PDA

View Full Version : Running a free form game. Looking for some advice



ZamielVanWeber
2015-07-02, 10:41 PM
Because I hate sifting through just a wall of text personally I am going to break this into spoilers.

I want to be more cinematic, so challenges will be resolved by rock-paper-scissors. The more difficult the task is the more you need to win in a row (max 3). If the task is too difficult you can auto fail, just like if the task is too easy you auto succeed. Players will have the ability to earn one cherry bomb via good roleplaying (think nature/demeanor from WoD). Cherry Bombs can be consumed to auto succeed at a rock-paper-scissors and you may only have one at a time.
Okay, so as Rallicus pointed out this is probably a bad idea. What about, instead, giving the players a token at the start of the session and whenever they do some good roleplaying and the token can be expended for a narrative boost. Need to convince the local governor of something? Add a little extra to your speech. This may be a bit of an abstraction, but I like 1) rewarding players for good roleplay and 2) I want a player's characters to exceed the player's capacity if need be. Maybe I am just missing the point here?

So the idea is that, about 500 years ago (current year is 2515 in game, so the invasion starts in 2015), demons began to invade Earth on a global scale. I don't mean demons as in winged and horned monsters, although same were like that, but rather waves of strange and alien creatures with unusual powers. For the first few days it was a disaster, but humans began to recoup and fight back. Advanced technology gave humans an edge after the first few days, but unfortunately they had no way to close the portals the demons were coming out of and, as time went on, the portals would grow and more powerful demons came through, overwhelming humanity's defenses.

There was a small bit of hope. On the first day of the invasion 12 people, now called the First Ones, gained different supernatural powers, including the ability to close portals. This meant that some nations had the ability to defend themselves better initially, but countries are big and the portals can open anywhere.
As time went on things started going from bad to worse. The nations who had first ones began to band together to create a territory that could safely house as much of humanity as possible. It started with the United States, who was lucky enough to have two, permitting a large number of Vietnamese immigrants into its borders in return for the service of its First One. Mexicans were next, although the US was able to accommodate far less people then. There wasn't any real change until time went on and the global population, even in the new United States, continued to drop. Word of their relative success in holding demons at bay eventually sparked a mass exodus of any remaining peoples to the US.

This caused the twelve First Ones to be fighting side by side for the first time and, finally, real progress was seen in the small area that humanity was coming to occupy. Unfortunately only so much could be done and the First Ones had begun to tire of endless battle. After 30 years of constant fighting must of them began to teach their methods and to empower people to become the first Demon Hunters.

Slowly the First Ones began to cave under the inevitable weight of war and retired to live private lives, with the last one quitting the field 200 years ago. Humanity now stands on the edge; even with the gains in magic and the recovering of lost technology this endless war has worn people down. No one has come to rival the legendary status of the First Ones and they are just too exhausted to continue. Local governors are starting to engage in internecine strife in a desperate attempt to secure whatever they can against the oncoming disaster. However, each new group of Demon Hunters represents a chance at hope. People look to them for the free wheeling doers of good and the hope that one day demons will be driven back far enough that this war could someday end.

Becoming a demon hunter starts with the person applying at any of the lodges that exist in mid sized and larger towns. Generally you are accepted unless you have done something so dumbfoundingly stupid as to have a reputation that managed to spread to the lodge in question. Demon hunters are transient by nature so stories will spread by them, naturally, but it takes work to make the story of your error stick. The normal age of application is 16-18, although older persons will be accepted younger will not.
Once you are accepted you are inducted via a ritual that will give you some minor physical and sensory boosts. From here you may either apply directly to a school or go on jobs with other hunters. The second is one recommended as they can provide a reference for you, increasing your odds of acceptance. The only problem with the second option is that the ritual that boosted you wears off and can only be applied a finite number of times.
Once you have been accepted to a school you have a second ritual performed on you that permanently alters your body, giving you the enhancements particular to that school after a period of introductory training and education. After the ritual is performed you have another period of training to get used to the new body and powers and are aided in finding an appropriate job for you. Schools will often coordinate to get a small group together to help the trainees learn team work and to increase their odds of survival.

