Collab, Roleplay, & Misc Planning

[-Benedict]

So I sort of had an odd idea for a RP/experiment.

Basically there are two RP groups with two very different settings, the players in groups don't know about the opposite groups, and the stories appear completely separate. However as time goes on connections start to be made between the two stories, would the members of the groups actively try to talk to the other group?

I don't know haha.

Oh, man, I had that same idea- somebody suggested maybe another gaming group was running Smith's forces in Art of Domination, and that it'd be a huge deal to keep the two RP groups separate. I think unless you had some way to prevent group overlap without giving away the answer, it'd be busted wide open once somebody applied to both groups. If you wanted to keep the two oblivious to one another, they'd have to be on separate forums or whatever, but if you think you could get away with slowly and secretly building a crossover between two seemingly unrelated RPs, it'd be a cool thing to do.

Unrelated: I'm a little hazy on the whole Grand Battle thing works. I'm sort of aware of the basic structure- you have a bunch of characters who are thrown into mortal combat in various arenas, changing locales when one or more contestants is eliminated during a Round. Survival or death isn't directly based on pre-existing cause and effect in the RP itself, but rather on the relative frequency and quality of posts, after which a judgment is passed and the loser gets to write their own death sequence. Bunnying is kinda sorta okay, under some caveats to prevent abuse... and there's little to no restriction on what kind of character you can play.
What I'm confused about is how to get in one of these- I know there's another one in February, but how does entry work? I know there's a signup phase, but does that get its own thread or does the game start in the same thread once all slots are filled? And most importantly, how rigorous are the criteria for acceptance? There appear to be a limited number of slots- is it first-come, first-served?
Lastly, there's the matter of the "character" I've prepared to play. It's kind of out-there, and I'd like some feedback on whether it'd be a good fit for a game.

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Username: Benedict
Name: Gomorrah, the Dyinged City
Gender: N/A
Race: Spectral city
Color: 8A8A8A on white BG
Weapon: Various, depending on "citizen".

Description: Gomorrah is the spectrally displaced memory of a 50s-era city during an intense riot. Looters and thieves run rampant through the streets, buildings are set aflame, and hordes of violent protesters swarm the streets. In its spectral form, these aspects are shadowy and almost unreal. Crowds melt together, acting as a wave of general mayhem. False flames may engulf host buildings- while not fatal or even directly harmful, they are indistinguishable from real infernoes unless one is already familiar with this behavior. The most vivid shades are those of intense suffering- scenes of domestic abuse, drug withdrawal, murder or other strong emotions take on life. While most shades are silent or murmuring, these vivid spectres can talk and even break free from their sick puppet show, given certain interference from outsiders.
Gomorrah is not all-encompassing- it moves from place to place, unexpectedly haunting certain areas. Its presence is noticeable but not obvious- lowered lighting, sudden silence, the appearance of shades in the shadows. It does not follow its own topography- while it can interfere with buildings and spawn shades, its aspects are typically overlaid on the location it inhabits in a subtle fashion. Its power to warp a location is usually greatest in abandoned or otherwise derelict places- its effects are severely dampened in highly populated or active areas, sometimes confined to a single building or even room.

Abilities: Gomorrah overlays itself on the topography of its current location. Wherever it inhabits, shadowy forms of its former citizens lurk, faceless, re-enacting their last moments with a form of vague sentience. Outsiders may go unnoticed if they avoid provoking or interacting with some shades, but others are filled with hatred and will seek out and attempt to kill foreigners. Most if not all shades of Gomorrah are inclined toward violence or malice, and while typically exhibiting no unusual strength may attack en masse with household items or common weapons such as knives or bludgeons. Some citizens, such as participants in organized crime, may carry 50s-era firearms, but typically only train them on their personal enemies unless disturbed from their "memories".
Gomorrah can be dispelled in various ways- by the destruction of a certain portion of its ghostly population, the demolishing of possessed structures, or alternatively by the redemption of shades, who can be freed from the city's miasma by acts of kindness. Conversely, giving in to hatred and violence within it will strengthen Gomorrah's hold on an area and attract violent shades. Gomorrah inhabits the edifices of its host location, and is capable of dousing lights, locking doors, and disabling or overloading utilities such as water, power, and so on.

