Topic: The RP planning thread

[PatMan33]

It wasn't a response to you, but thanks for your input.

My thinking is that we should do something different, try new things. I believe that the reason RPs with no real plot always fail is because the people that make them are lazy. There is no shortage of thirteen year olds who make whatever comes to mind without thinking and then sitting around in shock because they can't fathom why their crappy RP failed.

But I think that most of us know what we are doing and can handle an undertaking like this properly and effectively.

That bit aside, I guess my fear is that we stay with the Superhero RP world for longer than we should. Personally, I would not mind doing that at all, we've put a lot into it and the world is prime for more RPs. My worry would be that we become dependent on it... and also that people would feel alienated since there is so much that the veterans could use to their advantage since they will have been around a lot longer.

My other fear is that if we make another RP with magic and whatnot, I feel that there is a good chance that it will end up being just like the Superhero RP. After all, one of the reasons that the Superhero RP worked was because a person could make any kind of character they could imagine... and by doing that, we've elevated the lowest common denominator to a very high level. Doing anything less in a subsequent RP could leave many of us feeling unsatisfied due to a lack of options.


So there are my fears for keeping the formula that works and also my fears for going to a new formula.


As for you, Blitz, flesh the ideas out a bit more. Let's say a seven sentence minimum and a ten sentence maximum. You don't want it to be too long because that becomes restrictive, too short and it's too vague to make sense out of.

[Didero]

...I guess my fear is that we stay with the Superhero RP world for longer than we should. Personally, I would not mind doing that at all, we've put a lot into it and the world is prime for more RPs. My worry would be that we become dependent on it... and also that people would feel alienated since there is so much that the veterans could use to their advantage since they will have been around a lot longer.

That's partly what kept me from joining the Historic Superpower RP Vol II, besides me being busy at the time. I was afraid I would know too little of the world. I read the current RP though, and now I see I could've joined. The only thing you need to know from previous RPs is who that 'Creature' is, and maybe the original Royal Society, to know why the current Royal Society is called the Other RS.

My other fear is that if we make another RP with magic and whatnot, I feel that there is a good chance that it will end up being just like the Superhero RP. After all, one of the reasons that the Superhero RP worked was because a person could make any kind of character they could imagine... and by doing that, we've elevated the lowest common denominator to a very high level. Doing anything less in a subsequent RP could leave many of us feeling unsatisfied due to a lack of options.

Less options could make it more challenging, which can be more fun. By making it harder for yourself, you have to put more effort in telling a good and believable story, which can be more satisfying than telling a story in which almost anything goes (magic e.g.).

[PatMan33]

Yeah the Historical RPs are not really that dependent on the regular RP, anything that might require knowledge of the other RP is usually explained to you at some point.

I don't think the quality of an RP's story is based so much on how much freedom a person has in character development, I think that the quality of story depends on the team of people writing and how well they work with each other.

But I do think that freedom in character development is key to getting the RP to work initially. However that will lapse fairly quickly as soon as a good story starts. I don't think we should limit character creation so much save for whether or not to have magic. Then again, maybe we should allow whatever we want for all of the RPs, after all, people rarely use the same kinds of characters so there would be plenty of different people.


The next thing then, I guess, would be a good story... I hinted at that with Blitz. Look at the Superpower RP, the opening description was short, but gave enough of an outline so that you could build things. It was not overly long or elaborate, it did not restrict all that much and it left a huge void for people to fill. So if we want to make a new RP it needs to have a premise that can be easily summed up while still leaving a LOT of room for expansion and development.

[Didero]

How much do you have to plan ahead when creating an RP? You obviously have to think of a setting, and some rules of you universe, but how far ahead do you have to think up the story?

[PatMan33]

For the Superpower RP we did not think up anything aside from the general mission statement of the police force. Beyond that everything else was created by us.

