RPR Archive The Game Designers Guild

I would think that of the 3 the Pirate RPG holds the most possibilities, it is a unique idea and many on this forum have a fondness for Pirates (after all we do have that talk like a pirate thing).

Creating a working format for this would be rather easy I think, I have a few ideas in mind already for this actually.

Pirates get my vote.

 

Pirates. Everyone knows something about them. So it shouldn't be hard to write humourous material.

 

How about a crossover? Although I haven't explored the idea much, way early in the Star Wars Marvel Comics, the Millennium Falcon crashed onto a waterworld, and I've had a very low-key fascination with a starship floating in the middle of an ocean.

 

my vote would definitely have to be with pirates. there's just so much material in that particular world, even if you wanted to set it in star wars, being a pirate just has too many possibilities to pass up in my humble opinion.

actually having a story arch for it shouldn't be to difficult, just as having amusing ideas wouldn't be very hard either.

the actual running of it doesn't seem like it would be difficult, especially if you look at somethings such as Trials (darth-vassago's rpg) or alchemists and archangels (winged_jedi's rpg) both of which are excellent, but require a whole lot of work to keep running. with pirates things could be confined to just a single ship for quite a lot of the game, and when you go into towns it wouldn't be that difficult to keep track of.

 

Pirates. No More Questions. I mean, Pirates are loaded with humor. Monkey Island. One Piece. Princess Bride. Pirates of the Carribean. Talk Like a Pirate Day. How is this even an issue?

 

Oh man, that video was hilarious. Loved the ending.

 

So, when we get all the formative work done, am I to understand we will be posting our RP? If so, can we get a nifty tagline on the title like "Brought to you by the GDG...so you know it's good." or something?

I'll post an opinion later when I have more time.

 

We will be making a fully functional game Sephy...

Its a shame there is no GM's Guild to unload it to...

As far as I know though, no one will be running it...

That is.... unless someone wants to...

For which, a well placed PM to me should be in order...

To the buisness at hand however...

So everyone wants to do Pirates huh?

Thats interesting.... and as I have ran a semi-successful Pirates RPG before, I have a little experience in the area...

To all the supporters, I ask you:

How do you plan to make this funny?

Fact of the matter is, I didn't think the idea would have this much support honestly...

Now let me kick some thoughts into the field...

If everyone is thinking, oh hey, we'll have like a cruise full of Jack Sparrows, that probably isn't going to happen...

Or at least, wouldn't be that healthy for gameplay in my eyes...

There could definitely be a few Pirates that are excentric, but that can't be all can it?

Would they be hunting for some parady treasure? Or in a leaky ship? Or running into flagrantly British and French peoples?

Some thoughts to think about...



-I_H

 

Alright, so, sign me up. Officially.

You all new it was a matter of time.

As to the question of how to make Pirates a humor game ... there are a couple of obvious options

The Dread Pirate Roberts springs to mind. Anything associated with a classic comedy movie like the Princess Bride can be golden for comedy. As a matter of fact, a lot of the funniest lines in the RPG games that I play and read are spoofs of regular movie lines.

Quirky pirates is another area of exploitation for the sake of comedy. A good pirate can still be very one dimensional and yet be a good, well-developed plot-driving character. Someone focused only on gaining gold, or only on seeing the seas, or so on and so forth can add to the story line and still give ample opportunity to get good quick-hits of humor as well as well-developed recurring bits of humor.

I also think having quirky and one-dimensional charachters is a trait that can help any humor RPG. But, I'll get into that later.

 

If you want to know how to do pirate humor, play Monkey Island.

NO EXCUSES!

Still trying to find a good spot to find Monkey Island 2. I'll get back to you on that one.

Then buy the Curse of Monkey Island. It can be found online. It's $10. It is also one of the best adventure games ever, and perhaps the peak of the whole series. And you'll be supporting Papa Lucas. If you do not buy this game, Murray will get you.

Monkey Island 4 is pretty good as well, and none too expensive. And if you're in the general area, pick up Grim Fandango, another fine product. Heck, just about any of the old LucasArts adventure games are pure gold (and almost as expensive if they're not abandonware). Pick them up if you see them, especially the aforementioned Monkey Island and Grim Fandango, Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, Day of the Tentacle, The Dig, Full Throttle, and Sam & Max Hit the Road.

This has been a LightWarden educational moment. If you have not played these games, you may consider yourself an ape in pants.

 

If we can find no one else to GM it, I will. I will work on a rough, rough frist post as a starting point for us, and I should have it up by tomorrow...

