Yeah, I was looking at it as an author and as a gamer.

Author: Your protagonist group is most interesting if they present a contrasting unity of opposites. Conflict is what drives all story, and by imbuing characters with opposing traits you guarantee organic conflict.

Gamer: A well-planned group provides full coverage of abilities. Further, as GM, you can make sure that characters share the spotlight, that nobody dominates, and nobody is superfluous.

It also gives you a chance to discuss and nail down player expectation.

I see the point. However, there is also the part about the novel being based on people hired for their skills, and there would be an outside and real influence preventing overlap of same. I had a gaming group, two guys accidentally picked the same name. They were both going to change it, but I made them keep it. It worked great, they got nicknames in the first couple posts, and that led to everyone in the team getting nicknames, which wouldn't have happened otherwise.

I guess all I'm saying is, being true to the character, even if there's overlap, isn't a bad thing. I do agree, it's wise to discuss what's what, if you can, but it shouldn't be an over riding priority. I've had a game where 2 of us were snipers, it worked fairly well. We had enough diversity in other things, and areal nice long-range capability. We ended up softening almost every target before they even saw us. (I'm sure the GM threw extras in to compensate, though.)

Well, I think that's what jmurrell was going for. He wanted people to discuss characters as a group before anyone came up with solidified ideas, so that you didn't have to compromise to fit in; you could come up with a character concept that fit what he was looking for from the start.

I'm just speculating here.

I think you missed my point; I like player-blind character creation a lot better. There would not have been 2 snipers in that game, and we would probably have rarely used the skill, if we had collaborated ITFP. Likewise, the two guys would have had different names and good, fun, RPing would have been bypassed.

Granted, you need to have the bases covered, but I prefer the GM answering questions like, "What do we need still?" or "Is the combat role filled yet?" I know it's a lot more vague than what the goal of this is, but I guess I just adapt as a GM, if no one knows how to pick locks, I either don't lock the doors or let them have explosives. Generally, I don't alter things much if there's a way for them to succeed, they need to figure out maybe, but modifying things like that eliminates the need for ensuring every skill is covered, and there isn't any overlap. It's not as realistic in one sense, but then neither is getting a diverse group of people together, whose skills happen to exactly mesh perfectly.

It's definitely a question of style, and there are a lot of questions and assumptions that go into it. I prefer blind-character creation myself - RPOL has a broad enough character base that you can pick and choose what works best.

And it comes down to what's most important to you: emulating what's "realistic", telling a cohesive story, or making sure that everyone - GM and players - has fun? There's no right answer, simply because every player and GM has a different idea of what fun is.

From what I've read in jmurrell's game instructions, near as I can tell, he's focused on the narrative experience. Nothing wrong with that, if that's what you like.

The concept of a highly trained group of professional investigators working for the CDC who were not hand picked based on complimentary skill sets is ridiculous. Equally so the idea that such a team would be unfamiliar with one another's capabilities.

I imagine jmurrel sitting in his room looking at the empty cast list, sobbing. "All I wanted was a nice game"

So I've only been here a few days, granted, but during that time I've watched this thread and I can't figure out why it's called "Game Advertising" if you're basically arguing about... not-that.

Anyway, my two cents: why not start a new thread (since it's clearly a topic of interest to a number of people)? That is all. I leave you to your regularly-scheduled debate.

We're discussing a game advertisement.

This is a pretty low-traffic board. There's an occasional rule question, and a game idea posted, but pretty far in-between.

Agreed.  This would probably be better if it were in the Lounge, since this thread is mainly for game ads.  =)

That said, go join jm's game!  He's good people.  =)

I've been down with the flu, or I'd have responded earlier, and this may be a bit choppy.

Clearly people are thinking I want more than I am expecting. So I have redone the RTJ. link to a message in another game

And to clarify, each player designs his own character, but only after agreeing to a particular role. Tortuga had it right in post#341. And here:
I hope to do all three, though I would say contrast rather than conflict between characters.

The interesting thing is I used the same request back when I did In Her Majesties Service. I had way more requests than I needed, no one complained about the process and we ended up with four very interesting characters.


And thanks Mick.

It's the 1930s, Capone is in jail, Edison is dead, and Hitler is Chancellor of Germany. Little does the world expect that humanity's future is set to take a very strange turn, and it's all John Dillinger's fault! When superhuman powers begin to manifest, will you be able to maintain some semblance of a normal life during the Great Depression?

link to another game

The year is 2000 BC, your tribe has lived in the harsh northern hills for years. Hunting, gathering, raiding southern tribes and trading stories. But you are not satisfied with this life, you wish to visit the places told in stories for yourself.

link to a message in another game

In reply to Zoncxs (msg # 351):

Point level?  I see what you have put up - not sure how one plays a 7 year old, but sounds interesting.

In reply to otghand (msg # 352):

Point level will vari, you start at age 7 and from there you create your character,playing out the years with each post till you are 14. By the end of that you would be somewhere near 120 cp.

In reply to Zoncxs (msg # 353):

I am in the game and it is interesting. I have never developed a character like this, so it is different. I would suggest taking a look.

This message was deleted by the player at 19:23, Wed 19 Mar 2014.

This message was deleted by the player at 20:43, Sat 22 Feb 2014.

This message was deleted by the player at 19:23, Wed 19 Mar 2014.

I've got two ideas, both with the word "Dog" in the title. Let me know if either appeals.

Dog Eat Dog
Cyberpunk game. Early TL 9. You were hotshot corporate execs until you came out on the wrong side of a corporate power struggle, and now you've been left out in the cold. Fired, blacklisted, and on the streets, you have to learn a new trade, an illegal trade, to survive.

Avast Ye Space Dogs
Space game. Players are mundane modern humans about to become space pirates through PLOT reasons. Giving away more would be, well, giving away more.

I'd play that cyberpunk game

I could see starting that out with the players' rise in the company engaging in different sorts of power plays, possibly illegal, and using mercenaries to sabotage their rivals until their schemes caught up with them and sent them crashing to the streets.

In reply to Tortuga (msg # 358):

My favourite would be the space pirate scenario. The premises sounds intriguing, and you don't get nearly enough space based Gurps.

In reply to Just a Pilgrim (msg # 361):

I have been running a DF game for some time now, called Northport. The game is a revival
 of a 3e 100pt game I ran by that name back in 2002 over in playbyweb. All standard
races and templates accepted, 250-50-5. Builds from DF15 are liked as well, especially
For those who want to multiclass, spend heavily on race or allies.
Setting is quasi-mediaeval France, if the Netherlands were Slavonic, and Northport is a
city built over a megadungeon. Membership in the Adventurers Guild (a perk) is
mandatory, but useful, as it allows for drop-in party formation without heavy backstory
building.."the six of you have been recruited..."

I think I played in that game... It's been gone quite a while, but I can't recall much. Were you the one who made some nice graphic maps?