My Concept Vault

Lately I have been working up whole game Concepts. Since I am not planning a new game anytime soon I thought I might share them.

Perhaps they will spark new ideas for others.

Comment is invited on all of it. If you see some inherent problem with one of them, or perhaps real potential in another, feel free to say so.


A.T
(-)

[Alexander Tau]

Concept #1
Working Title: "Time Wars"

Back Story...

In the year 2045 technology has reached heights impossible to describe to the people of 2009. New fundamental forces are discoed in the decade after 2009. Things that affect the very nature of our understanding of Reality.

We actually begin to understand that says it all.

Great machines are built to look in new ways. What we consider radical theories about alternative dimensions turn out to be not that far off the mark. The elusive Muses that artists have spoken of since time began are glimpses of other worlds.

The culmination of this work was dubbed 'The Reality Machine'. Through it we could view any dimension. But it was much more than that. Connections of this sort cannot be made without consequence. Everything is in fact connected. When we looked out, others were compelled to look back.

We only wished to look. To observe and learn without upsetting the natural balance. Humans being responsible, fancy that. Didn't matter.

It did not take look for the effects of what we had done to begin to affect others. We watched as beings from one reality invaded another. Chaos followed. The invaders were defeated but at a terrible cost to the people of the planet. Much of their world lay in ruins. That was one place.

The conflict spread. The humans watched in horror as dimension after dimension became engulfed in War. Forces that we would call good began to fight back in defense. They became the invaders as they looked for resources with which to fight.

There has never been a time like this before. Blackness is everywhere. All across the dimensions all creative thought is turned to violence and the horrific beauty of blood.

Someone finally had enough.

In the vast spectrum of Reality there are beings of true power. A people who can walk across dimensions the way we walk down a city street. They are not guardians and do not watch over all of us but the Chaos that humanity can spawned threatened to touch even them.

In their collective power they altered Reality. The Judgment was handed down. Humanity must atone for it's actions and Reality must be restored. The violence that has been unleashed must be allowed to find it's natural end and it will do so on Earth.

No one can travel across dimensions except to and from Earth now. This poor green planet will be the battleground.

Humans have a chance for survival. They can reach out and look for allies. Anyone from their own history and much of what has been written as fiction is possible. The Reality Machine finally really lives up to it's name as it brings these people to the present day.

The battle will take place in 2009.




Game Notes

Players can choose almost anyone either historical or fictional. There would have to be some sort of basic power level limit of course. There would be a horde of non-humans and fictional bad guys that would be taking over the various countries of planet earth. The Players would band together to combat these people.

OR

Players could play any of the sides. Rather than just being a single character they would represent a group. So if you wish to be Darth Vader you could bring some equipment and Stormtroopers with you. Robin Hood could have his merry men. Balance would be a bit tricky here but I can abstract anything onto a set of scales if I have to.

The game could be a big battle or it could be a more complex game of interactions between all the wildly different Characters.


What I like about this

It is a total genre approach. Technically it is SciFi but it is open to all. You can play an authentic D&D Character and be a part of the Time Wars. Your buddy might be in high-tech armor and call himself a superhero but what does that matter? Some people will translate everything into their own terms. (Iron Man becomes a Paladin) or make the jump to real understanding. The Role Playing potential here is huge.


Drawbacks

Very little room for Player created Characters. They could adapt and modify the person they choose to some degree but that would be all. Players would have to work up their chosen Persona in game terms of course.


I would have to make a serious reserved character list, starting with The Doctor. Just need to find a Rose.



A.T
(-)

[Alexander Tau]

Concept #2
Working Title: "The rise of the Titans"

He wrote...

I will change the world. But how will it end?

I am no longer human and the fate of the human race is no longer a concern. So I will unleash power upon the world. The virus will look for special people those with the proper genetic codes.

For those few miracles will become common. Sad that the virus will also sicken a number of people who just do not quite measure up. But it won't spread so people will quickly forger.

Wonder what they will blame it on? Perhaps I should provide a scapegoat.

Plans are being made.

I will release the inner Titans and watch them destroy the world. When the time is right we shall emerge and take control.

... end entry


The view from his penthouse in Los Angeles was breathtaking. Today it looked somehow different. The sun was setting and the shadows were taking control.

Just as it should be.

He had been Kenneth F. Murdock. Brilliant and dedicated his name had been in the running more than once for a Nobel Prize. His field? Biochemistry. Life and it's details were his domain.

For those who read the science magazines he was well known but to the general populace he was barely a blip on their radar. In those articles phrases like 'the Tesla of Biochemistry' were always popular. His work on the functions of many parts of the human DNA strand were groundbreaking.

