View Full Version : Anyone up for an online role-playing game?
I tried this a few months ago, and not one person responded. Encouraged by this success, I thought it logical to try again. :p
We'll need optimally 33 players, but can probably get by with slightly fewer. There are no dice, no real rules, so no experience is required. Newbies are welcome.
Here is the scenario: The king is dead and named no heir to the throne. Around 15 people have some sort of claim, and various earls and barons have their own interests to persue. Will there be a smooth transition of power, or will it be civil war? It all depends on your diplomatic skills.
Sign up now -- the fate of the kindom hangs in the balance!
ArrMatey!
01-26-2005, 01:05 PM
Sign me up!
Sign me up!
Alrighty! That's one!
If no one else signs up, you get to be king by default. I hope you exercise your power wisely.
poeticyde
01-26-2005, 01:24 PM
Sounds like a diceless Amber campaign...no rules, whatsoever? What limits characters from saying that they have ultimate powers of mind control, etc?
CandidGamera
01-26-2005, 01:32 PM
Need more info.
Sounds like a diceless Amber campaign...no rules, whatsoever? What limits characters from saying that they have ultimate powers of mind control, etc?
Me telling you that you have no ultimate powers of mind control? :)
Everyone will be human, no one will have magic. Everyone will be a noble, some with royal blood and some without. All of the action will take place within the royal castle, where weapons have been surrendered. There will be "behind the tapestries" negotiations, then a roundtable discussion and vote. Then more negotiations, then another discussion and vote.
The only "rule" is that people will have varying power point numbers, based on various things like running a castle, blood line legitimacy, control of an army, etc. Power points are essentially meaningless, except they do count in the vote. A majority of power points will win. There are also rules for whether you are related to the king (allows you to vote in the first meeting), and if you are a tenent-in-chief (allows you to vote in the second meeting).
Here is an example:
Erelar Hirnen
3 power points
Nephew of Miginath (2)
Baron of Nenda (1)
Can vote in both meetings
Erelar Hirnen is a relative of the king and has a claim to the throne. An ill-tempered man of early middle years he is not popular either within or without his own court.
Natural allies: His brother Tarkin.
Is that a little clearer?
Need more info.
I explained a lot in my last post, but what else would you like to know?
CandidGamera
01-26-2005, 02:00 PM
I explained a lot in my last post, but what else would you like to know?
The last post covers it pretty well, I suppose.
rockle
01-26-2005, 02:25 PM
Eh, why not? Sounds like more fun than working. Count me in. I'm a total newbie, if you need to know that sort of thing.
Aguecheek
01-26-2005, 02:30 PM
Depends on the time commitment involved, but I assume it's not going to take hours and hours out of my life...? I'm in!
Just don't tell my wife!
Johnny Bravo
01-26-2005, 02:34 PM
What's the vehicle for this? A forum of some kind, or weekly-type chats?
Depends on the time commitment involved, but I assume it's not going to take hours and hours out of my life...? I'm in!
The time you put in is entirely up to you. When I played this at a con last summer it lasted from dinner time to a little after midnight, but there were some pretty hardcore players.
I'm not sure what sort of forum we should use, but I'm up for suggestions. What I figured is we can do character assignments, question and answers and both roundtables in this forum. Backroom deals can be made via e-mails, as you might not want to announce your support for a candidate to the whole world. I figure that backroom discussion periods might last a week or two. Hopefully that will give everyone enough time to accomplish what they want without eating into too much personal time. Roundtable discussion will take as long as it takes, and it's up to players to demand that voting begins or insist on further deliberations.
Eh, why not? Sounds like more fun than working. Count me in. I'm a total newbie, if you need to know that sort of thing.
Totally cool that you're a newbie. If you want to bone up on what game play will be like, you might want to watch the movie Elizabeth. Very inspirational for this type of scenario.
Ephemera
01-26-2005, 03:49 PM
Sure. I'm a totaly neophyte but this sounds interesting.
Madd Maxx
01-26-2005, 04:30 PM
I'm in. Just to let you know I haven't done any gaming in the last 5 years or so, but I have not doubt that I'll get into the swing of things quick enough.