History: Gomorrah, before its destruction in 1957, was a notorious metropolis known for its astonishingly high crime rate, corrupt civil service, and frequent violence. Thieves, murderers and assorted cutthroats ran rampant in its expansive slums, and its upscale citizens sequestered themselves in their homes in fear. Those who were not the city's victims were its leaders, who controlled Gomorrah through fear, violence, and connections to organized crime.
During a particular riot, in which the levels of violence in the city rose to unbelievable levels, Gomorrah was judged by a mysterious force. The entire city was wiped off the face of the earth, seemingly gone forever. However, the city remained achored to this plane- moving from place to place, taking possession of entire cities and using them as hosts for its macabre re-enactment of its final moments. Such appearances were written off as ghost stories, but the phrase "under the pall of Gomorrah" became synonymous with violent unrest.

[Dragon Fogel]

It's up to each individual host to decide who to let in; when there's a lot of people submitting profiles, the host will generally pick the ones they think would be the most interesting.

Also, if there's a detail that you think is important to how you'll play the character, but for one reason or another you don't want it to go into the profile where everyone can see it, you can PM the host and mention it to them. They'll take it into account when considering who to pick. (This isn't a guarantee that you'll be let in, but it lets them make a more informed decision.)

Signups and the battles themselves take place in the same thread.

[Not The Author]

What I'm confused about is how to get in one of these- I know there's another one in February, but how does entry work?

The only real criteria criteria for entry, aside from possible battle-specific gimmicks (the eighth battle of the three "canon" seasons have all been "villain battles," for instance), is to have a profile up in the battle's thread before signups close.

I know there's a signup phase, but does that get its own thread or does the game start in the same thread once all slots are filled?

For most battles, it's the same thread. That way, all the relevant profiles are assembled in a known and easily accessible area for both the host to choose from and the contestants to peruse. Minigrands are a bit different: they have their own "master" thread from which all profiles are pulled and all battles announced. The chosen profiles are nevertheless reposted in the relevant Battle thread - the profile, while a very rough and often ultimately inaccurate depiction of a character, is still one of the best sources for others to pull from when trying to write a character that's not theirs.

And most importantly, how rigorous are the criteria for acceptance? There appear to be a limited number of slots- is it first-come, first-served?

While the early ones were indeed FCFS, nowadays Battles are Too Big A Thing for that to be feasible. The crowd of regulars who are nigh-guaranteed to have a profile or several ready when the thread goes up would instantly fill the list, which would limit newcomers such as yourself and generally make things very unpleasant for people who happen upon the thread and decide to try their hand at creating a character from scratch. For some, that's a rather time-consuming process. Recent battles have had over twice the player limit sign up - locking out those extra eight would mean a great loss in talent.

[Gomorrah is] kind of out-there

And yet it's still not the strangest thing we've had by a long shot. It might not fit every battle, but you'll find a place for it sooner or later.


Aaaaand Ninja'd by Fogel.

[Sylvetic]

o_O So I suppose, having lurked long enough, I'd like to try my hand at starting something here. Call this an interest gauge. Hopefully my newness doesn't misrepresent my credibility.
(And before I continue, I'd like to say, provided Benedict glances back at this thread, that I absolutely love Gomorrah. Saw it while poking around some of the Grands a while back--glad you finally got the chance to play the thing.)

The idea's simple enough--since there's apparently plenty of spillover from the various Battles bouncing around, and there doesn't seem to be much interest in the various niche roleplays that have been suggested and attempted or dismissed, I'd like to propose something more general, though not thoughtless at all. It'd trend towards some of the more storykind stuff, I suppose--it'd be action and plot based, with users creating the story, hopefully affording an acceptable mixture of dialogue and character development coexisting with plenty of over-the-top dueling. It'd be set in a modern city, and though there would be at least a few predefined locations, most of it would be left open for user definition, as well as whatever is convenient. This setting, I think, lends itself easily to the imagination--it also allows for a fair amount of variety and creativity, and hopefully leaves room for potential new users to jump on board any time.

