Shadowrun: Persistent World, Looking for feedback! Options

[unsound]

Hello everyone! There's a quirky idea that I've been tossing around that I'm thinking about seeding here in the PbP section of Dumpshock, and I wanted to run it by all of you guys to see if you have any feedback/suggestions before I start some hardcore brainstorming for the project. Anyway, most of the games here are one shot, existing in their own unique instance of the canonical Shadowrun universe, with no influence on each other. The only link between games is that sometimes people play the same characters in different games, but karma and other such rewards usually don't transfer from game to game, which is understandable since the GM is usually different. I love the PbP format, but I also acknowledge that lack of consistent long term character advancement, both mechanically and story-wise, is one of the weaknesses inherent in the medium. The other major drawback is that PbP games tend to have an extremely high mortality rate, with players and GMs frequently dropping off the grid due to unavoidable real life circumstances.

The idea that I'm proposing: a fully persistent, multiple GM Shadowrun world, where individual games take place within the greater umbrella of the overall game world. Each individual game thread would be like one node in a network, and character and story developments in one game would carry over into the next game. If a GM drops off the grid, another one can step in to take their place, or you can just use the same character for another GM's game. If a couple of players drop, the GM can recruit some more from the larger pool of characters in the overarching game world. Actions will have consequences, and a character's achievements or failures would stay with them from game to game. Furthermore, the distinction between player and GM would only hold for individual games and be meaningless in the game world - a player for one game might be a GM in another.

I know there was a project almost exactly like this called Living in the Shadows awhile back, and frankly, it was one of my favorite threads to follow, but unfortunately it is no longer active. I'm not looking to reboot LitS (that's WinterRat1's baby (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) ), but to create something inspired by, and in the spirit of LitS, that has its own rules, guidelines, and structure. What do you guys think? Would you be interested in playing in such a world? Would you be interested in GMing in it? All thoughts/comments/ideas are welcome! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[Dr.Rockso]

Sounds like a cool world to play in. I'd be in.

[Aria]

Sounds like an interesting idea. Would you accept the inclusion of existing games in to your world? I'm running Emerging at the moment (see sig, set 2070) and playing in a couple of other PBPs and all have interlinks to the themes in Emerging, usually through mutual contacts / background.

Emerging (and its sequal I'm already planning) is rules light and character advancement isn't all that significant at the moment but it would be nice if players were impacting on the world at large rather than just a single game. Of course Emerging is for 500BP characters which might not suit...I could certainly be persuaded to come up with another game to fit in to the persistent world...

A

This post has been edited by Aria: Jul 23 2010, 06:30 PM

[AStarshipforAnts]

Sounds pretty cool. I'd be very interested.

[unsound]

Sounds like an interesting idea. Would you accept the inclusion of existing games in to your world? I'm running Emerging at the moment (see sig, set 2070) and playing in a couple of other PBPs and all have interlinks to the themes in Emerging, usually through mutual contacts / background.

Emerging (and its sequal I'm already planning) is rules light and character advancement isn't all that significant at the moment but it would be nice if players were impacting on the world at large rat,her than just a single game. Of course Emerging is for 500BP characters which might not suit...I could certainly be persuaded to come up with another game to fit in to the persistent world...

A

Aria, I've actually been tracking and reading Emerging's IC thread for awhile now with great interest. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) However, in order to give characters the capacity to move freely between games, the character creation rules would have to be uniform, so the logically thing to do would be to deviate from canon as little as possible. I'm still in the process of sussing out what the rules should be, but character creation is almost certainly going to be 400 BP standard. That said, I've actually been thinking about the idea of having certain GMs take on specific canonical plot threads that they're interested in - for example, you might take charge of the entire Emergence plotline and it's integration into the game world. I've been digging the the action going on in your game so far, so that would be very cool. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) 500 BP characters would not be transferable between games, but their adventures would still impact the world at large. Another idea: you can open recruitment to 400 BP characters for players who would be interested in playing a character that can move between games and throw them into the sandbox with your existing player roster - I've noticed that you've done recruitment twice for Emerging now with different character creation guidelines, so the game could definitely handle a variety of character builds. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) In any case, I would love to have you on board for this project! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

