RPG Interest?



  • So, many moons ago, I spent a fair amount of time playing an AOL Chat Room RPG called Borderlands. The site for it is thoroughly defunct now (not to mention AOL chat rooms being kinda poof), but I have a PDF archive from the site, and wanted to see -- would we have at least 5-8 people that would be interested in playing via forum? My thought is that there would be an open roleplay thread ("tavern") for whenever, and we'd have set times for more interactive type questing, where people would be expected to be online and actively posting for the quest / training arena / whatever.

    Rules for the setup I'm referring to: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/19762960/Borderlands.pdf

    Related question if interest happens, is there a target milestone for SockDice 3.0? 👼


  • I survived the hour long Uno hand

    It's not on NPM yet, but this dice roller's a thing:



  • @izzion said in RPG Interest?:

    Borderlands

    This is where the cars live! GET YOU ONE!



  • @blakeyrat

    Yeah, that's what made it so hard for me to find where the old site was to see if Wayback Machine could dredge it up. But then, thankfully, I found it in my old e-mail.

    And nothing saying we'd have to use the name Borderlands (or even that system, ultimately) :P


  • I survived the hour long Uno hand

    So basically you want to recreate the chat-style "Tavern" experience but in a forum-style roleplay? I'm not sure it'll work, but I can give it a shot :D



  • @Yamikuronue @accalia @error @Tsaukpaetra

    On the event that the upvote was an indication of interest, I'm gonna mention bomb all y'all. Sorry if this turns out to be an unwanted notification :p

    So, I'm in the process of surviving an on-call week that is resulting in a higher than average number of oh-dark-thirty calls, but my intention is, sometime this weekend or next week, to write up a setting for a Borderlands-rules adventure quest. General thinking of the setting is "mysterious obelisk re-appears in town, conjuring the legends of old adventurers and the treasures they brought back from the obelisk." Expectation is that the setup will either "require" every adventurer to be puzzling through solo (walk into the obelisk's entry portal and be whisked away from everyone else), or may allow for groups to self-select and enter together, though I'm not completely decided on how I would run it.

    Thinking is that the "schedule" would be based on awarding BP for progress / combat and RP for roleplay over the period of a week... probably up to 10 RP for truly exceptional quality roleplay, with 3-5 being the typical reward for moderate to high volume roleplay of moderate or better quality. Ala Yami's post in the quick links thread, the expectation would be play when you can, and I'll catch up on dice rolls / action resolution when I can.

    My weekday posting window will probably be mostly UTC-0400 evenings, as I have severely curtailed Internet access during the day, and I'll be damned if I'm posting GM stuff on mobile during lunch.

    If you're interested in playing, please at least give me an idea of what class you're investigating, either in thread or via PMchat, so I can adjust the setup accordingly (in the friendly GM way, not in the WTDWTF Mafia GM way)


  • Considered Harmful

    @izzion I'm tentatively interested. I'm not sure how much I can commit to it. I have another semester of school about to start, it's crunch time at the office, and I'm working on a new game for @error_bot; this time an original concept.

    I'll give it a shot if that's OK. I might not be able to stick with it.



  • @error

    Totally fair. To some extent, that's an advantage of PBP and a setup that's tuned more for solo / a small group of adventurers... easier to come and go as RL allows. (I hope, at least 😼 )


  • Notification Spam Recipient

    @izzion said in RPG Interest?:

    If you're interested in playing, please at least give me an idea of what class you're investigating

    Quick-scanning the first few pages (of apparently almost 700!!!!!!!!) I think I'd choose Beastmaster. If we're basing off the flavors on page 80, I'd have to double-check which kinds of "animal" are available, as I've favored (in mostly chronological order) dogs, Andalite, and recently Pegasus forms...



  • @Tsaukpaetra
    Yeah, maybe I should work on decomposing it back to a web page / wiki first, and then worry about a setup from there... >_>

    Of biggest note, the classes on the left column of page 34-35 are the base classes. That then eventually advance into the full tree that goes to the right.

    So the base classes are Fighter, Squire, Magician, Cleric, Rogue, with the respective advancement options. The caster classes (Magician and Cleric) were a little harder to start out with when I played it many years ago, largely because of the mechanic of spells fizzling when you get hit before you cast (so if your initiative rolls aren't ZOMG, you wind up losing a good chunk of your spell casting capabilities if you're in range of the enemy).


