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[lawastooshort]

Surprised you didn't mention Marcus Aurelius, DH.

[Digital Hellhound]

Are you implying the Pimperor needs something beyond his natural... presence to do what he does? He has no need for magic.

[Harry Baldman]

Sacrificing animals giving powers, or allowing divination or somesuch? Pledging yourself to some god, with increased abilities on their day/time/place (a disciple of Mars having greater martial abilities on Tuesday (dies Martis), a disciple of Janus being under protection while under doorways)? You could include the gods of other civilizations too. Just uttering Latin phrases for spells, perhaps? Hey, it worked for Rowling. I don't know if the Romans still worshipped Hecate, but she's straight-up goddess of magic and witchcraft.

EDIT: This Wiki page might be good reading if you haven't already. Fairly interesting, actually.

Being a magus who only gets magical powers once a week would be a pretty funny concept, I think. Or a mage whose powers only work if either the caster or a target is standing under a doorway. Think of the mass destruction that would result should the two meet.

[lawastooshort]

I liked the office worker/alien world idea.

[Harry Baldman]

I liked the office worker/alien world idea.

That was actually my very first RTD idea (had the first post worked out and everything), and it went a little bit like this:

Roll to Civilize for Fun and Profit

You are one of 6 people employed by the Parr-Zinne Corporation to go and civilize an alien world for some nebulous purpose after filling out a mysterious form during your workday. This is the form:

Spoiler: Form 3617 (character sheet) (click to show/hide)

Please take the time to truthfully answer all of the questions on this form. The information you provide will not be used against you. Refusal to provide the required information truthfully will be considered a violation of your employment contract and grounds for immediate termination. Thank you for your cooperation!

1.   What is your name?

2.   Which department do you work for (circle one)?
- IT
- HR
- R&D
- Security
- Accounting
- Marketing

3.   How would you describe your employment experience at Parr-Zinne?

4.   What are your future ambitions?

5.   How would you describe your relationship with your supervisors?

6.   Do you have a family? If not, do you ever plan on starting a family?

7.   What are your main interests?

8.   How do you feel about the inhabitants of the lower quarters?

9.   Have you ever gone/wanted to go into space?

10.   Have you ever been a subject of complaints in the department?

11.   If you have been complained about, what was the reason?

12.   Do you think you are utilizing your full potential at your current job?

13.   How well can you adapt to new situations?

14.   What is your favorite color?

These are the departments:

Spoiler: Departments of Parr-Zinne (click to show/hide)

The most important game-mechanics question in the form is what your department is. This is, essentially, your class in the game. Here’s a description of each department.

IT – … stupid bastards at Accounting managed to spill coffee on the mainframe AGAIN, gah…
You’re good at fixing, using and even making computer stuff (+1 to computer and robot maintenance, usage and creation rolls), but you find other people and their general ineptitude to be the most infuriating thing ever, making you highly antisocial, to say the least (-1 to all communication rolls).

HR – Remember, we’re all in this together, so be prepared to do your part! Go team!
You’re a people-person, and your job is to care for and motivate the ever-loving crap out of this faceless, gray mass of peons so that they work faster, harder, better. You dare say you’re pretty decent at it (+1 to first impression and motivation rolls), but you’re not really on the best of terms with any of the arcane doohickeys the IT nerds can’t stop blabbering about (-1 to rolls involving science and advanced technology).

R&D – Okay, so this cream we developed prevents aging, but causes permanent numbness. Pah, Marketing can take care of that.
Whose job is it to build a better future? That’s right, yours. And you’ve got the brains and skills for the job (+1 to science and intelligence rolls), although you find the practical side of the work a bit boring and thus have a tendency to neglect it (-1 to leadership and economics rolls).

Security – You think you’re so clever, eh? Try me, punk.
You like to carry a gun with you and enjoy the power that comes with ensuring a safe, domestic terrorism-free work environment through security procedures, superior firepower and good ol’ fashioned scare tactics (+1 to intimidation and personal combat rolls). However, you’re not so good with all that intellectual mumbo-jumbo that those smartasses from R&D and Accounting keep spouting all the time (-1 to science and intelligence rolls).

Accounting – Finally, balance is achieved. The microcosm of our company is saved once more, no thanks to those jerks from management.
Among the chaos of office politics, one group strives to prevent certain financial ruin for everyone – the accountants. Your (or at least your coworkers’) watchful grip on the company’s metaphorical bags of money ensures the survival of the corporate ideals you undoubtedly stand for (+1 to economics and logistics rolls), but the time you’ve spent in a cubicle definitely won’t do you any favors in a fight (-1 to combat and intimidation rolls).

Marketing – From a certain point of view, anything can be true. You just need to spin it properly.
You can take any product and turn it into a miracle, given time, money, minions and inspiration (+1 to all rolls involving misleading, bluffing or outright lying, +1 to rolls that involve pitching an idea or product), but your middle-man status has ensured that you’ve never really made anything yourself (-1 to all crafting and science rolls).