 

i like the very british and french people idea, and a parody treasure could be interesting. have them hunting for the lost something or the other, and when you finally get there it's not what they were expecting. maybe something like "Jewel of the Nile" if anyone remembers that movie. they were expecting a literal treasure, and instead they found a person. caused some amusement, that's for sure.

quirky pirates would be on thing that could be done, and i actually have a few ideas for one at the moment that could be highly amusing.

i might be interested in a co-gm roll with this, partially to get my feet wet in the gming world. just need to wait and see how much time i have.

i know i'll have more ideas for this later, and will post them as they come along.

 

I remember I_H had a Pirates game. It wasn't humourous, but it was still very sucessful. So I think another Pirates RP would be sucessful also, if put into the right hands.

 

Of Course, were Imp to play he could give us a few pointers as to what NOT to do...like what caused the downfall of his game....

Personaly, I think it can work, but like Imp said, not all of us can be "Jack Sparrow" or "The Dread Pirate"...that being said, were the game to come to life, I call dibs on the drunken Brawler archetype.

 

when this does come to pass i call one of the quirky ones. i've got a rather... interesting trait that i'll not unveil here. this would actually be the perfect thing to do it with too.

 

Yes! Pirates wins! Boo-yah!

Do I get credit for putting the idea forth in the first place?

Anywho, I think that the RPG calls for French and Englsih parodies - the French Corsair is noble, exotic, and his speech sends sensual shivers up your spine. Of course, he's a little unsavory, what with being a pirate. But he is a gentleman pirate. Or whatever.

The English Privateer - Dashing in his own right, the Englishman is prone to taking tea breaks, something the French, not to mention all others, find weird. A bit of a boy scout, he is, nonetheless, brave. Except that he always runs back to Mommy Britannia.

I dunno, just a few random ideas. I'm hoping it will be in the vein of Discworld - well written, laden with word play, and very cinematic.

Perhaps the hidden Pirate Tresure of Jack the Catskinner?

 

Here is a very, very rough first post. Think of it more as a template for us to mold into the "perfect" pirate game. We need somewhere to start...


***Pirates: The Scurvy Lads (and Lasses) of the Seven Seas*** (Protect your booty!)

Welcome, ye scurvy lads. You have entered a land of adventure, treachery and swordplay. You are invited to sail with the famed pritae ship the Clunky Bucket as you and your fearsome mates shoot and scour your way infamy. You can sail the the depths of Hell and back, while you are stinking to high heavens.

Captain JeanLeCarte Jocleavu De Cartel Monteaju has chosen you. Those bloody Brits have started to question your meritime supremacy. Are you going to sit back and take this?

Before you lies the oppurtunity of a lifetime. Dominate the waters and make a name for yourself.

A wild and humerous road lies ahead. Grab your parat and peg leg, and most importantly of all, PROTECT YOUR BOOTY!

Rules:

1. Be Funny. This is a humerous RPG, and its success depends on the humor and participation of its players
2. Obey TOS, GM
3. Use mild languag. This is a Pirate RPG, but you can be funny without having a mouth like a salior
4. PM GM all Character Sheets (Optional rule, depends on GM preferance)


***


That is all I got for now. I would like to have been able to put more time into it, but I have a paper to write. I will be up all night, but I can't spend a lot of time on this post. Remeber, this is to serve as a template. It is by no means a final first post. Sorry if it seems rushed, but it was.

 

If you ask me, the name Clunky Bucket is taking itself a little too unseriously.

I call dibs on the captain's pet parrot/monkey (I'll decide later). It wouldn't be a pirate ship if the captain didn't have an exotic pet.

 

Sure, if it was you that actually presented the idea.

Anyway, I have another thought about this. It may sound odd, but here me out for a second. The entire thing can take place on one ship, and the GM could play the captain and direct the adventres that way. We could be the good bucaneers of the sea, and be like the freelance navy of the local islands (or work for the government), instead of being pirates the players would be the good guys and the GMs could control the pirates.

Or....anyone else have the urge to do a Muppet Pirate RPG?

If we do I call Gonzo!

 

You're right about the Clunky Buckt, Sephy. I just suck at coming up with names. Any other ideas would be welcome...

 

Make it a chain-smoking monkey or an opera-singing parrot, and you have totally been shortlisted for best role-player next time I vote.

