would see the greatest spirits of bygone Sith as black bloodstains in the Force, haunting their resplendent pyramids and ziggurats to which they were anchored. They would perceive the lesser echoes of corrupting souls, carried by the cold, shuddering wind, whispering into the minds of the unfortunate visitor with such insidiousness even the most stalwart of Jedi Masters would fear to step foot on the planet's surface. And within this miasma of spectral energy, they would see a fountain of darkness, a spirit where it did not belong, a spirit that refused to similarly resign itself to the darkness beyond all dying, a spirit that scrabbled for and clung to life, returned from the land of the dead to bring ruin to the realm of the living. It radiated a wrongness that even its best efforts to mask its true nature did not veil completely.

Years after the New Sith Order washed pure Moraband's dead stone with the blood of their weakest, years after Dominion and Acolytes tore at each other like kriks until all was ashes, this ancient spirit of evil, who dared mock all tradition and propriety by calling itself a living, reigning Dark Lord of the Sith, summoned all the forces of the dark side to him. He was Darth Dreadwar, Emperor of the Sith Empire, and today he followed the example of his predecessor. He was holding a feast.

Several miles distant from the mouth of the Valley of the Dark Lords, nestled in the ragged mountains that bathed the ruins of the ancient city of Dreshdae in shadow, brooded one of the oldest Temples on the planet. Predating even the reign of the first Sith King Adas, this fortress, tabernacle and academy was called home by a thousand Sith of the new dark ascendancy. And slinking into its entrance this day were some two-score Tuk'ata, straying from the dens within the Valley's tombs, scenting the first banquet held in the Temple for untold millennia. But even their hunger was not enough to overcome their terror, the unnatural energy exuding from the gathering of Sith within the Temple's opulent, vaulted dining hall.

It was within this hall Darth Dreadwar sat, enthroned, at the head of a great table. To his immediate left, the Dark Lord Darth Haretisch, Shadow Hand of the Empire. To his right, the Dark Lord Darth Insipid, Night Herald. Seated thereafter along the left and right sides of the one-hundred-foot long table were an assortment of dozens of Sith Masters, apprentices and neophytes; included among their number, the favoured of the Triumvirate. On the left, the Inquisitor Darth Viscretus, and her twin apprentices, Lady Kevala and Lady Vitala, sitting beside Dreadwar's first and foremost servant, Darth Apollyon. On the right, fledgling sorcerer Darth Formidious, assassin Darth Arach, the Sith Lord Darth Nemisis, and youngest of the gathering, Robyn Shaire.

Dreadwar's hooded form remained as still as it had been for the last hour as he watched the Sith indulge in - nay, tear into - the banquet he had prepared. Golden plates, gem encrusted cutlery and the pleasures of rare bantha steaks, caramelised shuura fruit, the salt-cured caviar of the firaxan sharks of Manaan and even the traditional delicacy of bloodsoup were lost on him. He gnawed in the darkness, emptiness howling about him in a scream just beyond the hearing of man, watching, always watching.

When the most ravenous of acolytes finished their main course, the Sith Emperor leaned forward at last, and broke the chatter with dread speech. It was a death-rattle of a thing, a sepulchral, shuddering hiss that roared into the minds of those assembled, forcing their attention upon the Dark Lord. "Weelcome, my friends." Into the silence that descended on the hall in an instant upon Dreadwar's greeting, the ancient Sith poured the warbling of a whisper. "I have gathered you today to open the Sith Trials of our new Order. You come from across the galaxy. Some have stood as Sith for decades. Some have not. But this day, we all share one purpose: to grow in the dark side, together, so that we might grasp for the very stars. Apprentices, Masters, this I promise you. Your destiny has not led you astray in coming here. Here, within the halls of this Temple, I will show you... true power."

"I will show you... the dark side."

Thoughts?