Kuma Kode
2011-01-21, 02:53 AM
I lost interest in our campaign that we were doing, primarily because of real-life drama (that has been resolved), the characters not really meshing well, and the simple fact we missed too many sessions (two missed sessions were in a row).
Unfortunately, with all this dropping and missing and dying games, my players have become rather passive, since it's hard to get invested in a game that you expect is just going to die in a month or two.
I have a few ideas in my head, but between my finicky nature and my players' "Whatever you wanna run, man" attitude, I'm utterly paralyzed with indecision.
So...
HELP.
Below are some brief rundowns of the games I feel like running, and I want some opinions and suggestions from complete and utter strangers. If you're familiar with the three gaming philosophies, I and one other player are heavy Gamist / Simulationist. One is heavy Narrativist, while the other three are varying levels of Gamist / Narrativist. So, I have pressure to make things engaging for roleplay but also to present challenges to be overcome. This is a group where whole sessions have passed with no dice rolled.
The Dreaming Dark
System: d20 Modern
Genre: Cosmic Horror
A seemingly peaceful town nestled in the mountainous wilderness has a dark secret. Though the missing persons reports are chalked up to the bears and over-confident survivalists, they are indicative of a far greater threat.
Underlying the town is a dark and twisted netherworld crafted from the dreams of a sleeping Elder God, entombed deep within the mountain. When the god is still, all is well. When it dreams, the darkness beneath the fragrant pines become a window to its hideous nightmares, a dark mirror world filled with manifested fears and the souls of those who couldn't escape the world they found themselves in.
An ancient cult, spawned before the existence of the Native Americans, has been working diligently to awaken this God, and make its dreams a reality.
The game would focus on fighting the cult and preventing the God's awakening, while braving the psychic emanations of the Elder God and the netherworld it has created.
Essentially a Lovecraftian Silent Hill.
The World that Never Was
System: d20 Modern
Genre: Psychological Horror
When you make a decision, you destroy infinite possible permutations, infinite worlds and people who will never be. These possible futures, these potential people, are supposed to die.
But they don't.
Much like a quantum particle, they exist in a state of possibility, never really there but never really not. They don't exist, but they don't not exist. They remain potential, but never anything more. Until Darren Crowley.
Crowley slipped through the cracks, so to speak. Through some unspeakable mechanism, a failure or weakness in reality, he found himself amid those possible futures. Conscious and aware, his observation, though it drove him mad, gave these futures a substance and form. All those people who would never be, became. All those worlds that could have been, were. And all those souls who never had a chance to live became hungry for the chance to experience what it would be like.
The game focusses on the idea that a conscious observer is necessary for something to exist. The players must battle the Hollow, empty souls who seek a chance at life by possessing bodies and tossing the real soul into the netherworld.
A psychological body-snatchers with some elements of the game Closure (http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/480006).
Shades of Grey
System: Dungeons and Dragons 3.5
Genre: Fantasy Warfare
The country is dominated by a monotheistic religion based around the source of all life: the sun. Sol is a benevolent deity, and grants its clerics the much revered power of magic. The world has animistic traits, with spirits who can be worshipped for other powers, such as the sinister Wraiths, but they are significantly weaker. It is obvious to anyone that Sol is the most powerful divine entity in existence.
Until the rise of a strange new polytheistic religion focused around the worship of the Unnati. Claiming that Sol is really a trickster deity who has decieved mortals into believing that there is only one God, the Unnati's followers have created quite a stir. When the barbaric tribes to the north become fanatical followers of this new religion, it becomes clear that a holy war is inevitable. The worst part, and the most dangerous weapon the Unnati's follower's wield, is the fact that the Unnati's priests possess magic on-par with that of Sol's clerics.
This campaign focuses on moral ambiguity and will use relative alignment ("Good" is a follower of your own religion, while "Evil" is an opposed follower). It would be combat-heavy but with periods of intense roleplay. Inspiration includes Fire Emblem and real-world religious wars.
Unfortunately, with all this dropping and missing and dying games, my players have become rather passive, since it's hard to get invested in a game that you expect is just going to die in a month or two.
I have a few ideas in my head, but between my finicky nature and my players' "Whatever you wanna run, man" attitude, I'm utterly paralyzed with indecision.
So...
HELP.
Below are some brief rundowns of the games I feel like running, and I want some opinions and suggestions from complete and utter strangers. If you're familiar with the three gaming philosophies, I and one other player are heavy Gamist / Simulationist. One is heavy Narrativist, while the other three are varying levels of Gamist / Narrativist. So, I have pressure to make things engaging for roleplay but also to present challenges to be overcome. This is a group where whole sessions have passed with no dice rolled.
The Dreaming Dark
System: d20 Modern
Genre: Cosmic Horror
A seemingly peaceful town nestled in the mountainous wilderness has a dark secret. Though the missing persons reports are chalked up to the bears and over-confident survivalists, they are indicative of a far greater threat.
Underlying the town is a dark and twisted netherworld crafted from the dreams of a sleeping Elder God, entombed deep within the mountain. When the god is still, all is well. When it dreams, the darkness beneath the fragrant pines become a window to its hideous nightmares, a dark mirror world filled with manifested fears and the souls of those who couldn't escape the world they found themselves in.
An ancient cult, spawned before the existence of the Native Americans, has been working diligently to awaken this God, and make its dreams a reality.
The game would focus on fighting the cult and preventing the God's awakening, while braving the psychic emanations of the Elder God and the netherworld it has created.
Essentially a Lovecraftian Silent Hill.
The World that Never Was
System: d20 Modern
Genre: Psychological Horror
When you make a decision, you destroy infinite possible permutations, infinite worlds and people who will never be. These possible futures, these potential people, are supposed to die.
But they don't.
Much like a quantum particle, they exist in a state of possibility, never really there but never really not. They don't exist, but they don't not exist. They remain potential, but never anything more. Until Darren Crowley.
Crowley slipped through the cracks, so to speak. Through some unspeakable mechanism, a failure or weakness in reality, he found himself amid those possible futures. Conscious and aware, his observation, though it drove him mad, gave these futures a substance and form. All those people who would never be, became. All those worlds that could have been, were. And all those souls who never had a chance to live became hungry for the chance to experience what it would be like.
The game focusses on the idea that a conscious observer is necessary for something to exist. The players must battle the Hollow, empty souls who seek a chance at life by possessing bodies and tossing the real soul into the netherworld.
A psychological body-snatchers with some elements of the game Closure (http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/480006).
Shades of Grey
System: Dungeons and Dragons 3.5
Genre: Fantasy Warfare
The country is dominated by a monotheistic religion based around the source of all life: the sun. Sol is a benevolent deity, and grants its clerics the much revered power of magic. The world has animistic traits, with spirits who can be worshipped for other powers, such as the sinister Wraiths, but they are significantly weaker. It is obvious to anyone that Sol is the most powerful divine entity in existence.
Until the rise of a strange new polytheistic religion focused around the worship of the Unnati. Claiming that Sol is really a trickster deity who has decieved mortals into believing that there is only one God, the Unnati's followers have created quite a stir. When the barbaric tribes to the north become fanatical followers of this new religion, it becomes clear that a holy war is inevitable. The worst part, and the most dangerous weapon the Unnati's follower's wield, is the fact that the Unnati's priests possess magic on-par with that of Sol's clerics.
This campaign focuses on moral ambiguity and will use relative alignment ("Good" is a follower of your own religion, while "Evil" is an opposed follower). It would be combat-heavy but with periods of intense roleplay. Inspiration includes Fire Emblem and real-world religious wars.