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I'm thinking of starting a campaign using my Blades and Barmaids system here on SDN. Well, technically it's the Tensided system (thanks to whoever suggested that, btw) and B&B is just a configuration of that system. What I'm trying to say is that the setting can be something other than fantasy (actually preferable given the current lack of a decent magic system, an omission Eleas and I are working on). B&B is pretty adaptable, and we can even use a setting from another RPG and I'll convert the creatures, spells, etc.

Anyone interested, and if so, are there any preferences for a setting?

EDIT 1/10/04: Changed the title to better reflect what the thread's about.

I'm curious about how you'd get this to work, exactly. Zuh?

Oh, and modern/gritty sci-fi would probably be best.

Hotfoot wrote:I'm curious about how you'd get this to work, exactly. Zuh?

What do you mean? Both Kelly and EnforcerTalen (I think) have run RPGs here.

Oh, and modern/gritty sci-fi would probably be best.

Cool. Already got a module for modern, and a gritty sci-fi one would take all of an hour max.

Arthur_Tuxedo wrote:

Hotfoot wrote:I'm curious about how you'd get this to work, exactly. Zuh?

What do you mean? Both Kelly and EnforcerTalen (I think) have run RPGs here.

*shrugs* Dunno, I steered clear of those threads because they seemed to follow a loose STGOD style which I'm not terribly fond of (post quickly post often, etc.) Perhaps I'm spoiled, but I've seen chatrooms designed for roleplaying move at slower paces than some of those threads at times.

Cool. Already got a module for modern, and a gritty sci-fi one would take all of an hour max.

Interesting. What would, say, a Night's Dawn-style universe (minus the aliens) take?

Hotfoot wrote:*shrugs* Dunno, I steered clear of those threads because they seemed to follow a loose STGOD style which I'm not terribly fond of (post quickly post often, etc.) Perhaps I'm spoiled, but I've seen chatrooms designed for roleplaying move at slower paces than some of those threads at times.

I see. No, this will be quite different. I'm usually only online for a little bit each day while I'm down here in Chile, and rounds will be resolved when I'm on. Won't be STGOD like at all.

Interesting. What would, say, a Night's Dawn-style universe (minus the aliens) take?

I'm not as savvy about all the different games out there as you are. What's Night's Dawn's universe like?

Arthur_Tuxedo wrote:I see. No, this will be quite different. I'm usually only online for a little bit each day while I'm down here in Chile, and rounds will be resolved when I'm on. Won't be STGOD like at all.

Well, that's a relief.

I'm not as savvy about all the different games out there as you are. What's Night's Dawn's universe like?

Sorry. It's not a game, it's from a series of books (the Night's Dawn trilogy by Peter F. Hamilton, quite a good read, really). It's pretty gritty, space combat is done with various grades of lasers and drone "combat wasps". It's close to where I want to go with my universe, but not quite. There are some interesting things available there, however.

Hmm...do you know what Jovian Chronicles is like? Something like that, but with low-grade FTL and without the giant robots would be pretty cool. But I'm approaching the groggy threshold, so I'll hold off on much more for now.

Well, when I was plannig on running a D6-based adventure here or over AIM, I was going to base it on Fallout. I didn't get around to it though (some complications with finding players and other things came up and I lost interest in fleshing out details of locations, firearms, and encounters).

I read a bit of B&B (character creation mostly), and I'd be interested in playing something relating to it here. Something like Fallout or perhaps some kind of cyperpunk-style game would be interesting.

Of course I would be interested... And can probably convert all the spells if you want.

I will of course, be a mage.

So it seems like 2 votes for gritty sci-fi and 1 for fantasy (if I can take the liberty of infering that from Alyrium's desire to be a mage) so far.

Oh btw, anyone who worries about the rate at which changes are made to the system can rest easy. When a campaign is started it uses a specific version that doesn't change halfway through.

Arthur_Tuxedo wrote:So it seems like 2 votes for gritty sci-fi and 1 for fantasy (if I can take the liberty of infering that from Alyrium's desire to be a mage) so far.

What's your attitude on magic in sci-fi settings?

Generally not a fan of magic in sci-fi, but I'll give the people what they want if that's what they want.

Arthur_Tuxedo wrote:Generally not a fan of magic in sci-fi, but I'll give the people what they want if that's what they want.

Well, you could always design or go with much more subtle types of magical arts, if you'd rather avoid standard 'fireball-touting, incantation-shouting', and the like. Something more like minute alterations of fate, precog, will-bengind, or reality-warping effects.

