An Adventure Time Roleplay, Starring Original Characters
Somewhere, the war is over. Somewhere, people reel in shock at the appearance of GOLB, and sigh with relief at his subsequent disappearance. But the world has an occasionally annoying habit of continuing to turn and, sure enough, another day dawns on the Land of Ooo. And another. And another. Days turned into years. Heroes turned into myths.
And yet this isn't about the past. This is about now, where a group of brave new heroes rise up to forge their own legacy. Will it be a legend of heroic sacrifice and valorous deeds? A cautionary tale about the dangers of poor hygiene? A ballad sung by screaming guitar warriors about risking it all for love? It's a mystery.
Whichever way it goes, it starts with would-be heroes answering the call to adventure. Posters have spread across the land, seemingly overnight, which simply read:
HELP. HEROES NEEDED. BREAKFAST KINGDOM.
And you are a hero, aren't you?
Name:
Perhaps it was a name given to you by your parents. Perhaps it was a name given to you by friends. Perhaps it's one you've chosen for yourself because it sounds awesome.
Species:
Ooo is a strange place filled with even stranger things. Want to be a party bear? A creature forged out of candy? A robot? A vampire? A dog? If the world was an oyster, it would be your oyster.
Physical Description:
If you've got a picture, you can use that and things will probably work out. Otherwise, provide a description of what your character looks like. Or both. Pictures and words. Do they have cool scars? How about not-cool scars? You might also want to mention about things like how they move - perhaps they've got a limp from a broken leg that hasn't healed properly! A dead-eyed stare from seeing their comrades fall in battles against monsters! If any of you play Limpy The War Veteran, I'll know where you got the idea from.
The Concept:
Here we're going to get a bit mechanical. This should be a phrase or sentence that sums up your character, saying who you are, what you're about. Try to think about both how this cool concept would help your character, and also how it'd make things more difficult for your character. For instance, let's take Finn. Finn's Concept could be "Heroic Teenage Human". He's good at being a hero, but being a teenager, he's still struggling with emotional maturity and all the baggage of not quite being an adult. If you want help with this, ask away.
The Trouble:
What's the thing that gets your character into trouble? A nemesis that keeps bothering you when you're trying to be a hero? A deep-seated fear or weakness? An obligation to friends or family members? We could give our Finn the trouble "In Love With Princess Bubblegum", for instance. As with the Concept, if you're not sure, ask about it. I'm not going to bite.
The Bonus Aspect:
This is another opportunity to help define your character a little further. While their Concept is going to be central to their character, this Bonus Aspect gives you space to add a little flourish. Perhaps you want your character to be super strong, so you write down "Never Met A Boulder She Couldn't Lift". Perhaps you want a hoard of treasure, so you write down "Has A Huge Hoard Of Treasure". Perhaps you want a sweet sword, so you write "Bearer of the Thrice-Cursed Sword of Faradoom". As with everything else, if in doubt, or if you want to bounce some ideas, ask away.
The Approach:
Last of the mechanics, I swear. We're going to look at how your character prefers to solve problems. You'll be putting these in an order to determine how good you are at solving problems in that way, from "best" to "worst". Hopefully they're fairly self-explanatory but - as always - feel free to ask for clarifications.
Careful, Clever, Flashy, Forceful, Quick and Sneaky.
Perhaps it was a name given to you by your parents. Perhaps it was a name given to you by friends. Perhaps it's one you've chosen for yourself because it sounds awesome.
Species:
Ooo is a strange place filled with even stranger things. Want to be a party bear? A creature forged out of candy? A robot? A vampire? A dog? If the world was an oyster, it would be your oyster.
Physical Description:
If you've got a picture, you can use that and things will probably work out. Otherwise, provide a description of what your character looks like. Or both. Pictures and words. Do they have cool scars? How about not-cool scars? You might also want to mention about things like how they move - perhaps they've got a limp from a broken leg that hasn't healed properly! A dead-eyed stare from seeing their comrades fall in battles against monsters! If any of you play Limpy The War Veteran, I'll know where you got the idea from.
The Concept:
Here we're going to get a bit mechanical. This should be a phrase or sentence that sums up your character, saying who you are, what you're about. Try to think about both how this cool concept would help your character, and also how it'd make things more difficult for your character. For instance, let's take Finn. Finn's Concept could be "Heroic Teenage Human". He's good at being a hero, but being a teenager, he's still struggling with emotional maturity and all the baggage of not quite being an adult. If you want help with this, ask away.
