Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Zebrian]

Right, add me as well to THE LIST

Zebrian ODell
- A dark elf warrior, relies on his speed to dodge enemy attacks and his scythe to fight back.
- Quiet, unsocialable person, takes the lone wolf approach to fighting

Appearence is as follows:

Minus the sword

Stats:
Strength + Agility 7
Charisma 3

[zchris13]

I am still going to be paying attention to this, Sean Mirrsen. While I've disappeared off the face of bay12, you're still worth my time.

[Sean Mirrsen]

I've got a few problems, which I've largely created myself. First, this game will not start until the first Madness is closed off - partly because beginning to maintain this game will draw me away from finishing that final update indefinitely, but mostly because having two Multiworld Madnesses running at the same time will not do. Which leads into the second problem - I can't let myself leave the final update unfinished, I can not let myself omit any of the things I've planned for it, but the whole thing is bloody long. Which finally leads into the third problem - for increasingly contrived reasons, I am continually unable to work on that update. I've no idea what to do other than to try again and again, but that will take a while, and it annoys me to no end. Not to mention I'm constantly feeling like I'm letting you people down - which may or may not be the way you feel about it, but it's something I promised to do, and being unable to deliver is driving me crazy.

Anyway.

In the idle hours when I'm contemplating why the hell am I not working on that update, I'm also thinking over some variations to the Madness game that I could introduce. While this is entirely my domain as the GM, I'd still like to describe these to you so you could tell me how you'd feel if one of these was included in the (eventual) game.

First, I could do away with intercontinuity. This will mean that any powers you acquire are only yours within the universe they're native to, with a small chance of them actually carrying over and staying with you. Same for equipment - anything you've picked up along the way has a significant chance of disappearing into oblivion. Once it does pass though, it won't be checked again, and will always transcend with you as long as you keep it on your person.

Second, I could introduce scenarios. This means the powers behind the Cube and the whole dimension-hopping business will not simply transport you to the target universe, but will kit you out according to whatever position/profession/class/race(?) is chosen for you, along with any recognition and authority that would come with them. (This would obviously be best used in tandem with the first variant) The more practical upshot of this is I'll be able to include a few universes and scenarios that I'd otherwise avoid - like having you be, say, pirate ship captains, each with your own ship and crew, working together on a common goal. Normally, you'd never be able to get a setup like this.

Third and final, I could let you pick your character's race from the start. This only makes sense, the primary drawback being that enlisted players would have to resubmit their sheets. Choice will be the same - Human, Mii'Ari, Dolean. I'll even throw in some Mii'Ari lore so you know what you can choose for appearance, etc. Might even use "canon" Mii'Ari instead of the genericized "catpeople" I've used in the first game. Obviously, humans would be at a disadvantage, even against the Doleans, so I'll probably allow humans to pick a few starting skills, etc, etc, bla-bla-blalancing. I had the impression race changing wasn't very popular, so I didn't give this one a lot of thought.

If you have an opinion on any of these variants, let it be known! Thinking over new ideas is refreshing for me, and more posts will keep the thread up so I'll be reminded more often. As I've said many times before, Multiworld Madness will live on!

[FuzzyZergling]

The "powers don't cross over" makes sense. The same rule with items makes less sense, but is also fine.

[Sean Mirrsen]

It could be in gradations of complexity. The more an item is dependent on the universe you're leaving, for instance, the bigger the chance it'll disappear. Or maybe it'll just lose anything special it does, like the players' abilities could. Take a Star Wars blaster or lightsaber, for instance. I'm not sure what science goes on in those things, but I'm fairly certain they wouldn't work outside of fiction. So you'd have very good chances of appearing in the Cube with a very lifelike prop instead of a real weapon.

[EOTistatron]

That seems like a reasonable middle ground, but I'm interested to hear more about the "significant chance of disappearing."  Are we just talking another die roll on shifting, so like a 1 in 10 chance of keeping the item?  You also say "powers" would be lost; does that mean that abilities gained in a world are lost on shift, while attributes and skills are kept, or would everything go?  This sort of system would certainly keep things simpler, since you wouldn't have as much stuff to keep track of, but I could see it having a detrimental impact on character progression, real or perceived.  Still, it's definitely worth looking into.

[IronyOwl]

I think it's also worth mentioning that if the next worldshift affects your odds of keeping neat things, that'll have a big impact on players' reactions to said transition. It'll also potentially have a much different impact among different players, if not all of one world's goodies are equally viable in the next.

[FuzzyZergling]

Question: Will knowledge od Multiworld Madness I be necessary to understand Multiworld Madness II?