The idea of it is that you go over to this planet and civilize the crap out of them with the help of your advanced technology and skills obtained from working at Parr-Zinne, installing yourself as leaders by any means necessary.

Does that sound fun to any of you?

[lawastooshort]

Yes, I think it's an interesting idea. Character sheet is long though! Would it be very serious?

[Harry Baldman]

Yes, I think it's an interesting idea. Character sheet is long though! Would it be very serious?

No, not really. Well, you could play it entirely seriously, but there would definitely be silliness at some point. After all, it is a situation where ordinary office workers are given advanced technology probably beyond their ken and free reign over a planet full of less advanced aliens.

Plus, you might notice that out of all the questions in the sheet, only two really matter - your name and your department. The rest substitute for a bio and character description.

[lawastooshort]

Yes, I saw for the department but looks offputting sorry, on phone so lengthy comments notpossible right now

Edit: also I am probably more pro silly than serious and think itwould work well silly.

[Harry Baldman]

Well, the way I envisioned it was that it would be silly, but not in a very overt way. For instance, the technology might work in a silly manner and the office workers themselves might occasionally operate like idiots, plus there might be a bit of funny alien culture, but otherwise it would generally proceed somewhat realistically.

[tomas1297]

 You know what's stupid? Before starting my last RTD, I had to re-install windows because of a virus. I lost all my progress on it, so now I couldn't revive it even if I wanted to. I do feel like starting an RTD, but something less ambitious this time, just because it seems that otherwise I always lose my enthusiasm to run it. The thing I want to know is if my reputation is shit now. I abandoned like 90% of my RTDs before even starting and the ones that I DID start were abandoned quite early. I'm afraid that there'll be a time when absolutely no one will sign up for my RTDs just because I'm a horrible person that ruins dreams by abandoning stuff that could potentially be awesome.

[Caellath]

@tomas: Less complaining, more acting. If you feel like running a RtD, then post the OP and people will join it, it's that simple.

[lawastooshort]

Caellath speaks the truth.

You might not have noticed, but

I abandoned like 90% of my RTDs before even starting and the ones that I DID start were abandoned quite early.

kind of applies to most RtDs on here...

[Yoink]

Oh, man, Prophets of the New God sounds like excellent fun! I really like the 'each player influences the god via their suggestions' mechanic, that would add a certain element of... Well, I don't know, excellence!
After playing in LBAD, I certainly believe that you as a GM could pull that off very nicely.

Caellath speaks the truth.

You might not have noticed, but

I abandoned like 90% of my RTDs before even starting and the ones that I DID start were abandoned quite early.

kind of applies to most RtDs on here...

I always feel bad about abandoning all my RtDs. The last one I just sort of forgot about, when I was moving out, and by the time I remembered it it had been long enough that reviving it would've felt silly. Ugh.
And I'm always having new ideas for RTDs, too.

[Greenstarfanatic]

Oh, man, Prophets of the New God sounds like excellent fun! I really like the 'each player influences the god via their suggestions' mechanic, that would add a certain element of... Well, I don't know, excellence!
After playing in LBAD, I certainly believe that you as a GM could pull that off very nicely.

Caellath speaks the truth.

You might not have noticed, but

I abandoned like 90% of my RTDs before even starting and the ones that I DID start were abandoned quite early.

kind of applies to most RtDs on here...

I always feel bad about abandoning all my RtDs. The last one I just sort of forgot about, when I was moving out, and by the time I remembered it it had been long enough that reviving it would've felt silly. Ugh.
And I'm always having new ideas for RTDs, too.

Yeah, I kinda abandoned three RTDs so far. And only because it was all too hard for me. At this point, I think I COULD start a new RTD, but only when I get a schedule for updating. Would anyone be interested in either a Team Fortress 2 RTD or Magicka RTD? Magicka would follow the same formula as ExKirby's little mage school thing he did a while back, rolling for each separate element, unless performing a Magick. The TF2 one would involve me having to communicate separately with the two separate teams. Maybe getting a top-down view of the map, and having that to keep track of where everyone is. Classes would get bonuses, can select their loadouts, and, as the game progresses, people can A) Buy weapons, B) Trade weapons with another player, even from the other team, or C) Just wait until they FIND weapons. I'll show each player what hats they have on, what loadouts they have, and any effects they have. This information would be shown to everyone but the other team. Once the round starts, I'll give the RED team a turn or two to get into their positions and BLU just goes for it. Points are earned for kills, objectives, and overall winning. These points will replace real money in the purchasing of Hats, Accessories, and Weapons.

Anyone think they would be interested in either?

[Tarran]

You know what's stupid? Before starting my last RTD, I had to re-install windows because of a virus. I lost all my progress on it, so now I couldn't revive it even if I wanted to.

That's why I keep my RTD plans on a USB every once and a while.