The Trouble:
What's the thing that gets your character into trouble? A nemesis that keeps bothering you when you're trying to be a hero? A deep-seated fear or weakness? An obligation to friends or family members? We could give our Finn the trouble "In Love With Princess Bubblegum", for instance. As with the Concept, if you're not sure, ask about it. I'm not going to bite.
The Bonus Aspect:
This is another opportunity to help define your character a little further. While their Concept is going to be central to their character, this Bonus Aspect gives you space to add a little flourish. Perhaps you want your character to be super strong, so you write down "Never Met A Boulder She Couldn't Lift". Perhaps you want a hoard of treasure, so you write down "Has A Huge Hoard Of Treasure". Perhaps you want a sweet sword, so you write "Bearer of the Thrice-Cursed Sword of Faradoom". As with everything else, if in doubt, or if you want to bounce some ideas, ask away.
The Approach:
Last of the mechanics, I swear. We're going to look at how your character prefers to solve problems. You'll be putting these in an order to determine how good you are at solving problems in that way, from "best" to "worst". Hopefully they're fairly self-explanatory but - as always - feel free to ask for clarifications.
Careful, Clever, Flashy, Forceful, Quick and Sneaky.
TL;DR - Mechanics work behind the scenes and are mostly there for when I need to arbitrate something, like "does the mutant fish in a top hat successfully bite you?" or "just how hard did you punch that giant?". This is just to give you an idea of how it works if you're interested in that.
The mechanics of the game are going to be very non-intrusive, and mostly involve me rolling four dice at my desk to adjudicate outcomes of certain things. It's based rather loosely on Fate Accelerated. If you're interested in maximising your chances to succeed on things, playing to your best approach and taking into account your Concept and Bonus Aspect will give you the best odds. So in our Finn example, you're more likely to succeed at doing something heroic that you approach in a flashy way, than, say, trying to solve a mystery by studying in the library in a careful approach. It's basically rewarding you for playing the character you've made in the way you've made it.
But, and there's always a but, notice that thing which says "The Trouble" and how your Concept comes with some draw-back. Sometimes we might add complications to things. In our Finn example, he's trying to fight some mutated goblins, and he receives a call from Princess Bubblegum just as he's about to hit a pesky goblin. However, the good news is that dealing with these drawbacks will bank you a bonus which might be the difference between success and failure at a later date. Karma at work, or something, but mostly it's to reassure you that taking a trouble or concept that comes with significant drawbacks isn't going to make your character entirely unplayable.
If I suggest we take another look at your Concept, it's probably because it's not immediately obvious how it can be used to provide a drawback. Or because you've wrote "all powerful" as your concept, and that's a bit much, isn't it? It's a bit much.
The mechanics of the game are going to be very non-intrusive, and mostly involve me rolling four dice at my desk to adjudicate outcomes of certain things. It's based rather loosely on Fate Accelerated. If you're interested in maximising your chances to succeed on things, playing to your best approach and taking into account your Concept and Bonus Aspect will give you the best odds. So in our Finn example, you're more likely to succeed at doing something heroic that you approach in a flashy way, than, say, trying to solve a mystery by studying in the library in a careful approach. It's basically rewarding you for playing the character you've made in the way you've made it.
But, and there's always a but, notice that thing which says "The Trouble" and how your Concept comes with some draw-back. Sometimes we might add complications to things. In our Finn example, he's trying to fight some mutated goblins, and he receives a call from Princess Bubblegum just as he's about to hit a pesky goblin. However, the good news is that dealing with these drawbacks will bank you a bonus which might be the difference between success and failure at a later date. Karma at work, or something, but mostly it's to reassure you that taking a trouble or concept that comes with significant drawbacks isn't going to make your character entirely unplayable.
If I suggest we take another look at your Concept, it's probably because it's not immediately obvious how it can be used to provide a drawback. Or because you've wrote "all powerful" as your concept, and that's a bit much, isn't it? It's a bit much.
Careful involves paying close attention to detail, taking your time to make sure you succeed. Lining up a shot from long range with your bow and arrow, or picking your way through a lock.
Clever is about thinking fast, about solving problems and taking into account all the factors around you. A clever swordsperson knows the style their opponent uses and uses the right style to counter it. A clever inventor knows which wires not to cross when building a robot.