[Sean Mirrsen]

No. Multiworld Madness I didn't reach the beginning of the plot arc (was supposed to start with the fourth world), and there isn't going to be any continuity between games, so the only thing you lose if you didn't read the original thread is a pretty epic adventure story.

That seems like a reasonable middle ground, but I'm interested to hear more about the "significant chance of disappearing."  Are we just talking another die roll on shifting, so like a 1 in 10 chance of keeping the item?  You also say "powers" would be lost; does that mean that abilities gained in a world are lost on shift, while attributes and skills are kept, or would everything go?  This sort of system would certainly keep things simpler, since you wouldn't have as much stuff to keep track of, but I could see it having a detrimental impact on character progression, real or perceived.  Still, it's definitely worth looking into.

Yes, any power or ability that's directly tied to the universe you're leaving would have a significant chance to stay behind. Any permanent attribute increases or weird skills you might've picked up wouldn't be tied to the universe, of course.

And in addition to keeping things simpler in the long run, it would allow me to give you more stuff to toy with, since most of it would be likely to never make it past the worldshift anyway.

And yes, it'll be a die roll, but not a fixed one. The more a power is tied to the unique properties of its origin universe, the more chance for it to fail miserably in another one.

I think it's also worth mentioning that if the next worldshift affects your odds of keeping neat things, that'll have a big impact on players' reactions to said transition. It'll also potentially have a much different impact among different players, if not all of one world's goodies are equally viable in the next.

Note here - only the "first" transition will inflict the chance of loss of power. If an ability or object sticks with you once, that would mean it's attuned to you and will never be checked for again.

If anything, this will prevent power escalation as the adventure goes on. Instead of being a ragtag bunch of superpowered maniacs, the players will be forced to rely on good old physical combat more often - strength and dexterity don't go away, and a well-crafted sword remains a well-crafted sword no matter where you take it. Firearms should work well enough anywhere, too. The less ability a given player has to wipe out an attacking army with a pull of a trigger, the better for the game's progression, I think.

[Razordw]

Hmm I kinda think the scenarios aspect might be more interesting to see and might even make more sense with the the whole shifting into different worlds.

[Zebrian]

Third and final, I could let you pick your character's race from the start. This only makes sense, the primary drawback being that enlisted players would have to resubmit their sheets. Choice will be the same - Human, Mii'Ari, Dolean. I'll even throw in some Mii'Ari lore so you know what you can choose for appearance, etc. Might even use "canon" Mii'Ari instead of the genericized "catpeople" I've used in the first game. Obviously, humans would be at a disadvantage, even against the Doleans, so I'll probably allow humans to pick a few starting skills, etc, etc, bla-bla-blalancing. I had the impression race changing wasn't very popular, so I didn't give this one a lot of thought.

I'm all for this, can I be the Dark Elf that I wish to be?

As well, I support the balancing idea you have, it increases the chance of players switching out.

[Sean Mirrsen]

No, the race choice is still between the three races. While this is about the Multiworlds, it's not just a random stroll through them. There's a backstory and plot here, and they dictate their terms in regards to race selection.

That said, nothing really prevents me from making your character a dark-skinned white-haired human with slightly pointed ears. Not a real drow by any stretch of meaning, but you'd probably pass for one if there weren't any real drow around to compare with.

[mcclay]

The second idea and the third one is good but the first one will make powers kind of useless, why would you spend precious turns on some power that is only going to be taken away at the end of the world?

[SeriousConcentrate]

The second idea and the third one is good but the first one will make powers kind of useless, why would you spend precious turns on some power that is only going to be taken away at the end of the world?

This is true. :\ I mean, to use Naruto as an example, let's say I actually luck out and get the Rasengan or Suijinheki or something. I'll use it but being me I'll spend no time trying to upgrade it since there's only a very small chance I'll get to keep it. Maybe if it were possible to raise the chance of keeping it somehow. Perhaps leveling an ability through good rolls, like every time you get a four or five you get an experience point, and every X amount of experience points the skill goes up a level which gives you a slightly higher chance of keeping it? You could make the number required high to ensure we don't level many abilities, or make it low so we're encouraged to use as many different ones as possible, and have each level add only +1 to the chance of keeping it. That way, if we get a technique we like, we'll have a greater chance of getting to keep it without it being a certainty. Just a thought.

[FuzzyZergling]

Question: Would the plot call for visiting a world multiple times?
If so, I suggest that lost powers be returned when returning to that world.

To use the Naruto example, you would retain all your knowledge and skill at performing jutsu in other worlds, but wouldn't be able to actually use them because the physics are different.
Also, I suggest that physical upgrades, if there are any, be permanent.