A non-fantasy fantasy rpg campaign idea - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

A non-fantasy fantasy rpg campaign idea

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
kujihn
Nov 17, 2009 1:48:29 I've been mulling over the idea and I'm not sure whether the idea has been proposed or not but I kinda want to get some feedback on a campaign idea I have for 3.5...

One of the key objectives for every DM is to counteract the linear and reduced narrative ability and nature of mmorpgs by creating a unique world that is only capable with a pen and paper setup, correct?

But what if the campaign WAS an mmorpg? Instead of one character sheet, you have a level-upable character (in this case the fictional character you create for the 'mmorpg') and you have a secondary character sheet which is the person 'irl' so to say ... who doesn't level ... but interracts with the world. Writes messages on the mmorpg's forums, finds a way to stay awake for longer... so on and so forth.

So for the 'online' character you don't really 'roleplay' your character in the traditional sense (moreso use slang, colloquials, and other stuff when talking to other 'PCs'), but assign points to all various scores ... and your 'irl' character rolls only 4 scores (charisma, constitution, intelligence, wisdom) ... now general premise is that your 'irl' character can log off game to explore the game forums, see if he 'spots/search/so on' (wisdom) information about cool new 'dungeon' areas that have been recently updated/special events.

Intelligence to remember monster weaknesses (knowledge: game replacing most knowledge checks).

Con to boost his ability to continue gaming every friday or saturday night (so his character 'in game' doesn't start suffering from the effects of fatigue, and eventually it gets really bad ... like slow ... as well as help the character when studying for exams and resisting fatigue when he does 'logon' because he spent an all-nighter the night before cram studying).

Charisma ... to help him use diplomacy in game for 'PCs' (non npc-npc characters :P), or help in finding additional 'PCs' (Non npc-npc characters) to help with a difficult dungeon raid and so on find out some useful tidbits of information using online messengers to various other gamers.

As for the 'in game' character, all the stats generally do what they are meant to do, except 'ingame' character charisma only works with true 'NPC's'

General game mechanics ... monsters respawn ... quest givers give the same quest over and over and over again for allotted amounts of xp, gold and items.

You also have big PvP style encounters running every hour or two that the pcs can just sorta hop into ... of which are level determineable ... on a wide array of different 'battlefields' .... PCs have 'teleports' to a 'Home city' where the PCs can 'rent' for a fixed amount of gold a 'clan base'. You have the options of belonging to a guild, and dropping out. 'Gating' to different 'dimensions' of which are stranger than the next ....

Generally speaking Im trying to take (quite literally) the spontaneity of a MMORPG ... throw in some divergent community stuff ... and basically try to create a non-fiction fiction rpg based on an mmorpg focus.

Throwing in some school/university/work based roleplaying ... like 4 students get together and play 'the game' every week or so for instance ... on a friday, saturday or sunday night ... and of which they have the chance to roleplay their respective 'irl' characters.

Talk to other students who might become interested in the game/are avid fans as well, and serve as people who the PCs can help 'in game' for certain items that they have picked up in their own adventures....

Have them take fort checks to see if their studies have afflicted their abilities to play their respective 'ingame' characters (reduced initiative and so forth/reductions to spot/forgetting pieces of information about certain creatures that harass them/make bad choices concerning 'trading' on the online auction houses/lack the ability to properly talk and address other 'PCs' (DMPCs)).

So obviously without dex or str for their 'irl' characters because, well, the fighting will be 'in game'.

Player Killing is all in there too. Which could serve cool storylines on their own. One big bad is a guy online who likes to run around a whole lot of low-levelled 'dungeons' killing PCs if he can catch them all by themselves. PCs learn of this particular PKer on the forums ... PCs decide to go see if they can lure him out by first tracking him down to his 'home server' where he has his clan base.

Spell progression remains normal, but instead of spell allotments you have 'mana' costs (Orisons cost 2, 1st level spells cost 5, 2nd level spells cost 8, 3rd level cost 11, etc etc) and every level you gain 3 mana points, and add int/wis/cha score (not modifier) ... spell dcs remain the same (10 + SL + modifier). Only way to recoup mana points is too 'rest' for 2 minutes (in which case the countdown of the respawn of every enemy defeated since the PCs 'teleported' into the local and started attacking the the monsters in the area) ... spells must be allotted and 'memorised' each rest period if the class requires such action.