  • I survived the hour long Uno hand

    @izzion said in RPG Interest?:

    Yeah, maybe I should work on decomposing it back to a web page / wiki first, and then worry about a setup from there... >_>

    700 pages? yes please



  • @izzion said in RPG Interest?:

    Yeah, maybe I should work on decomposing it back to a web page / wiki first, and then worry about a setup from there... >_>

    Alright, Ben has been so kind as to help set up a subcategory for us, I'll start working on rules posts this afternoon (after I get my League of Legends playoffs watching fix). Does Node support wiki posts, or am I about to be pining for another Discofeature? 😼



  • @izzion said in RPG Interest?:

    Does Node support wiki posts

    No, and that would be a terrible idea before we have edit histories.



  • @ben_lubar

    Well, yes, I figured if I were to go put a RFC in on the Node forums for it, the spec would include mandatory-on Edit Histories for wiki posts.



  • @Yamikuronue @error @Tsaukpaetra

    Does the format of the Fighters class rules make sense to you, or any suggestions before I work through the format on the other classes?


  • Notification Spam Recipient

    @izzion Seems OK. Wish the index post could have a tree but with Markdown that might be awfully difficult...



  • @Tsaukpaetra

    Heh, I should have thought of that...

    Re-did the topic to lead off with a tree post, at some point I should probably learn Node's simple moderation tricks...



  • @Yamikuronue

    Also, one thing about the 700 pages - over 400 of those are character sheets with a side of the history of the previous role play events set in the universe. "Only" 276 pages to cover the rules. (My arms are happy about this)


  • Discourse touched me in a no-no place

    @Tsaukpaetra said in RPG Interest?:

    Wish the index post could have a tree but with Markdown that might be awfully difficult...

    Proper trees require javascript support, but the basic datamodel is just that of a bunch of nested lists. Which markdumb sort-of supports…



  • So, apparently the version of the rules that this snapshot was captured from had a few little minor inconsistencies around Weapon Speed skills in the Cleric classes... #adlibbing



  • @izzion said in RPG Interest?:

    little harder to start out with when I played it many years ago

    That's why you perk illusion's quiet casting...

    Oh, wrong game.

    That's why you play in a party.


  • Notification Spam Recipient

    I would be willing to play, but it would all depend on when the questing times would be. I have seen from the Mafia games that I am usually active when the rest of the players aren't as active, and vice versa. I.t.o. classes, I am willing to play any class except rogue


  • I survived the hour long Uno hand

    ..... @izzion , what was it about this game in particular that drew your interest?



  • @Yamikuronue

    I had a couple college friends that were active in it at the time, and they got me into it. It worked fairly well in the AIM Chat Room setting, though there was always variance from host to host as far as how entertaining the shifts were. The hosts that ran 1 PC v NPCs fight nights were the most boring, especially for me since my starting Magician was dreadfully bad at solo combat...

    If people would prefer a different set of rules, I'd be down with switching, provided that I didn't have to spend a sizeable amount of real money to get the rule books...


  • I survived the hour long Uno hand

    What stands out to me is that you're trying to solve the problems of chat-based RPs, using the strengths of chat-based RPs, for what is essentially a PbP game. The rules look fairly standard, I haven't seen any compelling setting information, and most of the document seems aimed at complete newbies to roleplaying, which isn't promising.

    If we're going to do something this generic, I would be more interested in a game in Pathfinder (which has a free SRD) or Fate (which really interests me and if I remember rightly also has a free SRD). I guess I could run something, I have in the past in both those systems. I've also had fun running BESM, which is out of print but cough cough may be cough available cough if you ask nicely :)

    I'm very much a story-driven roleplayer, with character-based a close second. I don't enjoy combat very much, so if you're wanting a combat-heavy game I'm probably not the right match for you 😺



  • @Yamikuronue said in RPG Interest?:

    Pathfinder

    👍 I love the Pathfinder system. Whenever I do Pen and Paper games I try to do them in Pathfinder. The archetype system is great and allows a lot of customization without adding 9 million classes like 3.5e did, and the skill system is way easier than in 3.5e. Plus with it being free SRD it is a lot easier to look things up.

    I think my only gripe is how meh prestige classes are, but I guess the core, base and hybrid classes are all fun enough that it makes up for weak PrCs.

    Here is the Pathfinder open SRD - d20pfsrd

    The only differences between the SRD and actual Pathfinder material I remember is the names of some PrCs are changed (like Red Mantis Assassin is Crimson Assassin or something)



  • @Yamikuronue

    The setting I'm contemplating would be a "dungeon crawl" with a mix of puzzle solving and combat for advancement. I think ultimately my preferences / vision run toward more hack & slash, possibly at the expense of storyline/character development.

