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An Experiment in Freeform

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  1. #1
    West's Avatar

    Magical Chinchilla
    Star Scenes

    Last year we tried out the idea of Shard 'Shades' (reference 1, reference 2) which were characters played in a limited capacity but without the hassle of approval.

    And the world didn't end

    I'd like to expand that idea and play-test opening up the idea of these limited characters and free-form writing scenes. The main idea here is that these shades/halfies could be used to fill in the 'faceless masses' we refer to in the venues; npcs that make up the bulk of populations but are unimportant and who the camera doesn't 'zoom in' on. That if a player/character was looking for a particular scene and couldn't find a PC match, that a shade could 'fill in'. The idea is not to spam characters.

    The process would begin with/require a Wanted/Seeking ad from a full PC. Maybe your Covenant or Court doesn't have enough PCs to do a ritual that interests you, or you want an interactive fueling scene, or you just want to play with a particular player whose character doesn't intersect yours. The Wanted/Seeking would require a premise and lead narration by one of the participants as well as being free-form collaboration.

    If someone was interested in answering, they'd propose their character and Scening would ensue if there was an acceptable match, etc.

    For PCs, this could mean filling in gaps; for Players this could mean experimenting with concepts or circles you're not a part of. Ideally for both it would mean doing more role-playing and the type of role-play that you want to do.

    As always, there would be limits. Limits that would hopefully keep Shades from replacing character or PC play or impact full PCs unfavorably:

    Shade Mechanics
    Mechanically, Shades would stay the same:
    1. Assume that all Atts are 2
    2. Assume any Skill test runs that Skill at 1
    3. No 'free' chargen Merits
    3. 3 discretionary 'dots' to put anywhere (this is how to pay for Merits)

    Shades in Play
    1. A Wanted/Seeking ad must propose the reason purpose for a Scene and be answered. Shards can't just swan around/show up randomly.
    2. Shades could not be used in PvP. What this means is that a PC couldn't load up a vote against another PC with Shades. However, if you have a BDSM fetish and want a Shade to beat the crap out of your own toon, have at it.
    3. Because it would be freeform and without ST oversight, each and every PC in a Scene would have to approve the presence of a Shade. Obviously this is irrelevant in a 1 on 1 Scene, but if you wanted to bring a Shade to a multi-PC scene, everyone would have to be okay with it.
    4. Shade play would require a free character slot. The sad truth is, as people play more characters, they're more apt to let their existing ones suffer. And so having the 'bandwidth' in the 4 character limit would be necessary.

    I think there's a lot of potential here for players to flirt with venues or organizations or even concepts they want to try out without committing to the full hassle of getting a character approved. Likewise there's potential here for existing PCs to have Scenes with premises or players that otherwise would be impossible.

    Hopefully both of these will open the door to doing more Scenes that people can enjoy.

    Questions?
    Don't hate the player, hate the game.
    The Zeroth Law & the Burden of InteractionThe Devil is in the DotsGreat ExpectationsPlaying MagePlayer Run Plots
    If you have a question about your character, please post it on your character sheet

  2. #2
    Yumyumcrow's Avatar
    Campanella
    Campanella

    Campanella
    Ingrid

    OK. Lets give this a try.

    I'll post here for the moment, simply so we have ease of reference:

    WANTED / SEEKING: Passengers

    Enter Constance Fleming

    This Sluagh Beast cab driver needs passengers to convey from A to B.

    Otherwise they won't get paid.

    A Ling's gotta eat, yo.

  3. #3
    Saber Sloth's Avatar

    0 Scenes

    I could play a Passenger if you want.

    But, what are you looking for in a Passenger, a Shade? Or an actual PC?

    I had the hilarious idea of maybe putting Ursula forward as one of the Passengers.

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  5. #4
    Yumyumcrow's Avatar
    Campanella
    Campanella

    Campanella
    Ingrid

    Shade or PC is probably for the best - this being a trial run.

    Although it could be fun to dust Ursula off for a bit of fun

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  7. #5
    Saber Sloth's Avatar

    0 Scenes

    Depending on who the other Passenger(s) are, I might want to dust off Ursula

    But if our cabbie's not taking a bunch of drunk/high partiers home or to the next hot spot, what are you looking for in a Passenger? Mortal, not? I'm thinking Shade, unless you want to see Mhairi in the cab?

  8. #6
    Yumyumcrow's Avatar
    Campanella
    Campanella

    Campanella
    Ingrid

    Lol.

    Honestly - I just want someone or something to bounce off. To see if this Shade is interesting enough to run again sometime

  9. #7
    Saber Sloth's Avatar

    0 Scenes

    Cool. I'll come up with a Shade, (I have a million different ideas roaming around my noggin) Or maybe use Vi, and hail a cab

    You wanna roll with just one Passenger, or do you want to wait for someone else?

  10. #8
    Yumyumcrow's Avatar
    Campanella
    Campanella

    Campanella
    Ingrid

    I don't mind.

    I guess we could start with one... and see if anyone else flags down a Taxi.

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  12. #9
    Saber Sloth's Avatar

    0 Scenes

    Cool

    Want me to start a thread hailing down a taxi, or do you want to start it when your Beast's starting his shift or something?

  13. #10
    Yumyumcrow's Avatar
    Campanella
    Campanella

    Campanella
    Ingrid

    I will let you start

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