This is the thread for discussion of Doulos' game world.  Is it fun, stupid, weak points, strong points, etc.?  This is not just limited to Doulos and PT, btw.

PT

I forgot that was supposed to be Derek.  Sorry.

The other duplicate post, please ignore.  My computer was not doing its job properly.

PT

Well I have to admit it's a bit of a shame that Derek got toasted at the end there.  I think it would have been very interesting to see what could have happened had he had the chance to go back to 2008.

It was tough playing a character who didn't really know that he could be killed at any moment.  On the one had I had to assume that Derek didn't know much about the world he had been dropped into but on the other I had to assume he was smart enough to figure out that he had to watch his step/tongue as much as possible.

It was too bad that I didn't have a chance to try and be stealthy for a little bit longer, I must admit I didn't really understand what was going on when I snuck into that room and took a look at the viewfinder thing at the start.  And I felt at that point my best option was to simply turn myself in and see what happens.  It seemed to make sense given that Derek probably wouldn't have known that he was just starting a long road of jumping between Worlds, and likely thought he had either just ended up somewhere wierd, or worst case, jumped through time in a freak occurence.

Overall, it was a really fun world, I had a lot of fun trying to figure out a way to get out of the system without being killed and it looked like I had almost found a way.  I think most players would have a good time being run through a world like that.

Yes, perhaps I should have dropped you into a less secure location than a military base.  Although it certainly gets teh point across quickly...

Right now, I'm running you through another one of the Grim Futures settings from the GF download which I don't yet have permission to publish (and it may find some burnishing useful as well especially on one world which was problematic--not either one you've been too.)

Playtesting for me pointed out that I needed to write up some details on what it was like to live in this totalitarian with good intentions society.  And I definitely need to cover what happens if the PC surrenders himself (which many PC would do).

PT

I was wondering what signficance Black Box had?  Was it something I didn't discover about the world or just an unrelated name for the world?

I believe it was because the people running the world liked to put their tech in "black boxes" or devices which makes it hard to understand how the device actually works so that you can't independently duplicate teh device, or find another unapproved use for the device.

But, I did not even brush on that in the game, and I'd forgotten it.  If I'm remembering right enough now, that is.

"Fimbulwinter" should be pretty easy to figure out as to the reason for its name.

PT

I was thinking that this might be a fun world to drop 3 or 4 people into at once.  They would have to work together to try and stay alive.  They wouldn't have the luxury of saying they had been plucked out of time because in Black Box they would certainly be seen as a threat to security if there was more then one of them.  What would likely happen is that one by one they would be killed, could be interesting.

If several people who all knew what was going on were sent into a world like this then things could get really interesting, especially since they would all have extra skills, abilities from previous worlds and could possibly really make inroads into the society.  It would be interesting.

Well, Doulos, I'd be glad to see you run it, and I could when you were getting ready email you a copy of what I've written up for it.

You could gather new players at RPOL, but you'd have to send them through some other worlds first to get those extra skills.

You could run it as a tabletop, and then tell me how it goes.

You could talk to some of the other players in this game like Shadow, Hesu, Malachai, Tornad, and Rob and any others about your running a gather world (which is basically what you are talking about).  I'd be happy to support this, but it might be a while before it got going as none of them are at the point of versing out (although it can happen really quickly as you well know).

You could wander over to Gaming Outpost where we have a small band of experienced players and pitch the idea to them. gamingoutpost.com  .  Most of them are in the midst of worlds as well, but something might be able to be worked out.  We have a bit of a shortage of gamemasters over there anyways. I like this idea the best if it could work out.  Poor MJ, the moderator and game designer is a bit overloaded.

Although most of them would definitely fit the "extra skills" bit.  But you're a very good writer, and should do fine.  And MJ would be there, as well as others to 'keep your back' on rules issues.

PT

Ok I've been checking out Barnes and Noble and a couple other sites for the books on this.  Which books would you say are essential to running this game?

Just the Rules book or would getting the Worlds book be needed as well?  I am going to keep trying to find a cheaper edition online as the ones I have found so far are going to cost me $50.00+ Canadian to purchase (for the Rules book anyways).  I am sure I can find it cheaper then that (or at least I hope so)

I've found it as low as $17 (US), but the site only accepted electronic payment which I'm not set up to do. So I'm waiting on my sister for some help in getting it.

