Cool RPG Ideas/Concepts

[Mr. Mask]

Fun Thread: Name some ideas you have for Role Playing Games which would be cool. If you're lucky, someone might tell you your idea exists.


I'll start: An RPG where you play as cats in a urban to semi-urban environment, similar to Mouse Guard.

[Totally Guy]

There's Cat RPG by John Wick. The concept is pretty good but I don't rate it as a good game though.

I'd like to see a game about aspiring actors trying to make it in hollywood. And when you've made it, that's when all your personal vices come out to get you and you fight them to stop your downfall.

[Rhynn]

Playing children in a world where childhood terrors are real.

... that's Little Fears, and the horror is pretty terrifying (if a bit John Carpenter).

[Mr. Mask]

The cat RPG's concept sounds pretty neat, I do admit. A pity if it doesn't pan out so well.


Will have to check out Little Fears sometime. Might be a bit too "nostalgic" for me, though.


One other idea I'm surprised no one has gone for, is an X-COM like RPG. It could be Ghosts and a Ghostbuster organization or something instead. Just that that concept's pretty neat.

[Xefas]

Teenagers in an inexplicable Shaolin Monastery/Culinary School, learning Martial Arts And Crafts ~style Kung Fu Cooking, in a world where the primary way of resolving disputes is to have a wire-fu Iron Chef competition.

The way you develop your character's personality directly impacts their aptitude in certain aspects of cooking and martial arts, and what styles of each that they can excel at.

[Man on Fire]

* Superhero setting in which Evil Won, supervillians and other evil forces divided the Earth between each other and players are the very few remaining superheroes fighting for survival
* Postapocalyptic setting with superpowers, Fist of the North Star/S-CRY-Ed style.
* Something that would be in spirit of 90s Vertigo comics like Sandman, Lucifer Doom Patrol, Boks of Magic, Hellblazer, the Invisibles, Animal Man, Flex Mentallo with a dash of few modern age comics (like Runaways or Planetary) and anime, about secret war between magical forces over the soul and shape of human race.

[erikun]

I'll start: An RPG where you play as cats in a urban to semi-urban environment, similar to Mouse Guard.

Here you go. Perhaps not the best designed RPG I've seen, but still quite playable and the game rules are 100% free.

I'd like to see a game about aspiring actors trying to make it in hollywood. And when you've made it, that's when all your personal vices come out to get you and you fight them to stop your downfall.

This sounds a lot like a situation or two in Fiasco.

Teenagers in an inexplicable Shaolin Monastery/Culinary School, learning Martial Arts And Crafts ~style Kung Fu Cooking, in a world where the primary way of resolving disputes is to have a wire-fu Iron Chef competition.

The way you develop your character's personality directly impacts their aptitude in certain aspects of cooking and martial arts, and what styles of each that they can excel at.

Wouldn't Maid RPG cover about 90% of this idea already?

* Superhero setting in which Evil Won, supervillians and other evil forces divided the Earth between each other and players are the very few remaining superheroes fighting for survival
* Postapocalyptic setting with superpowers, Fist of the North Star/S-CRY-Ed style.
* Something that would be in spirit of 90s Vertigo comics like Sandman, Lucifer Doom Patrol, Boks of Magic, Hellblazer, the Invisibles, Animal Man, Flex Mentallo with a dash of few modern age comics (like Runaways or Planetary) and anime, about secret war between magical forces over the soul and shape of human race.

I'd like to point you towards Mutants & Masterminds, or several generic systems like HeroQuest or Fate Core, if you're just looking for a system that can play these ideas. All the above systems can easily run the settings you mentioned.

As for the post-apocalyptic, I believe that Gamma World is almost exactly this setting.



As for myself? I'm kind of curious if there is an elemental-themed system that makes use of the platonic solids as the die rolled. Heck, I'd like to know about any system that makes use of the four/five elements as a core gameplay mechanic; I know that Qin does that, but am unfamiliar with any others.

[Jay R]

I always wanted to play my TOON character in an otherwise straightforward D&D game.

Ragnar Rabbit, the Hanna-Barbarian.

[Altair_the_Vexed]

A Star Wars campaign, where the original novelistation prologue is correct (there are many Sith Lords, not just Vader, and the Emperor is a puppet controlled by corrupt advisers like Tarkin) - and during the Battle of Yavin, Luke missed, Yavin Base is destroyed, and the Rebellion is all but crushed.

