Let's see, got two RTD ideas, would like to run one.
IDEA #1
OutfoxedA Kitsune RTDDeep in the Lands Untamed, slightly beyond the reach of humankind lies the Altar of the Fox God, still pristine after all these thousands of years. You approach the altar together piously, carefully observing the nine-tailed golden fox perched atop it awaiting your arrival. It is the Old Wise Fox, the closest thing to a direct representative that the Fox God has in this world, and it is her wisdom that you have come to listen to. You are among the few who have kept to the godly ways, following the dictates of the Fox God that your other kin turned away from all these years ago, unwilling to make the sacrifices required, preferring instead to lead a lowly existence outside of the holy lands. Even now you hear tales of their trickery and villainy. But this is not why you are here today, of course.
As the Old Wise Fox speaks, not in words, but in suggestions appearing in your mind, you feel that the others here, as you suspected, are here for the same reason. The holy lands have grown sick. Horrid parasites overwhelm your weaker kin, rendering them unable to shift their shapes as freely as you do and thickening their blood, and you have not seen a younger fox than yourself make it to fifty in some time now. Your enemies in the holy lands grow bold, numerous and fierce in the face of this, hunting down young and old. The powers of your fellow foxes, by attrition if nothing else, appear to be dwindling. This is why you are gathered here - the youngest and most talented among your number shall be sent westward, straight out of the Lands Untamed towards the lands of the lesser races, humans among them, to seek their magical cures and artifacts, whatever you can find, to solve this great and terrible crisis. You are to trust no one on the way, for any helpful stranger may be secretly a heathen fox sent to lead you astray. Trust only in the Fox God and your better judgement as you make your way to find your people's salvation.
It's a game where you play as a fox of the kitsune-like variety on a quest to get some kind of cure for your poor tribe in the Lands Untamed, which is a mountainous region largely devoid of helpful life. From the get-go, you can shapeshift into any form imaginable, given time and a certain margin of error, but do note that you still maintain an unchanging mass no matter what you do, which is about 14 kilograms. So while you may attain a human form, you may want to be a bit careful nevertheless. On the bright side, you can float very nicely if you get large enough. You also have another talent, a sort of fox-magic to help you on your way. This can really be anything within reason - improved shapeshifting (quicker/more precise/permitting mass shifting), illusion (tricks of light/sound/scent/mind/other), elemental powers, that sort of thing.
From there, it's essentially a basic adventure where you try to con various towns and groups in the wilderness out of their good stuff, or perhaps con them into accepting your stuff in return for it. Criminality, if you recall your stories of the tamed lands correctly, will presumably abound, and a considerable amount of it is to be expected from godless foxes out to screw you over for small change. You have your work cut out for you, and it will almost certainly require a bit of subtlety. Who ever said that being a spirit was easy?
To sign up for this one, you need a name, a brief description of your life thus far, three regular skills you've picked up as a servant of the Fox God and one magical talent that supplements your already useful shapeshifting abilities. All need to be stated in one or two paragraphs of information, naturally. The game's probably not FCFS.
IDEA #2
Sudden DeathA Brawling RTDIt's Wednesday evening, and you find yourself inside O'Sheng's Tavern, the local stop for all your communal alcohol needs. It's reasonably full at this time, and the familiar din of the establishment is very much present. You feel at home already as you park your behind in front of the counter and place the usual order, which O'Sheng has already begun pouring beforehand. You are nothing if not predictable. You sip at your drink while examining the latest offerings in televised gladiatorial theater, when suddenly the broadcast cuts out, replaced by an odd-looking man in what looks to be an ancient-looking rubber mask. The shutters on the bar's windows and doors suddenly fall, locking in place, and an alarm goes off somewhere in the back rooms. O'Sheng turns to look in the direction of the alarms, but is distracted when the man on the screen speaks.
"Hello!" he begins in a sing-song voice. "You've been chosen for today's edition of Sudden Death, the show to end all shows! Your task for today is to kill all of the other people in this bar by any means necessary, or face certain death within the hour as explosives rigged beneath this establishment go off. The last one among you wins the Sudden Death Grand Prize, valued by some estimates at over 6.55 million credits! Now! Are you ready?"
A few moments pass as the man on the screen rubs his hands. Everybody looks a little tense. O'Sheng casts a doubtful look over his regulars, then at his double-barreled shotgun hanging on the nearby wall.
"BEGIN!"
Chaos fails to erupt immediately. But give it a few moments!
Let's try to render them as simply as possible. First off, fighting. Every turn, initiative is rolled for each individual player on a d100. This affects who attacks or does something else first in the chaotic environment of the bar.
Then there's fighting. Attacking goes one way - attacker rolls for accuracy, defender rolls to dodge. If accuracy exceeds dodge, attack hits, and damage is rolled according to weapon. If several people are attacking one person, the defender takes a -1 penalty for each attacker after the first. At five attackers for one person or more, a dogpile ensues, and the defender automatically takes damage equal to number of attackers, and each attacker takes damage equal to half the number of attackers rounded down. Note: you can be attacked by someone, then attack someone else. There's no real engagement to be spoken of here. Or you can, and probably often will, attack the same person that's attacking you, if only to preserve your own continued health. If you choose to defend for your turn, you get a +2 on your rolls to dodge (except for incitement).
Disarmament works a little differently than straight-up attacking - the attacker still rolls accuracy against the defender's dodge, then rolls 1d8 if the attack succeeds. If the roll exceeds the target's HP, their weapon goes to the attacker.
Weapon improvisation is a fancy way of saying that you grab something to defend yourself with. A chair, a bottle, a tray, anything at all. This works as a standard RTD action, with often colorful consequences. Note that you can defend with a weapon as well, which may augment your defense further.
Incitement is when you fight with words. You can inflict temporary penalties on your enemies via distractions or insults, or possibly make them angry enough to do something they wouldn't have otherwise. You have to state your intent with these, and greater effects will permit a roll to dodge (unmodified) on your enemy's part.
You can recover health by drinking - however, it can hurt your motor functions, and probably will after about 4 or so HP recovered. There's also only so much booze to go around.
Signups are first-come-first-served.
I think that covers most of it, right? Take a look at the character spoiler for a less abstract presentation.
Taking inspiration from Medieval Fodder in quite a few ways, this is a somewhat simple game. Your character looks like this:
Name: any name will do!
Health: barring other circumstances, you start with 1d4+4 HP. You can regain health by having a drink, naturally.
Weapon: you start unarmed, which deals 1d4-1 damage. You can get different ones by weapon improvisation, stealing other people's weapons or by different days thus far.
So, how's your day been? a simple, one-word description of your Wednesday up to this point. These are your choices:
Miserable! +1 damage inflicted.
Frustrating! +2 damage inflicted, -1 to dodge.
Terrifying! +20 to initiative.
Lovely! +1 to weapon improvisation.
Inspiring! +1 to insults/distraction/miscellaneous incitement.
Ominous! Start with a switchblade (1d4 damage, may cause bleeding).
Busy! Start with a briefcase (1d3 damage while full, works as a shield for +1 to dodge while defending, contains random item)
Weird! Continued drinking does not inhibit motor skills and initiative.
Maddening! +1 to dodge.
Tranquil. +1 to accuracy.
*hiccup* Whuzzat? 1 damage resistance, -20 to initiative.
And possibly others!
Now, which of these would be more interesting? Anybody have suggestions about either of them?
Author
Topic: Roller's Block (RTD Brainstorming Thread) (HAPPY LATE BIRTHDAY) (Derm is 5k) (Read 726976 times)