Run! Recruitment, 2075/6 Persistent Game World Thread Options

[Mercy]

Is Dana really leaving the cave and disregarding the plan?

[Mercy]

@Aria I think this is where you want us to do the conversation in advance, right? How do you wish this to proceed?

Cailin is the spokesperson for this and should be the first one of us to say something.

[Imladir]

I was waiting a bit for Raf' and/or Lindsey to say something but...

[Aria]

Let's compile a list of questions you want to ask and I will give you some answers here...

The first being... "disease...the one that his crony was carrying (pointing at Simon), he said you're all infected..."

[adamu]

I was waiting a bit for Raf' and/or Lindsey to say something but...

Thanks, that's very considerate.

And sorry to be so quiet.

But Raf's not part of the away team, and he's pretty much useless half the time anyway these days.

Anyhow, I'm here every day and will post if I see something useful to contribute - no need to every hold back posting on my account!

[Aria]

Not feeling the love for this game at the moment, sorry folks...work is kicking me in the proverbial and my inspiration is lacking. When we talked about wrapping it up before people seemed keen to keep it on, but players seem to have fallen by the way side since (my fault I know!), so what's the consensus now? Happy to plug away or start the sequel (with a suitable ending to Run! in mind), lemme know!

A

[Beta]

At this point I'd be willing to see it wrap up, I think -- albeit with mixed feelings.

I still like the characters, am still interested in the setting, and am still interested in the game in general, but it does feel like momentum has been lost and people have moved their focus elsewhere. At some point you just have to call it, record the time of death, and move on. If you do end it, I hope you'll let us in on some of the background! I've had internal speculation about what is going on since before we started playing, and while I'd hoped to scratch that itch in-game, I'll happily enough take an OOC explanation.

ETA: and JaydeMoon has confirmed that he is not picking his SR game back up, so knowing that this is done means that I know I have a game slot available should something come up -- and Forty (my character in his game) would be free if I needed someone quick to play (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[Mercy]

I inherently dislike the wrap up concept, but sometimes it is the right thing to do, and certainly better than just having it end without warning. It is hard to keep a lot of character interested long enough to really develop a game. It would have been nice to know if we made it to safety and what happens to us.

[Gilga]

I was kind of waiting for Aria to continue the spirit/Maya interactions I know that it often takes a while. I did not expect the game to end - well... Like mr. Smith says:
Everything that has a beginning has an end, Neo." It's been very enjoyable!

[Aria]

With a few modifications I hope to run a game that could easily include your current characters...will try and write the wrap up and see where we go from there!

[Aria]

Ok, Google Map updated... you may wish to add a few more posts to finally round things off, and I can reveal things (or not) as desired... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[Beta]

Oh, wow ....

You'd hinted that the background count would get worse as we went on, has that been the case (and how bad is it at the end?)

You mentioned that the land is very dry -- moreso than would be expected from that fairly dry region (up in the mountains it seemed roughly what might be expected, I think? Addie is well short of an expert but has a couple of points of knowledge skills in Geography so might have some clue.)

And is it in scope of this ending to approach Aria and ask her questions? (as in: are we all some big computer simulation?)

[Aria]

Ask away (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

I think I've always said the weather was hotter than expected...weird sky etc...not quite 'right' (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

Background count is around 3-4 here! So there was clearly someone egging you on as I doubt the mages would choose to come this way!

[Beta]

First of all, thank you for running Run!, Aria. I really enjoyed the game and have had a lot of fun playing Addie. It was actually quite an interesting experience for me as a player, as I've never tried to play from inside the head of a character quite so intensely as I did here. I think I've learned a fair bit about on-line play, my play preferences, and more from it all. So thank you again, for the opportunity that this game gave to experiment with playing this way.

+++++++++

Secondly, a couple notes to the other players:

I'm sorry for having Addie run off at one point. It was a bad reaction to not having the mental energy for the game right then. It would have been far better to just have her go into a depression for a while or something. Definitely was part of my learning experience.

I'm sorry that Addie never got to make good IG what she owed Lindsey for saving Dana. I really enjoyed the tension between Lindsey and Addie in how they approached the group and in what they were trying to do, and had been looking forward to finding out what the cost was going to be for Addie bullying Lindsey in the way she had.

