Guest Balladore Posted October 27, 2001 Report Share Posted October 27, 2001 Alright, I've been wanting to start an RPG for a while now, and I think lots of us should get involved (its so much more fun that way), but I have no idea how to start it. Any suggestions would be awesome, and I hope we get an awesome thing started. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peredhil Posted October 27, 2001 Report Share Posted October 27, 2001 I'm not sure about on-line RPing, but... 1) Create a setting. Fantasy? Science-Fiction? Apocolyptic? Modern with a twist? 2) Determine the Main NPCs (Non-Player Characters) with whom the people will interact. 3) 'Explore' the setting. Where do we start? What are in the surrounding area? Any direction people move, have a rough idea what's there. 4) If there are obstacles such as aliens, monsters, evil tyrants, etc, where do they live? What is their culture and ecology? Do they have any cultural blind spots that might trip up a traveling party? (no spitting on Weirdsday, or such.) 5) Are there any legends in the area? Artifacts? These don't have to be magical or powerful as long as they're important to the locals. 6) who are the PCs (Player Characters) and why or how are we here? For example: The small village of Turberlin lies nestled in the Turber valley, between outthrust arms of the Nader Hills. The village ekes out a precarious living by farming and some trade with other villiges of the Greenwille Kingdom. Lord Greenwille lives four days along the trail that winds to the south, in a ramshackle donjon. Every fall, the village must send a cart of vegetables and grains to the castle, and four strong men must stay a week working on improving the keep. There is a military Outpost that always has two men-at-arms in it, and houses the mounted patrols that randomly sweep the kingdom. There is gold and silver back in the Nader Hills, and treasure hunters use Turberlin as a staging area. Trappers and wood-cutters band together and make forays up into the hills, again staging from Turberlin. This is enough to support a small store. Once a year, the merchant caravan sweeps through in the spring. Bandits and rogues abound along the roads making travel chancy. The hills are home to a large number of Orcs and Goblins (also known as grae-orcs, or lesser-orc), Trolls, and Ogres. The King doesn't know it, but the town is under the protection of an old brown dragon named Arglespath. In return for a tithe of their grain, made into porridge 4 times a year, he keeps the monsters away from the town. Arglespath is very afraid of the King or adventurer's finding out about him and trying taking his old head as a trophy. During the Spring Planting and the Fall Harvest, Arglespath watches the village children too young to help in the fields. The Village is run by a retired Druid who has moved to town to ease his arthritis. He rambles a bit, but has many curious bits of knowledge. He is helped in day to day affairs by Rutherford, a retired Mage. Rutherford travelled widely in his youth, but came back to Turberlin to be near his family. There are rumors that the King needs more Guardsmen, but wants experienced fighters. The Druid wants a silver sickle, but is looking for something special. The Trappers say the fur has never been so thick, which means a harsh winter is ahead. Lately, the Ogres have been enslaving and organizing the Orcs, which bodes well for no one in the area - the name GristleEar as the head ogre has been turning up even among the human folk. Arglespath is beginning to loose the last of his teeth. Occasionally he's had to try two or even three of his breath weapons to stop graeorc raiders. The Caravan is over-due by a week. The Adventurer's start in Turberlin, having arrived: a) as treasure hunters seeking gold or mercenaries seeking hire or c) a party seeking one of the olders or d) locals wanting to adventure and get experience and/or money to travel/join the Guard/pay a dowery e) etc. Just start somewhere, and free-association, constantly asking, 'Why?' I'm not sure how well it adapts to online play, but that's one way to build something for live RP. Hope this helps. -Peredhil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gyrfalcon Posted December 25, 2001 Report Share Posted December 25, 2001 *Gyr pokes this up to the top and wonders if a DM-oriented person would like to try this?* If you need a good system for gaming, Arawn managed to get a RPG-sort of thing pretty far before he left for his writing career (or whatever). Peredhil: I would *so* love if I were in the same area as ye- this sounds like a good starting campaign. =) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozymandias Posted March 31, 2002 Report Share Posted March 31, 2002 Don't let this die off, Honored Druid! Having read what I've read of yours, I am ITCHING to roleplay in something you DM. If you need any other hints: Know thy system! That's how a DM can screw himself most easily. Know the rules of reality, society, and nature. Not inside and out, necessarily, but to begin with, you need at least an outline of the above. Know thy clever ideas! Even if they're not all yours (hey, do they *have* to be? Naaaah.), know/have an idea of what specific "tricks" you want to pull- plot twists, unique places, unique itmes, people, etc. Don't fret if you don't end up using everything you come up with. The name of the game is fun, non? A related tip- Stephen King designs his characters fully for every story he writes, covering literally every detail there is to know about them, even if he uses only the barest fraction of that whole person in his work. DM, you *don't* need to do that! But dropping yourself into your characters' POVs is bloody useful. Improvisation, if you will. But with consistence. Know thyself! Know all of the above, and don't worry if you A) Do a lot of plagiarising B)Use only your ideas you deem "second-rate" C)Have your story warped, twisted, bent and otherwise mangled by your players After all, one of the best judges of any artist's work is his audience. For artists tend to be woefully over-critical of their work. ;>) It all depnds on the voice you add, or how much things *can* mean, and well, how much everyone's enjoying it! Game! Game! Game! Game! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ArawnD Posted May 1, 2002 Report Share Posted May 1, 2002 I hate to see this die, as it's lat post was a month or more. But I had started and RPG long ago on the AM boards. and my friend is currently trying to revive it. If you are still interested in creating a RPG you might want to take a gander. The system he's using is modified from D&D. Outlines the rules and sysem. My original story Best wishes with yours. The Mad King Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Balladore Posted May 4, 2002 Report Share Posted May 4, 2002 Although revenge is operating again, I could do another one if people wished... ? I suppose I could come up with some storyline... I don't know, it's up to you people... Revenge is doing pretty well, but like I said, if enough people wanted, I could DM/GM another one... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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