As far as what kinds of characters would be allowed, it'd be much like one of the Battles in that the limitation on your character and their abilities wouldn't be terribly strict, provided they're played well and have some sort of origin to them. There wouldn't be a defined endpoint or common goal, and of course your character could be as "good" or "evil" as you'd like, allowing prospective players to capitalize on any opportunity to create some kind of a mission or story arc. Much of this would involve collaboration, I'm sure--character death, should it be story-appropriate, would likely work out the same way. Because of the persistent nature of this (game?), you'd be able to continue with a new character if you'd like, also when appropriate--though I imagine this game as eventful, the word "clusterfuck" does not come to mind.

Any thoughts?

[Kaerea]

AD
One(1) Kitsune Storyteller seeking roleplaying thread.
Name: Kaerea/XLII
Preferred theme(s): adventure/daily-life/minor conflict
Preferred partners: I'll work with anyone, given the opportunity.
Character info:
Kitsune, seven tailed, anthropomorphic. Wears cloak with enchanted 'pockets of holding'. Able to shapeshift for periods of time dependant on remaining energy, focus, and whatever else he's doing. Able to use magic via runes tattooed on his body. Proficient in staff combat, and short blades; can form short blades from magic for indefinite use. Occupation: Storyteller/wanderer/writer. Easily trusting. Prefers to avoid combat if possible, but can and will fight if no other choice is given. Likes making friends.

I hope to find some setting or someone which would be willing to have me around for a little RP! I'm fine with large or small group, though I'd prefer structured threads with post order.

[Teribane]

So, I had this idea. I will be rather surprised if it hasn't already been done, but might as well post it.

Basically, sort of a Homestuck AU Round Robin, but not quite.

How it would work - A group of people (equal numbers of fantrolls and fankids, the way I'm picturing it) get involved in Sburb/Sgrub. Each player who's inserted his own OC will write that character's particular adventures/scenes (players may go in pre-agreed on order, may not, I think will depend on the overall writers' preferences). Characters will automatically be able to talk to each other over Pesterchum - this would be improv-roleplayed over Pesterchum with characters' handles and then players will agree over which one gets to post it. If a scene involves two or more characters, players would either plot it out together or improv roleplay it and then write it up, either with one of them agreeing to do it or them collaborating on the scene. There might be illustrations, depending on players, but main focus would be on writing. Whether it's written 2nd person or not and other such details would, again, depend on final player group's preferences.

Plot? - I do have a bit of plot worked out to make it slightly more different to Homestuck - such as first playthrough of game involves humans and trolls at the same time, and something interesting happening on Derse and Prospit before the game even starts - but it's mostly backstory, so players have free reign, and I'll share more details if anyone's actually interested. Players would be able to introduce secondary characters to fill out these plots or make new ones, so that it isn't just an empty world.

So. If anyone is interested, or alternatively, if it has been done before - please PM. ^^; I'd like to see it if it's the second case, and I'd quite like to try it if it's the first.

Er. >.> <.< ...*hides*

[Phevnil]

Has anyone heard of/thought of doing a The Most Dangerous Game themed mafia before? Nights of hunting out on the island and days lynching back at the mansion? Flavour wouldn’t even be all that hard, seeing as I always felt like Rainsford would take Zarnoff’s place, and that it is reasonable he would eventually up the stakes and scope of the game in his own time.

This is me hoping someone else will do all the work for an idea I had to reach fruit, also because I’d want to participate as a player in a game like this.

[Crumplepunch]

Hello, I would very much like to host a roleplay in my Undercity setting. A few of you may be familiar with it in part from my forum adventures The Undercity and Tales From The Undercity.

It's an industrial fantasy world with a breadth of opportunity for introducing unusual characters with diverging goals. To provide a few examples, the City's denizens include fairies, ghosts animating silver mannequins, French gangsters in top hats and so forth. I will provide more particulars in the recruitment thread if there is any interest.

The game itself would be driven by player character posts with me playing NPCs moderating and GMing in general. Forum roleplay is quite new to me, but I am an experienced tabletop GM and I feel confident that I could sustain a story that would remain enjoyable for some time.