One might even say earth shattering.

The discovery that he did not publish is the only one that matters anymore. DNA could be manipulated in a very fundamental way by the proper application of energy. Specific energy that was itself the result of the interaction of two different parts of the EM spectrum.

He called it the Murdock DNA Nexus which would eventually become dNexus.

When his process was applied to a DNA sequence it 'spun the dials' across a wide set of possibilities. The things that could result were beyond any possible prediction. Murdock started small but as his understanding grew so did his test subjects.

Many innocent creatures died along the way. As with all research the failures far outnumber the successes. More than once his life was endangered. Lives were lost but the good Scientist simply put them down as 'acceptable costs'.
This list would grow to include his wife, daughter and much later his son.

None of this mattered to him anymore because he too had changed. His ego was such that one day he had to take the final step. Morals had never been his strong suit but he could not ask anyone to take such a risk.

For some time now he had been able to influence the changes that the dNexus could produce. Animals with useful abilities were created and the horrible monsters of the past were rarely the end result of any experiment. His most successful variation produced a similar effect in a wide variety of life forms.

Monkeys became many times stronger, faster and tougher. Even across different species the results were the same without a single failure. Adjustments had to be made but it was repeatable. He took the next step and tried a closely related species of animal, the koala bear and treated a number of them.

All grew strong and fast. Temperament was not greatly affected although interactions were next to impossible between the humans and the creations. Even a small recesses monkey grew deadly after their treatment.

Kenneth grew bold.

Watching the enhanced animals leap vast distances and swing through lighting fast maneuvers captivated him. He was getting well into his life and that sort of absolute physical freedom had never really been his. Even as a boy he was solitary and sedate, books over footballs.

He felt that what he had was now perfected. The next step was obvious.

Late in the evening he took the leap. 3 of his assistants had been quietly asked to assist. These were people he knew would go along because they lacked in morals they compensated for with curiosity. It was a long and painful process. The ten minutes of actual treatments were followed by hours of harsh physical changes.

Murdock had refused to do basic psychological testing before the experiment. So when they were done later there was no baseline for comparison. Not sure what difference it would have made but if that had been done then the subtle changes would have been noticed.

What Kenneth simply never realized is that such sweeping physical changes were bound to create mental alterations as well. These are entirely separate from the internal process where he came to grips with his new abilities. What is known is that the combined effect was to give him a perspective that put the entire human race in the expendables category.

The scientist that was in control of his creation no longer existed. A new man had been born. One that wanted to see his kind populate the earth.

Chances seemed pretty good. Of his three original personal assistants two were more than happy to join him as a member of the new species. The other had moral objections that lead to her being removed from her position. Rather abruptly sadly. Murdock learned from her that killing a human being did not bother him in the least. A lesson that was to serve him well.

As his newly enhanced companions were getting the feel of their new abilities Murdock began to think about a simpler way to induce his dNexus change. He bioengineering a virus that could store specific forms of energy in it's very substance. Even more amazing he further modified this bit of active biology to be able to adapt itself to the host before releasing it's charge.

His whole process refined down to a microscopic bug. That his genius had reached far past it's former human level cannot be denied. The simplicity of his ultimate plan is also a mark of genius.

If one were to randomly spread the Murdock dNexus enhancement virus about the planet there could be only one outcome. Chaos. Destruction all across the globe. Nations will be toppled and a dozen new Alexanders, Ceasers and Cleopatras would do battle.

While Chaos rules the outside world his people would be hidden & safe. My enhanced ones will train and prepare. When the time is right I doubt I will have trouble consolidating control over all my people. I am their creator after all and they should be happy to have me in the flesh to guide them.

Those who are not happy will have to be pushed aside.

He adopted a harsh rule that he never admitted to anyone. When he undertook to enhance someone he would make a judgment about their power as soon as it was understood. There were some that died at his hands before they ever had a chance to get their new abilities under control. From his study of these dangerous enhancements he was able to introduce even more subtle controls into his dNexus virus. Certain abilities would be rare or non-existent.

Computer simulations further refined his plans. When you deal with the human race as a collective group many things become easy to predict. While few people can look at an individual person and spot a criminal it is fairly easy to estimate the number of criminals in any group of a million humans. Murdock felt certain he could chart the events that would follow the release of his virus. He could control the approximate numbers and from any base he could predict the level of chaos.

Personalities and temperaments also tend to exist along a nice predictable spectrum. Good and evil were far too simple for his consideration. Chance of taking action was a much more important factor. The number of extremely powerful beings being created mattered a great deal. The factors in this experiment were many and he considered them all.

They would fight. Each other and everyone else. Power corrupts. Great ability breeds great ambition. It will be quite the show.