Cool, hopefully we'll have enough players to start in a few days.
I just got permission from Columbia Games (http://www.columbiagames.com) to use their materials online.
OK, this note serves as permission to use Harnworld materials online in the succession council.
Grant
I'll be glad to forward the e-mail to any mods that are worried about copyright infringement.
While we try to recruit more people, here are some links you can look at. Note that only the last two are "official" materials. I have not checked the first two for accuracy, but I noticed that the Elendsa page has "votes" listed -- these do not apply to our game, so please disregard them.
Noble familes (http://jasonrobar.com/noble_families.htm)
House of Elendsa (http://jasonrobar.com/royal_house_elendsa.htm)
Map of Harn (http://www.harshlands.net/world/geography/map_of_harn.asp)
Map of Kingdom of Kaldor (http://www.columbiagames.com/cgi-bin/query/cfg/zoom.cfg?product_id=5610)
BraheSilver
01-26-2005, 10:17 PM
Sure, I can spend an hour or two spread out over a week scheming. Time's not really on my side (at least, in concrete chunks) lately, but I'd like to try. I'm also a neophyte, so if my character screams "I can't take this Machivellian hell anymore!" and dives through a window, is that okay? :p
OK, so far we have:
ArrMatey!
rockle
Aguecheek
Aesiron
Madd Maxx
BraheSilver
6 out of 33. We need to recruit more people! We have enough now for 3 bastard sons and 3 Elendsas. Hardly a quorum!
Ephemera
01-27-2005, 09:41 AM
Is this going to be focused on the board itself? I can ask some other online friends if they might be interested but they aren't Dopers.
rockle
01-27-2005, 10:11 AM
We have enough now for 3 bastard sons and 3 Elendsas. Hardly a quorum!
Um ... I might have to be a bastard daughter. Or, whatever. Just in case that detail is important. (I'm willing to play a guy, just wanted to make sure you knew I was a "she" if it matters.)
Is this going to be focused on the board itself? I can ask some other online friends if they might be interested but they aren't Dopers.
Like I said before, I imagined that the roundtable discussions would be on the boards, but I'm flexible on that point. We could try to do everything via e-mail. I'm open to opinions on this. The one requirement is that both councils be public and open to all.
Um ... I might have to be a bastard daughter. Or, whatever. Just in case that detail is important. (I'm willing to play a guy, just wanted to make sure you knew I was a "she" if it matters.)
Oops, sorry -- sometimes it's really hard to tell a person's gender by screen name.
There's always the young and lovely Thilisa Meleken. Or the cunning and cruel Chesalyne the Elder. Or the sexy yet opportunistic Erila Kaphin. All excellent characters.
rockle
01-27-2005, 11:00 AM
Oops, sorry -- sometimes it's really hard to tell a person's gender by screen name.
There's always the young and lovely Thilisa Meleken. Or the cunning and cruel Chesalyne the Elder. Or the sexy yet opportunistic Erila Kaphin. All excellent characters.
No problem, just wanted to let you know. Like I said, I don't care if you want me to be a boy -- I would just like for my character to have shoes. Not so much to ask for, is it?
By the way -- who assigns characters? Do we pick them ourselves? How do we call dibs on a character we like? (Remember, I'm a newbie -- last time I did an RPG of any kind, I created my own character and I died in 10 minutes.)
No problem, just wanted to let you know. Like I said, I don't care if you want me to be a boy -- I would just like for my character to have shoes. Not so much to ask for, is it?.
Normally I don't like it when people play characters across genders, but that's generally because I haven't met many who can do it well. But I think in this scenario no real harm could come of it, so it's up to you. But I just listed three women who are major players in this, so they should be played by somebody.
[/QUOTE]By the way -- who assigns characters? Do we pick them ourselves? How do we call dibs on a character we like? (Remember, I'm a newbie -- last time I did an RPG of any kind, I created my own character and I died in 10 minutes.)[/QUOTE]
I don't know. I was going to assign roles randomly, but within gender boundaries. I could let people choose their own on a first come first serve basis, but I'm afraid that would discourage people signing up at the last minute, as they may not want the "crappy leftover" characters. Also, if we don't fill the 33 player requirement, then we have to fill certain roles before others. As it stands with only 6 players, we'd have to at least cast 1 bastard son, two Elendsas, Cheselyne, and two tenants-in chief. And that would make for a pretty piss-poor game.