[CarpeGuitarrem]

As for myself? I'm kind of curious if there is an elemental-themed system that makes use of the platonic solids as the die rolled. Heck, I'd like to know about any system that makes use of the four/five elements as a core gameplay mechanic; I know that Qin does that, but am unfamiliar with any others.

That's a really cool idea. I'm assuming that each element would benefit from using their respective die? So you'd tie a bunch of different effects to various aspects of the dice, and (say) a d4 would be the optimum die for air-ish things, and so on. That'd be awesome if it was well-calibrated.

As for systems that use the elements, there's a few that come to mind. Legend of the Five Rings does it, and there's a far more obscure game called A Wanderer's Romance.

[DJ Yung Crunk]

Apparently my friends are running a French Revolution themed thing. Though, being a total nüb to the realm of tabletop gaming it does give me pause to consider what system they might be using. I was gonna make a whole thread to ask that but, hell, this'll do fine I hope.

[Man on Fire]

Apparently my friends are running a French Revolution themed thing. Though, being a total nüb to the realm of tabletop gaming it does give me pause to consider what system they might be using. I was gonna make a whole thread to ask that but, hell, this'll do fine I hope.

Savage Worlds.

Also, speaking of the Star Wars, and kinda related, I want to see some games doing John Wick's "Bad Boy Corwin/Good Man Vader" stick - the idea you set adventures into events of plots they know, only you secretely twist everything around, so suddenly Vader is the good guy Obi-Wan is manipulating you into killing.

[DJ Yung Crunk]

Apparently my friends are running a French Revolution themed thing.

I should point out that I posted this here not for the inquiry but because I do think it's a pretty damn cool idea. Just wanted to get that out there.

[The Dark Fiddler]

A Star Wars campaign, where the original novelistation prologue is correct (there are many Sith Lords, not just Vader, and the Emperor is a puppet controlled by corrupt advisers like Tarkin) - and during the Battle of Yavin, Luke missed, Yavin Base is destroyed, and the Rebellion is all but crushed.

That's just Star Wars SAGA (or, hell, any other Star Wars system, or generic system tooled for Star Wars) with an alternate universe setting. Interesting setting and campaign idea, though.

What I'd be interested in is seeing RPGs that use methods other than dice to do their conflict resolution. I've been playing around with an idea for a system that uses playing cards in place of dice rolls, specifically an idea that each suit would be its own action (which started as a Pokemon system, where each suit would be a different attack)... long story short, seeing what other systems have done might help me flesh out the idea.

[Xefas]

What I'd be interested in is seeing RPGs that use methods other than dice to do their conflict resolution. I've been playing around with an idea for a system that uses playing cards in place of dice rolls, specifically an idea that each suit would be its own action (which started as a Pokemon system, where each suit would be a different attack)... long story short, seeing what other systems have done might help me flesh out the idea.

Free Market uses specialized decks of cards.

Do: Pilgrims of the Flying Temple uses a bag of different colored stones.

I know there's a ~wild west game that uses standard playing cards. "Deadlands", maybe? Hopefully someone else will come along and correct me.

[The Rose Dragon]

There are quite a number of RPGs that do not use dice. Nine Worlds, for example, uses playing cards, with each suit corresponding to a different kind of action. Diceless systems use no randomizer at all.

[CarpeGuitarrem]

Golden Sky Stories should be out soon; it's a diceless game focused around "everyday fantasy", with the players playing Japanese animal-spirits (well, sorta...the more correct term is henge, they switch between human and animal forms, and in-between).

[Mr. Mask]

Fiddler: Wasn't Gabe from Penny Arcade making a system like you describe? At least, it had a strong card focus.

[Doorhandle]

That's just Star Wars SAGA (or, hell, any other Star Wars system, or generic system tooled for Star Wars) with an alternate universe setting. Interesting setting and campaign idea, though.

What I'd be interested in is seeing RPGs that use methods other than dice to do their conflict resolution. I've been playing around with an idea for a system that uses playing cards in place of dice rolls, specifically an idea that each suit would be its own action (which started as a Pokemon system, where each suit would be a different attack)... long story short, seeing what other systems have done might help me flesh out the idea.

Nobilis is dic less.

And I'm with the X-com guy above, but I was thinking more SCP-foundation.
I think the delta-green setting may be a grimdark version of what you were talking about.

[Geostationary]

Teenagers in an inexplicable Shaolin Monastery/Culinary School, learning Martial Arts And Crafts ~style Kung Fu Cooking, in a world where the primary way of resolving disputes is to have a wire-fu Iron Chef competition.

