PlaneShift roleplay

[Talad]

Hi everyone,
it\'s with great enthusiasm that I announce you a new idea that can give an unexpected interesting twist to the PlaneShift world.

I\'m writing this post specifically in this section of the forum to catch the attention of a certain part of our audience, I hope the most interested in the roleplaying aspects of the game. Here is a brief introduction to the idea:

\"Imagine if the PlaneShift world you are used to play on-line would be also available off line, enjoyable at any time with your friends, in any location like a park, up in the mountains, on a sailing boat, in your garden. Imagine you can play it with no hardware, without the need to update your video drivers, or be compliant with some obscure OpenGL standard. Imagine also that this version of PlaneShift contains endless areas to explore, infinite number of NPCs and treasures... yes, it?s PlaneShift Roleplay, the pen and paper version of the world you love.\"


I\'ve decided to start a wiki web site about this idea, and I think many of you will be interested to actively participate in it. The site is a *wiki*, means that you can dynamically edit the web pages and add your content. Some pages for now are locked, but there is much space in the brainstorming area for you to add things that we can then cut and paste back into the official sections. Later on we will ask you to be part of the group that can edit the whole site.

Enjoy!

http://www.planeshift.it/roleplay

[Niavard]

Won\'t this provide the kind of guide for powerlevelers (like which glyphs to combine, which way is best to kill a certain monster, etc) with info you don\'t want the players to find in an oocish way?

[Talad]

That\'s a good point I already thought of.

The rules of the pen and paper will be derived from the online one, but not identical, the same for glyphs combinations, items stats, monsters stats, etc...

We use very complex rules in planeshift online and those will be impossible to repicate with dice. The differences in rules from online to pen and paper will be enough to avoid becoming an hint for online power levelers. Will really be two distinct set of rules, but with the same ideas and base mechanics in the background.

[SnowWolf]

This shows promise! Here here!

[karakth]

Indeed. And best of all, like PS Online, it\'s free.

I\'ll see if I can get my DnD group to test this out, sounds like fun

[Cha0s]

Tis a good idea. I just hope there\'s enough interest and activity to sustain it!

P.S. We should make the whole AO post here... take over the RP thread!!!

[Cyl]

I\'m all for it.

[Lindrae]

This is a _great_ idea, no kidding !!

I am looking forward to seeing it, reading it...and playing it !!

[Sangwa]

Yup, sounds real great. I\'ll drag every Dark Empire member along with me too, so that there are plenty villains around .

[druke]

We\'re going to use it for the MUSH we\'re working on, when we get don with area design.

[Talad]

Druke,
I remind you that all material from PlaneShift is copyrighted and cannot be reused in any other game or initiative if not approved by the PlaneShift Team.

The pen and paper version of PlaneShift will be distributed in internet format with the same license of the PlaneShift online game. Basically you can use it to roleplay with your friends at home, but any other usage is forbidden.

[druke]

I see. well then we shall have to rethink this.

Oh, well , will still make great forum/irc RP

any eta?

[SnowWolf]

Or we could just get approved.

It would be kind of counter-productive for us to develop our own rules while also trying to contribute to the PS Community!

Then again, a little competition never hurt anyone! ^^

[Fish]

Open Discussion on game pay

I was going to post this on the brainstorms section but it looks ill equipped to handle details.  I recommend setting up a PHPbb sight.  It is easy.  You could add a section to this site and add users to the discussion.

So, what does this system need to accomplish?

Here are my thoughts...

1.Role Play!  Most players need a tangible framework to role play.  Many players will role play their physical stats.  Why?  Because they are written down and the player can see and understand it. The only role play stats that are on the sheet are Law, Chaos, Good and Evil.  The alignment system is a relic of D&D and is an inadequate tool to describe a charter\'s behavior. The majority of players don\'t even get the Law, Chaos part.

If you are trying to facilitate role play the old D&D system needs to be script.  The player needs a new tool to add them.  Set up personality traits in a range from 1-20 say no more than 8 traits.  They work beside the physical stats to fill out the charter.  At the extremes 1 and 20 the trait is a pathological drive, all consuming.  A 10 is normal.

A first attempt...

Hot tempered...unflappable
Killing Machine...kills nothing
Aggressive....passive
Nymphomaniac....unic
Loyal...self interest rules
Friendly...hostile
Happy....sad

I believe a hot tempered, killing machine, self interested with hostile tendencies describes a charter better than chaotic evil does.

2.Numbering system.   This one will be hotly debated.  

Some will want only a simple set of dice. Some games out there only use the d6.  Others only use only a d20 or a d100.

Others like rolling the funky dice.  In a design phase having a device that can set you a random number from 1 to 12 maybe just the range you need for that situation.  The tact of less dice is better so one type must be the best really limits a game\'s flexibility.

Either way you want to go there are good arguments either way.  I have never seen having different dice types confuse anybody.  It\'s no harder then understanding what a random number generator is in a programming language.  On the other hand, d6 only means you can get the dice anywhere.  

Whatever gets implemented this is the first thing that needs to be worked out. It\'s the bedrock that the rest of the game must follow.

3.Open versus specialized game system.
Is this system going to be easily extend able or tailored only for plainshift?  Once again the argument can cut both ways.

Tailoring it to plainshift only makes for an easy transition.
You can mimic the root system of the computer version for easier development.

Why it is a bad idea...

Tad said you can\'t use the computer number system.  This isn\'t a problem due to the fact that it wouldn\'t work anyways.  The design goals are entirely different.

RPG\'s with non-flexible content don\'t last long.  The ones around 25 years ago are long dead.    The flexible ones are still played.

I firmly believe that having a role system that is flexible and expendable with a bent towards role play has a chance.  The current plain shift environment should be a module played with the rules not tightly integrated.  By expanding personality in the game you will gain an element the players will enjoy.

[hitancrias]

A separate forum would work out better then a single brainstorm page indeed.

I like the idea about adding more depth with personality traits. Some remarks on your attempt:
I?d remove the traits that are highly dependant on time and location / situation, like ?happy ? sad? and probably ?friendly ? hostile?. I think the ?hot tempered ? unflappable? and a ?na?ve ? distrustful? scale covers it a bit better. (the others are more \'moods\' and not as much \'traits\')
Also, I think aggressive and passive are not quite opposites. I?d choose ?aggressive and peaceful?. Last suggestion is to remove the ?killing machine? scale, as it?s more or less a derivative of aggression and hot temperedness. Oh, and I?m not really sure if the ?nymphomaniac scale? is appropriate. I guess that?s something for the devs to decide.  Anyway, this is the list of personality traits I would suggest:

Hot tempered ? Unflappable
Aggressive ? Peaceful
Loyal ? Selfish
Na?ve - Distrustful
(Nymphomaniac ? Unic)

About the dices: Personally I prefer a system with only normal dices (d6), if possible without affecting the balance. I?m willing to do some research about that.

I?m not sure if I get your point about the ?open vs. specialized game system.? We have to follow the Planeshift setting, but not the exact rules. We need to simplify them anyway. Slightly expanding them with extra personality traits, as you suggested, won?t be much of a problem I think.