Like I said, you'd have to dig a bit.   The short version is that it's a televised version of dungeon crawling; which would make a potentially good flavor for a non-standard fantasy game.

Edit: I'm really interested in what you consider Cross-Genre; partially because if you mean "Gunslinger" equals "person who uses gun" then you could be talking anything from a 15th century soldier from one of the Eastern countries to a powered armor wearer from a space opera setting.
This message was last edited by the user at 01:50, Sun 20 Feb 2022.

Some options:

- Colonial Marines (from Alien movie franchise).
- Greek/Roman myth hero (Perseus, Hercules, Thesueus, etc.)
- immortal from Highlander franchise (you can only use a sword and can only be killed by being decapitated).
- modern day special forces soldier.
- Plucky kid with no weapons but loads of moxy (Goonies, etc.)
- Cyborg (e.g a Terminator).
- Anthropomorphic animal (Scooby, Zootropolis, etc.)

V from CP 2077, which I think the tabletops broadly categorize as a "solo"?

That sounds limiting.  So you'd toss out Players who wanted to play a German WWII Trench Soldier who decides that they don't want to go home, that no matter how bad things are in fantasy dungeon land, the Eastern Front was worse?  Or the Vietnam Ranger who decides to stay and save the village of 'weird looking short people' instead returning to a war where they have burn those villages down?

I readily admit that there's obviously a vast variety of role-playing challenges inherent in "person who uses gun" ...but how different would they be game-mechanic-wise, really?




1. Tempting... It'd have to be just the right sort of person, though...
2. Even more tempting, actually...
3. I think it'd be awesome to have a representative of the Kids on Bikes genre... but how would they avoid getting killed?
4. Hmm, maybe... but see #3...

You mean what system?  I can't say I had thought it through that hard.  I was just imagining something like:

Pradempter snaps a mirror on the end of his multi-tool and extends it beyond the corner so he can see peek down the hallway without exposing himself.  "Oh my, oh my," he mutters softly, as flips down an infra-red lens, then swaps it for one that adjusts ultra-violet light into the visible spectrum.  "The contents of that creature's esophageal bladder has an energy density in the thousands!  I daresay that the fluid would spontaneously ignite when exposed to oxygen.  Weaponized expectoration ... fascinating!  We must avoid, at all costs, being spat upon."
This message was last edited by the user at 17:52, Sun 20 Feb 2022.

The general theme makes me think of Popup Dungeon (CRPGish, not tabletop), which does a similar kitchen sink thing with characters.

Is the focus meant to be more on the dungeon crawling and the particulars thereof, or is it meant more for the fish-out-of-water drama? The latter is a lot more forgiving in terms of characters brought in, while the former has to pay attention to their actual capabilities (not just combat-wise - being able to survive in a hostile/unfamiliar/low-resource environment counts too).

I'd suggest taking inspiration from  BESM D20. One of their class is the Student, a kid from a normal world with no obvious powers. Their 'powers' are mostly being cute and friendly, making it easier to either befriend those they meet (or getting foes to ignore them), as well as being very lucky.

As a side note... if you plan on using D20, BESM would be worth checking out for other options, like the Mecha pilot, Sentai character, or Magical Girl.

No, I meant what source material? Your favorite example of the steampunk genre?



Syrris: Both. And yeah, the second part's harder.




Yeah, that's what I was thinking



Nah, just homebrewing.
This message was last edited by the user at 17:55, Sun 20 Feb 2022.

In reply to shapeshade (msg # 9):

Nobody died in the Goonies! I guess those characters have a massive Luck score, just managing to escape from all manner of scrapes.

And anthros are no more likely to die than a human character. They may have specific skills due to their racial origin, and can use tools/weapons/armour as well…

I guess the problem is:
Once you have 1 old West gunslinger for example, based on your limitations, you have effectively removed most space opera characters (eg. "Han solo", alien bounty hunters etc.)

If you are averse to the other staple tropes then you wind up with almost.

1 gunslinger, 1 "wide eyed kid", 1 inventor, 1 detective, 1 superhero and 1 soldier because other tropes and memes cross into these or you are directly opposed to because "too fantasy" or too close to another concept.