I'm thinking that the best way to start is the simplest way: with one game. Once the ball gets rolling and we pick up momentum, we can start adding other games and additional players to the campaign, and see how big the snowball gets. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) The first game would also be a trial by fire for all involved, including myself, to see who is committed to this project - I know real life can be inconsiderate to our gaming needs and sometimes people need to drop off the forums for awhile, but for this kind of project especially, GMs are going to need to be prepared to stay in for the long haul. At the conclusion of the initial game, we'll survey the attrition and recruit world GMs from the players still left standing.

The more I think about it, the more it seems like this is the way to go. If this first game fails, then we know the project was a little too ambitious for me to tackle. If it finishes its run, then we can start looking into ways to expand the game world. I'll figure out how I want to do this, and probably have a recruitment thread up later tonight.

[AStarshipforAnts]

That sounds pretty awesome. And then events in one game could effect events in another--which would be pretty neat. Especially if there are common NPCs between games.

[unsound]

If this takes off, you would definitely be seeing some of the same faces between games. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) Do you guys have any ideas for characters you might want to play? If so, I might save myself the hassle of coming up with a whole new recruitment thread and just recruit the initial group from the interested parties here. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[AStarshipforAnts]

Oh god yes.

I'd like to play what I've been calling my 'Fun with Science' character concept:

By the Numbers:
- Biological and chemical warfare via capsule ammo, grenades, drones with auto-injectors, and injection daggers.
- Knowledge skills Biology, Chemistry, Physics, and Psychology
- Demolitions
- Biotech

By the Roleplay:
- A high-functioning nut
- Diagnosed with Mad Science
- Supporting a much younger little (half?) brother

[Martin_DeVries_I...]

Would you also be expecting a certain amount of cooperation/communication between GMs? And would you want participating GMs to tie in to an overarching plot? Or would they be free to do the stories they wanted to do?

[unsound]

Martin: GMs would be pretty much free to tell the stories they want to tell, though multiple GMs can definitely collaborate on a plot thread if they want to. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

Starship: That sounds like an awesome character sketch, I look forward to seeing more from you! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[AStarshipforAnts]

Quick Question: the auto-injector is a modification that can be made to armor for 1,500 nuyen. If you're GMing this, will you allow me to have some drones modified with it?

[unsound]

What exactly do you have in mind? Drones don't have a circulatory system for you to inject chemicals to, so I'm guessing I'm misunderstanding your intent. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wobble.gif)

This post has been edited by unsound: Jul 25 2010, 02:24 AM

[AStarshipforAnts]

What exactly do you have in mind? Drones don't have a circulatory system for you to inject chemicals to, so I'm guessing I'm misunderstanding your intent. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wobble.gif)

Oh no. I'm intending to inject into other people. You know, a chameleon coated kanmushi that can hitch a ride on someone--injecting them with the flu virus...

[unsound]

Ah hah. Sure, that sounds reasonable, knock yourself out. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[AStarshipforAnts]

You have made me ecstatic with glee, sir.

[Suicidal Street ...]

Concept: The So-so sniper with a connection to StarshipforAnts' Science is Fun! character. Kind of a geek; is a comic book nerd, and plays tabletop wargames.

[AStarshipforAnts]

unsound: Do you have an email address I could send an OpenOffice or Excel charactersheet to?

[unsound]

x6unsound at gmail

[unsound]

Character sheet for Dahlia Bekhit has been received, and all looks good upon cursory scan. Gimme a backstory and some fleshing out of contacts and we'll be good to go!

[horvagab]

This sounds awesome. I don't know how much time I have, but I'll try to churn out my extralucky gunslinger adept.

