Storytellers Department

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Wolfsong
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Storytellers Department

Postby Wolfsong » Tue May 31, 2011 1:06 am

Suggestion: Storytellers Department

It is what it sounds like - I'm proposing that in addition to the other departments (Resources, Players, Programming, Languages, PR, etc.) a new department be created. This department would run plots for players in areas periodically (rotating between islands, or sections of islands, or maybe only limiting its attention to plot points?) and potentially increase activity and interest in Cantr (as well as give it a selling point other, similar browser-based RPGs can't exactly lay claim to.) It would require monitoring (members wouldn't be able to participate in plots in areas where they have characters, or where there may be a conflict of interest.) It would also require the ability to add atmospheric echoes to the game, either on tick or real time.

For example: a plot is story-boarded on the department forum, all foreseeable scenarios are laid out, positions delegated and roles assigned. In this case, let's say the plot is a hurricane along the western coast of one of the islands. A NPC crew and ship (sloop or darter) is created to add flavour and a sense of "realness." Area specific echoes are written and set to run on tick after a certain date, or entered periodically real-time. Construction in the area may be destroyed or removed if it is decided that the hurricane would realistically be able to topple it - aka, mud huts, bone huts, grass, reed, etc. During the storm, if a radio is available, those in the radio room would get distress calls from a ship off the coast, caught in the storm. Depending on how players react, several things may happen:

1. Players ignore the distress calls. Ship sinks (ie, is removed with its NPC occupants after a final radio message equivalent of "*GLUG*".)
2. Players charge headlong out into the storm to try and rescue the crew.
a. This either succeeds or (based on a dice roll? based on the ship they take, how they roleplay it?)
b. fails and the players are shipwrecked somewhere else along the coast with no ship and some wooden resources to represent the crashed ship.
3. Players wait until after the storm and send a rescue party.
a. They find the ship, with several fewer (or no) crew members left alive. (If alive, they thank the PCs, spend time repairing their ship and socializing, maybe telling stories of grand adventures, then sail off into the horizon never to be seen from again.)
b. They find no sign of the ship at all.

If PC ships are around in the "hurricane zone" they may also have a chance of being shipwrecked along the coast, or survive with their ship intact but resources/items on deck washed away, etc.

Granted, the difficulty here would be coordinating times together to catch as many characters online as possible - you could set an OOC date via messages on the forum, or by sending character specific messages to those potentially affected by the plot (ie, "You may want to log in around 9 pm EST Monday 5/30/2011, an event will be underway." The difficulty would also be input vs. output - it would require a good deal of planning and work for relatively little benefit.

But until players take more initiative themselves, what other options are there?
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EchoMan
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Re: Storytellers Department

Postby EchoMan » Tue May 31, 2011 8:07 am

This seems like a whole new game to me.
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Wolfsong
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Re: Storytellers Department

Postby Wolfsong » Wed Jun 01, 2011 12:01 am

No more than completely changing the way combat works makes it an entirely new game.
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Snickie
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Re: Storytellers Department

Postby Snickie » Wed Jun 01, 2011 1:56 am

If they did things like just hurricanes that had the potential to destroy things and maybe bring new life (while exterminating others), I'd be okay with it. But otherwise no.
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Piscator
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Re: Storytellers Department

Postby Piscator » Wed Jun 01, 2011 4:00 am

Introducing NPCs and oocly created plotlines would make Cantr a new game. Changing the combat system is not even remotely in the same league.
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madfish
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Re: Storytellers Department

Postby madfish » Wed Jun 01, 2011 8:43 am

Sounds like cantr mixed with something like dungeons and dragons. My advice is to play something like dungeons and dragons. rpol.net maybe. This isn't cantr at all.
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Doug R.
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Re: Storytellers Department

Postby Doug R. » Wed Jun 01, 2011 6:10 pm

Wolfsong wrote:This department would run plots for players


The players create and run their own plots. There's no need for this.
Hamsters is nice. ~Kaylee, Firefly

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