I regret that Raf never had his moment to shine. I thought he was a super interesting concept with huge potential to surprise the other characters eventually. I spent all game waiting for the Raf moment that never came.

+++++++++

And now some feedback, because I think that can always be useful.

A+ on set-up, setting, and general concept of the game. I really liked all of that from the beginning and still like it. Also good use of google maps and google earth, nice 'props' that helped let us understand where we were.

I think a little more out-of-character communication at the start about how you intended the feel of the game to be, or the themes, or something like that might have helped. There was some in the framing posts of recruitment thread, but we might have needed a reminder as we started play, or something?

It was normal that characters were pulling in all different directions, and a lot of that added real interest to the game, but players (me most definitely included) were also trying to lead the game in different directions with very different tones, and I think that sometimes caused problems. Someone would do a lot of work in one direction, then someone else would kind of block or cut off or sideline that plot thread. From my reading that happened to everyone at least once, and it was a shame because I would be getting interested in where some plot or character thread was going, and then it would die out.

Some of that would have happened anyway; it is the nature of this sort of play I think. But a little more guidance along the lines of "survival is going to be very hard, there are probably not enough resources up here to support you once the supply drop runs out" or "This should be a pretty gritty story. Don't narrate success without an associated sacrifice or cost. Occasionally you'll catch a break, but assume that every day is a rough day unless I tell you otherwise" or "This is a grand adventure! Be creative, show me your Robinson Crusoe cleverness!" would maybe have kept us more aligned on how things were going and what we needed to do.

Alternatively, if you'd had more time to inject and respond and guide, leaving it so open at the beginning would have been OK, because you could have guided us more the way you wanted by responding to posts (and getting us to tweak things where necessary), demonstrating how things were, and we would have picked up on it from you I think.

But as it was, I think with the combination of a different setting/style from standard SR (so that we didn't all come in with something like common expectations), not setting much in the way of expectations at the start, and very low touch GMing, it led to us mostly drifting fairly aimlessly as a group. Individual characters and players had plans, but as a group we just kind of swirled around without going anywhere. It was pretty interesting swirling at times, but it feels like we never did manage to accomplish much of anything. Ultimately I think that made the game less succesful than it could have been. There was still a LOT of good IMO, but I think it could have been even better.

The other thing was character creation guidelines. I liked all of the character concepts -- even the adverserial Blank. It was impressive to me how varied the concepts were. But some characters were built closer to being a 'normal' (if unusual) kid than others. This ended up with Dana being the only one that it made sense to allow to fight, although other characters had invested in some combat abilities, and Caillin being the only one that it really made sense to do the talking, although other characters had invested in social graces.

I think this comes down to expectations in a way again, since in normal SR you always push your specialty and build effeciency as much as possible, but the concept kind of suggested a mix of more normal, less exceptionally focused, kids. Different players went more one way or the other. As I said above I liked all of the characters (except, oddly, Pierre. I came up with the concept, thought it would be interesting, but he quickly began to annoy me). But these differences did make for some group dynamics that were tricky. I think this also led us to more talking than doing, because everyone could be involved in the talking, but it didn't always make sense to have everyone involved in the doing.

All of the above all purely just from my perspective. This was my first game with you, so my expectations coming in might have been quite different from those of people who have played with you elsewhere. In turn, this may have coloured how I interpreted some things in the game. Others may see all of the above quite differently.

+++++++++

And thank you again, Aria. Like Addie, for sure these are memories that I want to keep!

[adamu]

Beta - thanks for the vote of confidence in Raf.

There are several reasons Raf stayed on the sidelines mostly. Some have been structural issues that have already been discussed.

Mostly, though, well, I basically have always been pretty much monogamous with my gaming - I concentrate on one character at a time. Raf was cool enough, but he wasn't my main character and I'll admit my heart wasn't always in it, despite the high quality of the game and the characters.

And the game and characters were indeed of a very high quaiity!

Good luck to all those that continue!