Ten of the twelve first ones founded schools. One has refused and has spoken to virtually no one for the past two hundred years and one insists on waiting for someone who is "worthy." The ten schools are actively recruiting and represent different philosophies, but all welcome those who are able to handle their training. I have a brief description of the school and three words/phrases associated with them. I am hoping to flesh them out more as time goes on. They are:

The School of the Long Shadow: The idea here is to cast a long shadow without being noticed. They are the stealthy, silent types. If you need something done and people not to know you did it you want the School of the Long Shadow. Their three words/phrases are patience, be unmemorable, hush.
Common powers: Hide in plain sight, moving silently, unerring ability to find weakpoints
Higher levels: Persuasive speech
Most notable enhanced sense: See in darkness

The School of the Goddess: Named in honor of Guan Yin, these hunter provide support to anyone they encounter. They strive to bring peace to everyone they encounter. They are also some of the most down to earth of the Demons Hunters. Their three words/phrases are mercy, nurturing, solace in the ordinary.
Common powers: Healing, pushing physical limits, extreme physical/magical defense
Higher levels: Share innate traits
Notable enhanced sense: Empathy (all members are empaths)

The School of the Artificer: They are the makers of incredible devices and tools. Unfortunately the majority of these items can only be used by other Artificers, although the strong ones will take time and make ones for people, normally other demons hunters, to use. Their three words/phrases are creation, versatility, circumspection.
Common powers: Create magic items, wield created items
Higher levels: Create items that can be wielded by non artificers, extremely powerful magical items
Notable enhanced sense: Tactile

The School of the Elementalist: Think diet Avatar without the spiritual aspect. They can wield the classical elements to great effect. Their connection to the world makes them fairly wild people, though, and it is a common joke that elementalists throw the best parties. Their three words/phrases are vitality, flow, discord.
Common powers: Sense element, basic elemental yielding techniques (little precision, one element)
Higher levels: Conjure element, control multiple elements
Notable enhanced sense: Leyline Sense

The School of the Gunslinger: These are the absolute most patient people you will ever encounter. They live by the ideas of "one shot, one kill" and "a bullet fired perfectly bests two nearly so." Their three words/phrases are abiding, precision, perfection.
Common powers: Control bullet, sense weak point, alter projectile mass
Higher levels:
Notable enhanced Sense: visual acuity

The School of the Sorcerer: Magic is back, but using it for less obtuse effects requires knowledge and training. Think a mix of Dominic Deegan and FMA. You need to know to what you are doing ahead of time and to spend time preparing the spells; they cannot be cast on the fly. They can, however, be scribed onto items and cast off the item, consuming it in the process. The School of the Sorcerer also has a central college, so it is very common for high ranking members to have doctorates in the magical sciences. Their three words/phrases are analysis, industry, intellect.
Common powers: Basic knowledge of spells
Higher levels: Advanced spell knowledge, access to College of Magic's libraries
Notable enhanced sense: Detect magical auras

The School of the Wilds: This is your magical environmentalist. They possess tremendous knowledge about natural forces and animals and use these to the betterment of humanity. Many towns have Wilds Demon Hunters to ensure plentiful harvests. Their fundamental place in ensuring human success demands that they are honest people. Their three words/phrases are: partnerships, character, inevitablity.
Common powers: Enhance natural life, bond with animals
Higher levels: Manipulate weather
Notable enhanced sense: Primal empathy (works on plants/animals)

The School of the Marionette: They are the ones with the power to affect demons. They can interfere with their abilities, break their connection to magic, stunning them, and even control weaker ones. Because of their strong connection to demons they are one of the least trusted schools, but their utility cannot be denied. Their three words/phrases are unbreakable, means to an end, and control.
Common powers: Interfere with demon energies, control weak demons
Higher levels: Use demonic magic
Notable enhanced sense: Sense demonic energies

The School of the Fulcrum: They are very different from the other physical schools because they rely on the innate strength of mankind. They have great fortitude and don't rely on channeling their power; their strength in their own. Their training consists of a mishmash of martial arts that vary depending on who is the teacher, but the fundamentals never change. Their three words/phrases are accord, balance, conduit.
Common powers: substantial physical strength, substantial endurance, knowledge of many forms of martial arts
Higher levels:
Notable enhanced sense: Chakra Sense

The School of the Wayfinder: They are the masters of dreams and divination, the seekers of truth and wisdom. Their abilities have been critical in guiding humanity since the arrival of the demons; their influence is second only to that of the sorcerers. Their three words/phrases are vision, awareness, vigilance.
Common powers: Divination, long distanced communication, clairvoyance/clairaudience
Higher levels: Future editing
Notable enhanced sense: limited foresight

Now these next two schools are untaught, but I won't close the opportunity to join them entirely from my players. It will however be very difficult.

