Something Roleplay This Way Comes

*Sips beer through silly straw*

For the first time in many moons, we have at least five people who all seriously want to RP.  While this tickles me in a way that I've not been tickled in many years, we have plenty of things to discuss before we get to the planning stage.  Since it's not often that all of us are on the CB at the exact same time, I've decided to make this thread for us to hammer out some brainstorming.  

Now, it's important to note that we all happen to be very different RP'ers with very different tastes, so what we need to do is focus on one theme that we can all compromise on and commit to.  Do we want medieval fantasy?  Future fantasy?  Modern zombies?  Future zombies?  Psycho horror?  Future psych?  Video game derivative?  The possibilities are endless, but it's imperative that we all agree on a setting that we can stick to and enjoy, even if it's not 100% what we're looking for.   Like I said, we're trying to mix a lot of tastes here.

So what I wanna know and see some discussion about is twofold: What would you like to see most of all?  And more importantly, what factors, if present, would just kill your enjoyment?  Since I'll probably be the dungeonmaster and I'm feeling pretty neutral with my moods, I'll keep my own wants out of the equation unless I see something I'm passionately against for whatever reason.  

Gogogogogo!

I really want the environment to matter, something extreme. Also, it should tie the whole experience together somehow. I actually don't mind many timelines (A bit less preference for medieval/fantasy) so long as I can have a gun, and I'm WAY open to enemy variety.

This, of course, barring my initial suggestion, because Z doesn't want mages to be persecuted.

The only thing I'm directly opposed to is the setting of the RP being a ship or space in general. Time period doesn't bother me other than that, I'd be fine with modern, the past, or slightly into the future.

One thing I'd like to avoid is our characters being too powerful and I'd love to see some survival elements with our characters having to struggle just to get by and stay alive (maybe this could tie-in to Wesker's thing about harsh enviornments.)

A few chat quotes during our brainstorming sesh.

[23:49:02] @ Slothra : I am seeing this turning into like
[23:49:12] @ Slothra : A great big biological experiment disaster RP
[23:49:32] Peng : what bug would Trigger be
[23:49:38] @ Slothra : with far-reaching consequences like the flora/fauna mutations & changes
[23:49:45] Peng : a beetle?
[23:50:22] Trigger : Just a bunch of dummies launched into an apocalypse 30 years after the start. Not just various undead but the environment is also fucked, getting taken over by desert, attempting to somehow fix the world
[23:50:48] Trigger : Beetles are good doctors
[23:50:53] Trigger : Always trust beetles
[23:51:38] Trigger : Let's not forget Z's magic fetish
[23:51:38] @ Slothra : Like a rumor of a prototype thingy designed to start reversing the changes, which is unfortunately housed in the building that all this nastiness is coming from
[23:51:51] Trigger : He will probably ardently want a magic element
[23:52:36] Trigger : He could always be a biological experiment somehow able to produce fire. Or something.
[23:52:36] @ Slothra : Yeah
[23:52:45] @ Slothra : Well mutations aren't ruled out
[23:52:46] @ Slothra : but
[23:52:50] Peng : Z does like his magic
[23:52:52] @ Slothra : Maybe
[23:53:13] @ Slothra : Something like such a massive environmental shift somehow uncovered strange energies
[23:53:13] Trigger : No normal human trusts a mutant so Z is persecuted
[23:53:27] Trigger : But only if he is found out
[23:53:34] @ Slothra : Maybe the earth's magnetic field is now able to be manipulated to some extent
[23:53:39] @ Slothra : due to the damage
[23:55:17] Trigger : Z would be practically the only one, though
[23:55:31] Trigger : Maybe work in a boss with a crazy ability
[23:55:44] @ Slothra : That way we can get to be a bit wary of him, because he's making the thing a bit worse by using his powers, but it could really help the party out, especially if he's helping us fix the thing
[23:55:51] Trigger : And a few more mundane bio mutants that everyone hates
[23:56:47] Trigger : We can start with guns if we want but they should be super valued commodities
[23:56:49] @ Slothra : I wouldn't call it a mutation
[23:56:59] @ Slothra : More like a pre-existing genetic aptitude
[23:57:05] Trigger : The last new gun having been manufactured 10+ years in the past
[23:57:15] @ Slothra : something to do with bioelectrical currents in their bodies
[23:57:42] Trigger : That's fine, I just use mutant as a generality
[23:58:08] @ Slothra : alrighty
[23:58:13] @ Slothra : I like how Metro went at the guns
[23:58:25] @ Slothra : We can make jury-rigged weapons but they are shitty
[23:58:31] Trigger : Fallout 3 has way too many guns for the industry having been extinct 270 years
[23:58:54] @ Slothra : Cause when you think about it
[23:59:14] @ Slothra : A desperate society really would be able to manufacture shitty guns so long as someone was alive who knew the generalities
[00:00:00] Peng : .
[00:00:04] Trigger : Aye
[00:00:18] Trigger : Lots of greaseguns and pipe guns made from scratch
[00:01:17] Trigger : Some that have a chance to explode in your stupid face from shoddy craftsmanship

To summarize the above, last night Wesker, Pengy and I did a lot of talking about this topic on the CB. Naturally we still want to get input from the rest of you, but the three of us came up with a hypothetical that certainly seemed appealing. To summarize, it would have the following traits:

- Takes place 10-30 years in the future following some terrible apocalypse.

- Zombies and other forms of undead make up the primary foes. Naturally there's also raiders and other less expected enemies. In true RP fashion, there will be one powerful foe who makes sure we never get too comfortable.

- The environment has become unstable. Deserts are taking over the country, among other extreme conditions. Debilitating heat during the day and freezing cold at night. When the rain finally comes, don't expect it to be pleasant.

- It would be more of a survival RP. Medicine and supplies are scarce after all these years. You can start with a gun, but firearms are prized possessions, and guns that are in perfect condition are a thing of rarity. Expect jerry-rigged firearms and a lot of necessary melee.

- We know Z really wants to be a mage, so we're considering the possibility of certain people being the result of Government experiments. The details still need to be ironed out, but a character with supernatural abilities is possible to have, though you'll need a glaring weakness to counter it. "Experimental" people will be extremely rare and unnerving, so there's a distinct possibility that certain NPCs will react harshly upon discovering your nature.




So what do you guys think? Do any of you have something else to add, or do you think we should go with a different theme entirely? Make yourselves heard.

I could get into some harsh environments, but I'm in more of a sword and sorcery mood myself. Either way I'll participate as best as I can, we could use a good RP.

Z brought up the unshakeable truth that regular old zombies have gotten a tad stale.  Would we be ok with replacing them with horrendous eldritch creatures that lurk under the sand and in the water etc etc?  I hesitate to call them mutants, for fear of this starting to overly resemble Fallout, though I currently have no plans for nuclear radiation to ever be a factor.

Alternate suggestions for the "most common sort of enemies" is very welcome at this juncture.

Edit - I'm also by no means against going medieval if interest swayed that way.  But if not, I'll make sure there're still plenty of tavern action.  Perhaps a midget bartender with a dwarvish beard.  And with a high focus on melee, you can have your spear or sword and do damn well with it.  Guns would be rare.

Zombies are a pretty good enemy archetype for this kind of stuff. Persistent, not easily dealt with, unstoppable as they are now.

The idea of forcing nature's hand makes me think how some local flaura/fauna would respond in such a situation. Perhaps because the occasional wandering human is more fertile than the world around them, there are a lot more parasites that grab onto them for their sustenance. Effects may vary.