Mad Dog & Englishmen
Would you like to react to this message? Create an account in a few clicks or log in to continue.
Mad Dog & Englishmen

Wargaming chat and other diversions amongst friends.


You are not connected. Please login or register

It's cold outside, but what kind of atmosphere?

5 posters

Go down  Message [Page 1 of 1]

General Matton

General Matton

Right then.

As Wes and Pete are aware, I've finally got round to writing some more for the Red Dwarf RPG. I think I've now figured out a way that I can write sessions for this much more quickly than what I've done in the past, so my hope is that I can have a few possible adventures ready in advance, and add more in response to what happens during play.

As Kieron and I are aware due to painful experience, RPGs work a lot better when everyone knows what to expect from the game and has a clear idea of the tone of the particular setting. I picked Red Dwarf to help with that since we've all seen the series, but I'd still like to ask a couple of things while I'm thinking about the background to future stuff, and I can change it to try to cover what everyone wants.

Obviously, if you don't have much RPG experience you might not have real preferences. That's fine, I just want to try to avoid things that people know they will hate.

So, here we go with questions. I've put my own answers in italics so you can see what I'm asking.

1) Do you want to play the Red Dwarf RPG? It's ok if not everyone wants to play, really I think I need at least two victims players.

Yes, it'd be weird if I didn't.

2) Would you like the game to focus mainly on combat and pyrotechnics, or on characters and stories? Or would you like an equal mix?

I like there to be a fair bit of story and character in RPGs as that's what they can do that other games can't, but I do want things to occasionally explode. Having the characters struggle to figure out something relatively simple (like how to signal to each other from opposite sides of a wood in the dark) can actually be a lot of fun.

3) How powerful do you want your character to be?

I prefer to have relatively powerless characters, so that it feels like more of an achievement when they accomplish something big.

4) How much danger do you want the characters to be in?

I like characters to have a chance to grow, but also for there to be real risk. I don't like to kill people off left and right (but then it's Red Dwarf, and death doesn't screw your career up like it used to...)

5) Would you prefer a collection of separate episodes or big overarching stories that go on for several sessions?

This'll be hard for me to get exactly right, but I'm thinking separate episodes that are somehow linked together, at least to start with.

http://paintbrushandsuperglue.blogspot.co.uk/

Kieron

Kieron
Admin

1) Do you want to play the Red Dwarf RPG? It's ok if not everyone wants to play, really I think I need at least two victims players.

Yes. The last time was fun and if this works I'd like to get back to GMing at some point.

2) Would you like the game to focus mainly on combat and pyrotechnics, or on characters and stories? Or would you like an equal mix?

I prefer characters, stories and problem solving. I do like a little bit of fighting, but too much becomes a dice rolling fest.

3) How powerful do you want your character to be?

In Red Dwarf, feeble. In other games, depending on the genre, powerful enough to capture the right feel, but weak enough that enemies are a challenge.

4) How much danger do you want the characters to be in?

I want the danger to stick. I don't want to have to create a new character repeatedly, I'd like them to survive for a good while. But I want death to be a real threat - with NO resurrection or deus ex machina.

5) Would you prefer a collection of separate episodes or big overarching stories that go on for several sessions?

Shorter stories to begin with. I don't want to commit to six years of campaigning. Also, I'd potentially like a turn of GMing.

https://maddogandenglishmen.forumotion.co.uk

General Matton

General Matton

Excellent, glad someone answered this, I was feverishly refreshing the page every 14 seconds. Good answers!

If we're really lucky, the others will agree with you about everything...

http://paintbrushandsuperglue.blogspot.co.uk/

Pyphoros

Pyphoros

My only RPG experience thus far is the DnD group i playwd with when i had the club running at Aston (the same guys from my Stag Don't) so its a bit limited. However, when Pete mentioned Red Dwarf the other week I nearly urinated a whole kidney right out in excitement so I'm in!

1) Do you want to play the Red Dwarf RPG? It's ok if not everyone wants to play, really I think I need at least two victims players.

Yes. Hell yes. IN CAPITALS.

2) Would you like the game to focus mainly on combat and pyrotechnics, or on characters and stories? Or would you like an equal mix?

I agree, it should be about characters and development, but I like things to still feel like a game rather than one-upping each other at story telling (if that makes sense?)

3) How powerful do you want your character to be?

Again, it's Red Dwarf so we SHOULD be more or less incompetant but dumb luck and prayers can't be the ONLY plan.

4) How much danger do you want the characters to be in?

If we die: Oops. Better hope there's a hologram slot going spare. Or senseless time travel with duplicate selves and catastrophic paradox. Theres generally a way out without cheating and always involving more fun and danger, dont be scared! Remember, episode one kills the entire cast and then reinstates Rimmer purely because he's a twat.