The School of the Swordsman: The name is a misnomer because they would be deadly with a spoon as they are with a blade. They focus the innate struggle for life into a single weapon and wield it through a conduit. Their strength is second to none, although their power drops dramatically if you can disarm them. This school is untaught, but the First Swordsman does allow people to appear before him from time to time to try to prove themselves worthy of his legacy. Their three words/phrases are focus, strength of will, temperance.
Common powers: Channel energy through tools (tremendously enhanced strength and speed)
Higher levels: Channel powers through more items, greater boost through channeling
Notable enhanced sense: Hearing

The School of the Berserker: Much like the swordsman the berserker channels the innate struggle for life but they don't focus it into a weapon, instead they drink it deeply into their bodies and transform into the ultimate predator. Their endurance in unreal and their strength titantic, but this school inflicts a heavy price in suffering. The First Berserker refuses to teach and gives no reason why. He currently talks only to the First Sorcerer and the First Swordsman, so the rumor is that if you can convince either of them to beseech him on your behalf he will teach you. Thus far no one has been successful. Their three words/phrases are violence, personal power, unyielding.
Common powers: Channel energy through body (enhanced strength, speed, and highest endurance of any Demon Hunter)
Higher levels: Partial transformation while channeling
Notable enhanced sense: smell (including development of Jacob's organ)

On the first day of the demonic invasion twelve people gained tremendous power by means unknown and to this date it has never been repeated. They are the legendary warriors of the new world and treated with reverence and respect. Their powers are unrivaled, their strength unparalleled. They all appear to be biologically immortal, but still have all too human limitations. They have all ceased battle and 10 of them have gone into retirement. The First Sorcerer continues his magical research at the college and founded and the First Swordsman still entertains people hoping to become his students. The other nine with schools associated with them can be seen if the applicant is a member of that school and is determined to have the proper attitude to deal with what are now emotionally fragile people. It is currently impossible to see the First Berserker. The bonds forged between the First Ones are unbreakable and they will come to each others aid if threatened, no matter the personal cost.

A (very) brief description of the First Ones:
Long Shadow: a once ambitious Italian man, the First Long Shadow keeps a close eye on his school, although has yet to direct action.
Goddess: a old Chinese woman, the first Goddess rarely entertains, although she appears to be very happy whenever she does have guests. She is also the only one who will permit audience to people not of her school.
Artificer: a gruff German working man, he is capable of very sincere emotion, although he rarely shows it anymore.
Elementalist: a once vivacious Turkish man, the First Elementalist has lost much of his joie de vivre and has come to prefer solitude.
Gunslinger: a young Vietnamese girl, the First Gunwoman bears tremendous guilt for being the first to abandon the fight against the demons; her peers hold her blameless, however, and love her dearly.
Sorcerer: a cunning American man, he still actively teaches when he is not busy researching. His advances are much of what keeps humanity going, although he cannot give them the hope they so desperately need.
Wilds: a taciturn South African man, the First Wildman tends quietly to his small farm, although his generosity with his food makes him the most beloved person in the small town he retired to.
Marionette: a spiteful Russian man, the First Marionetteer has turned his back on the society that fears him and only conducts business with members of his school.
Fulcrum: a talented Indian man, the First Fulcrum spends his days meditating and has not entertained anyone beyond his servants in over a century.
Wayfinder: this escapist Hungarian woman spends her days using her power to construct elaborate dreamscapes that she can enjoy in peace. It is a high honor to be allowed to share even a moment of these with her.
Swordsman: an unyielding Mexican man, the First Swordsman was the second to last to leave the fight, but curiously shows no signs of mental stress that most of the power First Ones have. He is relatively gregarious, although he has a temper.
Berserker: No one has spoken to the First Berserker in almost two hundred year, so much knowledge of him has passed into myth. The rare person who sees him does get a curious feeling that they are a lot lower of the food chain than they originally thought.

Demon portal appear spontaneously with very little warning (generally only Marionetteers can sense them before they appear). However, they start out small and take some time before they can spawn demons, so there is a window of a few days to close them without consequence, a feat that any schooled demon hunter can perform. Portals are graded from 1-5, depending on size; demons are rated on the same scale, with their class being the minimum sized portal needed to summon one. Portals always start out at 1 and have a random chance of growing as time goes on. The longer a portal has existed the more likely it is to grow, as well as the quantity and proximity of other portals and if it has already grown. If a portal produces too many demons in a short period it suffers a chance of shrinking, so the portals trend toward being larger. If a large number of class 5 portals are near each other they have a chance to temporary merge into a massive portal. These rarely produce demons and will reset the portals involved to 1, but if it does produce demons it is either a single one of massive power or a horde of moderately strong ones. Merged portals are exceptionally difficult to close.

