Steve Jackson Games - Site Navigation
Home General Info Follow Us Search Illuminator Store Forums What's New Other Games Ogre GURPS Munchkin Our Games: Home

Go Back   Steve Jackson Games Forums > Roleplaying > Roleplaying in General

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 12-18-2009, 11:06 PM   #11
ziresta
 
ziresta's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Augusta, GA
Default Re: What information do you put in a prospectus?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ed the Coastie View Post
Not because I want "kewl powerz"...but because I like being a bit unorthodox for a given setting. (I once played an intelligent chimpanzee who communicated with sign language in a Top Secret game. Only the GM got the joke when I named the character Lancelot Link.)
A bit unorthodox I don't mind. I expect that from my players. What he does is more like come up with the silliest character he can, regardless of whether it fits the campaign. For example, Dravenloft's actress turned mercenary concept just made me ask him for a bit of backstory explaining why she'd had such a drastic career change; this guy though tried to -- in a relatively serious space opera game -- have a character on the same merc team who thought he was Spider-Man, despite the fact that it's set in 2325 and 200 light years from Earth. Dravenloft's character was unorthodox. The other guy's was wrong for the campaign.
__________________
What? Were you expecting something witty to be here?
ziresta is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-18-2009, 11:14 PM   #12
whswhs
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Lawrence, KS
Default Re: What information do you put in a prospectus?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ed the Coastie View Post
Drat! I get a kick out of creating things like a sword-swinging barbarian from a primitive planet in a Traveller game, a mysterious Chinese apothecary (the closest I can usually come to a wizard) in a GURPS Old West game, or a "hacker" wizard (loading up on information magics) in an AD&D game. Not because I want "kewl powerz"...but because I like being a bit unorthodox for a given setting. (I once played an intelligent chimpanzee who communicated with sign language in a Top Secret game. Only the GM got the joke when I named the character Lancelot Link.)
Some of those I might turn down because they'd be off key for the particular campaign, but they mostly don't strike me as inherently objectionable. They show some care to actually make them logical, if unusual, people for the setting.

To give you an example of a point where I begin to have trouble, one of the players in my upcoming Inhuman Space campaign talked about wanting to play an AI in a cybershell. Well, I told him okay, fine. Then he started talking about wanting a full-grade military cybershell, humanoid but outsized, armored, and with built-in heavy weapons. I mentioned that this would have Social Stigma (Monster) in the setting; he was fine with that. So I explained that when the cybershell crossed through customs, it would be stopped and denied entry, or let in with all its weapons systems disabled; it would be reported to its home government; and if its home government didn't allow private citizens to own full military-grade cybershells, its body would be impounded and the AI would be either reprogrammed to install Honesty constraints, or simply wiped as a rogue. That was enough to persuade him to create something less combat-focused. . . .

Bill Stoddard
whswhs is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 12-19-2009, 12:40 AM   #13
Agemegos
 
Agemegos's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Oz
Default Re: What information do you put in a prospectus?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ed the Coastie View Post
Drat! I get a kick out of creating things like a sword-swinging barbarian from a primitive planet in a Traveller game, a mysterious Chinese apothecary (the closest I can usually come to a wizard) in a GURPS Old West game, or a "hacker" wizard (loading up on information magics) in an AD&D game. Not because I want "kewl powerz"...but because I like being a bit unorthodox for a given setting. (I once played an intelligent chimpanzee who communicated with sign language in a Top Secret game. Only the GM got the joke when I named the character Lancelot Link.)
The intelligent chimpanzee would probably get eaten by my viking hat, though even he might be okay in the unlikely event that I were running an absurdist Top Secret campaign. As for the others, they illustrate the point that it's more a matter of characters being suitable to the campaign than suitable to the setting. The Chinese apothecary is an eminently realistic character for the Western setting, and he would be fine for some campaigns. But he would be no more suitable than a Yankee pharmacist if my Western campaign was supposed to be following the exploits of a team of deputy US Marshals in Indian Territory. Similarly, the sword-swinging barbarian is a very plausible denizen of a universe in which TL2 planets are canonical and even the space marines swing cutlasses. But he might not be an appropriate character for a campaign that is supposed to follow the exploits of a team of professionally forgettable Calendar Compliance officers.

It has been a long, long time since I invited players to roll up whatever characters might be in the setting and undertook to contrive a campaign that was suitable for whatever I got. Nowadays I try to get everyone to agree in general terms what the campaign will be like, and to co-ordinate character design with one another and with me so that we all start our collaborative story-telling on the same page.
__________________

Decay is inherent in all composite things.
Nod head. Get treat.

Last edited by Agemegos; 12-19-2009 at 03:46 PM.
Agemegos is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-21-2009, 02:52 AM   #14
Ed the Coastie
 
Ed the Coastie's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Sierra Vista, Arizona
Default Re: What information do you put in a prospectus?