The world was about to change forever.


The Game

Players would create normal humans of any type. They would then get 2 picks from a list of say 100. The Player would then have to select one of them as their enhancement.

Powers would be from small strength boost all the way up to Hulk-like power. Super Speedsters would exist. Using my simple set of Stats:

Speed: physical speed of motion or flying speed.
Power: overall effectiveness or greatest attack possible
Strength: physical strength and toughness
Defense: overall defense
Experience: combat and other experience leading to advantages

All go 1-10 for this example. Normal humans are 1-2 in each except for Exp which could be as high as 7. Characters would exist all along the spectrum (Probably not any 9 or 10 in power that is Cosmic and Higher).

They would break down like this with each group being about 25% of the total:

Level 1: Mid to high physical enhancement
Level 2: High physical or moderate strength
Level 3: High strength or low to moderate powers
Level 4: High power or High Speed

The game would start with a fixed number of enhanced humans all across the globe or perhaps all across America. The Players having a somewhat better than random chance should all tend to be on the higher end of the spectrum. But what they would do either together or separately could be entirely up to them.

This game is really intended for a very Sandbox approach. What you have is 300 Characters who will all pursue their own agendas. Some will group, some will dominate, I think everyone can come up will all the various ways they will go without my detailing them.

Chaos is a good guess. If I were to run the Design then it would be very open but of course another GM would require the Players to group together to some degree or another. I would probably tell my Players to slowly develop the Character they did not pick as their Primary back in the beginning. That way if their main Character should be killed they would have another. But perhaps if a Player loses a Character they should just be just allow a new set of Stat pics to start over.

How could it work?

Each Player would start in their own Thread. Everybody starts when they recover from the unpleasant side-effects of the virus. Discovery of their new abilities will lead each in their own direction. The GM, or Narrator could run Characters or not to help them along.

New Location could be created along the way as people move from wherever they start into other places. Cities would probably be a good way to go. Let's say that your Character is living in Chicago when the Game starts. You do a series of Game Turns to detail what happens to you at the beginning. News reports will bring everyone information. In the beginning things will change rapidly and a lot of reports will be wrong or at least off in some details. But each newly enhanced human will be drawn into Events in their own way.

For whatever reason you decide to head to New York City. If no one has yet created that City you do so and start to take Turns there. If other Players have started in the area they can easily join in.

It is possible too that the Narrator will create a number of Cities to do NPC Turns but the important part of all this is that the Players will drive the story more often than not.




A.T
(-)

[Alexander Tau]

Concept #3
Working Title: "Dawn of the End"


History is written by Humans. It is the collective memory of mankind. We decide what is important and what should be remembered.

We also decide what is to be forgotten.

For the bulk of human existence the world was a very big place. Much of it empty and unknown. It was easy to hide when the shadows were everywhere.But slowly the world changed. Humans spread faster and faster. They made tools to help them along. With every step they took the shadows had to retreat.

The Printing Press. One of the great inventions. Knowledge became solid, lasting, forever. While it would take decades for the effects to be fully felt the end began then.

To understand human history you must have the keys. Humans are incapable are recording objective truth in all but the most limited of circumstances. But if you know which words to change, or which events had different outcomes, then you can see past their lies.

The best code is the use of the name of someone else. If Group A did some evil thing it is ok to attribute the evil actions of Group B to them. When the Native Americans had the nerve to fight to try and keep their land it was ok to use them to cover other things.

The Others. They have always existed.

We have called many of them supernatural. But that is the description of a blind scared man. They are every bit as natural as you or I.

Just different.

In some cases really different.

But intelligent. Not monsters. People. Some good, some bad, just like us.

A Vampire is not an undead creature. They do drink blood they are stronger, faster and some other things ending with potentially Immortal. But they die just like us. They are alive just like you. Sunlight burns them, strong belief in anything can stop them, but they are intelligent beings.

The invention of the Printing Press started all the different species that could move into a slow migration. By 1861 the last great open spaces included the American West.

Many species are gone. Some have bonded their existence to humans to try and survive. Werebeings are examples of this. Onces it is in a family it will continue to pop up in random generations. One generation of a family will have none and the next will have four.

1861 transcontinental Telegraph. The world shrinks one more time. The existence of all of the Others who still live is now threatened. Many of those who wish to live in peace with humans have made a connection to a particular town. Those that can bring humans into their form of life have done so and in many cases multi-generational ties exist.

There are monsters. Animals that are far more deadly than those humanity acknowledges. Despite the fact that the Others are down to a faction of the former numbers there are those that hunt them.