I will update this as I figure more stuff out/realize I forgot something that I meant to put in here. Most of what I am looking for is: critical plot gaps and any ideas for possible quests that might interest my players (whomever they may be). Suggestions for additional details are also highly welcome. Please tell me what you think.

Rallicus
2015-07-04, 05:46 AM
Adding a neutral variable to determine outcomes (the rock paper scissors thing) kind of defeats the purpose of freeform, doesn't it? It also seems too random if I'm understanding it correctly.

In any event, I like the idea of the setting.

I don't know about quests, but as an introduction you could have the newly-appointed PC demon hunters sent to close a level 1 portal. They have a higher up/mentor or whatever, to ensure they don't all die on their first mission. They wait for the portal to form and they (presumably) kill a few low level scrubs. Suddenly the portal begins to fluctuate and grow in size, morphing from a level 1 to a level 5 instantaneously. Mentor sacrifices himself to give the PCs a chance to escape.

Returning to the safe area, they relay their story and a large, elite team of demon hunters close the portal. But now everything the world has known has changed... some portals are changing to level 5 within seconds.

Culprit might be a First One, exhausted from so many years of war. Maybe he agreed to help the other side for his own benefit... meh, motivations would be up to you.

Reltzik
2015-07-04, 10:44 AM
You've got a good setting hook. Now you need to focus your attention on what the player's interactions with it are going to be. Flesh out setting based on that. Unless you expect them to be hobnobbing with most of the First Ones, you should stop designing their characters and focus on what they WILL be dealing with. Ask yourself what your plot is and who your antagonists are. Develop the setting for the game's sake, rather than its own sake.

Some questions:

The tech level has obviously regressed. How much? What kind of tech can the typical, non-artificer expect to lay his hands on? Modern personal firearms like AK-47s and ARPs? Tommy guns? Muzzle-loading smoothbores with fixed bayonettes? Full plate or just chain mail or just ring mail or just bronze breastplates? What about non-military applications of technology and infrastructure? How long does it take to get a message, or person, from San Francisco to New York? What's the expense? How about a bushel of food from Iowa to San Francisco? How does this regression affect society? Or do you just want to handwave all of that?

What are the demons' motivations and goals? Their abilities?

What caused the demon portals to start popping up in the first place? You should know this even if your players don't.

Are there collaborators? Is collaboration with the demons even possible? Are there cults devoted to appeasing them even if the demons would kill cultists just as indiscriminately as anyone else?

How common are portals? Are they like earthquakes in California, with a major one coming every few decades, a medium one every few years, and a minor one every few months, with similar implications for the damage they cause? Are they more frequent than that? More destructive? What are the alert and evacuation protocols like? You said that one of the schools can predict portals -- is there something like a hurricaine warning system in place?

Is anyone working to end the demon portals once and for all? What do they rightly or wrongly believe can do this? What do they need to pull it off?

ZamielVanWeber
2015-07-04, 11:34 AM
Adding a neutral variable to determine outcomes (the rock paper scissors thing) kind of defeats the purpose of freeform, doesn't it? It also seems too random if I'm understanding it correctly.
This could be entirely true, but I don't want players to feel like I am being entirely arbitrary. Probably should drop it though; you are correct.


I don't know about quests, but as an introduction you could have the newly-appointed PC demon hunters sent to close a level 1 portal. They have a higher up/mentor or whatever, to ensure they don't all die on their first mission. They wait for the portal to form and they (presumably) kill a few low level scrubs. Suddenly the portal begins to fluctuate and grow in size, morphing from a level 1 to a level 5 instantaneously. Mentor sacrifices himself to give the PCs a chance to escape.

Returning to the safe area, they relay their story and a large, elite team of demon hunters close the portal. But now everything the world has known has changed... some portals are changing to level 5 within seconds.

I might save this for when they are stronger. The basic idea is that towns have mission boards for lower level demon hunters. Higher level demons hunters tend to attract attention of patrons so they don't need it as much. It would make for an epic story.

Edit:

You've got a good setting hook. Now you need to focus your attention on what the player's interactions with it are going to be. Flesh out setting based on that. Unless you expect them to be hobnobbing with most of the First Ones, you should stop designing their characters and focus on what they WILL be dealing with. Ask yourself what your plot is and who your antagonists are. Develop the setting for the game's sake, rather than its own sake.
I have done all the work I will do on them for now. I just wanted them fleshed out enough since they are the stuff of legend. I need to make up the governors they are likely to run into.


