I have a Idea but not sure where to take it.

[Sleepy Shade]

SO I have vague idea for a game but I'm not sure how to proceed.Should I try planning a outline for the game? Just throw it on the players and see where they take it? or should I just shelve it entirely.

The Idea is that the players are new employees of a successful but new corporation.What do they make? where does the money come from? Who knows!
However they suddenly start experiencing odd things. Managers voices start echoing. The receptionist looks different from this morning. Small stuff.

Then one day they all wake up at their desks fully clothed, clean and ready for work. However they don't remember coming in or getting ready. Then they discover they can't leave. Walking out just brings them back to the entrance. Also the other employees aren't themselves. Some are have turned into strange beasts others have started fusing to their chairs and work areas. Finally they discover that the company is some sort of eldritch thing trying to integrate with our world and the company is it's body.

This idea was originally inspired by Yuppie Psycho (https://store.steampowered.com/app/597760/Yuppie_Psycho/) and Awful hospital (https://www.bogleech.com/awfulhospital/intro.html). But I might also throw anything else I like inside.

So that's what I have a VERY rough outline but I need some help trying to plan where I should take this and whether I should leave it open ended or have a set path for players. I'm also not sure if I should make it more surviaval horror or exploration and puzzel based.

[Pauly]

To me it sounds very Cthulu

[Duff]

Neat concept!

The answer to almost all your questions is "What do you and your players want?"

So - Survival horror as a game type only works with some groups. If you're going to do it, consider what makes the PCs different to the people who are fused to their desks. Different jobs? stronger will? They've looked at the magic crystal in the basement? Or is there one (N)PC who knows about the occult and can draw the runes to protect themselves and the other newbies?
The best way out will be to get onto the roof and get down. They need to gather the items to get down safely (ropes? Build a glider?) and then make their way up to roof without getting captured and ... Taken back to their desks and attached to them? Fed to the furnace? Mind controlled and assimilated? For a satisfactory survival horror I think you need to have win conditions unless your group is unusual enough to be able to enjoy a "forlorn Hope" game where it's only a matter of time

Exploration and puzzle needs a little more work. I'd say "They need to find and either kill or free the sorcerer who opened the door to the Eldritch Horror and has now been assimilated." Then lay a trail of clues which lead them to doing that. They need to be in the right place with the right items and knowledge. Maybe even at the right time.
Make sure the essential clues are obvious enough that they will get them eventually, but include lots of hints which either lead to shortcuts or bonus items (or bonus goals if you want to include them. Look, I found a kitten!)

You may not want to use a system for this, but if you do, Cthulu, d20 modern or Fate would be my first go-to's, but there's probably better options.

[Sleepy Shade]

The answer to almost all your questions is "What do you and your players want?"

Unfortunatly I don't have a group and was thinking of using the idea here as a play by post.


So - Survival horror as a game type only works with some groups. If you're going to do it, consider what makes the PCs different to the people who are fused to their desks. Different jobs? stronger will? They've looked at the magic crystal in the basement? Or is there one (N)PC who knows about the occult and can draw the runes to protect themselves and the other newbies?
The best way out will be to get onto the roof and get down. They need to gather the items to get down safely (ropes? Build a glider?) and then make their way up to roof without getting captured and ... Taken back to their desks and attached to them? Fed to the furnace? Mind controlled and assimilated? For a satisfactory survival horror I think you need to have win conditions unless your group is unusual enough to be able to enjoy a "forlorn Hope" game where it's only a matter of time

a "Forlorn Hope" game is not what I'm going for there will be a way out and a way to "win" and you did make a good point. Why are they not assimilated or brain washed? I do have a answer for that now but I'll save that for the game it's self. As for an escape that isn't going to happen much like trying to go out the front door any way out will just lead back to the office. But maybe a different entrance.


Exploration and puzzle needs a little more work. I'd say "They need to find and either kill or free the sorcerer who opened the door to the Eldritch Horror and has now been assimilated." Then lay a trail of clues which lead them to doing that. They need to be in the right place with the right items and knowledge. Maybe even at the right time.
Make sure the essential clues are obvious enough that they will get them eventually, but include lots of hints which either lead to shortcuts or bonus items (or bonus goals if you want to include them. Look, I found a kitten!)

I agree I'm gonna need to work on the puzzling aspect of it but I think I might do that for either various "boss" creatures or navigating certain sections of the building.


You may not want to use a system for this, but if you do, Cthulu, d20 modern or Fate would be my first go-to's, but there's probably better options.
Hmmm maybe Fate or Fate accelerated. But not Cthulu while the weird is going to happen in the game I want the players to interact with the weird since not ALL of it is horrible mind melting blobs some are buisness men with robot moquito heads and flesh lakes that act as druids for the area. So I'll look around for some systems.

Thank you for your imput it helped me out if anyone else has any suggetions or advice I would love to hear it.

[daremetoidareyo]

What are the goals of the eldritch corporate entity? What does it fear?

[Sleepy Shade]

What are the goals of the eldritch corporate entity? What does it fear?

The Entity is actually not the one pulling the strings here. Various people in the company are the ones causing the entity's emergence into reality. Which they have failed at. The entity's faulty summoning is one reason that the PC's aren't connected to the cubicles. Their goals was to call this creature into reality and control it becoming gods of the earth or at the very least become a successful company.
I think there were 6 people. One on each floor. but after the failed ritual they have now become something more and less than what they were. Defeating them is not important to return to reality just destroying their "link" to the entity. The link might be a personal trinket another creature or a totem they might have taken a liking to.

I'm considering that when I get some players they'll also help create the alien landscape of the offices and various floors.

[Faily]

I could see one of two directions:

The first one would be to go really deep into horror, and go with KULT. What's going on is that the office building is now existing more in the "other world" than the world they know, and the ones behind it could be working for Kether possibly.


Second one would be more light-hearted horror with Laundry Files (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Laundry_Files). The whole scenario could've been kicked off by accident with someone doing some mathematical equations they shouldn't be doing on their computer, they could be unknowingly working for the government and there was some... leakage of trouble from that part that lead to their current predicament.

[Jay R]

Only one comment to add:

Either the players already know what’s going to happen, or they just know to prepare for a game of corporate life.

Since the coolest part of the idea is unbelievable things starting to happen, you don’t want them to know in advance. So the most difficult thing part will be getting buy-in, followed by their ability to create useful characters for a scenario they aren’t expecting.

I recommend telling them to design modern corporate players, possibly with weekend camping skills, amateur-level athletic skills, or a military background.

Tell them it will be worth it, but don’t tell them how, if you can get them to play such a game.

Alternatively, give them an initially misleading but useful background. “You are an investigative team for an insurance company, sometimes sent to places hit by earthquakes or typhoons, so build characters with both investigative and survival skills. Some combat ability might not be a bad idea, but only one of you can be a full-time guard.”

[Sleepy Shade]

Laundry Files is probably more of what I'm aiming for. Also I'll need to read those books later they look good.

For the system and to keep the surprise of the adventure I'm thinking of using Murder and Acquisitions (https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/191519/Murders--Acquisitions-RPG). However it's a bit of a more obscure system. Has anyone ever run a game of it?

[Duff]

From my one game of Kult a thousand years ago, this would be a fantastic system.

If I was running this with my current group, I'd probably pull out (buy or borrow) the Kult book and ask the players to make up low level office workers for whom "nothing unusual is going to happen".