Oh, the idea of participating in a gather interests me, but I'm not a military minded person. Heck, I'm not even trained as an attack dog. I'm a household pet. The parts of the Black Box Imperium that we saw in Derek's adventure did not look like a place I would want to visit.

Essential? The Rules book.  That is one of the design guidelines the authors agreed to.  They did not want to make a continual new 'you must buy this book plus this book plus ad infinitum in order to have teh complete set of rules'.  Instead, they tried to make it so that everything you needed was in the Big Black Book as I call it.  That is, the Rulesbook.

The First and Second Book of Worlds are settings that you can use, and as such examples to help, but not essential.  They have some really nifty ideas in them that will help you a lot, but I'd assume anyone here could make their own worlds without too much difficulty.

I'd heard the B&N site had it for 22.95 or thereabouts, but I didn't check as I already owned it.


As to Tornad's comments, well, 1)you can learn to be--if you want 2)You might well pick up some stuff or skills that would be highly unusual and useful  at teh Library. 3)You might end up taking Gandhi's passive resistance techniques to overthrow them 4)Perhaps you can find a way to eliminate their somewhat justified fears (if you do come up with such a technique I would personally be very interested because I think Black Box is a little too plausible as a future).

PT

Alright then, I'll keep looking.  I've never purchased any roleplaying resource before, mainly because I usually only play in games where the system is clearly set out for me and I don't need to.  However, the more I play this system the more I enjoy it and I really could see myself GM'ing it.

Good to know that all I 'need' is the Rulebook.  The Worlds books are not all that expensive otherwise, but they would likely be a later purchase if I felt I needed them.

Tornad,

Isn't the prospect of being thrown into a world that is way over your skill level fun?  No?  Okay maybe it's just me then! :)

try going to the worldbuilders section on the WoTC message boards. you can put your ideas there and people will help you expand. and it's not just dnd, there can be anything in your world that you make. heck, you could make a world were the sky is white and the grass is red.

Well, for the time being until I get the main rulebook, I did a little timediving and retrieved the 'Multiverser Simplified Evaluation Version' from before Valdron's website was lost.

Shadow, I think you'll find considerably weirder than that in the Multiverser World Books.

Playtester

I've head over to gamingoutpost and taken a look around.  Will take a bit of getting used to (the format I mean)

Took me a bit to get used to the format over here.  I didn't realize for a bit that you had to let players have access to your game before they could post.

PT

Been waiting for the email from the website so that I can officially join the discussions and been wading through some of the games etc that are being played there with the Multiverser system.

It's quite the system and really you could play the same character forever and never get bored with it.  One world could keep you occupied for years if you had a good GM and a player that was creative in their goals etc.  I am liking this system more all the time.

Oh something I just thought of regarding Black Box.

At one point my partner was speaking to Derek in code, squeezing my hand to communicate to me.

"Then he starts holding your hand as he leads you off to teh cafeteria having ended the training session quicker than normal.  This hand-holding, he does in a way that you have seen others do as they walk.  And he starts telling you a rambling story. Every so often, he squeezes your hand."

This seemed a little odd to me, because I figured if I, as a newcomer to the society, noticed others doing this hand holding, then wouldn't the 'power that be' also have noticed this and put a stop to it?

The PTB can "read" it.  It offers a supposedly secure means of communication that is not realy secure, so the PTB can eavesdrop on their subjects.  I'm not going to tell you more because I might drop you back into that world.

PT

Ah alright, just wasn't sure whether you had thought about that  But of course you had!

Or I can make it seem like I had. :)

PT

Good to have you back Doulos.  Even some of us newbies remember your past exploits with fondness...  :)

This is another interesting world that I wouldn't mind ending up in, either solo or as a gather world.  An interesting alternate world with time travel and psionics... yum.  :)

I haven't gone all the way through the back threads yet, and I haven't peeked at the various gamingoutpost.com threads.  Did this world ever get used again?

No, it hasn't.  Might be a good world for Krillis to run.

I think you could run it three ways. 1)Totalitarian world--with a novel excuse for jackbooted thugs for the hero to fight. 2)Try to understand and help the world. 3)Get your own jackboots...they look really spiffy.

Doulos was faking #3 and trying for #2.

PT

This was a crazy fun world to be in, partly because it was the first time I played here, but also because it seemed to entirely lethal when I first entered it and that's what I was really hoping for.