Series of short-arc subventures with rotating GM?

Hi.

I have an idea for an RP that is a break in my traditional formula: Rather than one, long, planned plot arc that takes so long to ever come to fruition that it's downright impossible to find writers dedicated enough to see it through and manages to avoid all the pitfalls of real life and OOC squabbling that mires so many of my attempts, I want to try a sort of miniseries.

The RP would see a series of very short arcs: The characters, who mostly interact with each other "behind the scenes" between episodes, are presented with a short number of relatively simple tasks, and hilarity or tragedy ensues. Much like the two mini-adventures run in the most recent Acquisitions Inc games (in which two fulfilling but short D&D adventures are crammed into a 2-hour session), each obstacle faced by the protagonists is something obstacle-y but doesn't require the deep intrigue, long conversation, character development and divine intervention as to be found in other, much more serious stories. Once the episode is completed (the terrible troll is slain with the nasty knife, the killer automaton is disabled, whatever), the characters go home.

The episode is concluded with a succinct epilogue for each character ("Jim decided it was finally time to ask his girlfriend the big question" "Daryl got hammered" "Bobby invested in a new business"), which character development and all that stuff that we enjoy but never actually want to sit through happening off screen. Then the characters, usually through no fault of their own, reconvene, with some change in their personality or status thereof, to produce the next episode, directed by a different participant of the RP than myself.

All that happens again, epilogue epilogue, and then someone else plans the next episode.

The RP would feature an appropriately high mortality rate, given the amount of expected investment: If a character decides to tackle an obstacle in a stupid way, they're dead if another character doesn't intervene. But if there's a convenient opening in the story, the writer can slot a new character in no questions asked-or wait until the next episode. Just like any TV show can. Maybe it doesn't make sense for a certain character to be in an episode (Who would invite the Paladin to a birthday party in Hell?), so there might be substitutions necessitated by circumstance.

The RP would not have a very well defined setting. It would have an overall genre, that being fantasy of some description, and it would have a basic location (some cool fantasy city conveniently surrounded by whatever terrain is needed for an episode). But specifics, like the names of gods, streets, mayors, and taverns, would be free to be improvised as needed by the acting GM and the story. The history of the world isn't terribly important; something will just be assumed out of the backstories of each character, and-really stressing this point here-there's no strong emphasis and deep lore, backstories, character development, or history.

The characters would have no minimum level of usefulness, though I would ask no one arrive with a character of such power that it negated every possible obstacle or so completely useless that everyone else had to waste time helping. Clerics of Whoever could throw some heals around, Wizards of Whateveromancy could shoot a fireball or two, but the members of the party have to be close enough together in power, ingenuity, participation, and intelligence that no one asks "Why are you here?" or "Why am I here?"

im game! ive been looking for something like this for a while.

Are you interested in being one of the rotating GMs?

Are you willing to see your character(s) die, due to bad decisions and just dumb luck?

Do you feel like you can handle keeping a story long enough to be worth participating in, but short enough to turn the spotlight over? Can you resist the temptation to take a thread or seed and attempt to expand your subventure into a full RP (which this is trying to avoid)?

...some kind of fourth preliminary question?

* Do you feel comfortable creating several characters of ~75% quality, and keeping track of their individual personalities, goals, desires, and developments?

These questions encompass my entire experience with the majority of D&D campaigns.

Hmm. I will say that I admire your vision and willingness to experiment. I, myself, have been experimental with some of my latest roleplays, and you certainly have some good ideas behind this. I would be highly interested in participating in a roleplay like this, just for the sake of experimentation (and perhaps using some of the ideas for my own roleplays, at least the ideas that work). My last roleplay basically was experimenting with the idea of episodic format (albeit the episodes had a progression that linked them to an overarching arc) and disposable characters (albeit the characters that remained dedicated would, at some point in the roleplay, become elevating into indisposable main characters). This roleplay idea of yours seems to be taking these ideas to the next level. Here are some thoughts, albeit they're just off the top of my head and mainly have to do with my curiosity toward your ideas for the roleplay's main plot.

I would suggest having an established and unique canon. I mean, sure, the GM can do whatever they like, but the base should probably be interesting enough for people to participate in, and give GMs good ideas for creating plots. Basically, what I mean, is that the setting can be unique. I don't mean it needs to have a super-heavily developed canon from the get-go, just something that may drive some of it's major themes (like Middle-Earth, Rapture, Aperture Science, alternate history London, you get the idea).

Looks like the roleplay is designed with disposable characters in mind, something I was experimenting with for my last roleplay (but then I ran into the issue of people making too many characters that they were dedicated to, lol) yet, I imagine there might be dedicated characters that remain important to the soul of the story. I mean, I personally feel that roleplay is all about character interaction, so at least some characters may have some importance stuck to them, especially in a story as formulaic as this. Basically, I imagine there will be 'main' characters and less important characters that only appear when the plot demands. That said, I guess character development can't be too heavy in focus, especially if even such 'main' characters have some level of disposable-ness to them and everything is plot driven.

Well, those are just my thoughts, but you can do things however you like. Right now, I'm most interested in ideas you have for the story's premise. Like, what's the genre, setting, and who the main characters are, and perhaps even central themes to the story (unless it's going to be a silly one). I'm already boiling ideas of my own in my head for possible premises I could try on my own sometime.

I agree with Lloyd's thoughts on this. Even with everyone more or less creating their own story, a base setting and canon should be in place to build around. This way each story, regardless of direction or purpose, has some tangible thread connecting them. Maybe have a page where the history of the world gets written as the rotating GM's add to it, allowing for a canon to be built as we continue through the stories.

I still think character development could be a thing if these characters do survive for a few stories. Killing people for the simple sake of adding death usually hampers people rather than drive an emotional response. I'm not saying that people shouldn't die, but maybe give their death meaning to drive the individual stories forward. Just a thought, take it as you will.

