Addie hasn't been on since October so we'll have to kind of one-side this interrogation and I'll fill in the blanks as needed.

I thank the rest of you who are sticking with us though.

I think we lost Lorenzo also :(

yeah I think we could do with some fresh players so we don't have to rely on NPC's quite so heavily

NPCs are always time-consuming on a GM who has to role-play all these individuals, whereas a player roleplays (1), the PC.

Zombieland originally started as solo story lines and later encouraged/required players to gather together.  Solo-lines can be taxing on the GM who essentially runs a separate game for each player.

Keeping the various players together can have a 'railroad' feel at odd moments but has the benefit of allowing the players to create scenes based off of free interaction with one another.   This naturally places a requirement on the players to initiate and actively work off of one another to create the scenes.

With the right set of players, and a clear understanding of what is expected from both the GM and the players, the game will thrive.   If either side has a different expectation, the game will wither and die.

Before adding new players, make sure you are all looking for the same thing.  Merely looking for 'more posts' which is what many want, is often an oversight that misses who is doing the posting and what type of posts (or how often) they are occurring.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:22, Mon 22 Jan 2018.

Personally I prefer interacting with players than NPC's because you tend to get more spontaneous situations arising (much to the GM's annoyance) which can add an interesting twist to the plot, it also reduces any potential railroading.

I mean I'm happy to create and describe locations and encounters with Zeds and so on so as not to rely on the GM creating every single detail, but on the other hand I don't want to tread on anybodies toes or wind up taking over completely.

what are other peoples thoughts? What style of RP are we after?

My biggest concern with creating random events as a player is messing with whatever over arching plan the GM might have. I'm ok with trying small details but personally I don't want to push the GM into adjusting their plans, and some things may be lost in people looking for what to react too.

I don't mind doing something that causes the Gm to slightly adjust his plans as that could result in something interesting taking place. What I want to avoid is doing something that completely derails the entire plot, which is why I try and keep it to a minimum.

At this point in Zombieland my goal is to have a BASIC skeleton of an idea for the plot. I'll fill in details where needed and point the cast in the right direction, but I like you guys taking some of the minutia into your own hands.

its like, if we all know the rules of the universe, then anything goes within those rules. I don't care what items or zombies or what have you you guys find when you open a door, thats up to you. You all know that "supplies are scarce." that's been established, so within that parameter: go for it.

using this susie thing as an example, I know that Suzie is missing, I know what the resolution to the Suzie story is going to be. (alive or dead or undead) and I know what's going to happen next. (a plot twist.) everything within that skeleton is for you guys to come up with.

Where is Suzie? that would have been Addie's choice. now it'll be yours, whomever answers the question first. (probably the church?) when ou get there, I'll tell you what she looks like or if she's not there. (she probably is.)

Sometimes I have an idea for something to do or a new setting to explore. sometimes it doesn't work (the barn.) sometimes it's a plot line like the St. Louis thing, but the last couple of years it's just been a setting.

I'm trying to get you guys to take some of the burden of driving the story forward. I want you guys to answer the question "what next?" as your characters. somebody thinks we should find shelter, another thinks we should find food. argue it out, make a decision. go for it.

I've got the Lost Boys as a continuing force of antagonism and conflict. that's something that I've sort of pre-planned. I've got Karen's addiction as a continuing source of conflict. And I have an upcoming obstacle for the Caravan to overcome. (a sort of battle.)

Aside from those things I don't have anything currently in the works for you. the rest is kind of up to the characters.

How's everybody else feeling? Is what we're doing working? What do we need? What sorts of things would you like more of or less of from me?

What has been your favourite plot / event / scenario / chapter / scene in the past?

What plot / event / scenario / chapter / scene totally has NOT worked for you? (Be honest, I'm looking for real feedback.)

I like how it's going so far. Just a few questions, along the lines of things getting lost. Would the broken window have been noticeable from the outside? I only ask because Hank did a quick recon around the house before going in with the others, and I assumed not since it wasn't mentioned. And I had mentioned some bodies at the kitchen table. Not saying they had to be bodies, could have been scarecrows or mannequins for all the crazy in the apocalypse, but would that have fallen under something I should have elaborated on?

I liked the before the storm park/bow practice scene, and the standoff. For my relatively limited involvement in the game I think they set up some interesting dynamics for later.

Would have traded Benson for Brady, but that's more of a personal thing.

In reply to Hank Lucion (msg # 802):


1. Benson Bohannon was never intended to be liked, Brady was. So mission accomplished?

2. The details about what Hanks found inside the house are PERFECTLY within what I like to see from you guys. the bodies at the table is a great detail. I don't specifically remember (without peeking) when you mentioned them, so for sure the LONG time delay we're operating on is hurting our attention to detail.

3. the broken window would totally have been spotted from outside. again, I'll blame the time thing for that, I forgot that you scoped out the house first, and to be honest I probably invented that detail months after Hank's inspection.

4a. are you talking about the Industrial Complex? that was where we were before the hurricane. we brought on a bunch of new players, they almost all fucked off within a month or so, if memory serves. we did this whole calm before the storm thing, literally. They got bored I guess. the notable exception is Lorenzo, if I'm not mistaken...