So if the game is in some kind of lawless metropolis, maybe Denryle can swap being a magical, scholarly wizard with a purple wizard's robe with being a delusional, drug-addled psychic. With a purple bath robe.

I'd be interested, but I'm kinda of unfamiliar with them like that. I have a basic understanding of DnD from several years ago.

Seeing how I missed the DnD game due to a family situation and no internet for weeks I'd love to join in, don't really care if it's Sci-Fi or Fantasy, but I'm really kind of leaning to Sci-Fi.

Er, well, if the campaign is going to be Cyberpunk-ish, Wizards can be replaced by netrunners, or drone operators. People who have developed an affinity for the use of machines and all that. Instead of spells, you have programs. Instead of wands and amulets, you have computers and specialized modules.

And, of course, there's always the possibility of psionics, but that can tend to get a little overpowered sometimes, especially when you've only got a limited number of espers. Eventually everyone will play one in order to compete, much like how many Star Wars based RPGs devolve into everyone playing a Jedi or a Sith.

However, a module or cybernetics suite which would allow someone to better pick up subtle clues of body language and so on in order to determine what someone may be feeling at a given time (of course requiring visual and aural contact at a minimum) might be do-able. Also, consider the powers of cyberpunk. New eyes to allow sight into new spectrums, replacing flesh and bone with technology, ears that can pick up voices seven floors up, computers linked directly to your brain, all sorts of things.

Well it seems that pretty much everyone wants to do gritty sci-fi, and that sounds good to me. Can we come to a general consensus on magic vs. no magic? Also, let me try and get a head count so far of who wants to play. Tell me if I miss you or include you when you're still undecided:

Hotfoot
anarchistbunny
Alyrium
Utsanomiko

Is that correct?

<Ed>You are correct sir.</Ed>

If it's even mildly futuristic, lawless, gritty, and/or amoral, count me in.

As for 'magic', I'm still leaning towards something very subtle; a simplistic and non-overpowered form of psionics or somesuch would be good, as I kind of mentioned above. It could even be be a bit random or have low sucess rates, at best enhanced by cybernetics/surgery, random odd devices/lucky trinkets, or spurred by drug highs ("look at all the pretty lights! Wait, in the next room I can see... four, no make that five... tall, heavilly-armed... giraffes. Or maybe guards... hard to tell. *twitch*"). The best part is that nobody besides the 'caster' needs to believe in magic; They can cause enemies' guns to jam or packing crates to fall on them, or a out-of-control cyclyst to come out of nowhere and slam into the enemy, and everyone says it's coincidence and calls the caster a nut. That's just the way I'd do magic, anyway.

I'm also a bit interested in 'netrunners' and other high-tech hacking abilities, so long as there's enough variety and futuristic choices (I'm picturing such things as hacking commerical shipping orders and getting free stuff delivered to your door instead of summoning or crafting imbued items, or instead of magical components to summon lightning bolts, hack into government defense sattelites and firing precision laser fire. But that's just me and my twisted ideas.)

If we're going to additionally use cybernetically-based abilities or full-fledged 'psychic' mental abilities, I think they should at the most be very limited. Magic based chiefly on those two doesn't really interest me, and if they're going to be in the game at all I'd rather see electronic slicing or limited psionics take precedent over them.

I too am opposed to the idea of magic in sci-fi, but I do support a psionic sort of system, maybe not that powerful though. Sort of like in Starcraft, weak psionics use in in aid of stealth and covert operations, while more powerful psionics tend to be very weak phsyiclly.

Generally, I like telepathy only for psionics, no hurling people around and causing shit to catch on fire and explode and whatnot. Just fucking with people's minds.

I can work with telepathy.... MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!! Mind raping people would be fun.

Baic telepathy... thought casting, mind reading, hallucinations, mental domination, causing pain...

Okay, so gritty cyberpunk sci-fi with telepathy. That work for everyone? If so, we can start making characters pretty much right away.

Let me say a few things about my likes and dislikes though before we get started. I don't like the norms of your standard cyberpunk, those norms being godlike hacking (does everyone develop collective amnesia about secure computing in the future?), uber power-armor (in real life, it would have serious drawbacks), and the like. So don't put all your points into hacking and expect to be able to transfer millions of dollars to your bank account without getting caught or remotely take over a $10 billion piece of military hardware and use it to rain death on your foes. In short, don't carry over ideas from other settings and expect them to be viable in my game.

What kind of tech-level and 'telepathy' are we talking about?

As far as tech level, I'm thinking about ~30 years beyond the present for military tech, and ~10 years for computer tech (destroyed civilization and all that, takes time to get computer research to start progressing again). Telepathy will be strictly mental effects, nothing physical.