As for my own personal thoughts in terms of setting, I'm in favor of some kind of city with maybe excursions to other parts of the world? Steampunk potentially, or some kind of modern with a twist?

To address various concerns and suggestions in no particular order:

1. It was not my intention to present an entirely sandbox experience; I do have a setting for the RP to take place in that has enough detail to be written about but little enough detail that no one has to worry about reading a lot of lore, and only fear contradicting other writers rather than myself.

~15 years before the start of the RP, everything was the kind of idyllic medieval fantasy in which few adventures happened; governments were stable, people were fed, science and magic were responsibly experimented with, and the gods were quiet and far from the material plane, enjoying their own planes or demiplanes or doing battle far, far away.

~15-10 years before the start of the RP, a series of natural and supernatural disasters from the mildly inconvenient to the permanently warping of all existence within X miles while summoning creatures of literal manifestations of chaos and death ruined that.

~10 years before the start of the RP, these series of events were ended more-or-less, often at great sacrifice, and their aftermath endures. Some scourges were simple, with a horde of goblinoids or somesuch "vanilla" problem collapsing kingdoms but easily dealt with with swords and arrows. Some scourges were living balls of fire, whose lightning strikes opened portals to the quasi elemental planes of ash and desiccation that even after being "fixed" leave swathes of land uninhabitable.

Lots of mythic people died, or supposedly died, during this period. Some heroes of great renown, say eye-witness accounts, died killing krakens or demigods; some have fallen from grace, and in the aftermath declared themselves the despotic rulers of dust and ruin.

With the king killed during the scourges, the city in which the story starts (and most subventures will happen while I'm GM) is ruled by an interim council of representatives who were supposed to name a new monarch but, under the guise of many creative excuses, have instituted themselves as the de facto government. After the king's death, and other events, the military disbanded and was replaced by the Black Stallion Mercenary Company, which defended the city and outlying areas of immediate importance from a massive horde of orcs marshaled by an insane chieftain granted from Gruumsh (god of orcs) terrific power. They returned the city heralded by heroes after the horde's defeat (90% of which was done at the hands of other nations who also barely survived the scourges, and independent adventurers), won contracts making them the city's de facto police force and military without competition, and now is a giant gang of bullies harassing anyone in the Lower City they think they can jostle without repercussions.

The city is a large metropolis sectioned into districts, split between the "Upper City" and "Lower City." It was expanded quickly and without planning to accommodate for refugees during the scourges, so the further one travels from the city center the more disorganized and depressing it gets. The return to the countryside from the city has been slow; dwarves and elves were the first two groups to leave en masse to reclaim strongholds or woodland cities, respectively, but the city remains a conglomeration of different races, cultures, worshipers (there's really only two religions, the Icosahedrons and Atheists), et al.

If a character is not from the city, but hails from somewhere nearby, the exact location of it is not significant. Characters are always from "Somewhere north" or "Somewhere east" and specifics mean little to mean. Everything in the city and the surrounding area (which was once a country of which it was the capital city) faced only one "scourge" of significance, that being the horde. Anti-goblinoid sentiments are understandable, and the only lawful admittance of an orc to the city is as a slave, the actions of which are the responsibility of its owner.

If a character is from somewhere far away, the writer is free to describe that area, what condition it is in now, why the character left (or hasn't yet returned), and what kind of scourge(s) wracked it. Aerth is a very, very big place, with continents missed by maps not because they're unknown but because they're just too easily forgotten about. So the sky is really the limit.

But no Steampunk. No.


2. It was never my intention to have characters die for no reason. As I said above, every surviving character is entitled to an epilogue, and nothing suggests the epilogue had to include their demise or meant they were not allowed to return.

However characters will die, and I wanted to stress that point now so no one threw a hissyfit when Mary Sue jumped in an acid pit and expected to survive.

Participants won't be forced to change character, they are just encouraged to have prepared substitutions in the event that a new GM's subventure simply doesn't have an opening for them. Why would the holy paladin sworn to celibacy attend an orgy? Or even get invited?



3. Excursions to other parts of the world is certainly in the cards. The next GM could desire to explore a forgotten jungle island with dinosaurs, for all I care. So long as it follows the intentions of the RP.


4. Lloyd please stop saying albeit.

I like this setting idea! I'm fine with these conditions, and I'm always up for a D&D themed rp.

Though the chaos with the Planes does raise the question of where planar-linked characters would stand, such as Warlocks. Eh. Could be an interesting angle to explore for a episode, I guess.

Question: would participants in the roleplay have to take a turn at being the GM? o3o

The whole idea of a D&D-themed roleplay makes me very interested, but I have no experience or knowledge about what comes with GM-img and find the idea of being thrown into the role intimidating at present. Figured asking wouldn't hurt.

Mouser wrote:Question: would participants in the roleplay have to take a turn at being the GM? o3o

No, of course not. :) Not everyone is comfortable being the GM anymore than with DMing, and that's fine. If you only want to participate, you're free to only participate.


As far as "Planar-linked" characters go, the RP is D&D-inspired but by god I hate Warlocks.

And tieflings, and drow, and dragonborn, and 4th edition.

Anyway:

Warlock, sorcerer, and wizard are only thematic differences as far as this RP is concerned, and their differences are not directly related to the divisions present in D&D. (No one has to roll character stats, so I don't care what your INTWISCHA is) It is up to writers to explain the origins of their characters powers.

Warlocks (and sorcerers/wizards) can claim their power from pacts made with devils, demons, or other supernatural creatures. They can also draw their power from the outer-outer planes far outside the known planescape, where aberrations are supposedly from.

Or they can just study magic or have a magical great-grandfather to be a little more vanilla.