I agree with what dlantoub said.  Characters are going to fall into certain slots and have certain skills.  The trappings around those skills might be different, but if you step back enough, a fantasy gnome inventor and a steampunk gadgeteer are not going to be all that different in their gameplay.

There is another problem which is that you can't build a campaign or even a character around the "you're not from around here" concept.  While it can be an interesting starting point, if your character / campaign isn't basically interesting in its own right, then the veneer will quickly wear off and you'll be back to a boring character, again.  You need personality beyond a five-word encapsulation of their name, original genre, and role.

I both agree with all this stuff y'all've said about the concept as I've stated it, and yet the concept as I've stated it is also exactly what I want at the same time.

So imagine how that makes me feel...

(Also, Zag24, you've also still not named your favorite example of the steampunk genre...)

I mean, is there a way to give me what I want:

--a game where each character has a short encapsulation of their name, original genre, and role-- AND ALSO a situation where no character has THE SAME name, original genre, and role

--and to avoid the problems you guys see as being present in that concept?

In short: yes! But you have to be clear what is off limits for you.

Eg.
Non-human races (too fantasy but does not rule out alien humanoids or robots)
Pirates/Ninjas/Samurai/Martial Artists (because you think they are overused/too fantasy)

Then decide give a list of allowable settings and archetypes.

Since the idea is so broad, the only way is first come first served.

BUT: you have effectively.. maybe 6 genres to play with.

Space Opera
Steampunk
Slice of life
Film Noir
War
Old west
Superhero

Your available choices for class:
Gunslinger
Wide eyed kid
Soldier
Inventor
Detective
Socialite
Medic

Then, cross them off the list as each gets taken.  Why do I differentiate between soldier and gunslinger. Gunslinger is just about Shooting stuff whereas a soldier can also be about teamwork, tactics and spec ops.
This message was last edited by the user at 18:45, Mon 21 Feb 2022.

If the thing that you're really after is a non-fantasy genre dungeon crawl then some game systems do exist to cater to that, Metamorphosis Alpha being one example.

If you want it to be a fantasy dungeon crawl with non-fantasy characters it's a little more difficult because those systems don't generally get written around non-fantasy protagonists and coming up with homebrew everything is both a huge task and hard to get right; reskinning the actual fantasy classes to be non-fantasy will only work for some concepts.

Going freeform avoids some issues since you don't need to be precise about everything, but it also amounts to handwave-homebrew of everything, which is a huge amount of work as the GM. Doable, but don't expect it to be easy.

Hmm. So something like:


Then choose a role/class:
--Gunslinger (specializes in ranged combat)
--Wide-eyed kid (specialty: luck and charisma, maybe stealth too)
--Soldier (specialty: tank or strategist)
--Noble (specialty: strategist)
--Inventor (specialty: engineering, item use)
--Detective (specialty: information gathering/analysis)
--Medic (specialty: healing/support)

EDIT: heh, you edited Noble to Socialite... but then if a Kid is charisma, what's a Socialite for... I liked Noble better... Although Soldier could also be Strategist, so...
This message was last edited by the user at 19:15, Mon 21 Feb 2022.

First paragraph: (Looks up Metamorphosis Alpha) ...Ah, someone besides me has read 1958's Non-Stop by Brian Aldiss, I suspect... Interesting...

Second paragraph: yeah, that's a fitting summary of this thread so far, all righty

Third paragraph: yeah, that's why I came here for suggestions. So far dlantoub is giving me what I want...

Partly because wide eyed kid is often likeable only because the rules of the universe say he(or she) is. A socialite or noble or someone actually has training in for example trade, negotiation etc. A wide eyed kid is the universal optimist "this person is nice. I can just ask" a socialite or noble is almost the polar opposite. "What does this person want enough to do what I want them to?"

Sorry so basically raw stat Vs training.  I know you are not very fond of animé but El Hazard it's Makoto as the wide eyed kid Vs Nanami as the diplomat/socialite.

A wide eyed kid may often have "super powers" like "you can do it" giving in DND terms, circumstance bonuses simply because they are there.

However, if they are too close for you, again, that would be your decision.
This message was last edited by the user at 20:23, Mon 21 Feb 2022.

Systemwise You would have to go relatively constructed. Something like HERO, fudge or GURPS to use the, at least when I started, famous ones.