[CollateralDynamo]

This sounds like a very interesting idea, especially if GMs are weaving their plot threads together. 3 GMs each running a team of 3 seems like it would be a very good way to test this concept of inter-weaving plots, scenarios, and characters. Although, I may be a bit ambitious with that thought.

That said, I think I'd be willing to test GM something along these lines, if you would like to tap another GM to work with you Unsound. If you don't need a GM, then being a player would also probably be interesting...

[unsound]

Collateral: Aw hell, why not! A little ambition never hurt anyone. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) Let's do it - welcome aboard! There seems to be enough interest in this thread to run more than one game. Once we get more characters in, we can figure out how to divide them up into teams and run simultaneous games. Also, take note that being a GM does not exclude you from being a player - if you want, you can play in one game and GM another. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[AStarshipforAnts]

In Progress

Dahlia Bekhit

Backstory

[ Spoiler ]

Dahlia always had a mind like a tool laser: precise, intense, blindingly bright, but just as likely to destroy as to create. Her childhood was rather normal and average, or at least not bizarre enough to cause her parents alarm. With a father working in bioengineering, Dahlia’s leanings towards the sciences were more of a source of pride than worry in the family. And so a few…proclivities were often overlooked. And these were minor things—growing cultures of the flu virus in the refrigerator, Darwinian breeding experiments on local frog populations, etc. As long as Dahlia was brilliant, these things were barely even talked about.

Dahlia grew up, speeding through her education and along the way convincing her parents that she should get a sleep regulator once she was accepted into a university. At UC Irvine, Dahlia managed to graduate in three years with degrees in Biology, Chemistry, and Physics, with minors in Parazoology and Psychology—courtesy of the fact that the young woman almost never needed to sleep. A half-dozen of Dahlia’s experiments were banned from ever being repeated—including one where she trained a flock of pigeons around campus to turn cannibalistic. Of course, these things were noted on her record. Eventually, the same laboratory that hired Dahlia’s father began courting Dahlia as well—on the strict condition that she undergo a full psychological evaluation.

The evaluation came back—and Dahlia Bekhit was declared, for all intents and purposes, just about as sane as every other mad genius. There was no official diagnosis made, since ‘Mad with Science’ is not a disorder recognized by the DSM. But, comments and notes were made. Brilliance and madness are so often hand-in-hand that the young woman’s oddities seemed almost expected.

At the age of twenty, Dahlia began working in her father’s laboratory—working on several Masters degrees in her off-time. Predictably, tragedy struck. During a routine experiment, a compound that should have been stable went volatile—causing an explosion that spared Dahlia, but took her father’s life. On the same night, Dahlia’s mother was hit by a drunk driver and died before reaching the hospital. Although no evidence ever surfaced to suggest that the lab accident was Dahlia’s fault, and she was never blamed by anyone else, Dahlia held herself completely responsible for the fiasco.

She suffered a complete and utter psychotic break, during which she was fired from her job and put on academic probation until she could prove her own emotional stability. Some weeks later, Dahlia received a call from social services. Her father had left behind a young son fourteen years Dahlia’s junior—who she had never even heard of. The boy’s mother was missing, and no family from her side of the family could be located. Dahlia was his closest family, and the boy would go up for adoption if no one would take him in.

In an overnight 180, Dahlia cleaned herself up, and started making calls. Her father had been acquainted with a few people, more than enough to get Dahlia at least a part-time job. The family house was sold, and Dahlia bought a new apartment. The young woman cleaned herself up and cut her hair. When Dahlia appeared to claim custody of her younger half-brother, the cracks in her psyche weren’t even visible. Dahlia’s brother would have everything he ever needed. He would have no worries.

And so began Dahlia’s spiral into first they greyer areas of work, and later the downright illegal. A part-time job at a local hospital could only pay so many of the bills. Eventually, Dahlia tracked down a local street doc, and began assisting in surgeries on known criminals and mercenaries. And after learning enough about the shadow world to consider it lucrative enough to risk, Dahlia wanted in. The young woman’s in to the shadow community came in the form of another ethnic Egyptian, a sniper by the name of Seti Banoub that Dahlia helped to treat.

