Sierra

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@Mattchstick I think you're sort of on the right track but what you're getting at is very niche. For a more "standard" tolkien-esque fantasy setting you could do it like this:

You have towns that act as hubs. When in said towns, characters continue to live as normal without their players. Players can come back and pick the character back up whenever they want. When off on a quest with a group however they must diverge from the group, concluding their commitment to said group before they can drop out. This is obviously a very rough notion but I think it makes the point clear. Note that due to the scale and complexity of interstellar sci-fi, that genre gets much much harder in this realm because of difficulties managing playable space.

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The problems that @catchamber's current proposal will run into are as follows:

The duplication of universes on the fly is going to turn people off, particularly people like me who have universes with incomprehensible amounts of lore behind them. The sci-fi world of Stardust has more lore written for it than it does stories within it by an order of magnitude, and the unwritten lore is another order greater than the written. In no world could someone ever duplicate that. And if they did, it creates massive & abhorrent continuity errors. I would never subject Stardust to that. The people that have these quantities of lore are going to be excellent worldbuilders that you absolutely want because they'll flesh out this infinite space. Yet the duplication concept is potentially alienating.

You have an infinite amount of space, made worse by employment of multiverse. I've run enough sci-fi groups to know that everything goes to shit when multiverse theory comes into play. The fundamental rules of continuity are thrown out the window and that never ends well. It gets confusing very fast, leads to all kinds of potential powerplaying, godmodding, etc. Its quite literally and open door for godmodding because as you've described it, if the "local/thread GM" has said no, someone can simply duplicate that universe and go around them to get what they want.

The last major issue I'll harp on is that you have no way to bring players together, and your proposed system will actually encourage more fragmentation. At that point your persistent universe is really just a microcosm for the site as a whole, with the exception of overriding one of the accepted rules of RP etiquette. Unless you force players together, they will diverge. I speak from experience on that. I think @The Harbinger of Ferocity summed it up quite nicely. You need to drag players into involvement with a central plotline, or else they'll just go off and do their own thing with 1-2 others which IMO defeats the point.

How I would recommend proceeding is to treat it like you would any other large group roleplay on the site. Except, due to intent to run for perpetuity, you have very clear rules relating to ad-hoc player participation. It needs to be clear when and how players can jump in and drop out and precautions need to be put in place to avoid players becoming integral to progressing the plot, then dropping out/going inactive, and processes/penalties established for when it does inevitably happen. I believe based on my own firsthand experiences that doing anything else will be a recipe for failure.

A Mix-Bag of Group Concepts

@Cryfest Well with the interest in Will Made Real I may look at actually fleshing the concept out further.

Root of all Evil may or may not actually be taken. I have someone asking about it in more detail in PMs so a casual "sounds cool" doesn't actually get anything anymore. :P

I'm also tacking on another one to the first post, dieselpunk western hybrid, optional magic elements. Also a more worked out one where I'd be prepared to run a group.

A Mix-Bag of Group Concepts

@Blue2 Good. I was skeptical that those wold take since they're so far out of line from the genre norms.

@Kassarock I'll level right back. I'd be lying of I said Reckoning of Souls was not influenced by that. It definitely was. Not really a reboot, but some of the concepts I liked I wanted to try and reincarnate.

A Mix-Bag of Group Concepts

Hi guys! Today what I have is a bunch of pre-interest checks for you. These are ideas not yet fully ready for roleplay recruitment or standalone int checks, but I still wanted to test the waters with the concepts. The group I would prefer to run with these varies in size a bit and there's even a 1x1 in here at the bottom. All of them have the key genre elements listed outside the expanders so take a look at any you think might interest you. I appreciate all manner of feedback on the different concepts.

Reckoning of Souls

A group concept inspired by some things I’ve done but never really took off. This is just a world premise with no plot details to see how interesting people find it. Medieval High Fantasy, some grimdark elements.

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Death is not the end. The soul is the bearer of knowledge, of memory, of consciousness. The power of the soul reaches beyond this world, beyond our fragile flesh and beyond what we can see and touch. The souls of those past are always within reach. These spirits of ancestors past guide us, teach us, and protect us. We call upon them when we need them, perhaps without realizing. But just as there is a nemesis to every great warrior, there is a demonic apparition to every gentle teacher. The power of the darkest souls is unparalleled, but with arcane power comes the power of will. The soul of the living cannot resist such willpower indefinitely, and given time, even the strongest of men lose themselves should they summon such malevolence into their bodies.

A medieval fantastical world concept where monsters and magic are merely the beginning. The soul and the power within transcends space and time, and the souls of those lost can be called upon with all their knowledge and wisdom and memories. Souls possess bodies, becoming voices in one’s head sharing knowledge and guidance until the soul is no longer needed and set forth on its own once again. Souls are a tool and a power without equal, and the most dangerous of souls can be the ultimate weapon.

Will Made Real

Hybrid light cyberpunk fantasy meant for a group. Actual plot fairly undetermined. Elements of magic & superpowers, plus some of the usual cyberpunk tropes.

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What separates science and magic? What happens when science outpaces itself? What does it mean when we don’t know how or why it works anymore? How do we know when we’ve crossed the line?