If you are against martial arts, how do you feel about Brawl, which at least allows things like Savate, Krav Maga, Zystema and MMA.

I kind of side-stepped it, because I don't have a really good answer.  I know that I really wanted to like Jim Butcher's entry into steampunk, but didn't, especially (and I'm a big fan of his other stuff).  I know a lot of steampunk gets into flying machines, which strikes me as trying a bit too hard.  I guess if I had to pick one, it would be The Difference Engine, by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling, though it gets a lot more political than what I'm thinking of for a game.  The story itself is interesting and the steampunk is just the setting, providing an interesting twist on how problems are solved, without taking the place of characterization.  (I'm also a big fan of history in general, and alternate history, which is part of why it appealed to me.)

I like the idea of a steampunk character who is very much what we would imagine is a Victorian-era nerd.  I tried to embody that in my little vignette above, with him saying "Oh my, oh my" but then immediately acquiring a stiff upper lip and focusing on analysis in spite of being faced with a freaking dragon.  He'd be far more terrified of facing an awkward social situation than of facing an armed warrior.  "After all, my good man, living on in shame is a far worse fate than merely being bludgeoned to death by a barbarian."

What about the following?

Doom Slayer from Doom
Rayne from BloodRayne
Anyone from the Dragon Age games
Anyone from the Fallout games
Anyone from the Greedfall games
Anyone from the Halo games
Anyone from the Mass Effect games
Samus Aran from Metroid
Anyone from the Outer Worlds
Anyone from the Transformers franchise

You mean the... protagonist? Sure, that could work, if no one else has chosen "gun guy" nor "sci-fi..."



Ugh. No thanks



Well, no. That would be basic fantasy.



If I didn't already have a game based (loosely) on Fallout (and fantasy), yeah... but I do



No, too close



There are people besides Master Chief and nameless grunts in Halo?



Sure, if no one else has taken "sci-fi"



Ah, no.

There are numerous people one can play in a game like this.

Just Spartans IVs:
"Bear"
"Fang"
"Hunter"
"Mad Dog"
"Rusty"
"Wolf"
A.B. Serial Number: 32417-12911-AB
A.B. Serial Number: 82793-61021-AB
Anthony Madsen
Ashley M.
B.B.
Bertold Vettel
Bradford Gale
C.D.
C.R.
C.R.
C.S.
Carlo Hoya
Carmichael
Chiyo L
Chris H
D.C.
Dan P.
David E.
Dimka
Dorian Nguyen
Dunn
Edward "Eddie" Malcolm Buck
Elias Holt
Evelyn "Evie" Rousseau
Frank Kodiak
G.C.
G.D.
Gabriel Thorne
Garrett B.
Grayson T.
Gregory S.
Gretchen Ketola Miles
Gustavo Esposito
Holly Tanaka
Hong
Horatio Fry
Horvath
Hunter Y.
J.S.
Jaide
James M
James R.
Jameson Locke
Jared Miller
Joel Thomas
Jones
K.D.
K.H.
Kimberly K.
Kira Lawson
Kojo "Romeo" Agu
Kovan
Kovsky
L.C.
Laurette Agryna
M. Brinkley
Malik
Michael "Mickey" Crespo
Naiya Ray
Olympia Vale
Orzel
Oshiro
R. D. Verrat
R.K.
RO
Robbie E.
Robert Dalton
Rosado
Sara S.
Sarah E. Palmer
Saskia Nazari
Shawn P.
T.C.
T.G.
Taylor Henry "Dutch" Miles
Tedra Grant
Terry Hedge
Theodore Sorel
Todd A.
V.B.
Victor Gallardo
Yeong-hao Holst
Zachary S.

Just Spartan IIIs:
Jun
Kevin
Hazel
Lucy
Owen
Tom
Ash
Mark
Olivia

Just Spartan IIs:
Jai
Naomi Sentzke
Leon
Robert
Riz
Douglas Rutland
Linda Pravdin
Kelly Shaddock
Jerome Cable
August
Frederic "Fred" Ellsworth
Adriana
Michael "Mike"
Kai
Alice Treske
Vannak

That is not counting the ODST who didn't become Spartans. ODSTs had their own game.

Yikes, sorry I asked.