Fallout game on here, maybe?

[Walsingham]

Just had a thought: Fallout has a pen and paper game equivalent, right?

 

How about we do a game on here while we're killing time waiting for our next post-apocalypse fix?

 

I've got quite a neat starting premise, but I reckon we will need a total of three referees/GMs to keep the pace up. We have to agree on general themes and storyline, but get to run our own casts of villains and mini-arcs within the bigger game.

 

Overall I see the theme as having a little humour, and not a little on lampooning fantasy cliches in an apocalypse setting. Mechanically we could agree to run the game on a chat channel like Steam but obviously we'd want to post the highlights on here.

 

Anyone interested?

 

Again, that's two to four players, and three refs.

[WorstUsernameEver]

I've been tossing around ideas for a Fallout PnP campaign for a loooong while, but tbh, I usually just play with my circle of friends and have never done a campaign on the internet so I don't know if I'd like to start DMing immediately. Assuming the rhythm is not too frantic, count me in as interested as a player though.

[Tigranes]

I'm in to play.

[Oner]

Another player willing and able! ,o/

[213374U]

We tried running a V:tM campaign over IRC, which Ender graciously offered to GM. We used IRC because it was cheap, unobtrusive and offered inbuilt die support in the form of bots. Only lasted for a few sessions mostly due to trouble getting people from different timezones to agree on (relatively) reasonable schedules, and Ender ended up burning out. It was pretty damn awesome, while it lasted. The thread with the session transcripts should be around here somewhere.

 

If you can get over the organizational problems, you'll be on for some nice roleplaying with peeps here.

Edited April 8, 2012 by 213374U

[Tigranes]

Yeah, I think GMs did too much work up front fleshing out a lot of different things. I think we should keep it simple until it gets off the ground. Wals, I don't see you getting 3 GMs from here alone..

[Walsingham]

Copy that. Maybe set it on the back burner for now. But if we can get enough GMs then we kick start.

[WorstUsernameEver]

I'm not sure why you want so many GMs?

[Walsingham]

I'm not sure why you want so many GMs?

 

To keep play moving, and also because it's my long-standing conviction that you need a plot GM and an NPC GM.

[WorstUsernameEver]

Fair enough, but it seems a bit overkill to me considering we won't be many players Wals. If your idea is too big to handle it alone, have you considered scaling it back? It would also offer a good test bed for the concept in case you intend to re-use it, show you what was wrong with it, how we react, etc.

[Walsingham]

I'm guessing two may be needed in case one of us gets ill or what have you. Good way to avoid losing momentum.

[WorstUsernameEver]

Truth is, I really doubt we'll have momentum unless we run rule-lite quickie sessions, because most of us are in different time zones and because of work/life.

[Tigranes]

Do it, Wals! We can have short weekly sessions or something.

[WorstUsernameEver]

As long as I can play a ghoul conman or a paranoid survivalist I'm in.

[Pop]

Fwiw, I would recommend not relying on IRC. It works smashingly for some things (combat, etc) but it amplifies the problems that PnP has when you're actually doing it in the real world - namely, needing to have everyone together at once. Most PnP games die before they're completed, that is the rule, it's just a fact of life. But if you're setting a time when people MUST be available, your game will die before it gets fun.

 

Not to toot my own horn, but I've been running a Van Buren(ish) PbP game (or "Play by Post", on a message board) for awhile. PbP is easier to organize (and soooooooooo much better for record-keeping) but it is slow as hell - The Prologue in Tibbets was basically 4 months of playtime. But if you have a solid cast of regulars on a forum such as this one, and a lot of patience, it can work.

Edited April 16, 2012 by Pop

[Pop]

Also if you guys were planning on a VB run, you might want to wait a few weeks / months, there should be a blog post coming down the pipe on this very site that could illuminate some things

[Pop]

As an addendum, if you're going PbP, try using http://www.rptools.net/ and http://rolz.org/, both of which are free, the former of which allows for fairly sophisticated tactical combat, at least with the right GM initiative. I know people who run X-Com games on it. For my game I just use it as a basic grid / token system for basic combat. Basic.

[Tigranes]

You're right about the logistics, but I would also enjoy the copresence, virtual as it is - especially since I have little experience with P&P and would feel more comfortable going with the flow in real time. Whatever happens, though, is good!

[Pop]

I'd say PbP is much easier on folks if they're not so much into improvising. They can get much more "in-character" when they have time to plan out their posts and actions. You can round robin it (take turns, basically) but that rarely ever keeps for long.

 

And really, with time zone differences, there are few good choices beyond it.

[WorstUsernameEver]

So Wals? I'd offer to GM but we'd be 2 GMs and 2 players which seems frankly incredibly excessive to me.

[Tigranes]

Seems small enough that we could do this, if Wals wants *poke* *stab* *kick*

[Walsingham]

Hey! Stop poking me!

 

And stabbing.

 

OK. So, I'll have to check on my work schedule, but how about we aim to get running on Wednesday?

[Tigranes]

Sure, what do we need to do?

[WorstUsernameEver]

Wednesday seems okay, I should be able to fit things in my schedule okay-ish. What ruleset are we using? Josh's Fallout PnP? The fan-made Fallout PnP? GURPS?

[Oner]

Wednesday should be okay.

Edited April 29, 2012 by Oner