Shaping in the Shadows [OOC]

[Goldengirl]

Howdy! After the discussion about having a play-by-post RP, I'm proud to announce that it's now happening!

 

A few words on the setting for the uninitiated. Geneforge is actually a fairly low magic universe. There's no portals, no massive weapons of death, no mind control. The big exception is Shaping, in which Shapers (or Lifecrafters) magically create new life, mostly obedient. There are four sentient species. Humans, Serviles (humanoids made to be slaves), Drayks (small, sentient dragons that act like a stereotypical dragon), and Drakons (larger, two-legged walking dragons, typically arrogant). The three sentient creations and some humans led a rebellion to try to seize freedom and be able to take the power of Shaping for themselves. This led to about 15 years of war, after which the former Shaper Empire was divided between the old empire (called Terrestia) under the Shapers and the new nation (Sucia) led by the former rebel leaders.

 

If there are any other aspects of the game that need explaining, please don't hesitate to ask.

 

The actual location of the RP isn't anywhere in the games, but rather a mysterious island far to the north. Thus, having a lot of in-depth lore won't be the make-or-break for this game.

 

For the Geneforge players, this is set 200 years after the endgame of Geneforge 5. The game assumes the Astoria ending.

 

So, a few ground rules:

 

1. No godmodding. This typically includes things like killing other people's characters, claiming you have rare and exceptional skills/powers, etc. I'll make a few specific examples here. Don't incorporate anything into your post that you know from reading the thread, that your character themself wouldn't know. For example, if you know from reading that someone is going to betray everyone, don't have your character suddenly assassinate them to save the group. In addition, don't be a Drakon or a self-Shaped, mad magician.

 

2. NO SHAPING. I've thought about this a lot, and I just don't think that there's a good way to have characters be able to Shape without the game being unbalanced. This includes healing crafts - no clerics, sorry. The in-game reason for this is that all of the Shapers and Lifecrafters have vanished. That said, all other magic from the games is fine. For those who haven't played, this means blessings, mental magic spells like daze, and battle spells. Healing through pods and spores is fine.

 

3. Don't post too often or too much. Posting novels is a great way to kill an RP. It creates a huge barrier to entry. Posting too much is bad for a few reasons. First, it makes it so that people tend to post a lot of smaller, blippy actions. Second, it's selfish. This is a shared game, a cooperative role play, not a one-person narrative.

 

4. My role - I'll be acting as "the world" (NPCs, outside influences, etc.) and describing the general ebb of the events. This game has a rough time-limit (the arrival of the delegation) and I have some rough ideas about the plot, but I'm leaving most of this wide open.

 

5. Your role - this is an individual character RP, so each player controls one main character. People can have side characters (a lackey?) and deal with minor NPC's, but for the large part just keep it to one. If there's a compelling reason, I think that characters can have a pet creation, but nothing sentient and nothing too powerful. Beyond that, the players each control a mid-level adventurer investigating the mystery of the academy.

 

I'm sure there are rules I'm forgetting, but Spiderwebbers tend to be pretty good at this. Be reasonable, and if anything comes up, I'll be the final judge.

[Triumph]

Gazers are sapient too.

[BMA]

Maybe we can shape a creation <= column 2 in each shaping category ? They aren't that powerful.

[Goldengirl]

Depending on where the plot goes, there may be canisters or something that let you do that. For now, I don't really see the need. I'm going for more of a mystery-adventure than a straight up hack-n-slash style RP.

 

And yes... Gazers being sentient is correct... technically. The best kind of correct?

[Level 1 Hermit]

What if the players can choose their own factions and lay their own plans for their faction emerging victorious?

Say individual factions have their own private messages to GoldG, and she rolls die for each action? Then it unfolds on the storyline and the Shapers(players) can decide how to react, if at all?

[adc.]

I've never been in an RP mainly due to most of it not being Geneforge.

 

So I'm joining because it's Geneforge.

 

I've got a few questions though:

 

-When will it start

-Will we get to choose a class

-Where will the RP take place, chat or here

-Tips of noobs

[Slawbug]

Perhaps you meant sapient, like Triumph said, instead of sentient -- sentient clearly applies to most creations. And even sapient almost certainly applies to vlish, from in-game descriptions. (And servant minds, though it seems plausible that they've gone extinct.)

[Goldengirl]

What if the players can choose their own factions and lay their own plans for their faction emerging victorious?

Say individual factions have their own private messages to GoldG, and she rolls die for each action? Then it unfolds on the storyline and the Shapers(players) can decide how to react, if at all?

 

I'm... not entirely sure what you mean? There are going to be different groups of people with different goals, but characters themselves aren't going to control factions. This is a character-based RP.

 

I've never been in an RP mainly due to most of it not being Geneforge.

 

So I'm joining because it's Geneforge.

 

I've got a few questions though:

 

-When will it start

-Will we get to choose a class

-Where will the RP take place, chat or here

-Tips of noobs

 

It starts now. The IC (in-character) thread is here.

 

There aren't classes in the same sense that there are in Geneforge. For one thing, no one will start off with any Shaping abilities. That said, characters will probably fit in with standard role-playing classes like rogue, mage, warrior, etc. because those are logical sets to specialize in.

 

As for general tips, think of this like a cooperative storytelling event rather than a competition. We are collectively exploring the mystery and discovering the plot, rather than trying to "win." Your posts should read, in a loose sense, like sections of a novel. At the same time, you don't control the story, so it would be unfair for you to take over other people's characters or even try to hijack the story to make it about what you want (such as suddenly having a revived Ghaldring come into the story for no reason).

 

Perhaps you meant sapient, like Triumph said, instead of sentient -- sentient clearly applies to most creations. And even sapient almost certainly applies to vlish, from in-game descriptions. (And servant minds, though it seems plausible that they've gone extinct.)

 

Yes. That said, for the purposes of the game, the playable races are drayks, serviles, and humans. There are even sapient thahds and battle alphas, but I don't want to get into that either.