DukeofDellot
2011-06-03, 04:33 PM
Alright, so I've been messing around with a project... (I'll be spoilering the inevitable pointless rants)
You see, I've got this bug... the "I don't have a gaming group and desperately need a creative outlet" bug.
When I introduce a group to GURPS, I usually begin with what I've been calling the "Infinite Travels" campaign model... where the characters are a random bunch of adventures who have somehow (maybe it's an evil wizards toying with them, could be they're just all weirdness magnets and don't know it, or perhaps they're just lost) found themselves stranded on a random timeline, and keep making jumps between the different timelines of the Infinite Worlds Meta-setting.
Which means, anything goes and anything can happen. Nazis riding dinosaurs in a shoot out with space cowboys that are trying to protect a holy relic to Nom, the god of commerce and confection since otherwise they'd all be dropped into the blueberry sea of the Pie-niverse, which stands in the way of the heroes and they're way out of this crazy world... isn't unlikely, and actually a bit mundane compared to what usually ends up happening. The only problem is that when anything goes, characters take a long time to build.
I've been reworking the campaign model... something like "Time Pirates who travel the alternates looking for adventure (and booty)." One session you're on Kashyyyk fighting off slavers, the next your plundering space future Titanic and getting out before it collides with the fated comet, or rescuing Robin Hood alongside his merry men. Maybe you're holy warriors hunting down evil wherever and whenever it may be or a bunch of hooligans who get their kicks by pranking the most badass people to ever exist (truly or in fiction).
If you've never heard of Infinite Worlds... here's the deal. Time isn't linear, nor does what you do in the past effect your present when you return, it just changes it for that version of history. Also when you time travel, you'll also run into inconsistencies, like Reich where Nazis won World War II, or Holly where Buddy Holly is still alive today. Further there tend to be "alternates" that resemble fiction, like Sherwood where Robin Hood is real. Then hell worlds where earth is a fireball, or there's zombies overrunning everything. Also weird worlds... where maybe gravity doesn't function the same way... or there's a sea of blueberries where the Pie-rates sail as they escape the Muffin Armada... or Star Wars is what's real and World Wars is an awesome movie trilogy (sorry for spoiling it) that people geek out over.
If you've ever known something to be game-able, it exists in the Infinite Worlds Meta-setting...
Right now, I'm working on Character Templates (which are the equivalent of D&D classes), but I'm making sure that each one is vastly different from the last... but I might be running low on ideas. What I don't want is to copy what templates I already have and I have more generic fantasy templates than I can shake a stick at, I'm while I'm sticking with what I'm good at (fantasy) I'd like some sample mis-matched characters to get the ball rolling.
Currently, I've got four finished (need editing, but fine for now)... The Chronomancer, Daggertongue, Weapon Adept, and Living Weapon.
Chronomancer--A simple example Powered Character that would be essential to this type of campaign. The basis was the final fantasy Time Mage, so they alter the flow of time relative to an object (giving them stuff to do it a fight), predict the future (within a timeline), and also they can time travel freely... more or less. It's primarily a controller or buffer, with some ranged damage capability.
DaggerTongue--A more complicated example of a Powered Character... originally based off the Monkey Island Swordsmanship, but I got lost along the way. Alright so if you're a GURPSer, you know Rapier Wit, take that and turn it into a Power. Otherwise, if you're on this website, you know the Dashing Swordsman, now take that and instead of doing a combat bonus, make it give you vague control of your opponents. It's a controller and a diplomat... or a WoW-style tank, depending on your build. There's just one limit, you have to be able to come up with a clever enough insult that works for the situation in order to utilize your ability.
Weapon Adept--A Wildcard! warrior character... alright, so this guy is super simple and based off the old AD&D Fighter... more or less. If you can swing it, throw it, or turn it over: it's a weapon. Swords, kusarigama, tables, statues, the dwarven cleric, that gigantic laser cannon, an enemy swordsman... a WWII tank... Any attack is possible as long as the player can coordinate it.