Please PM me if you are interested, I would love to hear from you.

[Noia]

I've been planning and coordinating a fan adventure project for a while now. It's got elements of RP and cooperative storytelling, in that each character is controlled by a different person and that person also does the artwork for them. It's a pretty big project and we've already started on the story, but we're at the point where we're starting to want to make flash panels and unfortunately no one in the group can use the program. Does anyone know someone who can help me on this? I'm talking about flash animation in the traditional Homestuck style. Strife, EOA, and maybe an explore or two if we have the time.

I'd really love to get some feedback on this because I'm running out of time.

[dustyDesperado]

Hey, no idea how active the board is or anything, but I really want to either join or create a Session RP of some kind. I've got a human and a troll made already, along with just about all the details they'll need, but I have no idea where to start looking. Would anyone like to create a Session with me and have an adventure? We can discuss plot related details later, and any help would be appreciated regardless of what you can offer.

[TheChaosPoint]

Two trolls, Yantim Ivacur and Chayin Verlis, get in to an argument one day that quickly spirals out of hand, culminating in a bet over who can beat this new game called SGRUB first. Unfortunately, this game requires a team, which causes a problem for both Yantim and Chayin. Yantim has managed either alienate or murder most of his “friends,” and Chayin is so shy that she has only ever managed to befriend one or two other trolls besides Yantim. Despite their limited network of contacts, they manage to recruit trolls until their team numbers twenty-six. A chaotic adventure ensues, with the trolls' limited understanding of the game leading many to prototype the most challenging items they can find, leading to a SGRUB session that's a major pain in the nook for everyone involved.

My plan is to write this like a collaborative fan adventure with role play when necessary and some flash animations. My partner in crime and myself have already created some characters and have a few ideas that we really like but I would love to bring more people in on this idea to help turn it into something amazing. PM if you’d like to learn more.

[The Operator]

Greetings everyone. I am going/attempting to start my own Homestuck fan roleplay soon, complete with fan kids,fan trolls, and pesterchum if we have the capability. The set up is going to be a bit more complex than what I've seen so it will probably be a bit of a hassle to get started but I think it will be for the best as it means the people who do join will be the ones willing to put in the effort to get the story rolling. It will probably be a week or so until I am finished constructing the whole thing but in the mean time, knowing who would be interested would be fantastic.

The Plot: For now it would probably start off as a regular session, where the kids have no idea what the hell they are doing, thinking it is just an innocent game. That is one option, the other option is everyone knows the truth about SBURB through intervention by the trolls. In order to have the best possible chances of winning, the governments of the world have selected the best candidates to enter, having some sort of special skill or ability that would help them reach their goal. This one will likely have less comedic value and would be more of an action story than a comedy like the original Homestuck. To be honest, I would much prefer to have a regular session, but I am willing to go with the players on this one.

The Cast: This is where it gets more fuzzy. Because they are all original characters, it's hard to decide how many for both the kids and the trolls. What I would like is any jumble of the numbers 2,4, and 12. Ideally, I would like to have 4 kids and 12 trolls for the regular session or twelve kids AND trolls for the selection so everyone has their own counterpart.But for the ideal numbers we need more players or players who are able to take on multiple characters and keep them engaging and entertaining.

Literacy: This part is more stable and clear-cut. Again, ideally you would want a workable amount of material from each post, so content is certainly important. But quality is more important than quantity. 2-3 paragraphs per post would be the best. With it would have to come clean structure, vocabulary, and a bit of style to make it your own.

Dedication:This is the easy one. Simply how often one can post. The sooner the better usually as it keeps the plot rolling, however if your inspiration requires a bit more time that's perfectly acceptable. Quality is more important.

Right-ee-oh! That would be it then. If you are interested feel free to shoot me a message with any ideas on characters, plot, or anything involving it. In the meantime I will be building the outline and other foundations.

[Neow46]

Im making a new RP that probably hasn't been seen here before. Its a RP that is being reborn.
Its going to be called Descend. Tell me we can Lock our threads so we can edit them first.

