Interest Check: Mutants & Masterminds Play-by-Post RPG

Started by Reepicheep, December 11, 2017, 04:29:40 PM

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Would you join a play-by-post tabletop RPG?

Yes. I would join immediately.
4 (50%)
Yes. But I would see if it looks any fun by watching others first.
2 (25%)
No. But I wouldn't object to it happening.
2 (25%)
No. And I object to this horror.
0 (0%)

Total Members Voted: 8

Reepicheep

A few months ago, folks were talking about doing a forum Play-by-Post superhero tabletop rpg.

I will confess to being a rookie when it comes to playing as a tabletop GM, but it's struck me as something I'd really like to do with you guys here since it was mentioned. Before I get to committed to getting started, I wanted to find out who would be interested.

The general jig is: you would design your characters, I would describe the scenario for your characters and you may solve it (or avoid it) in whatever way you see fit. We'll be writing in short prose of a paragraph or two per post. Plots will be very '70s and '80s comics inspired - quite grounded and traditional, though with room for moral or character-driven decisions. I won't stop it from getting silly if people have unusual ideas how to solve problems, but I will also encourage and facilitate decent character development.

I would most likely use Mutants & Masterminds, with some creative liberties for the sake of smoothness simplification. It should be a simple enough system that uses a single 1d20 roll for most things. When setting up the game, I will make the system nice and clear so you know how to describe your actions. Once your character sheet is set up, I can handle most of the mechanics myself.

If we do set up, I would send character creation information to anyone who is interested by private message. We'll set up your character together. I will also put more game mechanic information on the opening post of the game so that anyone willing to join can feel confident that they know what is going on.

I could also use any advice from folks who have used this, particularly in terms of keeping things balanced between streamlined and mechanically thorough.

I expect a campaign could run for a couple of months at least. I can try and create openings for people to join midway, while also being adaptive if people are unable to commit. I will also add features that prevent one character from solving everything while also ushering things along if other players are committed elsewhere for an extended time.




Edit: On Character Creation

Setting up a Mutants and Masterminds Character can be a bit tough if you've not tried it before. I won't be using all of the features available, and others I will simplify it as much as the game allows. At the start of the game, we'll be creating characters with 120 character points (CP) to spend. This would be a less-than-average, street-fighting hero with room to improve.
Characters are broken up into:

Abilities What you might think of as Stats. This includes core attributes as well as defensive attributes. Core abilities cost 2 character points. Defensive abilities cost 1.

Skills This is a list of common, non-power related, situational tasks that the character can undertake. This includes things like acrobatics, persuasion and knowledge. There is a set list of skills, from which you pick and choose as appropriate. Every 2 ranks you use for skills cost 1 character point.

Advantages Passive abilities that can help you out in various situations. Think Freedom Force's Attributes. Each rank in an advantage costs 1 character point. The OP of the game itself will include a list of these. They mostly serve to give your character some flavour or flesh out their origin into gameplay, hence the cheapness.

Powers Powers in M&M are a lot like creating powers in Freedom Force. They are made from components called Effects. A power may have multiple effects. Each effect is modified by extras and flaws. When combined, the power will have a certain cost per rank. In addition, you can add free descriptors to powers that give it a bit of personality and variation.

One thing I'm going to do to simplify things is include a character's permanent weaponry or equipment as a Power, in the same way it would be done in Freedom Force. This is mainly for my sanity so that I don't have to consult an equipment database. There is an advantage called 'Equipment', into which you can add consumables such as smoke grenades.

The process of setting up a character will be something like:

You'll send me a description of your character and some idea of the powers at their disposal, including the limitations of those powers. I'll do my best to turn those powers into the format for Mutants & Masterminds, along with the cost per rank of the power. You may only end up having three or four powers, but they are versatile.

I'll also include a recommendation for skills and advantages and a blank character sheet with the powers included. You can then assign your 120 character points as you see fit.

Glitch Girl

Can I change my vote to "Yes I would join immediately, barring real life inconveniences and priorities?"
-Glitch Girl

"Cynicism is not maturity, do not mistake the one for the other. If you truly cannot accept a story where someone does the right thing because it's the right thing to do, that says far more about who you are than these characters." - Greg Rucka

Reepicheep

I'd be as sympathetic and adaptive as I can for people needing to vanish. I won't kill anyone's character off if they vanish for any period, and will assume that they are quietly following the group. On each forum page, I'll post a summary of the adventure so far so it's easy to catch up... That sort of thing.