I suppose if we don't fill the ranks then I could play one character myself, but I could hardly be neutral then. I was already planning to play something like Marshall of the Guard or Herald Royal, just so I could run the game in character.
As for creating your own character, there's not much to create. Just read a description and start playing.
rockle
01-27-2005, 12:16 PM
OK, so you're sort of the moderator then, right? (I'd say dungeonmaster but I don't know if that's the right word here.) Works for me. If we get to pick characters I know who I would like to be, but I'm OK with being randomly assigned, too. Whatever. I'm pretty darned flexible.
OK, so you're sort of the moderator then, right? (I'd say dungeonmaster but I don't know if that's the right word here.) Works for me. If we get to pick characters I know who I would like to be, but I'm OK with being randomly assigned, too. Whatever. I'm pretty darned flexible.
Who? (For curiosity sake.)
rockle
01-27-2005, 01:26 PM
Who? (For curiosity sake.)
Meliem Elendsa. Seems a fascinating woman, not unlike the characters I tend to love in smutty historical romance novels. She does not appear to be someone to be trifled with.
Meliem Elendsa. Seems a fascinating woman, not unlike the characters I tend to love in smutty historical romance novels. She does not appear to be someone to be trifled with.
Ah, interesting! I wonder how she gets along with her older sister. While Meliem is a true longshot to be queen, she probably has quite a bit of influence in the family.
If you truly want this character, I'm sure a random assignment could be weighted in your favor.
rockle
01-27-2005, 02:44 PM
Really? Take my bribe, please! ;) But if there are other roles that need filling, like I said, I'm flexible.
Really? Take my bribe, please! ;) But if there are other roles that need filling, like I said, I'm flexible.
As long as we get enough players -- and we're nowhere near -- you're good to go.
BTW, can you link to to information on Meliem that you found? I don't know a great deal about her, and I'm wondering if what you found is canon or fan material.
Priam
01-27-2005, 03:09 PM
I'm in tentatively. Still need to check out your background links.
I'm in tentatively. Still need to check out your background links.
I hope you're in. I've been trolling over at snopes for more players, so if you're in, we'll have nine. That's just two short of a third of what we need!
Priam
01-27-2005, 03:51 PM
I hope you're in. I've been trolling over at snopes for more players, so if you're in, we'll have nine. That's just two short of a third of what we need!
I'm not completely sure I understand who all the characters available are, but yeah I'm in.
rockle
01-27-2005, 04:04 PM
BTW, can you link to to information on Meliem that you found? I don't know a great deal about her, and I'm wondering if what you found is canon or fan material.
All I know about Meliem I got from your links above. It never ever occurred to me to, like, Google her or anything, but I might do that later. The only things I know came from the links you provided, so I hope it's the real deal! Still think she's the one I want to be, though.
I'm not completely sure I understand who all the characters available are, but yeah I'm in.
Cool. :)
I haven't listed all the characters yet, but if you go to the "Elendsa" link above and look at the geneology, I think (not positive) that everyone in a red box is a character.
Some of the more prominent characters are:
Maldan Harabor, bastard son of the king, Sheriff of ?(can't remember)
Koris Harabor, bastard son of the king
Tulath Kaphin, bastard son of the king
Troda Dariune, an earl -- arguably the most powerful man in the kingdom
Cheslyne Elendsa -- cousin of the king, a crafty and cunning woman, currently arranging the marriage of her daughter and Troda's son
Conwan Elendsa -- cousin of the king, very favored for the throne
Thilisa Meleken -- ruling an earldom while her husband is missing
Earl Caldeth -- Thilisa's father
Earl Curo -- a corpulent, drunken letch. With a lot of power.
Orsin Firith -- cousin, also very well favored
Edine Kynn -- the archbishop
Erila Kaphin -- King's girlfriend, Lord Privy Seal, mother of Tulath
There are many more, of course, but those are all I can think of, and they are the most important. That's 12, and though I'd like to have 33 players, I think we could play just by filling those roles.