Humans, or people who used to be human in some cases will hunt many of the remaining species. There are those who will accept an intelligent friendly Vampire. But not many. The human hunters tend to lean on the kill them all side. Scared of course, institutionalize fright that has existed for centuries in some cases.

The Town of Dawn

Before the completion of the nationwide Telegraph system news traveled slowly. Small towns were isolated places.

Such was the case of Dawn, Wyoming. It was in fact a thriving community with a steady supply of food from local farms, beef from cattle ranches, and even ore and coal from local mines. Nestled in a valley of a spur of the great Rocky Mountains it was productive and pleasant.

If you compare this town to others of the period you would note how much better off they seem to be. Money from the exporting of minerals and other products make this a rich town. One might even say charmed. The minerals found in the surrounding hills and mountains are rare in this part of the world.

There are few crimes. People for the most part are civilized. In a time when ignorance and violence are the very texture of life these people stand a bit above it all.

New visitors are welcome but it is a cautious welcome.

They have secrets these civilized people do. Big secrets.

The town and it's people are protected. In this unrestrained time no town is free from the occasionally wandering band of criminals. They ride in, kill people, steal, burn, destroy. It is something a town learns to survive. But not here. Those groups are seen in the area and then they die, or vanish.

There is something about Dawn. People change here. Death is somewhat relative.



The Game

Players would play various forms of spooky creatures. Vampires, Werewolves and the like. Depending on Rules various Hunter types and semi-intelligent Monsters might be possible. Townsfolk of importance might also be possible for Player use.

The good and the bad. Dracula and Tinkerbell. When I say the whole spectrum I mean it. Every Character has to have their background altered to fit this world of course. Faeries and Vampires, Werewolves, Hobbits, Leprechauns, Dragons, Bigfoot, Nessy, you name it. Mythology or Fiction either can work.

Protecting the town is vital to the continued existence of the friendly Others. Why should be a secret but it would have to be important beyond the friendship and connections.


Wild West

Just seems so natural for spooky stuff. The people were not exactly overly educated in general and had plenty of superstitions to go around. It is a simple time with basic equipment and technology. I think a small amount of Magic might not be out of the question. Perhaps lingering in the form of objects or special places as yet undestroyed by the hands of man.

This is a time where a guy can rub some phosphorescent material on a white outfit and become the Ghost Rider. (This is separate from the later flaming skull guy) The Lone Ranger was a SuperHero. It does not take a whole lot to become something very special.

I should point out that the town of Dawn, even minus the monsters, would not be exactly typical. I cannot stand racial or other blatantly ignorant words. Yeah I know it was a major part of the environment. Don't care. But there are the Others and for some it would be acceptable to vent the hatred of the different on them. They do not exist (probably) and so they can take it. The town would be a little more modern feeling than would be authentic.

To pull this game off a nice overview of available technology would be needed. Probably a fair amount of real background material as well. This is true of any game of course but I mention it here because I would assume that most people will not know much of any of the information unlike other settings.


Final Thought

Horror has never really been a genre I have done much with. But with the people of the 1860s you do not have to do Freddy or Saw. Simpler more classic things can be atmospheric. To balance that there are the Fantasy elements. Human destroy beauty too.



A.T
(-)

[Alexander Tau]

Concept #4
Working Title: “The CyberSpace Wars”

2022

The world is a tightly connected place now. Technology has bound us all together in ways we can scarcely imagine in 2009. There are only 7 Governments now. Each covers most of a continent.

Everything has been quantified. Pick up a book and you can see how much information it posses, what it's potential entertainment value might be and even how long you may expect to spend reading it.

The ultimate achievement is The Grid. The Internet gave birth to the idea but it has become much more since then. It currently stands at 4,000 nodes. Each one representing a Government, major Corporation or some other significant Institution. It is the brain and the heart of the world's activities now.

Direct neural connections had a rocky start but they have become the standard. Only those engaged in illegal hacking activity have to worry about physical side-effects. Human minds and computer power acting as one have taken us far.

It has been 10 years since the Grid came online. Just long enough for everyone to get used to it's existence and for people to grow to want to control it. Corporations vie for the power and money that flows daily across the CyberSpace pathways of the Grid. The Governments try to keep things in balance but they can only do so much.

The balance that people worry so much about has been given a good whack. Some new intelligent software has empowered a new group of computer adventurers. Security systems are being broken every day and the major powers are scrambling to get control of these new players.




The Game

This is a PbP concept but one in which the actual elapsed time will be used. So if it has been 27 hours since your last turn you would have 27 hours worth of new points. What you get would be determined by the orders left your last turn.

I do not like games that are dominated by numbers. But with some simple format tricks I think we could make this look kinda slick. Adopting a very computery style would fit the game anyway.