5) Would you prefer a collection of separate episodes or big overarching stories that go on for several sessions?

Short stories are fin, and you feel you've achieved something at the end of an evening. That doesn't mean you can't subtly hide ENORMOUSLY IMPORTANT plot devices in plain sight to tie sessions together. I like Doctor Who, that's pretty much the MO these days. Plus a "Series Finale" would be a cracker to play I reckon


Anyhoo, that's my opinion, for what its worth

Http://mikesbrushwork.Tumblr.com

Kieron

Kieron
Admin

Pyphoros wrote:Again, it's Red Dwarf so we SHOULD be more or less incompetant but dumb luck and prayers can't be the ONLY plan.

We had a plan last time. Split up, cover more ground. Worked fine. Apart from Wes losing a leg. And Pete dying (he did die didn't he?).

I also had another plan. Hit things with my pokey stick. That worked well too. Apart from the hull breach.

https://maddogandenglishmen.forumotion.co.uk

Pyphoros

Pyphoros

Did Pete run to the exit alone again and wait for it all to be over?

Http://mikesbrushwork.Tumblr.com

General Matton

General Matton

I wrote up the first session when we played it:

http://paintbrushandsuperglue.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/red-dwarf-rpg-starting-at-end.html?m=1

It was Wes' hand, not his leg - forgot about that!

http://paintbrushandsuperglue.blogspot.co.uk/

Too Cool For Forum Guy

Too Cool For Forum Guy

1) Do you want to play the Red Dwarf RPG? It's ok if not everyone wants to play, really I think I need at least two victims players.

Sure, it was fun last time.

2) Would you like the game to focus mainly on combat and pyrotechnics, or on characters and stories? Or would you like an equal mix?

I'm not really sure, the two times we've done RPG stuff we've mostly skipped the story bits to go straight to combat so I'd appreciate some focus on characters and story, though for the moment at least I think it's easier to get going if the characters have something to react to, rather than "You're all sat in a space bar, arguing, GO!", not that we've done that but I know it's a part of this RPG stuff. Plenty of action is good, though maybe a little less of the John Wayne style antics Pete's character displayed last time, although he mostly just got lucky with dice rolls.

3) How powerful do you want your character to be?

I think Red Dwarf pretty much mandates that all the characters should be relatively useless, so pretty much as powerful as the people sat round the table playing the game. Smile

4) How much danger do you want the characters to be in?

Well in the TV Series I think the characters are almost always in a situation which could slightly wrong and end with their deaths, yet it always feels like they're going to find a way out. So, that much danger.

5) Would you prefer a collection of separate episodes or big overarching stories that go on for several sessions?

I suppose it depends what constitutes an 'Episode', if last time could be classed as an Episode then a couple more stories of that length would be good. Especially given how gaming sessions are down to one a week at the moment.

Overall I haven't really done enough RPG'ing to properly answer most of these questions, but I've enjoyed the couple of times we've done it so I'd like to do some more sessions of it.

General Matton

General Matton

Pyphoros wrote:My only RPG experience thus far is the DnD group i playwd with when i had the club running at Aston (the same guys from my Stag Don't) so its a bit limited. However, when Pete mentioned Red Dwarf the other week I nearly urinated a whole kidney right out in excitement so I'm in!

So you're a bit keen then? I'll send you a PM about characters.

I've already worked out with Wes what his character will be.

The plan was for Kieron to be the last survivor from the first session, and Pete to play a hologram version of his character. Are you both still ok with that (assuming you still want to play Pete)? If not we can work something else out, but I do want a human in there somewhere.

http://paintbrushandsuperglue.blogspot.co.uk/

anomander2112

anomander2112

Haven't done a long answer as have been at work, so here it is:

Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees!

And didn't I die space surfing a nuclear rocket?

P.S. house is definitely sold now...

General Matton

General Matton

anomander2112 wrote:Haven't done a long answer as have been at work, so here it is:

Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees!

And didn't I die space surfing a nuclear rocket?

P.S. house is definitely sold now...

Wes did rocket surfing. It somehow seemed to him like a good idea at the the time. The whole ship was nuked later though. You need to all be killed off, after all...

Are you ok with being a hologram? You'd be starting as soft light, so that will be different.

http://paintbrushandsuperglue.blogspot.co.uk/

anomander2112

anomander2112

Fine by me

General Matton

General Matton

Jolly good show! Ok then. I think I can have this ready to start next week, if I've got more time I can prepare more options in case you do something really unexpected.

http://paintbrushandsuperglue.blogspot.co.uk/

Sponsored content



Back to top  Message [Page 1 of 1]

Permissions in this forum:
You cannot reply to topics in this forum