Most of Dahlia’s money went into providing Asim with the illusion of a normal life, and augmenting her own body to better suit the rigors of the underworld. With the sleep regulator, Dahlia could work a ‘normal’ shift at a local hospital during the afternoon or evening, get home in time to help her younger brother with homework, tuck him in, and then take a trip into the underworld for another night and morning of biological terrorism and butchery. She’d be home just in time to pack Asim’s lunch for the next day of school.

Contacts

[ Spoiler ]

Doc M (Loyalty 1 Connection 2 Elf Male, 40 years old)
The ‘M’ might be for ‘Malpractice’, or even ‘Murder’. Doc M never actually said, and no one seems willing to ask. Regardless of the name, this street doc occasionally calls in Dahlia for operation assistance, and even seems to have a respectable patient survival rate. He honestly thinks that Dahlia is off her rocker. But, that doesn’t stop him from occasionally selling her drugs and medical supplies that are probably better left out of Dahlia’s hands. He operates out of a private street clinic in a rougher part of town.

“Sage” (Loyalty 3 Connection 1 ??? Male, 22 years old)
Between taking care of her younger brother, pulling a legitimate job, and moonlighting as a criminal, Dahlia doesn’t get a lot of time to herself. Without the time and energy to dedicate to a romantic relationship, Dahlia needed a logical and efficient way to take care of her own…needs. Enter Sage, one of a handful of joytoys that Dahlia occasionally hires, and her clear favorite. Dahlia intrigues Sage, and he’ll gladly sell one of his favorite regulars information, too, if that’s what she’s looking for.

“Bagman” (Loyalty 1 Connection 2 ??? ???, ??? years old)
A shady character who always wears a respirator when speaking to Dahlia. The young woman has never seen Bagman without a full hood, longcoat, and respirator or gasmask, and doesn't know anything about the Tamanous operative. Dahlia met Bagman through Doc M when the woman was charged with getting rid of a few bodies. Sometimes Dahlia needs to make a few bodies of her own disappear, now. And sometimes those bodies have some cyber that could fetch a good price. So Bagman's number is committed to memory.

Belladonna (Loyalty 3 Connection 1 Human Female, 34 years old)
A drug and toxin artist and supplier that has a loyal, regular customer in Dahlia. After a few years of business, both women shared a few drinks and learned a little bit about each other. It isn't quite enough to make them friends, especially since Belladonna seems to have a paranoid streak. But, it was enough for both of them to gain a mutual respect for one another. Although, that doesn't stop Belladonna from occasionally wondering exactly what Dahlia has planned for all of the crazy stuff she buys.

Important NPCs

[ Spoiler ]

In Progress

Asim Bekhit (Human Male, 12 years old, student)
Chione Bekhit (Human Female, 48 when deceased)
Haji Bekhit (Human Male, 51 when deceased)

Other PCs

[ Spoiler ]

Seti Banoub

This is all in-progress. If there are question marks, that means that either it's free for a GM or other player fiat.

[unsound]

Idea: Although I was originally envisioning a bunch of different games with their own threads, there may be benefits to consolidating everything into a single IC thread. It would give players who aren't currently playing in a game a chance to roleplay downtime with their characters, and people who want to GM can just do so straight in the master thread. This way, anyone can GM for anyone else, and GMing would not necessarily have to follow the standard format of "I make a run, recruit players, then do the run." You'll be able to GM miniature scenes at any time - if someone is doing something interesting in the thread, you can just jump in and GM a short for them.

[unsound]

Street Sam's sniper geek has been received. You had a build point discrepancy in your character sheet because the free contacts house rule was toggled on in the settings tab of the spreadsheet, so you never got charged for your contacts. If my math is correct, you actually still have 1 build point left to spend. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)