There is a huge map. 80X50 means 4,000 separate locations. They are connected to those Locations around them by 4 paths. Each location represents a computer network. Pathways are known but every site has it's own combination of safeguards. Players have abilities and tools that allow them to gain access to some systems. Once inside you can gain money or information. Both are important and rated in numerical terms.

Many real world values will be abstracted into numbers for this game. Skills advanced at simple fixed rates based on use. New tools can be found or purchased.

Players would be independents able to accept Jobs from existing Companies or work for their own ends.

Problem: Corp NPCs would have powerful Tools and more. How can Players compete?
Stay hidden perhaps?

Game Actions

Players would be wired directly into their Terminals. When cracking the security of a target system they will counter attack. Imagine you have a dozen different attack programs and the same number of defenses and other tools. Your Terminal has the ability to run X number of programs. To crack a system you might try one attack only to be hit back in response. You can be physically hurt, potentially killed.

Basically everyone is a high-tech wizard with spells to use. If you can hit a system in the right way you can get past the defenses and take partial control. Not sure how complex the whole operation would be but you might have to deal with attacks even once you are inside. Up to possibly the target system launching a full out assault on your system!

Battles between individuals could play out pretty much the same way. The physical link between person and terminal makes it real enough to kill.

Offline time

The time between Turns could be turned into useful points in a number of ways. Research can yield weak points in a target or other info. Money could be made at a low level. Training can be done.

As much as possible the Game should be able to run with a daily GM input of new data. Combat can be played against a target with the Player rolling both sides if that is really desired.


Role Playing?

Everyone is a human being living in high tech time. You can only learn and do so much. Whatever you have discovered of the CyberMap would be quite helpful to others.

Hacking into a System is much easier if you know all the details up front. People that work with others will be much stronger.

Storylines of all sorts can be developed depending on the Characters involved. Certain things would be constant and universal but the World is a big place and there are always plots abrewing.


What else is on the map besides Companies

Companies are the largest part to be sure but you also have Governments, Powerful Individuals, Resource Locations, and probably others.

Resource Locations would be systems that once hacked would provide continual power to you. It is a shared resource the more people who have access the less power each gets. Some special Systems might have massive amounts of something useful.

Secrets? In a PbP game? How?

Well here is how it goes. You hack a system getting a bit crispy in the process. Along the way you learn everything there is to know about the System. This information is now yours. You must give it to someone in a public Post to share it.

If on the other hand another Player wishes to Hack this System they will have to do it in a very painful way. Since it is assumed they know what you have done this is how it has to work.

Hacking will involved a number of major Steps & Parts. First attack, follow-ups, what defense is best and such. Players hacking a known system that they do not have IC knowledge of must make the worst possible choice at the start of each Step. At the second part of each Step they can make any choice except the perfect one. The third choice can be the perfect one.

What this means is that you will take a lot of damage getting in. You might not be able to succeed in many cases. The IC reason for these Rules is that the original Player has added his/her own level of security to their conquest. So when you to to Hack it is much harder than what the Target itself would be. It also avoids adding a whole new set of Layers because of the extra defenses.

Mostly the point is that once one person Hacks a Location it is theirs to share, or not. Lots of reason to work together.


The Map

The Map would take some work. Big is a given The simple way would be a pretty basic grid. To move you would have to either Hack the system or build some sort of bypass. Perhaps a day would be required to get past 1 location. So with time you could build paths anywhere.

Locations would be numbered but anything beyond that would have to be discovered in some fashion. Not sure about the mechanisms of doing this. A couple of GMs could always provide info as it is discovered so it would not have to be a high-tech solution.

There would be room for blank spaces that can be easily crossed to walls that are completely impassable. With an 80x50 grid there is plenty of room. I would build it with a generator but would then tweak it. I do have ideas for generating business names and other things for the RP side of things. Business #188 just does not do it for me.

Locations will be rated in a number of ways and some will spread around. I think the defensive and power values might be good examples.

A lot of the idea of the Grid is work being done via computers and then sent around. Knowledge is created, sold, and then used. So a Location with a huge Power value would share some percentage of that with the 4 surrounding locations. This represents them lending the 4 places who do the most work for them to past on their work get support.

The game result is that the 4 Locations surrounding a powerful target will be stronger themselves. Defensive values might spread even farther. Perhaps defenses are shared 2 steps out from the center. Getting anywhere near a National Government for instance has to be difficult. But the locations around the inner ring of Governments might be simple and weak. The outer rings of Locations would be stronger because it is the center group's interest to make it so.


Inspiration

Various things from CyberPunk of course. There is an old BBS door game called NetRunner which has a lot of similar elements.