Living Weapon--A... uh... she's also got a power... but her defining characteristic is that she can turn into a weapon... based off this Anime I'm obsessed with (Soul Eater). At character creation you can choose any weapon that has been invented on your timeline, and your character can morph into that, partway if you want to use the weapon yourself, but your true power comes when you turn into the big sword your warrior buddy is going to use. While in weapon form, you unlock powerful offensive magics, kind of generic JRPG elemental magic designed to be a little more game-able at the tabletop. You chose one (or more) paths of Fire, Ice, Lightning, Holy, or Shadow... Holy gives you an ultimate attack (that requires both you and your wielder to take All-Out-Attack maneuvers) but Shadow gives you the unique ability to take control of an enemy and have him kill off his friends (you don't get your special magic attacks when doing this).
That last one kind of drained me. About ten hours of work dropped into the prototype... now it needs serious editing and review. As I went, the idea of them covering a more and more vast range characters became apparent, but I've kind of hit a mental wall...
Chronomancer--The Doctor, Suave Mage Character #672, Eccentric Mage Character #23,123...
Daggertongue--The Brute who always knows how to get his enemy's attention, the Suave swordsman who can cut you with his words, the Comedian who's jokes alter reality, that cocky high society jerk everyone loves to hate...
Weapon Adept--Jackie Chan's Character in [insert movie], James Bond, Just about every D&D fighter concept, That guy from that anime that you've always wanted to play as (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spike_Spiegel), the space marine that always knows how to get the job done, The PC in [insert FPS]...
Living Weapon--The cursed sword that wields you, the Transformer who can turn into one of these (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/152_mm_towed_gun-howitzer_M1955_%28D-20%29), The Pirate Cannon Man, Rockman... with his new magical ability to turn into a laser cannon, the soldier who becomes an assault rifle, Excalibur (http://souleater.wikia.com/wiki/Excalibur) (You know you want to), that Daggertongue's rapier making him a super tank...
I have a pretty complete list of D&D-like templates, and the other obvious ones (spies, detectives, regular soldiers, ect.) but what other essential concepts do I need?
Two rules--
1)They need some sort of gimmick that gives the character direction and defining combat capability (as over the top battles with ridiculous conditions is the theme of the game) but allowing the character to come from a great many settings handle different player's interpretations.
2)They need to be interesting enough to play through a short, three to eight session, campaign. Note that I will be handing out a lot more Points than what's suggested to handle the alternate timelines' separate equipment-based skill requirements, though I'll probably be handing out lots of defaults that aren't suggested as well.
You see, I've got this bug... the "I don't have a gaming group and desperately need a creative outlet" bug.
When I introduce a group to GURPS, I usually begin with what I've been calling the "Infinite Travels" campaign model... where the characters are a random bunch of adventures who have somehow (maybe it's an evil wizards toying with them, could be they're just all weirdness magnets and don't know it, or perhaps they're just lost) found themselves stranded on a random timeline, and keep making jumps between the different timelines of the Infinite Worlds Meta-setting.
Which means, anything goes and anything can happen. Nazis riding dinosaurs in a shoot out with space cowboys that are trying to protect a holy relic to Nom, the god of commerce and confection since otherwise they'd all be dropped into the blueberry sea of the Pie-niverse, which stands in the way of the heroes and they're way out of this crazy world... isn't unlikely, and actually a bit mundane compared to what usually ends up happening. The only problem is that when anything goes, characters take a long time to build.
I've been reworking the campaign model... something like "Time Pirates who travel the alternates looking for adventure (and booty)." One session you're on Kashyyyk fighting off slavers, the next your plundering space future Titanic and getting out before it collides with the fated comet, or rescuing Robin Hood alongside his merry men. Maybe you're holy warriors hunting down evil wherever and whenever it may be or a bunch of hooligans who get their kicks by pranking the most badass people to ever exist (truly or in fiction).
If you've never heard of Infinite Worlds... here's the deal. Time isn't linear, nor does what you do in the past effect your present when you return, it just changes it for that version of history. Also when you time travel, you'll also run into inconsistencies, like Reich where Nazis won World War II, or Holly where Buddy Holly is still alive today. Further there tend to be "alternates" that resemble fiction, like Sherwood where Robin Hood is real. Then hell worlds where earth is a fireball, or there's zombies overrunning everything. Also weird worlds... where maybe gravity doesn't function the same way... or there's a sea of blueberries where the Pie-rates sail as they escape the Muffin Armada... or Star Wars is what's real and World Wars is an awesome movie trilogy (sorry for spoiling it) that people geek out over.