[Ranter]

I have created a very original roleplay, with an interesting organization.
Generally, it works a lot like a fanadventure. A widespread game in many topics on our own forum.
The player, as a character, will give a command, such as "> Retrieve Bar" and his "sponsor" will tell the consequences of it.
The Sponsor is also a player in his own topic, giving commands to a different sponsor in a different story.
Meanwhile the players interact with each other, create pesterlogs with each other, build each other's houses, and even pop up in each other's stories!

The game has already started and been going on for a while, but sometimes real life intrudes and people are unable to play for a time, and sometimes sponsors go missing.
We could use some back up players and more writers, so if this sounds like fun for you, contact me! The people are fun and so is the game, and we are ALWAYS accepting newcomers.

ALWAYS.

ALWAYS

Contact me right this minute I mean it.
All you need is time and literacy!

[Freack]

Okay, so this is not exactly RP, but I need to type at somebody with the same sort of skills. I am working on a script for a SBnHJ fan-movle. I have most of it worked out, but I am sort of unhappy with how I wote Dave. So, if somebody who is really good at writing like Dave talks, extended metphors and all, would like to help me out and readover it, I would be ever so greatful.

Sorry, if this is not the place to be asking, I would not mind being booted else where.

[Magnum]

So, I'm posting this here to get some players for my Collaborative Story RP. I'm getting kinda antsy waiting around for people to join, even if we do have four players already (myself included, although one player has yet to make a character).

It's gonna be experimental in some ways, and is by no means a regimental game/project. By this, I mean we aren't gonna be angry at you for going missing. I do it all the time, and thus, it would be hypocritical of me to be angry. We don't hold any sorta expectations. Any writing style is fine by me. Hell, you can go ahead and draw pictures or even act it out on video and upload it to YouTube.

So, yeah, the description of what kind of game it will be and the setting is in the thread. Link is in the picture below.

[Lovenu]

Hi! I'm brand new to the forums but I'm a longtime reader...

I used to be quite the roleplayer in my day but sadly I've gotten a bit rusty as my roleplaying partners have either disappeared or gone crazy. And no it was not because of me.

That being said, I'd love to join a roleplay! I already have a character made and I posted her in the trollslum 10 thread. I have prior experience roleplaying and I can do paragraph or script form, whichever is preferred. If anyone wants to contact me, please feel free to drop me a message so I can give info and such. Or if there are any threads on this forum you'd like to recommend, please feel free!

I'm really craving some RP so please direct me to some roleplay opportunities! Thanks!

[Captain Lhurgoyf]

Just out of curiosity, would it be okay to post a link to a new forum I'm helping start up devoted to a shared-world (as in there are different threads for different locations, but it all takes place in the same general universe, and ideas and characters can cross over) Homestuck roleplay? I'm not sure what the stance is on linking to other forums here.

[CitizenOfHedwigpolis]

Ehh, don't kill me~

But I had a random idea recently, involving Hussie, Waste of Space, and how his session goes.

And he will be playing with people like Himaruya, Dante, and, I don't know, Lauren Faust?

Is that good for an RP or something?

//and Himaruya's consorts have to be alpacas. Just saying. And maybe he's the Time player because he's famous for being chronically late, hence HST (Himaruya Standard Time)?

[dexexe1234]

CitizenOfHedwigpolis, please look at this video:

http://youtu.be/umDr0mPuyQc

[ProfessorLizzard]

That wasn't really nice, Dex.

[Varkarrus]

I had an idea for a grand battle-esque scenario, though I do not have the experience to gm it and I'm not going to be an idiot and start one anyways. So I highly doubt the idea will be used but maybe it's amazing enough that someone will take it.

Everyone creates characters, backstory, powers, etc... Names are then drawn from a hat, and that user is the one that has to play as that character, meaning nobody plays as the character they invented and are forced to use others' characters.

[CitizenOfHedwigpolis]

=3
I do have weird headcanon-fanficidea-things. (Which, for this, was something like Hussie writing Homestuck from what he saw in the clouds of Prospit, then sending out a group message, people receiving it... in a timeline not ours, of course. Then he ends up in the Furthest Ring or something like that, becomes the self-insert, dies (again?) and stuff like that. After all, we don't know what happened to the people in the dreambubble Lord English blew up.)
And crossovers are quite polarizing.