[Aria]

Thanks for the feedback Beta! It is appreciated and I'm quite happy to accept the criticism along with the praise (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) I had intended to do a bit more steering than I ended up doing (work has been giving me a good kicking for the last six months) so I know that things did get a bit aimless at times and the disparity between characters is something I need to look out for more in the future (it's easier in normal SR where it doesn't matter so much with most people filling a niche!). So, as an experiment in 'cooperative / less GM lead' RP it has given me food for thought for any future games! My favourite bits of the game were the interaction between PCs and the odd NPC. Apart from Rick the latter where a bit lacklustre so will try and do better on them! A smaller pool of NPCs is probably a must...I tend to get carried away and then they end up being a bit bland (it has happened on a few games and I might learn in the future (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nyahnyah.gif) )

So... the right portal... for those that want it I can give some more intel on 'why' you were here... or not, as you like...

The left portal... I'm happy to run a sequel to Run! with a few changes to the way things are done (and fewer NPCs!)... if there's an appetite for it? You would still be 'you' but in an entirely new setting and probably without any (short term) memory of the events of Run! There is a distinct possibility that you would fall in to the same interpersonal relationships you have already established...indeed this might even be the fourth or fifth time you've been through one of Aria's simulations (IMG:style_emoticons/default/ork.gif)

So, kids, hostile setting, but perhaps not wilderness...

Rules wise I'm considering a house rule that all combat is handled by a single attack (physical, magic, tech, healing or leadership etc...whichever suits the PC best) and defence roll each and then you have free reign to narrate accordingly. We would use normal rules for a 'boss encounter' but this would avoid the protracted dog fight for example! Now this is only a rudimentary idea that I haven't thought through in detail so if people can see serious flaws in it then please let me know! Edge would have to be a finite resource otherwise you'd end up always succeeding exceptionally well...in fact I might not let it refresh for the entire 'adventure'...

[Beta]

I’ve got a bunch of topics to touch on, so I’m going to break them into multiple posts, just to limit the amount of confusion of topics.

First up, I’m trying to decide about the follow-on game. (to play or not, if play to use Addie or a different character, etc.). You said that the characters won’t have memory of this one, which makes for an interesting role-play challenge if taking the same character forward, as need to reach back to remember what the character was like, eight months ago or whatever it has been. I have a few related questions to that:

- Characters have mechanically changed over the course of the game (karma earned and spent). Are those changes kept, or do they need to be rolled back?
- In the case of Addie I changed negative qualities. If karma is kept, do I also keep those changes? (would have her start the new scenario in a somewhat different personality state than at the start of Run)
- Again in the case of Addie, I’d spent karma on a knowledge skill to know the other kids in the group better. If karma carries over, any thoughts on what to do with that?

[Beta]

On a different topic, with respect to PC/NPC interactions I certainly can’t speak for anyone else, but I didn’t feel comfortable doing anything too significant with NPC, either in terms of having things happening to them or in terms of having them make decisions, change course of action, etc. That may come from not having gamed with you before, those who know you more may be more comfortable in bending and spindling NPC. I tried to give each NPC that I named at least something distinctive about them, but I still felt that they ‘belonged’ to you, so I really limited how meaningful anything I did with them were.

One thought that might help with both making use of NPC and the issue of hard to keep everyone involved is to adapt the way Ars Magica treats grogs (It has probably been 20 years since I’ve read those rules, and I’m both paraphrasing and adapting, so this is a pretty rough description). There each player is responsible for making 2-3 ‘grogs’ (low importance guards/servants/meat-shields), each of which gets a name, the usual attributes, a few skills, and one trait of significance (in SR terms quality, ware, or magic … basically one shadow amp in Anarchy terms). These grogs are all communal property, and it is understood that unfortunate things may happen to them. Then in any given scene, whoever is not otherwise too engaged plays those grogs that are there.

I think that could work out fairly well in a situation like Run! Some of the NPC would be yours, but there could be a pool which you can do things with when you want/need to, but which we have fairly explicit group ownership of. For example, when Addie was away from the camp and a lot was going on, I could have played some of that pool of NPC rather than making Pierre as a full fledged PC. We could have sent a few grogs with Maya, Dana, and Raf early on (that Iron Orchid and myself could have made use of), and those players could have used some of the grogs in the main camp to influence things.

Would require a bit more thinking about and defining, but I think it is an approach which could liven things up some?

[Beta]

And jumping topic again: accelerated contests. There is a rules set that I’ve previously used for play-by-forum/email games*, which had the concept of simple contests and extended contests.

