Like i know that the Atlas Sagas at News never really got anywhere....but I thought they were always interesting WPs nonetheless. Is it that everyone is afraid it will fail like it has every time in the past? Maybe it just needs a good mod...or the right style of gameplay. Previous people tried doing dice rolling systems and random point value battles...but they never really flew. Maybe just a basic RP that the mod determined the outcomes based on the well done posting of the player? I dunno...just a suggestion....if no one wants to do it...i could be convinced into it...so long as i know there is interest.
I would probably join. It's probably just that fantasy rps are just a bit easier to make. I don't care what kind of system it uses. I've been wanting to try dice rolling systems for a while now.
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We have laboured long to build a heaven, only to find it populated with horrors.
Sci-Fi has the problem that it's not as clear genre as Fantasy is. Fantasy is usually just that, dragons and angels and demons and.. There are realistic RPGs as well, but those are nowhere near as popular.
Sci-Fi on the other hand, can be split between 'rugged' sci-fi, like that if Reeve's Mortal Engines Quartet and Fallout series. On the other hand, there is the 'generic' sci-fi with lasersword wielding jedis and so on. It's way more broad by definition that fantasy.
To me, the 'rugged' appeals more, but i understand that this is not the case with everyone. I would probably be interested in this (Assuming 'rugged' over 'generic'.), assuming we'd get a good system done and going. Either as mod or as a player. (I like systems which aren't totally open to interpretation, and have set rules that you have to follow and which can state what you can do. Exceptions are possible of course, because the rules cannot cover everything, but they should be pretty clear.)
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The Sage is occupied with the unspoken
and acts without effort.
Teaching without verbosity,
producing without possessing,
creating without regard to result,
claiming nothing,
the Sage has nothing to lose.
This isn't quite the place for this thread, but I"m going to let it linger here for the time being.
I think the basic problem with Sci-Fi RP is the science. Fantasy has the old fallback 'It's magic' to explain things. Conjuring water, teleporting, healing a wound, it can all be explained by magic. With sci-fi, you have to explain how it's done. Which puts a lot more work on it.
Another problem is powergaming. Magic can do anything. The only limit is the power of the person. One person may have the ability to make meteors rain from the sky, but another may only be able to call on a small spring of water. Technology is always as powerful as itself. If one person can do it, so can another person. What this means is that a pure straight up fighter in a magic setting will only be a fighter, because all he can do is fight and has no magic. But a straight up fighter in a technology setting can always get 'technomagic' to suppliment himself, since it relies on the tech and not him.
And, furthermore, you have to set a technology limit. If you say that your RP has teleportation, there's a slew of things you also have to have. If you have nanobots that can heal, you also have to have nanobots that can fight. Why? Because the technologies run along the same paths, so you -have- to have both. If you have ray guns for cutting metal, you'll have ray guns for cutting people. And, more than that: If you have electricity, you have -everything- that came before it. Because technology leads to more technology. If you have fusion, you have to have the technology before it.
What it all boils down to is that sci-fi RPs seem to be too much work, and are either too big or too restricted. The former is too much work, the latter isn't conducive to good RPs.
That said, the only reason I haven't tried a sci-fi version of the community project is that I wanted to get the fantasy one off the ground first.
Disagreed on the Rayguns, we have lasers to cut metal but i haven't seen any news of someone shooting lazers around. "The concentrated lightbeam only remains effective in short distances, making it essentially useless as a weapon."
What i think should be done, is basing the game on skills. Everything would be based on Stats/Skills, with occassional feat. Nothing else. For example, for combat you would have: "Light Weapons." "Heavy Weapons." "Thrown Weapons." "Melee Weapons." "Unarmed Combat." "Dodging."
If your character invested in combat, he would be lacking in the following: "Chemistry." "Electronics." "First-Aid." "Piloting (Land-Vehicle.)." "Piloting (Aircraft.)." and a bunch of others. You get the idea, right?
These skills would gain bonus from stats. Agile person is so much more probable to hit with a pistol, however, the said character might lack the reguired strength to even lift a heavy epic-boom-plasma-cannon. (Item with strength requirement to use, to avoid getting knocked back when shooting it..)
EDIT: It is also logical, this is MTG-forum, based around fantasy card game. This means that people here are generically more interested in fantasy than they are in sci-fi.
Also, about technology: This is another reason to favour the 'rugged', perhaps post-nuclear world. "No, there are no teleporters. Technology reguired for them got destroyed.", but at the same time something just as, if not more, advanced could exist, because that supposedly survived the 'great war'. Also, people haven't advanced the tech much lately, because they are busy with shooting each other to get to locations of clear water / underground places in save for radiation / food.
Also, such world always felt much more real to me, much more alive and much more flavourful. It also creates a 'multicoloured' world instead of normal 'black and white' setting.
The Sage is occupied with the unspoken
and acts without effort.
Teaching without verbosity,
producing without possessing,
creating without regard to result,
claiming nothing,
the Sage has nothing to lose.
[Nai, i apologize for the misplaced thread...saw the empty Scifi subforum and thought i'd ask why...]