    On the other hand, my least favorite sessions back in the day were the pure combat "fight nights" in the arena, so I am planning on having some sort of story arc / adventure involved in my run. If we wanted to have a few different hosts / threads, with varying focuses, I would be on board with that.

    I'll suspend the translation work on the Borderlands PDF for a short period -- to the people that have responded in one way or another so far: do you have any preference between the Borderlands rule set vs Pathfinder vs another alternative? Do you have questions / concerns / suggestions about the setting I've very lightly described?

    @Vault_Dweller : the plan is to be play by post, so other than higher latency between your posts and GM resolution or other players' interactions, I wouldn't expect time zone / activity offset to make a difference.


  • Notification Spam Recipient

    @izzion Cool, then I will probably be in.

    I'm not fussed about systems. However, I like the setup you mention, which focuses on puzzle solving and combat. Whichever system lends itself better to that, I would vote for.



  • So, reading back through this, I realized I might not have communicated what I meant to yesterday in between stints at the contract job...

    If any of the people who have expressed interest in RPGing have an opinion or suggestion about an alternative system that works better for $raisins, I'm completely open to playing in and/or DMing with a different system. I picked this system because it has two advantages for me: $0 startup cost, and I'm familiar with itnostalgia from my good old days playing in it and hosting a little bit.

    Between the current pacing at my job and the fact that I have a vacation this weekend, I'm not really flush with time to work on converting the rules doc and writing up my setting anyway. Tentative plan is to release a teaser / start up to the setting next Tuesday (1 week from today), with an eye toward starting the action somewhere around September 3rd (Labor Day weekend, in 'merkin time). But, given that we're going PBP anyway, there's not really any firm "thou must have a character sheet ready by Day X or forever hold your peace" deadline anyway... I'd like to have at least 2-3 individuals or groups running the obelisk when I start, but it should be flexible enough to allow for individuals / groups starting separately later (or maaaaaaybe a group pulling someone in within a small time window from when they start).

    I think if we get things going and wind up with a modest number of players, it would be helpful to have an additional, separate "session" going to allow for more open combat (Arena fight night) or possibly a different quest chain. One of the strengths of the Borderlands system when I played it was that you had multiple different hosts, on different nights of the week, that ran different sorts of stuff. Here, I think it would be more separate threads and metaphysical handwaving that you're blipping back and forth in space/time or something -- maybe with a side of the various hosts having "active days" that don't overlap completely (e.g. Sunday-Monday-Thursday and Tuesday-Wednesday-Friday or even a little overlap or who knows). That can be a discussion after we get underway, though.


  • Notification Spam Recipient

    @izzion said in RPG Interest?:

    metaphysical handwaving that you're blipping back and forth in space/time or something

    In much the same way that battle situations in certain RPGs don't actually represent the surrounding environment at all?

    Like, "Random encounter! Suddenly you're no longer surrounded in Tall Grass, but have neat little circles denoting the battle area!"?


  • I survived the hour long Uno hand

    So I found a really cool little adventure seed (it's not quite as fleshed out as a full on adventure, but it includes the hook, the encounters, and a text description of the dungeon) that I'd be interested in running if ya'll want to play.

    It's very DnD flavored, so I'm thinking either 3.5, Pathfinder, or 5e (I don't really like 4e but I could try if you guys prefer that edition).

    Anyone interested?



  • @Yamikuronue Sure, I'm interested. May give me a reason to finally pick up the 5e PHB.


  • I survived the hour long Uno hand

    So that's one vote for 5e. @Vault_Dweller ? @izzion ? @Lathun ?


  • Notification Spam Recipient

    @Yamikuronue It depends on @izzion. If he is going to run a game I will rather join his game. Otherwise I'm in



  • @Yamikuronue Wasn't necessarily a vote for 5e, just a comment that I'd need to pick up the PHB if it went that way. I did read some of the Pathfinder SRD and got intrigued by it, so I guess my vote could go to that too.



  • I'm fine with @Yamikuronue running, and I can play that way. Once we get going and I get familiar with the system, I can always adapt the monolith setting to whatever system we're playing in.



  • @Yamikuronue Depending on when it is I would be interested in playing something. As for the system any of those works for me, I've used all of them before. Out of the bunch 4e is probably my least favorite, but I didn't hate it.


  • I survived the hour long Uno hand

    I would run this play-by-post style; instead of a set time, we'd be doing it basically like Mafia runs.

    If nobody has a strong preference, let's do pathfinder. I'm in a pathfinder game elsewhere right now, so i'm least likely to mix up my rulesets if I do the same :D


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