A proto-cyberpunk world a couple decades in the future where cybernetic augmentation has begun to develop. But this time we’ve gone too far. Science can’t say why or exactly how it works, but it does … and it’s powerful beyond comprehension. Innocuously small implants with minimal recovery time that unlock a whole new way to interact with the world. The force, bending, arcane sorcery … call it what you want. It is raw, untamed power at your command. Your will shapes the world around you. Whether you use it to better your own life, to help others how you can, or tear the system down is up to you. But as heroes rise, and villains to meet them, the government scrambles to contain and control what cannot be understood. No one is safe.

Hold the Line

Mechwarrior RPG set during the second wave of Clan invasions. This may be a forum-Roll20 hybrid or be solely a Roll20 campaign. The ruleset for mech combat on Roll20 is (very WIP, and) inspired heavily by Mechwarrior and Battletech but streamlined. 4-8 player party not counting myself.

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In need of every pilot and battlemech available, the Federated Commonwealth has offered high rewards for any mercenary companies and solo pilots willing to aid in their defense against the Clan assault. Some are more willing to answer the call than others. You are one of those mercs. More expendable than enlisted soldiers, but less bound by the rulebook, sometimes a little extra collateral damage is what it takes to get the job done. During the Jade Falcon Incursion of 3058, mercenary lances sent in to do what the rest of FedCom armies are too busy to: retaliate. Rules and honor went out the window long ago. This time, it’s personal.

This is very much a tabletop that may mix some long-form elements, but is not at all a long-form roleplay with die-rolling. If I break out the dice, I go all out. This is a homebrew Battletech-inspired ruleset drawing heavily from the Mechwarrior video games as well. It captures all of the nuance of the mechlab and building your personally-optimized war machine and keeps the combat action streamlined and fast-paced. I’ve tried to reduce what players keep track of as much as I can and cut down on lots of die-rolling, yet I still keep the randomness that matters. Better think fast mechwarriors, the enemy waits for no one.

Root of all Evil

1x1 Medieval themed pseudo-slice-of-life idea surrounding a particularly damaged individual. Can go very 18+ in more than a few ways. Dark, twisted, sadistic, probable gore, not for the faint of heart.

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Genuine evil, the power to inflict pain and death with no remorse or hesitation, cannot be given at birth. Humans are social creatures. The untampered hand of Satan is beyond the capacity of mankind. We are too compassionate. Or so we like to think. A man can do unspeakable things in the pursuit of what he is told is right. Worse, is what the person who suffers at their hand can do given time. Lyra has had plenty of time.

This follows Lyra after a meticulously planned regicide and ascent to power. Having suffered a fate worse than death at the hands of men, she is a ruthlessly cutthroat ruler with a side project of pursuing vengeance. The guardsmen who imprisoned her would suffer at her hands just as she had at theirs. With what she’s been through, there is no innocence left to temper her. She has become cold, unfeeling, and devoid of meaningful emotion or at least so she portrays. Perhaps she is not truly unfeeling. More complete than the others and a sizable amount of backstory exists here I can share with those interested. Open to pairing options but the former prison warden who held her is off limits (you would have to be the best damn partner in the world to convince me otherwise).

The Frontier Skies

Planes, horses, airships and guns! Western/dieselpunk hybrid with optional magic/magitech/low fantasy elements. Has been run as a small group before, absolutely up to do it again.

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There is a great ocean beyond the mountains. The wealthy merchants of the spire cities hope this new 'railroad' will put it within reach. No galleon can cross those sharp peaks. The flying machines of the far west Cliffwalkers soar overtop the craggy spears, but their delicate creations cannot carry weight like a galleon can. The railroad already brings in timber from the vast forested hills of the far east. The spire Avalon shipbuilding industry is booming. But us? We came out here to carve a new life from this land. It may be nothing but arid dirt for a thousand miles in any direction, but at least its better than sweating in a rich man's factory.

The Frontier is as vast as it is barren. Small towns dot the desert, settlements from those leaving the towering cities behind. Some say there's riches buried out in the sand, but the blazing sands are not a place to be wandered in search of wealth. Out here, law and order is as sparse as the towns are. The cities try to force their will onto the frontier, withholding supply shipments and forcing higher prices. Most towns can sooner afford guns for hire. Piracy is the order of the day on the frontier. Airships, wagon convoys, even trains if you're daring enough. THere may be gold in the blazing sands, but there's plenty of money to be made in the skies thieving cargo. Are you ready to join the crew?

[HIGH CASUAL] Welcome to Salem, Massachusetts

I want to be interested, but I dunno. Twas the same story with the last one.

Looking for Casual 1x1 Partner

I'll give it a good lookover, though admittedly I am more enthused about a 1 on 1 prospect. I absolutely enjoy romance stories, I just don't ever like to force it. There's got to be ... chemistry, with the characters to make it really enjoyable.

Looking for Casual 1x1 Partner

1x1 section moves slowly. You won't drop off first page for at least a day. You can slow down on the bumping. :P

I see appeal (though I may be biting off more than I can chew here with finals week closing in on me), but I'm not sold yet. The romantic thread of the plot feels a bit forced and I can't really get behind that. But the idea sounds excellent, little bit Witcher-esque which of course has me quite entertained. I'd definitely like to plan & scheme a little bit if you're feeling flexible.

Galactic Conquest

... why does he never tell me that he's paging reinforcements ...

Gib me womyn or gib me death

@VarionusNW That was best summed up in the early pages of this discussion here (my response is on page 3). The short version is that if someone is going to be gender-restrictive in their posts, satirical or otherwise, then I am going to judge them as an asshole and that's the end of it.