Oh, I'm perfectly capable and willing to create and play characters who would be considered "normal" for a given setting. However, I long ago got tired of always seeing the same stereotypes appearing in game after game -- the Old West gunslinger, the Space Opera ship's engineer with the near-impenetrable accent, or the taciturn and mysterious wizard in a sword-and-sorcery game.

So I got into the habit of creating characters that were setting-legal but still a bit beyond the norm. I always clear my idea with the GM first, though.
__________________
"It's never to early to start beefing up your obituary." -- The Most Interesting Man in the World
Ed the Coastie is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-21-2009, 03:25 AM   #15
Agemegos
 
Agemegos's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Oz
Default Re: What information do you put in a prospectus?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ed the Coastie View Post
Oh, I'm perfectly capable and willing to create and play characters who would be considered "normal" for a given setting.
I never doubted it. And neither do I doubt that you are capable of generating a character who is suitable to the needs of a particular campaign. I'm just pointing out that those two things are not the same. For example, 240-lb couch potatoes are perfectly normal in any American city, but they aren't suitable PCs for a campaign that is supposed to be about the adventures of a SWAT team.
__________________

Decay is inherent in all composite things.
Nod head. Get treat.
Agemegos is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-21-2009, 09:30 AM   #16
Michael Cule
 
Join Date: Jul 2005
Default Re: What information do you put in a prospectus?

What you have here is a player whose idea of fun is different from the GM's.

What you have here is a player who knows how to do one type of character well and keeps on doing that type of character no matter how much the GM may roll her eyes and grit her teeth.

What you have here is a decision:

Can I either:

a) persuade him to do something different this time
b) find some way to work his preferred type of character into my game or must I
c) Say 'This game table ain't big enough for the both of us: you take the high road or I do.'

Your solution, in brief, does not lie in how you lay out your prospectus (important though that skill is).
__________________
Michael Cule,
Genius for Hire,
Gaming Dinosaur Second Class
Michael Cule is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-21-2009, 12:07 PM   #17
DAT
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Idaho Falls, Idaho
Default Re: What information do you put in a prospectus?

I use two levels of prospectus: 1) Initial Adventure Selection Prospectus and 2) Final Adventure Selection Prospectus. The initial prospectus is used for the group to narrow down the adventures they are interested in (from 20+ to 2-5), and the final prospectus is used to select the adventure we will play and develop initial character concepts and ideas. I generally only write up the final prospectus after an adventure has made it on a short list.

Here are examples I’ve used for

1) INITIAL:
Title: Caravan to Ein Arris.
Genre and Setting: A medieval fantasy in an Arabian-Knights flavored medieval setting.
Description: The adventure starts in Lantara. Lantara is ruled by an emperor; the guilds are also very powerful (there is some dispute as to whether the Royal Family or the Merchants’ Guild is more powerful). Lantara has a Tech Level of 3 (Medieval, historically 600A.D.-1400A.D.) and Lantarans consider themselves a scientific, enlightened culture with no superstitions – i.e., no magic. The Lantrai religion is polytheistic; the gods personify activities or virtues (commerce, law, charity, music, etc.). The gods are relatively benign entities. Fanaticism, especially religious fanaticism, is rare and generally not tolerated.
Player Characters: Characters are to be able to gain employment in a caravan as guards herdsmen, scribes, translators, cooks, guides, physicians, laborers, or other hirelings to the caravan leaders and perform important missions.
Mission Statement: Help the caravan get to it’s destination and support the caravan leaders. Caravanning is not without its risks; bandits, highwaymen, and thieves take their toll on the caravans, as do sandstorms, heat, and floods.
Play Style: Cinematic combat action and basic role-playing.
Rules System: GURPS 4th edition, 175 point characters with up to 45 points in disadvantages and 5 points in quirks. Will start with the basic combat system, but may add advance combat system techniques as players become comfortable with the basic system.
Source Material: “Caravan to Ein Arris” by Creede and Sharleen Lambard.

