D&D Campaign as MMORPG: A Game Within A Game

[Leliel]

Well, after watching a bit too much .hack//, I thought, "Wouldn't it be cool if the reason a PC is so powerful compared to the rest of the world is that the world is a server in an MMOG, and the PCs are players?" Of course, the idea proceeded to germinate, and I came up with this outline:

The players are gamers who have just been registered to a popular MMORPG, which is the world where the majority of the game takes place in. Although they initially are just a party of n00bs looking for some silly fun, they quickly discover that the game is more than just that-as it turns out, it's a breeding ground for experimental AIs, and hacking the engine is not just easy, it seems to be encouraged. After that, they discover that a group of evil PCs has decided to team up with a megalomaniac AI in order to take over the Internet (as far as anyone can take over the Internet), and the PCs end up having to find a way to stop them, even when they're still learning the ropes of the game.

So, how do you like this idea? Speaking of which, how would you factor in the "hacking" aspect, other than as a cheap way to allow homebrewed rituals and abilities?

[FoE]

Well, it would allow for basically all OOC comments (computer talk, Monty Python jokes, Star Wars quotes, etc.) to be in-character. And it would explain why the PCs pwn teh univerrz.

[Zeta Kai]

Speaking of which, how would you factor in the "hacking" aspect, other than as a cheap way to allow homebrewed rituals and abilities?

With a successful skill check (Hack skill ~ Disable Device), you can have 1d6 maximized die rolls. After the final one (DM rolls secretly), a game moderator issues you an infraction, dealing 5d6 force damage.

[Leliel]

Well, it would allow for basically all OOC comments (computer talk, Monty Python jokes, Star Wars quotes, etc.) to be in-character. And it would explain why the PCs pwn teh univerrz.

Yes. Yes, it would.

[Tadanori Oyama]

That makes roleplaying and around the table talking basically the same thing. It'd make the game much more interactive. The players could even complain at the server itself or to an admin as an excuse to address the DM directly in game.

[Yakk]

At-will powers are the powers your characters are supposed to have.

Encounter, Daily, and Action Points are your hack tricks.

These can only be used rarely, as the game repairs the subroutines you bypass?

[Nerd-o-rama]

Just play 4th Edition.

Ba-dum tish.

[Frosty]

My Character died. DAMN SERVER LAG!

[Bayar]

For some reason, it reminds me of World of World of Warcraft...

[Tadanori Oyama]

My Character died. DAMN SERVER LAG!

You see the background shift. The system is crashing! Make a saving throw to backup your character.

I can see problems with it, but it'd be a cool once in awhile sort of thing to have fun with. Heck I've spent sessions where my players didn't really play the game, they talked about what they might be able to do. We didn't roll any dice but everybody laughed themselves stupid.

[AKA_Bait]

Interesting thought (I loved .hack// btw) and I had a notion for it. Use two different systems. 4e for the inside the MMORPG and something very deadly (shadowrun maybe) for the 'real lives' of the PCs who are the players of the MMORPG. That way, if they want to solve problems in the 'real world' they proceed in a modern setting with more 'if they shoot you in the face you die' type rules.

[vicente408]

Interesting thought (I loved .hack// btw) and I had a notion for it. Use two different systems. 4e for the inside the MMORPG and something very deadly (shadowrun maybe) for the 'real lives' of the PCs who are the players of the MMORPG. That way, if they want to solve problems in the 'real world' they proceed in a modern setting with more 'if they shoot you in the face you die' type rules.

Would the characters be essentially the same in both the "real world" and the MMO? Letting your character have an in-game avatar could be very interesting... big muscle-bound hulk in real life, plays an Elf Wizard in the game. Heheh.

[Leliel]

Would the characters be essentially the same in both the "real world" and the MMO? Letting your character have an in-game avatar could be very interesting... big muscle-bound hulk in real life, plays an Elf Wizard in the game. Heheh.

Nope, I was thinking of the "real world" as an RP And Skill Challenge Only environment, with the PC in the game being completely different.

Minus "mental" attibutes of course.

PS: You may wonder why bothering with physical attributes in the real world is worth it, and I've figured out how-Since your mental picture of yourself is your physical body, it factors into tests where the real and online world blur.

[crimson77]

So, how do you like this idea? Speaking of which, how would you factor in the "hacking" aspect, other than as a cheap way to allow homebrewed rituals and abilities?

I had a friend do this concept. It worked well. His system was players were playing characters in an online game. However, the players themselves were actually in the shadowrun world. Thus, he used shadowrun rules for hacking and so forth.

His campaign has now been running for 3+ years on this system. He started all the players out in basic dnd and 1st edition shadowrun. He would have the MMORPG do server updates and change it to ADnD (1st), then 2nd, 3rd and so on. This also occurred for shadowrun as well. He also ran through all the modules and campaign settings he owned for each edition.

Each actual player could choose to play just the dnd game or the full game including shadowrun depending on how much time they wanted to spend. If you played the full game then you could hack but you would have to upgrade your 'computer' and have to deal with other problems.

It has been a fun concept to play in.

[kjones]

This reminds me of that old, highly underrated game "Roleplaying Games: The RPG". Basically, your characters had to get jobs to save money to buy games, then schedule playing time in-character, and so on. You might want to look there for help on how to run this.

[SmartAlec]

I dimly remember reading something about a similar snarky concept when someone (I wish I could remember who) heard about the Everquest pen-and-paper game. Jokes about rolling for lag with modifiers depending on how many people were in the vicinity, and the DM rolling not just for NPC appearance but also for the appearance of the player behind the NPC.

"Ok..." *rolls for the NPC* "She looks like a stunningly attractive elven queen."
"Cool! I flirt with her."
"Hang on, hang on..." *rolls for the player* "... woah."
"What? Is that a good woah?"
"Uh... well... couldn't say."

[Jack_of_Spades]

I've done this before and it was lots of fun. It was a world of darkness campaign and the characters would occasionally play an MMO to hack into security systems or databases kinda like Megaman Nt Warrior.

[Lochar]

*looks around shiftily* I'm actually doing something similar to this on another board, the game is just about to start up.

Although, the players don't KNOW I'm doing this to them.