Pre-Game Idea Vetting: "Dark and Stormy Night"

[Leitz]

I have this idea for a game, could use some feedback. While I've DM'd a bit, and played a bit, my PbP DM skills still need some work. Feel free to politely critique the concept, and raise any questions that come to mind.

The PCs are modern day people; gamers going to a convention or similar. A mysterious event/person beckons them through a portal, and they are transported to somewhere else. There is a need that they can help resolve, and they do heroic stuff. At the end of the adventure, they are popped back to where they came from.

Not sure of a game system yet, something fun and maybe swash-buckley like 7th Sea or Flashing Blades. Or a d20 base there where they can get up to 3rd level or so decently quickly. Basically giving them some resistance to easy death.

Key points:

• PCs do not control the coming or going to the "other world".
• PCs can't stock up on machine guns and grenades, "just in case".
• The game is heroic, and uses the smarts and unusual perspective a modern gamer might have.
• Time flow is asymmetric.

I ran this years ago; each game started with "It was a dark and stormy night..." Explosions tended to trigger the portal crossings, but I'd like to give the PCs some time in the other world to learn and enjoy things.

Please give me some ways to make this better.

[Tiglath]

As to setting and system could the mundane and the magical use different rulesets??? Maybe too radical idea and/or a DMing nightmare? Or perhaps (saner) a "foot in both camps" system. Something like Dresden Files springs to mind but I've not played it

[Leitz]

For the most part, the "normal world" will be "between adventures". Unless, of course, the big bad evil finds a way to cross through the portals.

[Rex]

We did something similar years ago with AD&D (as in 1e). I think as far as system goes it is best to stick with what you are comfortable running. It would be fun, when we did it the players played themselves.

[cybersavant]

ever play TORG ????????????????

[Leitz]

ever play TORG ????????????????

Never played it. Reading a little on the Wikipedia page.

[Rex]

Nope, not one I have played. Looks interesting.

[cybersavant]

it would work well for this

[Leitz]

The reading I had was that the players didn't have a lot of detail in character creation. Has that changed?

[Bluetongue]

Sounds a bit 'Stargate'ish or Quantum Leap. Or even that old D&D cartoon series from the 80's.

[rredmond]

Or even that old D&D cartoon series from the 80's.

Heh heh. This was the first thing I thought when I read the OP a couple days ago.
Also I believe there was a Dragon module where the PCs end up in semi-modern day London (maybe early 1900s) and have some sort of adventure. I’d have to go check. Might have been a BECMI module and not advanced.

Also the Star Trek TOS episode, with Joan Collins, The City on the Edge of Forever with the time gate - being a Trekkie and all.

[Leitz]

It was the original game was conceptually based on "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court".

[AsenRG]

There's a game with such a premise, Vital Hearts and it seems to be out already. Well, kinda, and if Early Access counts. To me it counts:).

Just something to consider, because while I love Flashing Blades, "guessing the type of attack" is too damn hard to do well on a forum. And it's a major component of your defence. It also adds a component of "headgames", which is very enjoyable IME and gives you the opportunity to add some player skill.

On the table, we used to do it by hiding a d6 behind our hands, with different numbers meaning different kinds of attack, and then revealing simultaneously. Like all things that require simultaneous reveal, however, emulating that part in PbP is hard to impossible;).

[Leitz]

Yeah, I read "Flashing Blades" and it's nice, but not the level of simplicity I prefer. There are some folks doing very well thought out and less complex rules, like Tibbius' Greek game, and the TABA rules. I haven't quite made the switch that far, though.

[tibbius]

I'll suggest Tiny D6 as a nice middle ground between DnD 5e and TABA. Closer to the rules-light end of the slide. The Player's Guide for Tiny Dungeon 2e costs $6.99 on drivethrurpg and has all you need to play in any setting - just switch out Traits and make up your own Heritages / Archetypes if you want a different setting. For example, if you wanted modern high school kids dropped into a fantasy setting, you could use Archetypes like Jock, Nerd, Social, Outsider, Goth and give each a different unique Trait.

[Leitz]

I'd rather not push players to buy the games; so far my "run a game" record hasn't been as strong as I'd like. I did figure out the solution, though; use different game systems for each environment. As I said elsewhere, I'm not sure I could pull it off, and the player's would have to do a lot of mental back and forth on IC and OOC thinking.

[AsenRG]

Actually that's a good idea. You could use D&D, T&T or a retroclone for the game part, which would fit to a T because online games are influenced by D&D and T&T for historical reasons!
And then you could have something closer to how the real world is working for the offline part. As a bonus, you can use a free system like the GORE version of d100, or Mythras Imperative, or Wichcraft, or Nemesis ORE (though that one starts to add psycho horror overtones which you might decide to ignore or not)!