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Session 0: Character Generation and Game Interests.

Posted by GuideFor group 0
Guide
GM, 3 posts
Sat 30 Nov 2019
at 09:46
  • msg #1

Session 0: Character Generation and Game Interests

Satire needs a topic to satirise before we make characters to fit it. Let’s talk about that. What kind of story do we want to tell? Also, we can switch topics and characters from session to session if needed (gonna measure the threads in sessions I think), so don’t be afraid to go very niche.

I’m thinking of taking a page out of FATE’s book and have a set of issues to guide our silly story. A big overarching one and a smaller one relevant to the single session. So after this discussion we should have two issues that fit those.

Big Issue guidelines: What is true about the universe? This can be philosophical, spiritual, practical or something else ending on -al, like economical or ergonomical. Though making that last one work will be a serious challenge I think.

Small Issue guidelines should be something motivating your characters into action (voluntary or involuntary). It could be a sessions spanning issue, but it could also be one that gets resolved in the span of a single session. This will depend highly on the concept of what we want our characters to be.

More guidelines to follow, when I get my attention span back in order.
Guide
GM, 4 posts
Sat 30 Nov 2019
at 11:02
  • msg #2

Session 0: Character Generation and Game Interests

Alright: Some brainstorming aids in the form of prompts:

It’s like X but Y!
Easiest one is to make Y being “Space” and having X be literally anything that is not in space, including franchises, concepts, theme’s, intellectual properties, etc.
Another idea is to use X for serious space stuff and make Y be just the word “silly”
There are of course a lot of other options to fill this in.

examples:
It’s like Police Academy but in space!
It’s like Star Wars but silly!
It’s like Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, but with Dune!

What if...
Closely related to the previous prompt, this can even include it, but doesn’t have to. It can take a known thing and twist it. Again, the easiest are “but it’s in space” or “but silly”.

examples:
What if Star Trek was emo?
What if computers aren’t logical?
What if everybody thinks of themselves as the protagonist in a story?

A specifically fun one here is to imagine serious sci-fi to be written/directed by silly writers/directors!

examples:
What if 2001: A Space Odyssey was directed by Monty Python
What if the original Star Trek was written by Terry Pratchett?
What if Star Wars was written by Woody Allen? (I mean, I’m grasping at straws here. I don’t know many writers/directors by name)

Or we could string these together!
What if it’s like The Great British Bake-Off but in space and they have to actively hunt down their own ingredients across the galaxy.
What if it’s Ghost in the Shell meets Police Academy and it’s in space!
What if it’s like Bladerunner in space, but instead of a lethal hunt it’s a galaxy wide game of tag!
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:55, Sat 30 Nov 2019.
Guide
GM, 8 posts
Sun 1 Dec 2019
at 22:36
  • msg #3

Session 0: Character Generation and Game Interests

Another option is just to sum up what you like about your favorite (space) satire and that you'd like to see in this game:

example:
The very episodic nature of Red Dwarf, where each episode is basically a stand alone story.
The incompetence of characters in Red Dwarf, Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy and Police Academy.
The genre/stereotype subversion in most satire.

The same could be done with things you absolutely don't want to see.

example:
repeated sexual innuendo
misogyny and racism (except when obviously telegraphed as bad)
violence as a solution to everything, except perhaps to explicitly make fun of it
Starchaser
player, 3 posts
Mon 2 Dec 2019
at 17:01
  • msg #4

Session 0: Character Generation and Game Interests

Hi so right now I have one or two 'traits' for characters but no real setting ideas. I was thinkng maybe we could all go down the space exploration route borriwing ideas from, say, Red Dwarf, Hyperdrive or The Orville. The neat idea about this is if we syart with the universe being largely 'unexplored' we can make new stuff up as we go along.

As for character concepts how about a 'reverse telepath' Instead of reading minds, he/she/it broadcasts their thoughts constantly, regardless of how innapropriate / offensive these thoughts may be (obviously they don't get invited to many parties).

I'm pretty liberal so there is nothing I don't want to see provided its displayed in proper context. I.e no glorification of violence or condoning racisim / sexism etc.
Guide
GM, 10 posts
Mon 2 Dec 2019
at 17:28
  • msg #5

Session 0: Character Generation and Game Interests

I'm good for a space exploration game. I've "generated" a space sector (multiple star systems) but only works out the highest tech one for now. It does make it pretty good for a kind of "planet of the week" kind of play. Very episodical. I like that.

The universe is largely known in the sector, though most planets are only loosely connected. If you guys want to start from the system I almost completely worked out yet, you could either be some kind of traders, publicity agents (the highest tech planet is a Party Planet called TIKI HAWAII, or pirates. You could also be people arriving to take part of the party as well or having transported rich partygoers to the planet. There's also gas giant mining going on.