The Mad Hermit
01-27-2005, 05:01 PM
Do you have space for a mad hermit?
I've tried online role-playing but never got very far, mainly because it was done through message boards and email. If there are specific times and guidelines to follow, I'd like to try a chat or IM format.
I think the mad hermit role has appeal- I don't necessarily fit in, but I can relate by bringing dire warnings or obscure information to the plot.
sweetfreak
01-27-2005, 05:07 PM
IHere is the scenario: The king is dead and named no heir to the throne.
Wooooo Hooooo! Finally! I didn't vote for him...errrr...oh yeah. You don't vote for a king!
Anarchists...UNITE! or is that an oxymoron? :smack: :p
Wooooo Hooooo! Finally! I didn't vote for him...errrr...oh yeah. You don't vote for a king!
The ironing is delicious -- the new king will selected by vote! Of course, those that don't vote for him might end up with their heads on pikes...
sweetfreak
01-27-2005, 05:20 PM
The ironing is delicious -- the new king will selected by vote! Of course, those that don't vote for him might end up with their heads on pikes...
Okay then! After I have decapitated everyone else, placed their heads on pikes, I will then become the new king...errr...QUEEN. :D
I may spare one man's life, though. After all, what's a queen without at least one servant? ;)
Okay then! After I have decapitated everyone else, placed their heads on pikes, I will then become the new king...errr...QUEEN. :D
I may spare one man's life, though. After all, what's a queen without at least one servant? ;)
So, are you saying you want to play Cheselyne? ;)
Madd Maxx
01-27-2005, 06:03 PM
Really? Take my bribe, please! ;) But if there are other roles that need filling, like I said, I'm flexible.
Other roles that need filling, huh? Exactly, how flexible are we talking here? Oh and How YOU Doin'? :cool:
All I know about Meliem I got from your links above. It never ever occurred to me to, like, Google her or anything, but I might do that later. The only things I know came from the links you provided, so I hope it's the real deal! Still think she's the one I want to be, though.
All I could find on her online is what little I have in official texts -- she pretty much controls access to the king, and has her finger on the pulse of all things in the royal castle. Pretty powerful, but not very informative. I wonder why she got the position instead of one of her older sisters.
Do you have space for a mad hermit?
I've tried online role-playing but never got very far, mainly because it was done through message boards and email. If there are specific times and guidelines to follow, I'd like to try a chat or IM format.
I think e-mail will be fine for the negotiation phases. For the actual councils, IM would be cool -- and there's a snopester who has offered to hook me up -- but we'd have to agree on a time when we can all play. That might be hard.
I think the mad hermit role has appeal- I don't necessarily fit in, but I can relate by bringing dire warnings or obscure information to the plot.
Hmm, I don't know. A mad hermit interacting with the most powerful people in the kingdom? That's like giving a bag lady keys to the White House, don't you think?
sweetfreak
01-27-2005, 07:18 PM
So, are you saying you want to play Cheselyne? ;)
Hmmm....very tempting indeed. I gotta say, though, I am very green when it comes to on-line role-playing. Also, how often would I be expected to play? I do have a life...when I feel like having one. :p
Hmmm....very tempting indeed. I gotta say, though, I am very green when it comes to on-line role-playing. Also, how often would I be expected to play? I do have a life...when I feel like having one. :p
Not really often. I expect your involvement would be no more than that of a moderately to very engaging thread on this board. There will be two concentrated periods of communication, which might last a couple of hours each, or a couple of days each, depending on whether it's done on IM or e-mail. You'll probably also want to do a bit of research, which might burn an hour or two. I don't expect the game to last more than a few weeks.
As I said earlier, I played this game back in August in real time -- it took about 5 hours. Double that time for typed communications, we get ten hours over 3 weeks. Add another two hours for reseach, it averages out to 12 hours/3 = 4 hours a week, or half an hour per day. Compare this to the time you spend on SDMB each day and see if it works for you.
The Mad Hermit
01-29-2005, 02:45 AM
Hmm, I don't know. A mad hermit interacting with the most powerful people in the kingdom? That's like giving a bag lady keys to the White House, don't you think?