Some questions:

The tech level has obviously regressed. How much? What kind of tech can the typical, non-artificer expect to lay his hands on? Modern personal firearms like AK-47s and ARPs? Tommy guns? Muzzle-loading smoothbores with fixed bayonettes? Full plate or just chain mail or just ring mail or just bronze breastplates? What about non-military applications of technology and infrastructure? How long does it take to get a message, or person, from San Francisco to New York? What's the expense? How about a bushel of food from Iowa to San Francisco? How does this regression affect society? Or do you just want to handwave all of that?
Right now: down to the smoothbores. Within the last decade electricity became commonplace. However reclaiming artifacts of the previous age is an important mission of mid ranked demon hunters since magic can be used to repair and power them. I forgot to mention but humanity is crammed into: west of the Rockies and roughly south of Virginia. Wayfinders and Sorcerers have means to communicating over large areas so they are used to send messages quickly, otherwise is can take weeks. Most areas have large well defended farms to provide for most of the people, with smaller villages providing their own food.


What are the demons' motivations and goals? Their abilities?
Most demons are more akin to forces of nature; non sentient and lash out against anything with higher intelligence. Class 5 and merged demons are actually intelligent and tend to keep to themselves, although they will also mercilessly attack humanity. In general demons want to purge anything capable of using magic. Demons are magic that coalesced into physical form. They assume that the portals are, in fact, portals but they are actually dense areas of magic that occasionally create physical forms; this is why they can shrink if they produce too many demons. Demons have a massive range of abilities but universally they are strong, fast, and wielding a number of magics that they can produce at will, unlike the more technical approaches of the Sorcerers.


What caused the demon portals to start popping up in the first place? You should know this even if your players don't.
Magic has always been there, beneath the surface, but mostly sealed away. The extremely rare inexplicable happenings were a result of a tiny portion of magic seeping through. However the barrier dropped and magic began to pour through at an incredible rate, forming into demons that began to attack humans.


Are there collaborators? Is collaboration with the demons even possible? Are there cults devoted to appeasing them even if the demons would kill cultists just as indiscriminately as anyone else?
Not yet as collaboration is only possible with extremely powerful demons. There are cults devoted to demons but they are purged when they are discovered. If there are any successful ones on other continents they people in America don't know.


How common are portals? Are they like earthquakes in California, with a major one coming every few decades, a medium one every few years, and a minor one every few months, with similar implications for the damage they cause? Are they more frequent than that? More destructive? What are the alert and evacuation protocols like? You said that one of the schools can predict portals -- is there something like a hurricaine warning system in place?
Class 1's are very common and a constant thorn in humanity's side. If there is no proximity is can take a decade from a 1 to go to a 2. If multiple open up close to each this can go much more quickly. Each town is fortified with magical defenses and has at least one Sorcerer to operate and maintain them. Marionetteers are very unpopular so there aren't very many of them so an advanced detection system is hard. However, demons hunters are expected to deal with portals by either closing them or reporting them to local authorities so in civilized areas they are not really a problem.


Is anyone working to end the demon portals once and for all? What do they rightly or wrongly believe can do this? What do they need to pull it off?
Yes. Currently the portals are stubbornly defying analysis, partly because studying them is dangerous, but this not an uncommon field of study for researchers at the College of Magic. They have no idea if they permanently end the portals but being able to predict their appearance better or creating areas where they cannot form is a high priority. They a pursuing this with the kind of optimism you can only see from a scientist.

Eldariel
2015-07-08, 04:31 PM
RPS as a form of problem solving can be problematic; good RPS players will be at a severe advantage. There's a reason dice are often used in gaming, they're harder to manipulate. Some card-based solution could work as a bit more neutral option; picking the top card or whatever.

As for the world itself, it sounds intriguing. The setup is rife for intrigue and discovery but of course also for a dystopian view of humanity's worst traits. I'd say the most interesting question concerns the demons themselves: what are they, where are they coming from and why, what do they want, etc. Also what actually occurred when the portals first opened and magic came to be. Of course, those are questions to explore inside the game, but still something to think about. Overall, I'd say the premise works as a good baseline for a world and it ought to make for an interesting game but there's a lot more to determine behind the scenes.

ZamielVanWeber
2015-07-10, 08:20 AM
RPS as a form of problem solving can be problematic; good RPS players will be at a severe advantage. There's a reason dice are often used in gaming, they're harder to manipulate. Some card-based solution could work as a bit more neutral option; picking the top card or whatever.
The card suggestion makes me chuckle, if only because Deliria used it and botched their math badly. This is my biggest waffling point: I want the narrative joys of freeform but am not entirely enamored with the idea of being the sole chooser for success or failure.