All other planets are lower tech, though a lot of them are still capable of Faster Than Light Speed. Though we could see what we would make that. HHGTTG had the probability drive, which is kinda fun, but we could think about how we could flavor it. Tiki Hawaii and it's tech is weird and silly already, since it works on Party EnergyTM, so jumping systems might require a continuous party for as long as it's needed to jump the distance.

Anyway, as I remember that's at least two votes for an exploration type game, right? We just need to get our exploration motivation in order.

Are we traders, taking on weird and silly cargo with possible weird and silly cargo?
Are we official representatives of Tiki Hawaii's Big Party, inviting people everywhere to come join it?
Are we pirates having bitten off too much in that system, needing to find other hunting grounds, mixing space and pirate tropes in silly ways?
Are we a space airline taking people instead of cargo from here to there all along the system?
Guide
GM, 11 posts
Wed 4 Dec 2019
at 20:43
  • msg #6

Session 0: Character Generation and Game Interests

Since it's silent and people seem more interested in creating characters first, let's start with the first two steps in character creation and see where we get:

1. Roll your six attributes or assign them from an array, using Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma. Attributes reflect the basic potential of your hero. Roll 3d6 six times and assign them in order, or use an array of 14, 12, 11, 10, 9, 7 assigned as you wish. If you randomly roll your scores you may then pick one attribute to change to a score of 14.

2. Mark down your attribute modifiers for each score. When rolling dice that are affected by an attribute, you don’t apply the whole score; instead, you apply the attribute modifier. A score of 3 is a -2, 4-7 is a -1, 8-13 is no modifier, 14-17 is +1, and 18 is +2.
The Ricepudding
player, 3 posts
Wed 4 Dec 2019
at 20:56
  • msg #7

Session 0: Character Generation and Game Interests

Can you open up a character sheet for us.

I rolled and with 14 added in I got almost the same as the array.
Guide
GM, 12 posts
Wed 4 Dec 2019
at 21:06
  • msg #8

Session 0: Character Generation and Game Interests

Done! I always forget about that.
The Ricepudding
player, 4 posts
Wed 4 Dec 2019
at 21:32
  • msg #9

Session 0: Character Generation and Game Interests

Ok.  I may have run away with things a bit.

But unless the Gm has a problem with what I done or rolled we have a naturally taught Psionic healer with survive skills.
Guide
GM, 13 posts
Wed 4 Dec 2019
at 22:44
  • msg #10

Session 0: Character Generation and Game Interests

I have just read it all but am just about to sleep and not really capable of concentrated thought.

I anything, I’d say we still have to decide how lethal we play things, which might make a biopsion slightly less interesting. Still, it could work.
I’d like to take things step by step thought, to see where adaptions are needed.

Anyway, more when I have more time. Good night from Belgium!
The Ricepudding
player, 5 posts
Wed 4 Dec 2019
at 23:01
  • msg #11

Session 0: Character Generation and Game Interests

Good Night.
Eskaton
player, 1 post
Fri 6 Dec 2019
at 14:28
  • msg #12

Session 0: Character Generation and Game Interests

From what I understand, when we roll, we just assign stats in the same order as we roll them? If that's the case, I've rolled a natural face or leader who's foolhardy. I could stat out the 14 to adjust a bit, I see him as a captain or merchant perhaps in the expert vein.
Guide
GM, 14 posts
Fri 6 Dec 2019
at 21:24
  • msg #13

Session 0: Character Generation and Game Interests

Sweet!

Sounds great. Of course, a great comedy trope is the incapable leader, which could be an NPC captain, of which you could be a kind of hired man cleaning up all the messes etc.

But we could go with a capable merchant or captain as well :) Or a roguish charlatan. There’s many tropes we could go with :)

That’s two of the three pc’s. Now it’s waiting for Eskaton.

While we wait, feel free to look at the backgrounds and classes. There’s quite a bit of backgrounds (20 I think) You can pick or roll one randomly with a d20. Try to think about how you can make it funny.

For example, a courtisane might not generally fit into a “fit for all ages” game, but give it a swing by basing it off these Japanese Maid Cafe servants and the weird trend there where you can pay someone to hug you etc. You could even be a sentient housepet that can be hired for pets etc. Or we could suggest things like they did in Roger Rabbit, substituting ‘the act’ with a game of Patty Cake or something.

Just a few ideas as I’m thinking about it. We should be able, with our powers combined, to make things work :)
Eskaton
player, 2 posts
Fri 6 Dec 2019
at 23:14
  • msg #14

Session 0: Character Generation and Game Interests

Were you looking for me to expand my concept beyond Msg # 12? Should I complete character creation for us to move forward or were my stats and general concept enough to keep going?
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