The way you develop your character's personality directly impacts their aptitude in certain aspects of cooking and martial arts, and what styles of each that they can excel at.

I'm pretty sure the upcoming Chuubo's Marvelous Wish-Granting Engine could do this exceedingly well.

Also, Dark Fiddler, it's a diceless system that shares the distinction with Nobilis and Amber Diceless of being entirely devoid of randomizers.

Diceless systems use no randomizer at all.

Not true! Most diceless systems use cards, and Dread uses a Jenga tower(!) as its resolution mechanic. Very few systems that I know of actually have no randomizers- diceless means no dice, not no random.

[Mutazoia]

I always wanted to play my TOON character in an otherwise straightforward D&D game.

Ragnar Rabbit, the Hanna-Barbarian.

Sooooo...you mean like the Toon RPG?

[Mutazoia]

Ok I'll play:

• An RPG based on the Silent Mobius Anime
• An RPG based on the old "Tomorrow People" tv show
• An RPG based on Brian Jacques "Redwall" books
• An DECENT Steampunk RPG (not a GURPS adaptation)
• An RPG based on Glen Cook's "Black Company" novels

[Mr. Mask]

And I'm with the X-com guy above, but I was thinking more SCP-foundation.
I think the delta-green setting may be a grimdark version of what you were talking about.

Mask. Nice to meet you.

Fascinating premise. Does the game only focus on the agents battling monsters? Or are there elements of your home base, research, or other such things, as well?

[Mutazoia]

Not true! Most diceless systems use cards, and Dread uses a Jenga tower(!) as its resolution mechanic. Very few systems that I know of actually have no randomizers- diceless means no dice, not no random.

The Amber DRPG (Which has now been bought out and has become "Lords of Gossmer and Shadow") doesn't use randomizers....I have yet to see a DRPG that does to be honest.

[Totally Guy]

I'd like to see a game in which you are an eccentric lord going through booms and bust. Money would constantly fluctuate to the extremes as part of the game premise!

[Man on Fire]

What I'd be interested in is seeing RPGs that use methods other than dice to do their conflict resolution. I've been playing around with an idea for a system that uses playing cards in place of dice rolls, specifically an idea that each suit would be its own action (which started as a Pokemon system, where each suit would be a different attack)... long story short, seeing what other systems have done might help me flesh out the idea.

Amber Diceless Roleplaying Game - no dices whatsoever.
Both Deadlands and Savage Worlds use cards for some things in addition to rolling.

[The Rose Dragon]

Not true! Most diceless systems use cards, and Dread uses a Jenga tower(!) as its resolution mechanic. Very few systems that I know of actually have no randomizers- diceless means no dice, not no random.

Diceless system is sort of a misnomer, in that it refers to systems that specifically don't have any kind of randomizers, such as Active Exploits, Nobilis or Amber. Dread doesn't use dice, but it doesn't really count as "diceless".

I know, weird.

Anyway, I'd like a game about farming. But not just farming as a job. More like farming as a means of maintaining humanity's survival and growth (or, in the case of post-apocalyptic games, regrowth).

[Xefas]

Anyway, I'd like a game about farming. But not just farming as a job. More like farming as a means of maintaining humanity's survival and growth (or, in the case of post-apocalyptic games, regrowth).

Dunno if this is "about farming" enough for you, but as far as post-apocalypse goes, the Hardholder and (an unconventional, but doable) Maestro 'D could do this in Apocalypse World.

You want power? Try being the only gal for a thousand miles with food that ain't people, and won't melt your guts out through your backside, in a world where the educated elite can't spell the word 'irrigation', and crop rotation is more arcane than the actual psionic witchcraft going on.

No wonder the other PCs are wrapped around your finger. 'course, you need them too. The only thing scarier than the hordes of psychos and mutants that want to tear down the little spot of utopia you've managed to build in this humanity-forsaken wasteland are your teammates.

[Kitten Champion]

Is there an RPG based on Monkey Island?

That would be my ultimate combat system.

Edit: Oh, Terranigma would make an awesome campaign setting, I don't know what system to use.

[Jay R]

Sooooo...you mean like the Toon RPG?

Not quite. I mean a character from TOON in a D&D game, where everybody else is trying to be serious.

Imagine a party composed of a Fighter, a Rogue, a Cleric, a Wizard, and a cartoon rabbit.