This Game could be played by a couple of people or 30.

[Ao]

That last one you posted really caught my attention. There's a lot of potential in it. I'm gonna be turning it over in my head and I'll have more to say on it later.

edit: It puts me in the mind of a game called Decker.

[Alexander Tau]

For #4 I was trying to come up with a game that could be played fairly stand-alone. Still with a RP top layer to give it some depth but people could play and pretty much keep to themselves if they wished.

It has all the normal RPG elements in it just spun in different ways. Instead of developing your Character you develop your Term or Deck. You would have 2 Personas really, the normal Character and the Grid Avatar.

Actually I guess you would want to develop both if the non-Grid activities include things like gunfire. Not entirely sure of how all the game mechanisms would work but all the basics seem to fit together nicely.


A.T
(-)

[Ao]

Give that game I linked to a trial run and you might get some inspiration. It's very simple to play and learn, but it has a lot of depth. It's killer fun too.

[Alexander Tau]

I will grab it. It does look like a little simple fun.

I can put enough on the map to make exploring worth doing. There are ways to connect things to give hints of what is out there and other clues along the way.

The CyberWars Game (and man does that need a better title) is great as far as a Battle/Building game for a Forum. Somehow though I think other than providng a setting for Trash talk and subtle versions of gametech speak the RP side is not going to be much of anything.

I have done that sort of thing, take a basic game and create and RP environment around it. That jazzes things up a bit but never leads to deep RP. On the plus side the game could handle a lot of players and the GM would not have to do a lot of difficult work. Once the Map is created and all the details shared with the Staff everyone will be fully able to provide the daily info the Players will need.

Got some treasure already considered. Software that is not available on for sale. Once a person finds it they can share, or sell, or not as they please. Also thinking that some Locations might have information that gives a Player different kinds of bonuses against another system along with various info like where the other system might be located.

Players could boost themselves in a couple of ways, and do the same to their Terminal. Slow safe learning each day could slowly build personal skills. Spend a little money and you can get a Chip installed. Instant skills but they make you slowly less human and slowly more vulnerable to attack while on the Grid. Or you can go the safe route and put money directly into your Term.

Between what you get points-wise each day, what you can earn from Missions, what you can steal, people who like to develop and grow will be quite happy.

Explorers will have a huge map. If you can explore one new Location per day a 4,000 Location map should keep you busy for quite a while. Even when people team up the map should not be completly explored for a long time.

Builders would be able to establish their own Locations on the Map and build those up. This would be another daily source of Power, Cash & Info.



A.T
(-)

[Alexander Tau]

Concept #5
Working title: “The MetaWars”

I have a long unfinished piece of Fiction called 'The MetaWar Saga'. The game would use the basic starting Concept and some of the Characters but nothing of the Plot.

One day about 1,000 people across the globe (centered in the USA) suddenly wake up changed. They all are considerably stronger, healthier and in many cases somewhat better looking. Some people died during the night and others changed in visible ways. But the surviving 1,000 or so become MetaHumans.

Type I Metas are just that initial physical enhancement. They are only slightly superhuman in that their life spans have been increased a fair bit. Healing rates are about 3 times normal and because of this all Metas age slowly.

Type II Metas gain usually a single Power. With practice they can sometimes learn to do other things with their ability. Someone who can throw fire at first might learn to generate a fire shield. Later perhaps they can find a way to fly. These people are powerful and generally beyond normal human controls.

Type III are fairly rare but very dangerous. These are people with the power to either destroy the entire planet Earth or kill all life. Energy Masters are the prime example but there are others.

MetaHuman Powers
1. Acrobatics
2. Armor
3. Density Control
4. Energy Master
5. Energy Projection
6. Entangle
7. Flight
8. Force Field
9. Growth
10. Invisibility
11. Mental Blast
12. Mental Illusions
13. Mind Scan
14. Regeneration
15. Shape Shift
16. Strength
17. Speed
18. Telepathy
19. Telekinesis
20. Teleport


These are Power Basics much like in the game Champions you have to add specifics to most of them. For example both the Human Torch and Cyclops of the X-Men are Energy Projectors. There is a lot more diversity in actual Meta Powers than a list of just 20 can express.

The Game

Every Player would start at the same moment, that first day. Everyone would go through discovery of their new bodies and probably new Power at the same time.

But what do you do after that?

Well that is the whole point of the game. I am not going to gather people together in the normal 'GM leads you along' style. It will be up to each individual. So that means people will line up all along the spectrum from really good to really bad. This will not be a black and white world it will be a whole lot of shades of grey.

But wait... PvP?