4b. and that was the stand off where Kentucky, Dakota and Atlanta marched up to you and demanded the stuff from the armoured car? That one was a few months in the making. I set it up that somebody heard strange Erie noises in the woods on the highway near the DEA van, and then paid that off as the Lost Boys were following you.

I liked Kentucky's death during that scene. That one was never planned, it just seemed the best dramatic thing to happen. Broke my heart a little. Kentucky was such a victim...

In reply to Dominic Dubreton (msg # 796):

The problems with recruiting new players in Zombieland are:

1. nobody ever sticks around.
2. recruiting is a surprisingly big time commitment.
3. finding a natural way to introduce them into the group. (maybe that's part of the problem?)

John Cobb, Addie, and Kat are our last round of new players. Kat is the only one who is still here.

what are everyone's thoughts on getting some fresh meat in here?


The solution to the NPC's problem was leaving everybody behind at the farm. our Founding Father left what seven NPC's for me when he left... I have two "player characters" in the caravan plus Atlanta and assorted Lost Boys to begin with. So that's a lot of characters for me to write in this format. doing the odd "welcome-to-the-town Shaelas" is no hassle, but our Founding Father ran all of his NPC's like PC's, and that's crazy.
This message was last edited by the GM at 05:18, Tue 23 Jan 2018.

I didn't actually realise that so many of the characters were NPC's until some time later but yeah running that many as characters is too much to expect of someone.

Dominic has designs on finding a semi-permanent home for the caravan so a lot of them could fade into the background as "wandering townsfolk" and leave the players to go out into the field and do the interesting stuff.

As for new players, personally I think having new players would improve the experience as it would provide more interaction within the group. Introducing them naturally could be solved by having them start the game in a separate thread like Hank did and then have them join the main group when we reach a suitable point, otherwise it could take weeks before they're able join us (face it we're not the quickest of posters).

On a side note I love the fact that the drug addict and the paranoid schizophrenic have been left alone to make plans together :D

In reply to The Narrator (msg # 804):

Yes to both. The calm before the storm was the first chance Hank and Tom got to really interact with any of the group in character, and the stand off had a bunch of plot hooks. Kaiden's group vs Caravan, Kaiden vs Karen, Karen's future with Caravan, Tom vs Karen, paranoia vs optimism, potential conflict within The Lost Boys after they saw Kaiden kill Ricky, ect...

For new people it would probably help to let them know the posting rate may not be the fastest around but we make up for it with quality.

My biggest problem as a player has been defining the world. The GMs I played with before this all pretty much had full control of the world and that was what I was used to. I would leave my posts open ended, waiting to see what the result of my actions were rather than dictating them myself. In previous games, if I attacked something the GM decided if I hit. I've just been treading carefully, not used to all the freedom you give us. But that's more of a personal problem and I'll work at it.

As for things to add or things we need, I feel we need more physical and moral conflict in the form of other groups or bandits. We've been in Zombieland for awhile now (almost a year I think but correct me if I'm wrong) and it seems like the group has been lucky enough to only run into a handful of people. This Lost Boy arc could be a good opportunity to introduce the reoccurring theme of bandits/dangerous survivors. Only the strongest or most resourceful have made it this long, plus a few lucky ones. Solo survivors are a rarity as most group up and form their own communities.

As for adding new players, I agree with Dom that new blood could definitely stir the pot in interesting ways. I also agree with the assessment that they should start in a separate thread and be introduced to us later. Depending on how long this Suzie thing takes, we could always run into them at the trading outpost.

Well, our illustrious Narrator seems to have given carte blanche to bringing in combat, and (unless I'm wrong) you don't have to worry about waiting on the GM for results.   This idea of letting the players generate narratives, including combat to create exciting scenes is in keeping with the original start of the game.  Kudos and a big "thumbs up" to The Narrator for empowering all you players!

I'm not really from a Roleplaying background, I'm from a story background, and I'm currently making the transition into script writing in my real life.

with that in mind, I've never thought it was my job, nor (as a player) did I know it was our Founding Father's job to give us "results" of our actions.

Like, if I say "Bohannon swings his axe and kills that zombie. [bloody, gory details ensue.]" that, to me is really just whiting down a complete thought. a complete motion. I couldn't live in a world where "Bohannon swings his axe, hoping to connect with the zombie's skull." was all I was able to do, and somebody else then had to come in and say "the axe hits the skull, the zombie is dead." I don't know where the fun is in that. I like writing. I want to write some stuff here, for fun. I think, by the way you guys write, that you like to write too. so why not give my writers the freedom to write what they want to write?

Maybe that is one of the biggest problems with on boarding new players, is that they just aren't expecting this style? Maybe I need to preface the players wanted with a description of how we write this Zombieland of ours. I dunno.


I want Zombieland to be as fun to read as it is to write. When I read you guys' stuff, I get excited to finish reading it so I can jump in with my reply (when it involves my characters.) I like it when I think a scene is going one way, and then one of you fuckers writes it TOTALLY a different way, and I have to figure out what to do with that. for example (and this is one of my favourite recent ones.)