Simple contests were explicitly used for anything that was not a major plot moment in the game, and could cover in scope everything from a quick negotiation check to a two-week journey to a non-key shadow run to the outcome of a battle. i.e. it didn’t matter how large or complex the event was, what mattered was how important it was to the plot. Losing a simple contest gave you a penalty for the remainder of that particular story-arc or until it would logically fade away, and you’d just narrate IC the nature of the ‘damage’ (could be literal damage, exhaustion, loss of confidence, being sick, gear needing maintenance – whatever made sense).

I would recommend that concept as something that can really speed things up. “It will take around a day to work your way through the power conduit tunnels, dodging or fighting any un-droids along the way, reach the Master Chefs’ territory near the back of the starboard side of the colony ship, and negotiate for their support, then work your way back to the Raiders-Go and tell them the result. Make it a simple contest, what is your best relevant skill?”

To take things a bit farther, if you wanted to (this is far more optional, but halves the number of rolls for simple contests) …. The way that rule-set I’m referencing here worked was that there were no attack and defend rolls, each side just used their prime ability for solving that issue, but you could augment (sort of like teamwork) with other attributes/abilities/items that you had – you just needed to justify those in your IC explanation of what was going on (this was part of why the rule set worked well for play-by-post type games, there was incentive to look at your character sheet and use what you had there, which in turn helped guide your narrative.

To bring that to SR, say you had a mage trying to quietly deal with a guard without the guard raising an alarm. Might decide that the contest was between the mage’s magic + spellcasting versus the guard’s intuition + profession skill: security, but the mage could augment his spellcasting with summoning, sneak and a sustained invisibility spell, while the guard augmented with her perception and rating 2 cyber-eyes. (to leverage the teamwork system, perhaps couldn’t add more dice than the skill being used in the test?) The player of the mage would do an IC post talking about sneaking up under the spell and preparing to hit the guard with spells while the spirit tried to nauseate the guard, for example.

Then dice would be rolled. One net success would just barely be succeeding (the guard didn’t give warning, but it was kind of noisy and the guard was only briefly distracted while the team got by, for example), three might be a decent success (guard is unconscious, for example), while perhaps five net successes would be an outstanding success (guard has no idea that the team went by her and would swear that everything has been quiet). Or equivalents if the guard won the contest. Then based on the result the player or GM would post how things played out (if one net success for the mage, perhaps the guard resisted the spell but noticed something, then the nausea from the spirit’s foul breath distracted her long enough for the team to get by, and the guard thinks that there is a wiz gang playing practical jokes on the guards again.

* The rule set I’m referencing is Hero Wars/Hero Quest (nothing to do with the old Heroquest board game) which I loved in general, and was excellent for play-by-post -- but which wouldn’t adapt to the SR very easily. Darn cyberware/gear crunchiness! But that crunchiness is kind of integral to the setting. This is why I haven’t tried to run that rule-set in SR. Yet. Anarchy has given me ideas, just not ideas I’m entirely happy with yet.

[Beta]

I thought I was going to play in the sequel, but some things are changing at work and I'm anticipating a busy period ahead. I'm already playing in two other games, and I can't imagine playing Addie in a style that is much less long-winded (and maybe I just need to stop playing her for other's sake, with respect to that aspect of her), so I think I'd best decline, no matter how much I'd like to play.

So I made the time to come up with one last typical Addie post to say good-bye to this fascinating game (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) Might be one more post to react to what others say/do, but basically that is it for her (for now?).

ETA: Aria: do you want anything done with now-inactive character sheets in Obsidian Portal, or just leave them the way they were?

[Aria]

I'm sorry to hear that Beta, but if the game goes ahead you'll be welcome to join at any time! Mercy is interested in continuing, Adam not I think, so waiting for the others to chime in before I decide whether I need to open recruitment.

As to OP, if you can just uncheck the PC box they will bounce to the bottom of the list (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

Thanks for playing, I always loved the depth of detail in your ICs!

[Mercy]

I am definitely interested in doing a sequel. I think that Maya wants to see what happens in the real world but would be willing to continue the experiment after a short break. Her decision depends on Raferty's answer.

[adamu]

Yikes! Hope I don't end up costing Aria another player!

[Mercy]

The game can be set at some point in the future. Besides, right now, I think I might be the player who has said they are willing to go a second round.

[Aria]

Unless I hear otherwise then I'll give a sequel a brief pause...I think we have all got enough pbp to keep us going (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)