Yes. I am a strong experienced Game Master. People will play nice or they will vanish. One bad player can ruin a whole group only if you let him. There will be Rules and it will be made clear from day one that if you cannot die like a mature adult you do not belong in this game. Age is not a criteria, behavior is.

Death will be a real possibility in this game. So Rules for starting with a new PC will be written.

What sort of PCs would be available?

Type I and II MetaHumans would be the main ones. Players would be able to first create the human being and then add on the Meta enhancements. There would be a simple Character Building Points System. Most people would want to create original Characters but many of the people from the MetaWar stories would also be available.

If anyone was interested in playing a powerful in a way other than Meta sort of Character that would certainly be possible. While the game would be set in the current year there would probably be different people for world positions like oh say US President. A PC that was the brilliant head of a large Corp is an example. The one thing Meta Players will not be able to start with is a lot of money. Money is the driving force of our lives in many ways. In this game it will define a lot of Characters I would expect. But if you were non-Meta and wanted to be Tony Stark without the armor, cool.

Once the Metas get going Tech will advance. A Tony Stark could have the money to recruit the Metas and build his armor. Leaders are important in this game and I would consider a wide range of ways people could do that.

[People wanting to play one of fictional MetaWar people will have a big plus when it comes to who gets picked to play. Certainly does not make it automatic but it would be looked upon with great favor.]

Most Metas have a single power but it can be branched into other abilities if it makes sense. But with Time, Money, Training, you could develop in any way that is reasonable.

The idea goes like this. Rather than give Exp points you gain your expansions via the game. You build your basic MetaHuman. Then when you have the money if you want to add a gun you can do that. The you add the new weapon to your Character Sheet.

Training rules will also allow you to develop. Those will have to be Game Points and somewhat abstract.


What about these Type IIIs

They are a bit of a problem but the simple answer is that I doubt anyone will start there. Certain Characters from the MetaWar Saga will be reserved for GM use only. Speedsters and Mental Illusions are both Powers that might be restricted. Forget about the comics when it comes to people like the Flash. SuperSpeed makes you invulnerable and so effective other people are not even needed.

Mental Illusions leads to Mind Control and that is always a problem. Even if played perfectly and properly it tends to cause other Players to become unhappy. But I believe that these Powers are valid and belong in the game. Maybe people could be selected who could indeed play some of the very powerful Characters.

How will this start

Everyone would start in their own thread representing their home/job/life. PCs will be allowed to know up to 2 other PCs if they wish but otherwise everyone is separate. As people are discovering their Powers the news is going to spread.

There will be active threads for Newspapers, TV, and the Internet. At first reports will be confused and point to some normal cause. But the truth will come out fairly quickly. After that the world will begin to react. Governments will want to first understand and then control these new powerful beings.

While there will certainly be some traditional GM-Players sorts of interactions most of the control the Staff of the Game will come from playing their Characters. I can tell you what will not happen right off the bat. The big 4 that start the MetaWar Saga will not form a public Hero group. They will never (well probably never) build Olympus. They will do different things.

Grouping is going to be a big deal?

Yep. It will not be required but anyone that can get even a small group of Metas together becomes very powerful. I expect that a lot of groups will form at first and then fight amongst themselves. Some may eventually be called 'Villains' and some may be called 'Heros' but it might never be that clear.

What will happen in the game?

I have no idea.

Personally I have always been of the opinion that if random people gained Powers a large percentage would use them for less than honorable purposes. Many of the MetaHumans will be beyond human control. If nobody can make you follow the Laws will you?

By contrast I think the number of people who would end up as Heros would be very small. I plan to model the reactions of 'the public' to match the real world. They will cheer you one day and spit at your name the next if you screw up. They will build your ego. Believe me they will. And then one day you die because you have become an over-confident putz who believe's his own hype!

Hence the tons of Grey. I do believe that some people will try to take over the world and others will oppose them.

Summary

Currently this is the leading candidate for my next game. But there is still a lot of work to be done and that could easily change. Comic books have their own style. This game is Science Fiction. It is about the effects of a huge Change on both individuals and Society.

In my Story some people did use the names of comic characters. To me it is rather logical that if you can create webs you might go for SpiderGirl. But that was the only direct connection the world was our normal one, at first.

The World will Change. Will it fall into utter destructive War? Will one group come to dominate and allow normal human life to continue? It would be quite interesting to see. Thinking 20 Players and 8 Staff.


A.T
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[coboney]

Very interesting ideas and the last seems like its getting well developed. Keep up the good work !

[obtusehobbit]

I like the concept I am playing in a similar themed game on these boards. I always liked the concept of playing a meta from there origin story and beyond. While starting out as a meta already is fun, I have found starting out normal and then having to play your character through coping with his new found powers to be extremely enjoyable.