So it's just an idea, and people have probably thrown out something similar in the past, but what do you think?
#2
Elothan
Nov 17, 2009 8:58:11 I understand what you are saying, but the feeling I a left with is: If I like MMORPGS I will play one, not play that I play one...
#3
sfurtwangler
Nov 17, 2009 10:59:23 This reminds me a lot of the anime .Hack//SIGN which my group once based a 3.X campaign on - and it worked out pretty well for what we wanted it to do. It allowed us to gloss over a lot of the "unrealistic" bits of that system, ignore some of the table-talk and OOC/IC differentiation problems, and even dodge the issue of what to do when some of your players cannot show up to every game.

The main drawback was that it FELT like an MMORPG as well. It didn't matter what you did, since the NPCs were not (necessarily) real people. The evil wizard wasn't actually indangering anyone. Dead characters were not *really* dead, etc. Basically, it was a little grindy and pointless.

Of course, putting more effort into the story and world - one could probably get aroudn that problem - but at the time, what we were looking for was a quick-and-dirty low-effort campaign that allowed for some 4th-wall breaking. It *was* good at that.
#4
dulsi
Nov 17, 2009 11:47:39
This reminds me a lot of the anime .Hack//SIGN which my group once based a 3.X campaign on - and it worked out pretty well for what we wanted it to do.

I created my Worlds Within Worlds supplement to support a .hack like campaign setting. .Hack//SIGN is not a very good example to use IMHO. In .hack//sign, nothing really affects the real world. The .hack PS2 games have much better interaction. The key to making it not just an MMO is to include something in the game that can affect the real world. The heroes in the .hack games had to worry when battling data bugs that they could be permanently put into a comma. They couldn't just run away though because they wanted to save those already lost.
#5
Johnathan_Vagabond
Nov 19, 2009 13:40:39
One take would be that the PCs going into battle 'virtually' (although perhaps 'through mystical suits of armor many miles away' or 'on the spirit plane' would be more accurate). Then outside of the virtual battle they deal with intrigue and backstabbing.
#6
RPJesus
Nov 19, 2009 17:35:19 Shadowrun?