If you've ever known something to be game-able, it exists in the Infinite Worlds Meta-setting...
Right now, I'm working on Character Templates (which are the equivalent of D&D classes), but I'm making sure that each one is vastly different from the last... but I might be running low on ideas. What I don't want is to copy what templates I already have and I have more generic fantasy templates than I can shake a stick at, I'm while I'm sticking with what I'm good at (fantasy) I'd like some sample mis-matched characters to get the ball rolling.
Currently, I've got four finished (need editing, but fine for now)... The Chronomancer, Daggertongue, Weapon Adept, and Living Weapon.
Chronomancer--A simple example Powered Character that would be essential to this type of campaign. The basis was the final fantasy Time Mage, so they alter the flow of time relative to an object (giving them stuff to do it a fight), predict the future (within a timeline), and also they can time travel freely... more or less. It's primarily a controller or buffer, with some ranged damage capability.
DaggerTongue--A more complicated example of a Powered Character... originally based off the Monkey Island Swordsmanship, but I got lost along the way. Alright so if you're a GURPSer, you know Rapier Wit, take that and turn it into a Power. Otherwise, if you're on this website, you know the Dashing Swordsman, now take that and instead of doing a combat bonus, make it give you vague control of your opponents. It's a controller and a diplomat... or a WoW-style tank, depending on your build. There's just one limit, you have to be able to come up with a clever enough insult that works for the situation in order to utilize your ability.
Weapon Adept--A Wildcard! warrior character... alright, so this guy is super simple and based off the old AD&D Fighter... more or less. If you can swing it, throw it, or turn it over: it's a weapon. Swords, kusarigama, tables, statues, the dwarven cleric, that gigantic laser cannon, an enemy swordsman... a WWII tank... Any attack is possible as long as the player can coordinate it.
Living Weapon--A... uh... she's also got a power... but her defining characteristic is that she can turn into a weapon... based off this Anime I'm obsessed with (Soul Eater). At character creation you can choose any weapon that has been invented on your timeline, and your character can morph into that, partway if you want to use the weapon yourself, but your true power comes when you turn into the big sword your warrior buddy is going to use. While in weapon form, you unlock powerful offensive magics, kind of generic JRPG elemental magic designed to be a little more game-able at the tabletop. You chose one (or more) paths of Fire, Ice, Lightning, Holy, or Shadow... Holy gives you an ultimate attack (that requires both you and your wielder to take All-Out-Attack maneuvers) but Shadow gives you the unique ability to take control of an enemy and have him kill off his friends (you don't get your special magic attacks when doing this).
That last one kind of drained me. About ten hours of work dropped into the prototype... now it needs serious editing and review. As I went, the idea of them covering a more and more vast range characters became apparent, but I've kind of hit a mental wall...
Chronomancer--The Doctor, Suave Mage Character #672, Eccentric Mage Character #23,123...
Daggertongue--The Brute who always knows how to get his enemy's attention, the Suave swordsman who can cut you with his words, the Comedian who's jokes alter reality, that cocky high society jerk everyone loves to hate...
Weapon Adept--Jackie Chan's Character in [insert movie], James Bond, Just about every D&D fighter concept, That guy from that anime that you've always wanted to play as (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spike_Spiegel), the space marine that always knows how to get the job done, The PC in [insert FPS]...
Living Weapon--The cursed sword that wields you, the Transformer who can turn into one of these (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/152_mm_towed_gun-howitzer_M1955_%28D-20%29), The Pirate Cannon Man, Rockman... with his new magical ability to turn into a laser cannon, the soldier who becomes an assault rifle, Excalibur (http://souleater.wikia.com/wiki/Excalibur) (You know you want to), that Daggertongue's rapier making him a super tank...
I have a pretty complete list of D&D-like templates, and the other obvious ones (spies, detectives, regular soldiers, ect.) but what other essential concepts do I need?
Two rules--
1)They need some sort of gimmick that gives the character direction and defining combat capability (as over the top battles with ridiculous conditions is the theme of the game) but allowing the character to come from a great many settings handle different player's interpretations.
2)They need to be interesting enough to play through a short, three to eight session, campaign. Note that I will be handing out a lot more Points than what's suggested to handle the alternate timelines' separate equipment-based skill requirements, though I'll probably be handing out lots of defaults that aren't suggested as well.