 

[image=http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v734/Imperial_Hammer/Prosperitythroughendeavor.jpg]

***Game Designers Guild News***
Volume 1: Number 6

---

[hl=darkblue][color=yellow][b][u]***Full Roster***[/u][/b][/color][/hl]

[u][b]Full Members[/b][/u]
- DarthSeti5
- Winged_Jedi
- YoungAngus
- Dark-Enigma
- BLemelisk
- MASTERPRENN
- SephyCloneNo15
- darth_nemisis
- Darth_Vaders_cousin
- agap_afima
- dontlookatmethatway
- Despised1
- Rayson
- Jango10
- Trimaj
- DarthIntegral

[b][u]Partial Members (Yeah, I check :p) *4/27*[/u][/b]
- Penguinator-176

[i]Always Accepting Membership!!![/i]

[hr]
[color=#990099][b][u]***Agenda***[/u][/b][/color]

[u]Now[/u]
- Formative Genre Discussion: Humorous RPGs

[u]Next[/u]
- Yearly Competition Number 1: *Topic to be Announced*

[u]Later[/u]
- Gaming Mechanism Discussion: The Mathematics of Role Playing
- Specific Game Discussion: SephyCloneNo15 - Brainstorming on how to Create a Divine/Gods RPG
- General Genre Discussion: Romance RPGs

[hr]
[color=#0000bb][b][u]***Chopping Through***[/u][/b][/color]

Wow.... I really am impressed by the Enthusiasm we all have going here for this RPG. Really guys, this is good stuff...

I think we have a winning instructive idea in formulative game construction... :p

So lets see...

Some points:

[i][u]The Ship Name:[/u][/i] Yeah, ultimately you just have to set on something. I like the Spanish tradition of Ship naming, so something like the Churro or El Nino may be something your interested in. If you go with the English Tradition, then I dunno.... something like the Ugly Goose or Storm Skipper.... Ultimately, this ain't a game make or break. Establishing a game name just establishes ambiance really.... ;)

[i][u]Lessons From "Live the Life!":[/u][/i] The main lesson figured out by me from LtL! is that long straights on the sea do not work. I originally planned to have a month long expedition between my first town and my second. However, this period was far too long and a great deal of my players jumped ship.... so to say :p. This unfortunately makes a real problem for GMs, as Pirate Games are all about time on the high seas. Were I, as a GM, to run a Pirates RPG, I would institute either a very very short and set time between ports (like a week).... or not at all (like Port to Port). Towns need to be well set out, and a GM may or may not want to institute a monetary system (I'd lean to not though).

[i][u]Framework:[/u][/i] I would think a way to run a humorous Pirates RPG would be to string a bunch of missions/quests together. These could be either in town (sack a governor's mansion or some ship), or out of town (visit a mission, raid a ship, find a treasure). If you keep the action at a semi-regular interval, the game [i]should[/i] stay afloat.

[i][u]Nationalities:[/u][/i] I agree this is fertile ground, though players shall have to be careful not to be stereotypical to the point of discrimination/harassment. Parodying a Frenchman is alright, but bashing the French is another thing entirely.

[i][u]Protect Your Booty:[/u][/i] The funny thing is, despite its rough state, really, all the story-points are there. Pirate Captian in town. Recruiting folk. Thats all one needs to set the stage.

[i][u]On Being the Good Guys:[/u][/i] Yeah, perhaps. I think player creativity is slightly more constrained playing the role of good versus renagade.

[i][u]On Muppets Treasure Island:[/u][/i] I love that movie. ;) And its a very very good example of a humorous Pirates tale. I'll have to keep that in mind when constructing this game.

So I should think the next thing is to start kicking around the specifics. How will this game run? Deep in the infrastructure. Should we run it with one ship? Or perhaps two/three? And is the quest idea a good idea?

We now have a genera, an idea, and a rough sketch for a game. Here is where a Game Designer bites into the thick of a game. The behind the scenes tools to make a game run....

This in my opinion, ri

 

I can see time on the waters being dull. I would say, have three days in between towns. Give players who want to enough time to post "on ship" posts, and players who don't still can be a part of the game. Missions is a great idea. Each town can hold a new mission. Wheather it be mercinary work, a tip of a big treasure Depot, or directions to an unsuspecting mission.

Now that I think about it, I think that an international crew is the way to go. A group of outcasts and nobodies, who are either out to make a name for themselves, or live up to the reputation of the flag/captain they sail under...

 

I don't know about outcasts or whatnot, but I want to be the cook, all ships need a cook.

Honestly I have no idea of a way to start this now, I thought I had an idea before but I don't.

Let me think more on it.

 

Fairly certain I recall somewhere that Intro posts should be checked for correct grammar and spelling to portray the more professional kind of image to prospective gamers.

That won't apply here, because the idea has been discussed in all quarters, rather than just turning up on a forum, but it should be kept in mind by the GM.

I certainly look forward to seeing if I can be funny in this, but I'm not committing to anything.