SimonMoon6
2013-03-25, 12:25 PM
Here's the thing: when I think back on my RPG experience, I think fondly on the various games I've run (and some that I've played in), but the ones I (and the players) have enjoyed the most are the ones that are the most unusual, the ones where I don't simply take a standard world setting and standard adventures and throw the players into them.
Here are two of my favorite games that I've run:
(1) This campaign is actually a spinoff of another campaign, one in which superpowered people are starting to appear in a real world setting (so no spandex or superheroes or anything). The original campaign was inspired by Marvel's "New Universe" (especially the DP7 comic). However, unlike in the New Universe, the appearance of superpowers is due to the influence of Lords of Chaos (ala the Michael Moorcock concept).
The players are playing "themselves". Initially, they have been charged with a quest to remove the influence of Chaos (and Law) from their home universe. To do so, they travel through five other universes (the world of Moorcock's Elric, two superhero universes, a Cthulhu universe, and something else I've forgotten now). And along the way, they gain special powers and abilities. Oh, and while they remove the Moorcock Law and Chaos from their universe, they unwittingly retcon their universe into a universe where the Cthulhu Mythos is real.
But that was just the first epic storyline. The PCs become involved in situations across twenty-three different universes (DC superhero, D&D generic universe, Doctor Who, Star Trek: TNG, etc). Each has its own rules (magic doesn't work in some universes, while technology doesn't work in others). One story arc involves one of their best friends going insane and becoming their worst enemy, gaining power that they can only dream of. One of the PCs marries a princess in the Dreamlands. Another PC becomes jealous and raises an army of zombies to fight against him. Meanwhile, other villains manipulate the PCs to pit them even more against each other. And so on.
One of the greatest things about this campaign was the freedom each PC had to follow their own path and make of it what they would. They can explore dangerous areas or seek out powers where they know they exist. But often, their actions would lead to grave consequences. For example, when a stolen Green Lantern ring was duplicated by the Enterprise's replicators, the balance of power in that universe shifted dramatically... and since the PCs had pissed off most of the TNG crew, this was a big deal. Or when they decide to consider visiting "alternate" (what if?) universes, then alternate (evil and therefore more powerful) versions of the PCs invade their home universes as well.
There were so many crazy things happening, much of which other GMs would've considered to be "unbalanced" but it was crazy fun. And there was always a way to challenge the PCs.
The rule systems that I used: originally, the game started in the Marvel Super Hero RPG (by TSR) since the game was influenced by a Marvel comic. But then, since some of the universes to be explored were Elric's world and Call of Cthulhu world, the game switched to the rule system published by Chaosium, the rules used by the Elric game, the Call of Cthulhu game, Runequest, and even an obscure superhero game (Superworld). But since this game system was *really* not suited for superheroes, everything eventually switched over to the DC Superhero RPG (by Mayfair) which can handle every genre with ease (unlike pretty much every other system... the others that can handle everything don't do so as gracefully with simplicity).
This campaign was a favorite (of mine and the players) for quite a while, though it finally disintegrated and changed beyond recognition. One of the PCs found out the true nature of existence but his knowing this fact caused reality to disintegrate... it was fixed up a little bit but was never the same. There were only five universes now and traveling between them actually changed the game system (so each PC had different character sheets for each universe).
Anyway, that's one of the most atypical games I've ever run. I'll mention the other big crazy fun game in my next post on this thread.
Here are two of my favorite games that I've run:
(1) This campaign is actually a spinoff of another campaign, one in which superpowered people are starting to appear in a real world setting (so no spandex or superheroes or anything). The original campaign was inspired by Marvel's "New Universe" (especially the DP7 comic). However, unlike in the New Universe, the appearance of superpowers is due to the influence of Lords of Chaos (ala the Michael Moorcock concept).
The players are playing "themselves". Initially, they have been charged with a quest to remove the influence of Chaos (and Law) from their home universe. To do so, they travel through five other universes (the world of Moorcock's Elric, two superhero universes, a Cthulhu universe, and something else I've forgotten now). And along the way, they gain special powers and abilities. Oh, and while they remove the Moorcock Law and Chaos from their universe, they unwittingly retcon their universe into a universe where the Cthulhu Mythos is real.
But that was just the first epic storyline. The PCs become involved in situations across twenty-three different universes (DC superhero, D&D generic universe, Doctor Who, Star Trek: TNG, etc). Each has its own rules (magic doesn't work in some universes, while technology doesn't work in others). One story arc involves one of their best friends going insane and becoming their worst enemy, gaining power that they can only dream of. One of the PCs marries a princess in the Dreamlands. Another PC becomes jealous and raises an army of zombies to fight against him. Meanwhile, other villains manipulate the PCs to pit them even more against each other. And so on.
One of the greatest things about this campaign was the freedom each PC had to follow their own path and make of it what they would. They can explore dangerous areas or seek out powers where they know they exist. But often, their actions would lead to grave consequences. For example, when a stolen Green Lantern ring was duplicated by the Enterprise's replicators, the balance of power in that universe shifted dramatically... and since the PCs had pissed off most of the TNG crew, this was a big deal. Or when they decide to consider visiting "alternate" (what if?) universes, then alternate (evil and therefore more powerful) versions of the PCs invade their home universes as well.
There were so many crazy things happening, much of which other GMs would've considered to be "unbalanced" but it was crazy fun. And there was always a way to challenge the PCs.
The rule systems that I used: originally, the game started in the Marvel Super Hero RPG (by TSR) since the game was influenced by a Marvel comic. But then, since some of the universes to be explored were Elric's world and Call of Cthulhu world, the game switched to the rule system published by Chaosium, the rules used by the Elric game, the Call of Cthulhu game, Runequest, and even an obscure superhero game (Superworld). But since this game system was *really* not suited for superheroes, everything eventually switched over to the DC Superhero RPG (by Mayfair) which can handle every genre with ease (unlike pretty much every other system... the others that can handle everything don't do so as gracefully with simplicity).
This campaign was a favorite (of mine and the players) for quite a while, though it finally disintegrated and changed beyond recognition. One of the PCs found out the true nature of existence but his knowing this fact caused reality to disintegrate... it was fixed up a little bit but was never the same. There were only five universes now and traveling between them actually changed the game system (so each PC had different character sheets for each universe).
Anyway, that's one of the most atypical games I've ever run. I'll mention the other big crazy fun game in my next post on this thread.