Avatar of Ashgan
  • Last Seen: 3 yrs ago
  • Old Guild Username: Ashgan
  • Joined: 10 yrs ago
  • Posts: 416 (0.11 / day)
  • VMs: 1
  • Username history
    1. Ashgan 10 yrs ago

Status

User has no status, yet

Bio

User has no bio, yet

Most Recent Posts

Hey, I wrote a... thing. I basically just wrote something to help me explore the setting (specifically, the rot-infected wastelands), my potential character, and just in general help me find a tone. It's rough and certainly can be improved by much, but I reckon it might be interesting for y'all to get a glimpse at what I'm thinking about. Have fun :P

Yo, I've exchanged some world building details with Flagg over PM; I'm putting that here now for everyone's benefit. Have fun :3

Yo! It's a bit different from my usual go-tos, but going out of the comfort zone every so often can't hurt. I've always had fun in the brief stints we had together Flagg, so I'll give this a shot :D

Edit: Given your current inspirations, maybe you want to look at the tabletop rpg Cthulhutech, could suit the themes present.
I'll second DJAtomika, just want to let you know that I'm still around but haven't been able to make a workable character yet. I had an idea but I couldn't get "into" it, if you understand the feeling. Wasn't satisfied and need some more time to find something that clicks, if I can. Good luck to y'all in any case ^^
Hello, I've been lurking this for a while. I realize there's a lot of people interested already, but what can you do? Cyberpunk is fantastic, and you're offering to scratch the itch after the mindblowing gameplay demonstration for Cyberpunk 2077. It's the season :)

I have a few questions regarding the setting, if you'll indulge me. First, what's the established state of AI? Are they still mostly primitive, or do we already have (almost-) sentience? Is the tech embraced and actively researched, or have governments banned it under the pretext of its many dangers?

Second, is the concept of sleeving (akin to Altered Carbon or Eclipse Phase) a thing in this? I think FoxFire mentioned transferring somebody's consciousness multiple times into new bodies, which would mean yes. If so, where do the bodies come from? Corporate-produced I guess?
Edit: This would also imply the existence of cortical stacks (salvageable module that contains a backup of your ego). Widely distributed or only for a select elite?

Lastly, and tangentially related to the previous one, is mindjacking somebody possible in this world? As in, ramming a usb cable into someone's neck or doing a wireless infiltration to gain access to a person's, if nothing else, electronic functions relating to their augments (but potentially more - where is the line drawn?).

Thanks :D
Hey PrizeFighter, welcome to the forum :)

I'll preface this by saying that I am here primarily to ask questions. It's by no means a promise of me biting. If I end up liking where it's going, it is possible however.

Now, I have a lot of questions about your setting. You don't have to have an answer to literally all of them in the interest check, admittedly, but it's a collection of my thoughts. Here we go:

  • You say the "world" is tiered, and it very much seems to be a physical tiering, a layered city. Is the "world" in this case just a megacity? Is it, in fact, a planet-encompassing city (like Corsuscant in Star Wars)? Or is it a space station/ship?
  • What is the state of space exploration/colonisation anyway? Is this world the only place people live, or have colonisation attempts into the cosmos been made?
  • Building on the above, what kind of tech level are we looking at for this? Is this near-ish future or is it more distant than that? If we take real life as a basis, what kind of year would you date this story at?
  • This is an important one for me: What are your primary inspirations for this? My first thought when I heard layered city was Deux Ex: Human Revolution's Hengsha city, which made me think of a distinctly cyberpunk kind of setting. But you could have been thinking more about the manga Blame! for instance, which is a very, very different kind of vibe.
  • What do people do for a living on any tier that isn't Business and Working? Do people from Elite go down to work in the Business tier? What about the rest? How do people make their money? Do we even use money in this society?
  • What do people eat? Where does it come from? This one seems pedantic but it's more important than you might think :)
  • What's the history of this world? How did people develop this tiered structure in the first place, what was the motivation behind it? And did every tier always have its designated name and purpose? I feel like no government would designate not one but two tiers to have no purpose beyond giving illicit operations an unmonitored platform to develop in.
  • Speaking of them, is there really that much difference between the No Man's Tier and Nameless Tier? They feel functionally very overlapping, and could possibly have been consolidated.
  • And since I mentioned the government, what kind of government are we looking at in this "world"? Who has power here, who backs this power?
  • What's the state of religion? Are there any major faiths, and if so, what are they like? I imagine that especially in the poorer tiers, religion might be the only thing left to some people.
  • Last but not least: What is the plot premise? What kind of character requirements do you have?

Hopefully I didn't put you off with this avalanche of questions :D Thanks for indulging me.
Since everybody is pitching in with a game suggestion, I'll add my own to the mix: I have not actually played a game in it yet, but I would suggest to take a look at Zweihander. It's a setting-agnostic spiritual successor to Warhammer Fantasy RP, ergo it lends itself to games where players are low-powered, filthy peasant fops who have to face soldiers, orcs, demons and worse while trying to avoid dying of disease or going insane. The system is quite dangerous, wounds are explicit, fights lethal. Magic exists, is dangerous and difficult to control, but is not mandatory and it is very easy to run mundane groups (even if they might face supernatural foes). And it is entirely contained in a single rule book.

In theory. As said, I haven't been able to try it, but I like its philosophy and ideas. The only downside is that there are, essentially, no modules/scenarios for it. There's one pre-made adventure in the rule book, and that's about it. You can convert Warhammer Fantasy modules to Zweihander rules, but beyond that you homebrew it or you're out of luck.
In the meanwhile, there's a few more things on my mind I'd like to task about.

First, since this is a setting of your making, do you permit some amount of world building from your players? If yes, to what degree? Can a player, for example, make up a given organization, band, noble house or other such body as part of their background lore?

I understand you have typical high fantasy elements/creatures in the setting, even if players themselves cannot play as such. Still, do you have a rough estimate on how much we'll be seeing these things, i.e. how on the nose the fantasy will be? Are orcs, wizards, undead so common that our reaction would be closer to gruff annoyance, or so rare that we should be frightened and shocked to witness such a thing? Or anywhere in between?

You say faith cannot be proven in the setting, and belief is a personal choice; but nonetheless, is there a central church? If yes, can you describe it more in the ooc?

Lastly, can I ask what tabletop system you're using and if you play online or IRL? I'm rather fresh when it comes to tabletop rpg, but I do wish I had more people to play with on occasion. Being on this forum, it's clear you value storytelling, so the interests align to a reasonble extent already.
I like the tone you're going for, with the gritty low-fantasy. If I'm being entirely frank, I think your world can offer more interesting premises than a good old-fashioned dungeon crawl, but maybe you can surprise me down the road. Either way, roleplays that hit my personal preferences are few and far between, so I'd like to let you know that I'm keeping a watchful eye on this.
It's quiet, but if y'all want I can make something happen tomorrow. Been quite busy since the weekend and today.
© 2007-2024
BBCode Cheatsheet