Not if he's a hermit by choice- a disgusted or disgraced former member of the nobility, for example, who has been out of it for a long time. It would make it easier to role-play without having to know a great deal of background infromation at the start, more could be added as needed.
(I was a PnP DM for 20 years, so I have a few suggestions from time to time.)
Not if he's a hermit by choice- a disgusted or disgraced former member of the nobility, for example, who has been out of it for a long time. It would make it easier to role-play without having to know a great deal of background infromation at the start, more could be added as needed.
(I was a PnP DM for 20 years, so I have a few suggestions from time to time.)
It's an interesting idea, and there are certainly some nobles who are not terribly well socialized. I can look around to see who these might be. But what we really need right now is voting members of the councils.
OK, we don't seem to be recruiting anyone else. We have 9 players. I suppose I could both play and GM at the same time, though I kind of hate doing that. And with so few players, the balance is going to be way wacky, but I can try to tweek it a bit.
Looks like we have a few choices:
Play with what we have.
Keep trying to recruit players.
Scrap the idea.
What say you?
Ephemera
01-30-2005, 10:50 AM
I'd be willing to go with whatever you decide.
RobuSensei
01-30-2005, 10:54 AM
I'd say you should give it a few more days to find more people. I say this because this is the first time I've seen the thread, and I'm interested (I think). Is being in a radically different time zone going to be a problem?
I'd say you should give it a few more days to find more people. I say this because this is the first time I've seen the thread, and I'm interested (I think). Is being in a radically different time zone going to be a problem?
OK, why don't we give it until, say, Wednesday or so? Then we can go with what we have. Looking over the characters, I think there is a way I can make it work. With 9 people, we can have 4 claimants, 4 tenants-in-chief, and one bastard. Anyone else who wants to play is just gravy on top of that. It could still be quite the interesting game.
Waiting is also going to give me a chance to do some writeups, as I haven't been able to contact the person with the electronic version. And typing up 9 or 10 characters is way easier than typing up 33!
As for the time zone, shouldn't be a huge issue. I just played Jonathna Chance's Diplomacy game, and I was submitting my moves at a different time than everyone else. It hindered me a bit, but that was largely due to my own laziness.
Two more ideas:
1) I can let people play 2 characters each, probably allies to begin with. But this might be extraordinarlity difficult to pull off.
2) I can troll the Harn MB for players. But these are experienced gamers and they might want to snag the best characters, and my dominate the game.
Just picked up 2 more at snopes, so that gives us, er... 13 players? Far from ideal, but with that we can fill the roles of most major people, and have one rousing fun game! Woohoo!
The original game has quotas for winning, 9 votes for the first council and 41 for the second. I'll just have to adjust these numbers for what we have. Missing members may have been waylaid due to weather, or pressing matters of state, or... Hey, nice new amulet you're wearing! Baron Verdreth has one just like it!
At this point, I'd like to ask all players to e-mail me. My address is nealtoddNOSPAM@comcast.net (remove the "NOSPAM"), with the following information:
E-mail header: "SDMB/snopes Kaldoric Succession Council"
Body:
-Your e-mail address that you'd like to use for this game (will be known by other players)
-Sceen name
-Handle or name, if other than screen name
-Your gender (or gender you'd like to play)
-Preference for position in court (Bastard son, Clan Elendsa, or tenant-in-chief, such as baron or earl) -- No promises, but I will try to accomodate as many wishes as I can.
-Availability
Can I ask what the objectives are:
Is it to become King (one winner)?
To elect your representative as King (shared victory)?
To enjoy the negotiations?
Is it better to stay in character or elect the King (i.e. if an enemy offers me a deal, should I reject it?)
Can I ask what the objectives are:
Is it to become King (one winner)?
To elect your representative as King (shared victory)?
To enjoy the negotiations?
Yes. ;)
Is it better to stay in character or elect the King?
Both, if possible. The number one goal is to ensure a smooth transition of power while somehow increasing your own political power. If you play one of the earls or barons, there is little to no chance you will become king, yet you still have a stake in the outcome. You might consider it a victory if your new liege has promised to upgrade your holdings or arrange a favorable marriage. However, an "Unstable times ahead" result means major concessions to earls and barons, and so could be condidered a victory for the tenants-in-chief, and a pyrrhic victory for the new king. A result of civil war might only be considered a victory for the player who can raise the largest army, but is generally considered a failure for all.