Flashy is about style, about being the centre of attention. A flashy fighter will find more success swinging off chandeliers. A flashy general delivers amazing speeches to inspire their troops. If it's about making a scene and standing in the spotlight, you're looking at flashy.
Forceful is more about applying strength, or implied strength, to power through obstacles. You want to kick down the door? Forceful! You want to stare down the Lich? Forceful. You want to use magic to cast a spell that blows up everything around you? Forceful. Forceful isn't subtle.
Quick is about moving, well, quickly. Nimbly dodging a blow. Interrupting a monologue with a punch to the jaw. Leaping out the window at the last second just before the alchemy lab explodes behind you.
Sneaky is about deceiving, being stealthy and misdirection. It's not just about being able to sneak past the guards - it's for talking the Captain of the Guard out of throwing you in jail if you get caught, and for being able to shout "Look! Behind you! A bear!" in the middle of a fight in such a convincing way that the guards fall for it.
Clever is about thinking fast, about solving problems and taking into account all the factors around you. A clever swordsperson knows the style their opponent uses and uses the right style to counter it. A clever inventor knows which wires not to cross when building a robot.
Flashy is about style, about being the centre of attention. A flashy fighter will find more success swinging off chandeliers. A flashy general delivers amazing speeches to inspire their troops. If it's about making a scene and standing in the spotlight, you're looking at flashy.
Forceful is more about applying strength, or implied strength, to power through obstacles. You want to kick down the door? Forceful! You want to stare down the Lich? Forceful. You want to use magic to cast a spell that blows up everything around you? Forceful. Forceful isn't subtle.
Quick is about moving, well, quickly. Nimbly dodging a blow. Interrupting a monologue with a punch to the jaw. Leaping out the window at the last second just before the alchemy lab explodes behind you.
Sneaky is about deceiving, being stealthy and misdirection. It's not just about being able to sneak past the guards - it's for talking the Captain of the Guard out of throwing you in jail if you get caught, and for being able to shout "Look! Behind you! A bear!" in the middle of a fight in such a convincing way that the guards fall for it.
Rule 0) Don't be a dick. I know, really, it goes without saying. We're all here to have a good time, so let's treat each other with respect, understanding and patience.
Rule 1) The usual rules about trying to god-mode, controlling other's characters and the like. I probably don't need to tell people not to do all these things, but just so we're sure, don't do it. Don't. Stop.
Rule 2) Communicate. The OOC is always there for ideas and suggestions, and if you're shy about that sort of thing, my Private Message inbox is open. If you're not happy about the game, if you want to tweak your character sheet, if you want to suggest some awesome new rules, if you're not sure about something or whatever it is - talk to me. Making sure that everyone is enjoying themselves is one of my jobs as the GM, and hopefully you'll feel okay about telling me when you're not enjoying yourself so I can fix the problem.
Rule 3) I'll start things off with asking people to try and post at least once a week, which is hopefully a reasonable balance between keeping things moving along and not leaving anyone behind. If you're involved in the game and feel like you can't keep up, let me know and we'll twiddle things around. If it looks like everyone is comfortable hitting that once-a-week post schedule, we can collectively decide whether to try getting more posts in.
Rule 1) The usual rules about trying to god-mode, controlling other's characters and the like. I probably don't need to tell people not to do all these things, but just so we're sure, don't do it. Don't. Stop.
Rule 2) Communicate. The OOC is always there for ideas and suggestions, and if you're shy about that sort of thing, my Private Message inbox is open. If you're not happy about the game, if you want to tweak your character sheet, if you want to suggest some awesome new rules, if you're not sure about something or whatever it is - talk to me. Making sure that everyone is enjoying themselves is one of my jobs as the GM, and hopefully you'll feel okay about telling me when you're not enjoying yourself so I can fix the problem.
Rule 3) I'll start things off with asking people to try and post at least once a week, which is hopefully a reasonable balance between keeping things moving along and not leaving anyone behind. If you're involved in the game and feel like you can't keep up, let me know and we'll twiddle things around. If it looks like everyone is comfortable hitting that once-a-week post schedule, we can collectively decide whether to try getting more posts in.
Game Status
Currently the game is in the planning stage as we collectively wrangle characters. In character posting is due to start early January, 2020. Expected date for first IC post - January 6th.
1x Like