If several people vanish at once, I'll hit the pause button. Real life comes first and I won't get upset by that.

Deaths Jester

I might be interested...right now my mind is a bit off thus the might...if that makes sense...
Avatar picture originally a Brom painting entitled Marionette.

Reepicheep

All of your might will be needed!


I updated the first post to tease character creation a bit. It's a lot like making a hero in Freedom Force!

Deaths Jester

After the shipping season ends, we'll see. By then my brain will either gone into full revolt and let all the inmates run free or it'll just give up. I'll probably say Aye in the end but leave a little wiggle room to it, in case I gotta jiggle it...
Avatar picture originally a Brom painting entitled Marionette.

Reepicheep

Oh yeah, I wasn't planning on starting until the New Years. In the meantime, though, I can help set up character sheets for anyone interested.

catwhowalksbyhimself

I am the cat that walks by himself, all ways are alike to me.

UnkoMan

Hello! I was involved in a discussion about this.
I would be curious to try! That being said, I have never played a tabletop game in my life, and also people seem to post pretty infrequently these days. Sometimes I go for long stretches without even checking the boards, though obviously if there was a reason, I could come on lots. Would there be required time limits, etc, to posting?

But yes, I am super into this.

Reepicheep

Honestly, darned if I know. I'm not going to force people into any sort of routine or expectation. I'd like to focus more on narrative and enjoying the characters than the rules of the game or playing to win. So as far as experience or demand goes, it'll be casual. In fact, we may be able to play it in such a way that once your character sheet is set up, the only rules you'll need to know is etiquette. I can handle dice rolls.

Like I said, if folks seem to be absent for any period of time, I'll move on with whatever decisions have been made and assume their characters are tagging along. I also won't go too fast so that catching up is a chore. I'll also try to post summaries at major plot points and there will be a seperate out-of-character thread to help us communicate. That balance will take me a bit of time to figure out, but my being in a different timezone to most posters here might be a blessing in disguise.

But awesome. I was hoping for four! I'm excited to get started.

If you are interested, could you send me a description of the kind of character you'll like to play, and I'll send back a tailored guide for how you might navigate the extensive options for character sheets to best represent that hero.

Deaths Jester

Umm...is it going to be okay to play a...umm...morally questionable character (see my Numenera story in the Fiction for an example)? I ask cause I always seem to creep that way with my characters no matter how they start out...
Avatar picture originally a Brom painting entitled Marionette.

Reepicheep

Of course! It may take some creative liberty to keep an ethically-challenged character involved, but it'll be well worth the spice that an antagonistic voice has to offer.

It'll be clear that the initial goal of the group is to protect the city from such-and-such, but selfish or amoral motivation can be spun into that.

UnkoMan

So Reep has been helping me with character creation, since I don't know much about this system at all...
And I wondered, do we want to share character ideas before hand so we don't double down on things, or is it more fun to just go in blind? Personally, I think it is, but some people like to game by not putting themselves at a serious disadvantage.
I'm up for whatever and into showing off my weird character slowly over time.

Deaths Jester

<- already knows a bit about the two characters in development. Asked to make mind up on what my char should go a bit like...still not sure yet
Avatar picture originally a Brom painting entitled Marionette.

Reepicheep

Woops. :P

Though I'll leave it up to you if you share your character sheets or not. I'll have a copy, obviously, and I'll be posting the calculations as we go along. So gradually people will be able to get an idea of your characters. Keeping your capabilities secret from each other might be a really interesting twist.

I'll post the Out-of-Character/table-talk thread soon, which will try and summarise how the game is actually played. For your part, it's mostly just having fun with the writing and making sure I don't make mistakes... which I will. But there's one or two rules, more etiquette than anything, that need to be followed.

Also, important NPC character sheets will be made available as you learn about them in-character.

Murdock

Sounds interesting but i really don't know how to play the game. I've had some experience playing Marvel Heroes RPG before, and i'm currently playing Dungeon and Dragons sometimes on weekends using Google Hangout. I can't imagine how you'll be able to play an RPG via forum posting. So i'll just watch how your game goes for now.

Taking a break due to RL issues.