I was thinking of a fic, but I doubt I'll be able to pull something like that off.

No pairings, of course, as much as possible, and they should be realistic. That is, Hussie/Dante being the most likely.

Is this too demanding for an RP? Should I just give this up to a more skilled writer?

[Bonzo]

TL;DR: Collaborative worldbuilding, storycrafting, charactersmithing, illustration[some suffix], roleplaying exercise. Ultra-relaxed, low demand, blissy innit. Big themes of survival in the face of apocalypse. Minor themes can be revenge, conciliation whatevs. END TL;DR

Spoiler tags for potential readers.

Title suggestions: "There's something on the RADAR"

Details totally variable if someone comes up with a better idea.

Okay. Earthlike planet, geography and demographics etc to be made up as required. Mixed technology: Modern to decade-in-the-future alongside Stone Age to Mediaeval period.

Totally optional backstory: Almost two lifetimes since major turmoil - revolution, economic collapse, rebuilding etc - the world is tired of strife. In the shells of cities people have built up infrastructure for civilisation and agriculture, yet still there is a need for salvaging the technology and resources of the old civilisations. Not quite self sufficient, perhaps in a slight state of apathy or clinging onto the memories of the past is hindering the moral of the people. Slightly dystopian - society is fractured, many groups in fear of each other (mindful of the conflicts that brought this state about) or in a state of conflict. Old technology is not understood, forgotten, lost, traded, studied or used as terrifying weaponry. Some groups and individuals in underground bunkers or even cryostasic-like sleep. Roving groups on horseback or vehicles (gypsypunky types perhaps - maybe a little Mad Max?)

Backstory there to justify characters having known a world they don't feel entirely at home in. Not really necessary, could even just go with Modern Earth, but where's the fun when the world's been built for you, eh? :P

AND THEN SHIT GETS REAL astronomers notice a load of debris in space, no idea as to the origin. Closer looks show that the debris does not seem naturally formed. Cue excitement and fear of alien contact etc. Some really scary sized pieces look to cause major damage (possible rush on nukes to break up incoming objects?). Some tiny percentage of the cloud of debris is pulled into earth's orbit or onto the planet. Cue lovingly depicted scenes of shooting stars or craters. SHIT PROCEEDS TO BOTH GO DOWN AND HIT THE FAN SIMULTANEOUSLY turns out the debris is

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a load of jettisoned and only partially deactivated alien weaponry

which promptly causes most of the human race to have a really bad day. Especially as

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they don't get to see tomorrow, being dead in a multitude of ways, from mundane to bizarre

especially given that (Mega spoiler)

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The weaponry was ditched by an alien race giving up all warfare having just defeated a tyrannical force with a penchant for cruel and unusual.

This allows lots of potential for choosing the flavour of the apocalypse. Can be as outlandish, mixed or bizarre as we want.

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Zombies? Headcrabs? Any kind of biological weaponry with strange effects on humans? Hallucinogens? Radiation? Atmospheric/climate change? Autonomous robot-like warriors going genocidal?

Giving the characters loads of potential for AWESOME CHARACTER ARCS, DEVELOPMENT and stuff through STRIFE and SHENANIGANS.

Also all the worldbuilding and stuff. Did I mention it should be collaboratively illustrated as well? That'd be cool.

Oh yeah

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there should totally be a genocidal AI with multiple personalities or cores etc and erratic functionality. Can get all existential and angsty and stuff.

I think that's everything. Anyone interested?

[ailsagraystone]

Hi, I'm Ailsa. I would like to get involed in any roleplaying. I'm a bit of shy roleplayer and would like to be pushed out of my shell by amazing ideas and interesting character interactions.

I'm up for anything. SuBurb, SubGrub, Homestuck in general, action-adventure, fantasy, scifi, really anything. Horror. Anything where the characters are interesting, the person who runs it is fair, and everyone is just willing to have a good time. If anyone would like to roleplay with me just message me. And I will not disappear once involed in a story (unless RL problems come up or I have to work).

I'm semi-lit to simple post so I'm up for anything.

Thanks for your time.