Of course, the main goal is to have fun while staying in character. Even with a civil war result, if all players come back saying "That was a blast! Let's do it again!", then I think that counts as a successful game.
Does that answer your question?
I should give an example of how I tried to achieve a personal victory when I played this: I played the baron of Ternua. Several claimants made promises to me to make me an earl, but I had two better motivations: If the eldest bastard son made a power grab, then he would remember both his friends and his enemies. And he's a ruthless bastard. If the youngest bastard son somehow got the crown, then, well, he's an incompetant boob. He would need to look to advisors for help, and his dear old father-in-law -- me -- would be there to, well, run things for him. So my strategy was to press for recognizing legitimacy and birthright of the sons.
The best parts are starting to fill up, but we still have no Maldan Harabor. Best role in the cast -- sign up now!
MindWanderer
02-01-2005, 10:08 AM
I'll play Maldan if you think someone new to this specific storyline can handle it otherwise I'll take some lesser character.
I've rped quite a bit in muds so I have some experience just would have to learn up about him.
I'll play Maldan if you think someone new to this specific storyline can handle it otherwise I'll take some lesser character.
I've rped quite a bit in muds so I have some experience just would have to learn up about him.
If someone who signed up last week wants to play him, I'd like to make it a lottery or something, but if it's OK with everyone else, then you've got it. The one requirement for this character is an enormous set of brass cojones. You'll need the ability to defy others through sheer force of will. Or, I suppose, you could play him the opposite way.
At any rate, can you send me an e-mail as per above?
MindWanderer
02-01-2005, 12:48 PM
If someone who signed up last week wants to play him, I'd like to make it a lottery or something, but if it's OK with everyone else, then you've got it. The one requirement for this character is an enormous set of brass cojones. You'll need the ability to defy others through sheer force of will. Or, I suppose, you could play him the opposite way.
At any rate, can you send me an e-mail as per above?
I sent the email. If you've got some other characters, I might go with them, not sure how well I'd play that kind of character. Mostly I've played a more reserved style before, but I'm willing to get it a try if no one else wants to.
Some major characters are still up for grabs. Not everyone who has expressed an interest has e-mailed me.
RobuSensei you still interested?
BadBadger
02-02-2005, 06:03 AM
If you still have room, and UK time won't be a prob, sign me up.
tdn - just sent you an email.
If you still have room, and UK time won't be a prob, sign me up.
tdn - just sent you an email.
Got it.
Everybody -- by now you should have all sent me an introductory e-mail. If you haven't now's the time. You should have also received 4 e-mails from me:
Introduction and web resources
Harn background
Character list
Who's picked what characters
As of this writing, there are 12 players and 12 characters -- 8 of those roles have been filled. If any of this does not sound right to you, let me know ASAP!
Madd Maxx
02-03-2005, 07:15 AM
If MindWanderer has already laid claim to Maldan, I guess I'll play Earl Declaen Caldeth, Earl of Vemion.
If MindWanderer has already laid claim to Maldan, I guess I'll play Earl Declaen Caldeth, Earl of Vemion.
Excellent. Great character.
Madd Maxx
02-03-2005, 07:45 AM
Can we get a "official" listing of who is playing what character w/emails (and screennames where applicable) listed? That way we could each printout that list and keep it handy so as to help avoid confusion at first until everyone is familiar with who is who and what not.
Can we get a "official" listing of who is playing what character w/emails (and screennames where applicable) listed? That way we could each printout that list and keep it handy so as to help avoid confusion at first until everyone is familiar with who is who and what not.
I've sent just such a thing out, but I guess you missed the list for some reason. It may take a few days to shake out the bugs.
Send an e-mail to nealtodd@comcast.net and I'll get you up to date tonight.
Just so everyone knows, we lost Arrh Matey! last night. He was playing the Archbishop. I got an experienced player to fill the role, so he won't have much ramping up to do.
I played this scenario with him over the summer, where he played Conwan's sister Udine.
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