2) FINAL -
Title: Caravan to Ein Arris.
Genre and Setting: A medieval fantasy in an Arabian-Knights flavored medieval setting.
Description: The adventure starts in Lantara. Lantara is a large state occupying the central portion of the continent. Khedris is its capital and the largest city on the continent, with some 300,000 people. The main industries in Lantara are government, tourism, and trade. Common trade goods are the farm products grown along the Kindino River and ore mined in the north. Lantara is ruled by an emperor; the guilds are also very powerful (there is some dispute as to whether the Royal Family or the Merchants’ Guild is more powerful). Advancement in the Merchants’ Guild is by skill and competence (and the ability to survive guild politics, of course).
The Royal Line stretches back many generations; few of the names are remembered by any but historians. One name still remembered is Khedren, a wise emperor who abolished slavery, lowered taxes, and raised the general standard of living. Khedris is named in his honor.
Lantara has a Tech Level of 3 (Medieval, historically 600A.D.-1400A.D.). Lantarans consider themselves a scientific, enlightened culture with no superstitions – i.e., no magic. In rural areas, folk may believe in the “evil eye,” charms, etc. There may be magic in this world, but the characters will not encounter it in this adventure.
The Lantrai religion is polytheistic; the gods personify activities or virtues (commerce, law, charity, music, etc.). The gods are relatively benign entities. Fanaticism, especially religious fanaticism, is rare and generally not tolerated.
Player Characters: Characters are to be able to gain employment in a caravan (see Mission Statement).
• Skills -
Useful skills for the characters to have include: Combat Skills; Desert Survival; Horse Riding; Camel Riding; Animal Handling; Thief skills; Merchant, Performance skills, Diplomacy, Fast-Talk, and Detect Lies.
• Languages -
The local “common tongue” is called Lantrai; it is the official language of the empire. Other languages that might be useful on this trip include Nomic (related to Lantrai approximately as Swedish is related to Norwegian), Yat Ayun (the language of an island kingdom to the south), Shandassa (the language of Mashanda – this is spoken in Ein Arris), and Ayuni Trade Pidgin.
A character who speaks Khedran Lantrai will have a default of Nomic at (Accented) and Ayuni Trade Pidgin at (Broken). Note that the Ayuni Trade Pidgin cannot go above Broken; no matter how smart someone is, he will never be able to translate Shakespeare (or his Lantrai counterpart) into Trade Pidgin, or even do much more than trade and carouse. This language could be written in Ayuni script, but nobody would ever bother; it is only useful as a spoken tongue.
• Patrons -
There are two organizations that may be useful as patrons for local characters, the Merchants Guide and the White Swords:
The Merchants Guild is a powerful force in Khedris. Twice in the past, strikes declared by the Merchants’ Guild have caused a change of emperors, and the threat of a third nearly caused a civil war. The Guild has offices in all Lantrai cities of any size, and conducts diplomacy with similar organizations in other countries. Treat it as a very powerful organization that can give orders but appears rarely – a 10-point advantage.
White Sword is an association of freelance bodyguard, watchmen, and mercenaries. Think of it as a temporary help agency for soldiers of fortune. Members are entitled to wear the “white sword” insignia – some flaunt it, some display it discreetly, some don’t bother. It is a reasonably powerful organization that appears fairly often but cannot order its members – a 15-point advantage.
• Equipment -
Each PC needs personal weapons and his “personal travel belongings.” Armor is certainly possible. However, the weather all along the travel route is quite hot. Normally, nobody wears armor except troops in battle. Plate is absolutely not worn here; even scale and chain are rare. Anyone with Merchants’ Guild experience knows the desert brigands wear no armor at all – not from bravery, but for comfort. Anyone wearing any armor heavier than heavy leather will have a -2 on all reactions from townsfolk.
• Trustworthiness -
When the players make up their characters, it would make sense if one of them were a member of either the Merchants’ Guild (in which case they will be loyal to Halmaro(See Mission Statement)) or White Sword (in which case he is paying them to be loyal). If no one wants to belong to one of these organizations, someone in the party should have Sense of Duty, Honesty, or a good local Reputation. Halmaro will be sending the party on important missions, and he needs someone he can trust! These jobs would not be assigned to random street scum.
Mission Statement: The air is buzzing in the market of Khedris – the great market that stretches from the fishmongers on the shore to Caravan Square. Halmaro the Red – master of the powerful Merchants’ Guild, second in power in Khedris only to the emperor of Lantara himself – is organizing a caravan! And this is no ordinary caravan; it will carry goods and gifts for the wedding of Halmaro’s daughter Kira to Prince Eiru of Mashanda.
The caravan will be huge, even by Khedran standards. It includes 220 camels, 50 horses, 40 head of fattened cattle, and 50 oxen pulling five wagons. The wagons are quite a rarity in a caravan; some of the wedding gifts must be huge!
The word is out that Halmaro is looking for herdsmen, scribes, translators, cooks, guides, physicians, laborers, and other hirelings for the caravan. Many of these will come from the various guilds, but there will be plenty of room for freelancers. Of course, guards will be needed too. Caravanning is not without its risks; bandits, highwaymen, and thieves take their toll on the caravans, as do sandstorms, heat, and floods.
Play Style: Cinematic combat action and basic role-playing.
Rules System: GURPS 4th edition, 175 point characters with up to 45 points in disadvantages and 5 points in quirks. Will start with the basic combat system, but may add advance combat system techniques as players become comfortable with the basic system.
Source Material: “Caravan to Ein Arris” by Creede and Sharleen Lambard.



-Dan
DAT is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Tags
prospectus

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Fnords are Off
[IMG] code is Off
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 05:53 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.9
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.