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 kujihn Nov 17, 2009 1:48:29	I've been mulling over the idea and I'm not sure whether the idea has been proposed or not but I kinda want to get some feedback on a campaign idea I have for 3.5... One of the key objectives for every DM is to counteract the linear and reduced narrative ability and nature of mmorpgs by creating a unique world that is only capable with a pen and paper setup, correct? But what if the campaign WAS an mmorpg? Instead of one character sheet, you have a level-upable character (in this case the fictional character you create for the 'mmorpg') and you have a secondary character sheet which is the person 'irl' so to say ... who doesn't level ... but interracts with the world. Writes messages on the mmorpg's forums, finds a way to stay awake for longer... so on and so forth. So for the 'online' character you don't really 'roleplay' your character in the traditional sense (moreso use slang, colloquials, and other stuff when talking to other 'PCs'), but assign points to all various scores ... and your 'irl' character rolls only 4 scores (charisma, constitution, intelligence, wisdom) ... now general premise is that your 'irl' character can log off game to explore the game forums, see if he 'spots/search/so on' (wisdom) information about cool new 'dungeon' areas that have been recently updated/special events. Intelligence to remember monster weaknesses (knowledge: game replacing most knowledge checks). Con to boost his ability to continue gaming every friday or saturday night (so his character 'in game' doesn't start suffering from the effects of fatigue, and eventually it gets really bad ... like slow ... as well as help the character when studying for exams and resisting fatigue when he does 'logon' because he spent an all-nighter the night before cram studying). Charisma ... to help him use diplomacy in game for 'PCs' (non npc-npc characters :P), or help in finding additional 'PCs' (Non npc-npc characters) to help with a difficult dungeon raid and so on find out some useful tidbits of information using online messengers to various other gamers. As for the 'in game' character, all the stats generally do what they are meant to do, except 'ingame' character charisma only works with true 'NPC's' General game mechanics ... monsters respawn ... quest givers give the same quest over and over and over again for allotted amounts of xp, gold and items. You also have big PvP style encounters running every hour or two that the pcs can just sorta hop into ... of which are level determineable ... on a wide array of different 'battlefields' .... PCs have 'teleports' to a 'Home city' where the PCs can 'rent' for a fixed amount of gold a 'clan base'. You have the options of belonging to a guild, and dropping out. 'Gating' to different 'dimensions' of which are stranger than the next .... Generally speaking Im trying to take (quite literally) the spontaneity of a MMORPG ... throw in some divergent community stuff ... and basically try to create a non-fiction fiction rpg based on an mmorpg focus. Throwing in some school/university/work based roleplaying ... like 4 students get together and play 'the game' every week or so for instance ... on a friday, saturday or sunday night ... and of which they have the chance to roleplay their respective 'irl' characters. Talk to other students who might become interested in the game/are avid fans as well, and serve as people who the PCs can help 'in game' for certain items that they have picked up in their own adventures.... Have them take fort checks to see if their studies have afflicted their abilities to play their respective 'ingame' characters (reduced initiative and so forth/reductions to spot/forgetting pieces of information about certain creatures that harass them/make bad choices concerning 'trading' on the online auction houses/lack the ability to properly talk and address other 'PCs' (DMPCs)). So obviously without dex or str for their 'irl' characters because, well, the fighting will be 'in game'. Player Killing is all in there too. Which could serve cool storylines on their own. One big bad is a guy online who likes to run around a whole lot of low-levelled 'dungeons' killing PCs if he can catch them all by themselves. PCs learn of this particular PKer on the forums ... PCs decide to go see if they can lure him out by first tracking him down to his 'home server' where he has his clan base. Spell progression remains normal, but instead of spell allotments you have 'mana' costs (Orisons cost 2, 1st level spells cost 5, 2nd level spells cost 8, 3rd level cost 11, etc etc) and every level you gain 3 mana points, and add int/wis/cha score (not modifier) ... spell dcs remain the same (10 + SL + modifier). Only way to recoup mana points is too 'rest' for 2 minutes (in which case the countdown of the respawn of every enemy defeated since the PCs 'teleported' into the local and started attacking the the monsters in the area) ... spells must be allotted and 'memorised' each rest period if the class requires such action. So it's just an idea, and people have probably thrown out something similar in the past, but what do you think?
#2 Elothan Nov 17, 2009 8:58:11	I understand what you are saying, but the feeling I a left with is: If I like MMORPGS I will play one, not play that I play one...
#3 sfurtwangler Nov 17, 2009 10:59:23	This reminds me a lot of the anime .Hack//SIGN which my group once based a 3.X campaign on - and it worked out pretty well for what we wanted it to do. It allowed us to gloss over a lot of the "unrealistic" bits of that system, ignore some of the table-talk and OOC/IC differentiation problems, and even dodge the issue of what to do when some of your players cannot show up to every game. The main drawback was that it FELT like an MMORPG as well. It didn't matter what you did, since the NPCs were not (necessarily) real people. The evil wizard wasn't actually indangering anyone. Dead characters were not really dead, etc. Basically, it was a little grindy and pointless. Of course, putting more effort into the story and world - one could probably get aroudn that problem - but at the time, what we were looking for was a quick-and-dirty low-effort campaign that allowed for some 4th-wall breaking. It was good at that.
#4 dulsi Nov 17, 2009 11:47:39	This reminds me a lot of the anime .Hack//SIGN which my group once based a 3.X campaign on - and it worked out pretty well for what we wanted it to do. I created my Worlds Within Worlds supplement to support a .hack like campaign setting. .Hack//SIGN is not a very good example to use IMHO. In .hack//sign, nothing really affects the real world. The .hack PS2 games have much better interaction. The key to making it not just an MMO is to include something in the game that can affect the real world. The heroes in the .hack games had to worry when battling data bugs that they could be permanently put into a comma. They couldn't just run away though because they wanted to save those already lost.
#5 Johnathan_Vagabond Nov 19, 2009 13:40:39	One take would be that the PCs going into battle 'virtually' (although perhaps 'through mystical suits of armor many miles away' or 'on the spirit plane' would be more accurate). Then outside of the virtual battle they deal with intrigue and backstabbing.
#6 RPJesus Nov 19, 2009 17:35:19	Shadowrun?