A very futuristic world isn't really what i wanted to do...that is like Nai said, very taxing and a lot of overall work for it to be good. But Amadi made a good point as well. A post-apocalyptic world where technology is more scare but still around would be very appropriate. Still "scifi" by definition with a very realistic tone to it...Apoc could be a fun WP....
all in all, i'm just throwing suggestions in the air until someone goes: "YEA! DO IT"
The skill thing is what we've got going on already. Take a look at the rules for the Community Project, then see how the Fantasy one is going along. We have a system in place. I just simply didn't want to start the sci-fi one until the fantasy one had kicked off completely.
You could probably still have a "mage" class in science, who can use "more advanced and powerful" tech, at some other cost. Some DNA mutation allows them to physically connect to the machine, using their own organic energy to fuel their powers?
Hmm...maybe super advanced tech is so complicated, only by interfacing with it can you use it, with drawbacks ensueing?
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MTG: The RPG Character: Zenith RIP Krensae Fluidtail: Sleep well with the fish
Sci-Fi on the other hand, can be split between 'rugged' sci-fi, like that if Reeve's Mortal Engines Quartet and Fallout series. On the other hand, there is the 'generic' sci-fi with lasersword wielding jedis and so on. It's way more broad by definition that fantasy.
To me, the 'rugged' appeals more, but i understand that this is not the case with everyone. I would probably be interested in this (Assuming 'rugged' over 'generic'.), assuming we'd get a good system done and going. Either as mod or as a player. (I like systems which aren't totally open to interpretation, and have set rules that you have to follow and which can state what you can do. Exceptions are possible of course, because the rules cannot cover everything, but they should be pretty clear.)
and acts without effort.
Teaching without verbosity,
producing without possessing,
creating without regard to result,
claiming nothing,
the Sage has nothing to lose.
I think the basic problem with Sci-Fi RP is the science. Fantasy has the old fallback 'It's magic' to explain things. Conjuring water, teleporting, healing a wound, it can all be explained by magic. With sci-fi, you have to explain how it's done. Which puts a lot more work on it.
Another problem is powergaming. Magic can do anything. The only limit is the power of the person. One person may have the ability to make meteors rain from the sky, but another may only be able to call on a small spring of water. Technology is always as powerful as itself. If one person can do it, so can another person. What this means is that a pure straight up fighter in a magic setting will only be a fighter, because all he can do is fight and has no magic. But a straight up fighter in a technology setting can always get 'technomagic' to suppliment himself, since it relies on the tech and not him.
And, furthermore, you have to set a technology limit. If you say that your RP has teleportation, there's a slew of things you also have to have. If you have nanobots that can heal, you also have to have nanobots that can fight. Why? Because the technologies run along the same paths, so you -have- to have both. If you have ray guns for cutting metal, you'll have ray guns for cutting people. And, more than that: If you have electricity, you have -everything- that came before it. Because technology leads to more technology. If you have fusion, you have to have the technology before it.
What it all boils down to is that sci-fi RPs seem to be too much work, and are either too big or too restricted. The former is too much work, the latter isn't conducive to good RPs.
That said, the only reason I haven't tried a sci-fi version of the community project is that I wanted to get the fantasy one off the ground first.
My helpdesk should you need me.
What i think should be done, is basing the game on skills. Everything would be based on Stats/Skills, with occassional feat. Nothing else. For example, for combat you would have: "Light Weapons." "Heavy Weapons." "Thrown Weapons." "Melee Weapons." "Unarmed Combat." "Dodging."
If your character invested in combat, he would be lacking in the following: "Chemistry." "Electronics." "First-Aid." "Piloting (Land-Vehicle.)." "Piloting (Aircraft.)." and a bunch of others. You get the idea, right?
These skills would gain bonus from stats. Agile person is so much more probable to hit with a pistol, however, the said character might lack the reguired strength to even lift a heavy epic-boom-plasma-cannon. (Item with strength requirement to use, to avoid getting knocked back when shooting it..)
EDIT: It is also logical, this is MTG-forum, based around fantasy card game. This means that people here are generically more interested in fantasy than they are in sci-fi.
Also, about technology: This is another reason to favour the 'rugged', perhaps post-nuclear world. "No, there are no teleporters. Technology reguired for them got destroyed.", but at the same time something just as, if not more, advanced could exist, because that supposedly survived the 'great war'. Also, people haven't advanced the tech much lately, because they are busy with shooting each other to get to locations of clear water / underground places in save for radiation / food.
Also, such world always felt much more real to me, much more alive and much more flavourful. It also creates a 'multicoloured' world instead of normal 'black and white' setting.
and acts without effort.
Teaching without verbosity,
producing without possessing,
creating without regard to result,
claiming nothing,
the Sage has nothing to lose.
A very futuristic world isn't really what i wanted to do...that is like Nai said, very taxing and a lot of overall work for it to be good. But Amadi made a good point as well. A post-apocalyptic world where technology is more scare but still around would be very appropriate. Still "scifi" by definition with a very realistic tone to it...Apoc could be a fun WP....
all in all, i'm just throwing suggestions in the air until someone goes: "YEA! DO IT"
My helpdesk should you need me.
Hmm...maybe super advanced tech is so complicated, only by interfacing with it can you use it, with drawbacks ensueing?
RIP Krensae Fluidtail: Sleep well with the fish