Two young, scared teenagers are spying on the Caravan, watching a horde of zombies pass by. Dominic comes upon them. they scream "please don't kill us!" and before the words have left their lips Dominic hacks them to pieces with a cavalry sword.

Shit.

Those two were going to be like, central characters in the Lost Boys group. that's why I picked them to send on the mission. But now, Dominic is super conflicted about murdering those kids. Atlanta is even MORE motivated to pursue his war against the Caravan, and all the other Lost Boys are afraid for their lives, and that much more motivated to put an end to Atlanta's war. It was the BEST possible thing to happen in that scene and it was not the thing I ever thought was going to happen. I couldn't have dreamed of that happening. but it did. and it was awesome.

If I wanted to, I could write some Walking Dead fan fiction, all by myself, and make it about Karen and Kaidan's war and have those two going on different adventures with their own groups. but that doesn't sound like fun. the only person who would read that would be me. That's not what I've ever wanted to do here. I don't want this to be a one man show. The WhOLe POINT of this thing, this story, this game of ours is to write it together, for FUN.

I love the world building, and I love my three main characters. The game of it for me is keeping up with what you guys come up with, because I can't, won't and don't want to control you guys. if I dictate to you what you can and cannot do, then it's more like work than fun. I don't want to push other people through a story, just to get it done. I want to make Zombieland together. This is an odd, darkly twisted, fun, collaborative writing game. I want everyone here to contribute to driving the story forward in whatever ways they can.

I'll come up with plot and locations when I can, but if somebody, for example, comes up with a church as the next scene in the susie story, PERFECT! you all have good ideas. do them!

Like I said before, I don't have a master plan for the Caravan. I have one or two plot points to hit, but the rest is up to us to figure out together. like we're on a road trip with our a road map. (that's kind of what our characters are doing isn't it?)

I liked the time when we were at that farm house, and everybody was arguing with Cookie about what to do next. someone said stay, someone said go. she said agricultural books? but our goals were decided in character, in game, and that was pretty cool.

I then derailed it with a HUGE plot point and Major action set-piece with Karen's betrayal and the capture and move to St. Louis, BUT the fun part was the planning before and after that. the what to do now?

I don't know if I have a real point here, just keep doing the good work you're doing. have fun writing Zombieland, don't make it feel like homework, and let's see what we can do together.


_____________


RE: Addie...

do we want to have a convo / interrogation with Addie, since she's gone? do we want to cut straight to the church, we can imply that Dominic and Karen spoke with her, and didn't get any answers from her.

whaddaya think?

we can conclude the susie story at the church. the outcome of this was discussed with Addie a long time ago, she decided what Suzie's fate was. so I'll let you guys know what you find regarding Suzie once you get there.

And then you can return to the trading post, (if that's what you want to do) and I have an idea for something that'll happen upon your arrival. I'll set the scene for you, give you the situation you are dealt, and the outcome will be whatever happens, happens.

Ok, well it looks like there may have been a little miscommunication between us all concerning what everyone was expecting. Personally I'm cool with this system as I'm more of a writer than a roleplayer and can happily work within these guidlines.

I've no problem with killing zombies and generic bad guys using my own imagination, where I would want Gm intervention (for want of a better word) is where Dom decides to kill someone like Atlanta as he is a fairly plot important character, and likewise if a player vs player conflict ever arose.

As far as new players go I think we do need to "warn" people that this is more of a writing based game and that it can have a slow posting rate so people know what to expect.

As for Addie thing, I've cut straight to the church, seems little point in interrogating her if her player isn't around to defend herself.

cool, thanks Dominic.

for sure any character with an name and their own player, or any NPCs with their own feelings and goals purpose should be discussed before murdering....

somebody like Atlanta would be pretty much a PC, while Emerson and Shaela are NPCs. if you really needed to kill poor Shaela you could go right on ahead.

The same goes of zombies and henchmen. if your character can't kill a zombie by now, then you should explore the reason for that in the writing. if they're pretty good at it, then write about that.


I will look at starting to add some new people soon... Not right now, but soon!
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:49, Sat 27 Jan 2018.

This is the beauty of opening the discussion and clarifying before seeking new players.

We all grow together.

Glad it is bringing such good feelings out, and further clarity to our shared gaming experience.

it feels like we're in couples counselling with Doctor SNAKE.

-"I want you to get excited about yer life!"

Ha!

He's hiding an auruborus under the eye patch.

*wink*

*crawls out of my hole*

Hi guys, I live. Going to get caught up in the game (assuming my character didn't croak while I was gone)

edit: GM, would it be possible to get a little rundown on what Lorenzo's been up to, or has he just been off to the side? wanna jump back in but don't want to screw anything up >.>
This message was last edited by the player at 03:00, Sat 28 Apr 2018.

Hey Lorenzo, I think it's going to be pretty much up to you as your character has just kind of floated into the background. For the current situation in the church I'd probably have you checking around outside or something, which would nicely account for why Lorenzo hasn't got "stuck in" yet.

Huzzah, more people, more fun.

Is there any reaction from the other side of the door?

No reaction from the other side of the door.