[Alexander Tau]

I am really starting to focus on The MetaWar. With the right PbPC structure I think it would work rather well.

My thoughts at the moment are consumed with how much control I would want to exert over the course of events. In the very best case the Players would drive the Plot all on their own. But if what I suspect will happen does indeed occur then keeping the World from ending might be necessary.

Been thinking that perhaps some of the more powerful Characters from the MetaWar story might secretly group. They would all be run by Staff members and could serve as a form on IC GMing. This is something that is somewhat popular in Muds. Rather than just telling someone as GM 'Please don't do that' you play a Character and alter events in a more organic way.

The end result is the same but it is much more fun. The Lords of Neutrality is the current working title of that little group.

I had a suggestion from the talented Greyen. He suggested that we do 1 day a week. Controling Time in my PbPC System was a big problem in New Chicago. I am starting to think that Greyen's idea might be the way to go along with a generally more relaxed concern over Time. All players would have to do is keep basic track of the Hour of the Day.

By putting everyone in their own thread at first there will be no Time problems at all. A much more pure PbP idea this time so that everyone could potentially play no matter when they come online.

If I can just get my MetaHuman System finished I can move on to really detailing this Concept out.



A.T
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[Alexander Tau]

More stuff for The MetaWar...

I have always found that Players of most Games need a lot of example to get started. This is especially true in any sort of Sandbox or FreeForm game. A list of possible choices or suggested ways to get going is a good thing.

Lists of this sort are also helpful to me in the beginning because it points out potential problems or areas where Rules might very well be needed.


Gain Money/Resources
Train
Investigate/Learn
Group
Lead a Group
Group Practice
Make Plans for action
Find other Metas to connect
Seek out Metas to stop
Seek out Crime to stop
Live a life of Crime
Begin to take over a City
Pick a City/Place/People to protect
Develop Tech or specific devices
Build/Buy an HQ
Create an Empire of any sort
Make Monsters
Socialize/Heal/Relax
Ignore power, live normal life
Steal to get really rich
Control the Big Picture
Patrol
Rampage
Do Battle


Rules will be needed for Public Conquests. If a Meta group decided they wanted to take over a City how would that work? Well the first step would be to invade, kill/drive off any defending Metas, and chew up the police. When the group sets up housekeeping in the Town Hall the process really gets started. The news that his has happened will fly across the globe. Others will notice.

Basically the invaders would have to hold onto their position for some length of time. Perhaps 2 game days would be enough. After that point the resources of the City would slowly become available. Some of those resources could go into building anti-Meta defenses to make sure you hold on.

But the downside to this sort of thing is that if you want the people of the City to stay you would have to offer some sort of Government. If all you wish to do is take over, loot, and then destroy, well then you do not have to worry about the complications.

The Internet

I am rather pleased with this idea. So far I have 3 related threads planned. Newspapers, TV and Internet. All three will provide news and info to the PCs but the Internet especally provides a lot more. People are going to buzz on the net as the MetaHumans become known.

So lets say a post is made in on the Internet. It is in some Forum somewhere and it details an encounter someone had with a meta. The follow-up responses are all mean and laugh at the person. You are the Meta in question and the event did happen. You could post a turn under an alias defending the orginal poster.

Maybe you reveal a little something that only you and the person you saved knows. If you do that the original person will confirm that you are indeed the right one. Suddenly you have a Fan Club and they are asking you if 'Listentome' is your official battlename.

I just see the Internet in the Game as being very useful. Want to put together a Team? Advertise on the Internet. People can reply in safety via the net before they actually meet. Hmmmm... Starting to sound a lot like InterNet Matchmaking but oh well.


Hobbit,

One thing I like about the Concept is that everyone will have a similar experience at the start. How they deal with it, what happens to them, all of these will be unique of course. But each PC going through the same sort of transformative experience is really a good way to start and RPG game. Gives everyone an obvious place to start when they begin to talk to others. I see a lot of Metas calling all their friends and talking excitedly about 'the news'. All the wierd reports. Looking for people who react differently, people who maybe take it all seriously.

I think it will be possible for many people to live out some Fantasy, things that they have indeed thought of before.

As far as the basic question goes... how many people have not thought about what they would do if they gained SuperPowers? For myself I have considered that question for my whole life and probably covered many hundreds of permutations. This game would be the chance to live out one of them in a fair amount of detail.




A.T
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[mythlord]

I quickly glanced at #4, and I would suggest you take a look at Shadowrun. But by the looks of what i read it looks like you already based that game off of Shadowrun. I have the main book, and it includes a HUGE amount of stuff for cyber-world type games.