The goal is not to create a overly compelling story, the goal is to construct a world that fosters creativity and allows for the compelling story to grow from it. Of course, on a character to character basis most of us have goals that we wish to accomplish by certain points and that helps a lot when it comes to keeping the story going.

[PatMan33]

Double posting, deal with it... it's a separate train of thought in this post as opposed to the others.

What about some kind of swashbuckling pirate RP? Heck, you could even have some ninjas in it...

[Yossitaru]

Ninjas versus Pirates, and of course the ever controversial NinjaPritates and PirateNinjas.

[Blarg]

Ninjas versus Pirates, and of course the ever controversial NinjaPritates and PirateNinjas.

Nirates and Pinja, respectively.

I actually drew up "The Cladogram O' Awesome" awhile ago. It details the many different evoultions of "Awesome", including (but not limited to) Mr. Rogers, Canadians, Vikings, Giant robots, and of course Pirates and Ninjas.

[Darth Grievi]

Dangit, now I wish I'd kept that Pie Ninja as my avatar...

[Krakow Sam]

I actually drew up "The Cladogram O' Awesome" awhile ago. It details the many different evoultions of "Awesome", including (but not limited to) Mr. Rogers, Canadians, Vikings, Giant robots, and of course Pirates and Ninjas.

I hate you.

Edit: Oh yeah, no tone of voice over the internet. I'm sort of joking.

[PatMan33]

I still think we should give a Vampire RP a shot...

[Yossitaru]

That would be fun, but I wouldn't know if I want to be a vampire or a hunter...

[PatMan33]

Let's start with a basic idea.

The Vampire RP
The setting would be some kind of city, probably a large expanse of countryside as well with a few small towns. There is an organization of vampires that regulates vampire stuff and deals with problems. There are hunters that try to kill vampires. One could assume that there are also evil vampires that hope to destroy the humans, impure vampires or something like that, or maybe they're just crazy and want to rule everything.

Let's see, there would be some vampire infighting between the organization and the vampires against it. They would all be fighting the hunters, which can also have some sort of organization if you want. The hunters and the vampires both would want to stop an evil vampire... but probably would not work together. Pretty basic, may need some fleshing out.

What else... garlic does nothing to vampires. Holy symbols are laughable to an older vampire, but may cause some discomfort to a newer one. Beheading will kill a vampire, stake to the heart, maybe some kind of fancy silver nitrate deal in high enough amounts will also kill one. New vampires are made via a simple process: A vampire bites a person, the vampire then has the person they bit ingest some of their vampire blood. That's about it.

The plan I had was to keep most of the vampire stuff simple, no crazy over elaborate stuff. It's supposed to be simple and fun, the lore is all unique to this RP so almost no outside knowledge is needed save for what a vampire is. Think Buffy the Vampire Slayer, it's simple like that. Vampires drink blood, they don't like the sun, they are hard to kill, and they are probably strong.


Now you throw your thoughts into it and discuss.


REMEMBER, simple is better. This RP is not intended to emulate a "real" vampire experience, it is supposed to be fun and thought provoking. Fun first, facts second.

[Yossitaru]

So let's see, there's the Humans and the Vampires.


Humans have Royalty, Hunters and Normal People.

Royalty are superstitious and hire hunters.

Hunters find and slay vampires, usually for profit.

Normal People are generally in the dark about vampires, but can possibly be manipulated by vampires.


Vampires have Elders, Average Vampires and Fringe Lunatics.

Elders are usually pro-vampire (not quite anti-human), and strive to keep humans from learning about them.

Average Vampires tend to be anti-human, sometimes to the point of seeing them to the point of nothing more than living blood bags.

Fringe Lunatics disagree with the Elders' way of things, doing things ranging from slaughtering humans (as opposed to just drinking for sustenance and letting them live) to joining the ranks of Human Hunters to eradicate other vampires.


Just a bit of brainstorming on my part; it's not too complex is it?

[PatMan33]

Nope, not too complex.

I'm still trying to come up with a compelling plot that will allow for a lot of expansion though.