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I'm thinking about running a travelogue game on PBP here on the forums, probably using Pathfinder. I'm not married to the system or the setting, but would likely use one or the other to have more familiarity as I GM. It would likely be episodic, possibly with a rotating cast. It would involve the party exploring the world, through any number of transit methods, without the threat of some prophecy or villain always looming: that old chestnut of focusing on the journey, not on the destination.
The reason I'm still only thinking about starting this game is that I'm continuing my Swedish education online next month, and don't want to overload myself before I know that the coursework is doable. However, to date my most popular games have been travelogues, and I enjoy imagining fantastic locales enough that I would still want to run this game if I was doing 8 hours of schoolwork a day.
I have a bit of experience GMing online. I am currently running one travelogue-ish game on Roll20, and maintain a journal for it here; I also ran a one-shot PBP with a name I regret, which you can read here, and currently run a PBP of unknown duration for a game that was originally on roll20 here (not my best GMing work, I think, but a bit more up to date than the AMF game). I have also played in several PBPs on Paizo, with my role in Kobold Cleaver's Age of Worms being the longest-lasting. These links should give you a rough idea of the amount of roleplaying and description I want to provide as a GM.
If I do decide to run this, I'd like players who:
- Can usually post at least 5 times a week
- Would be happy in a game where 50-70% of the action is roleplay
- Take decisive action - no waiting for 2 weeks to agree to open a door, yeah?
- Like reading purple prose about nature and cities :V
- Like playing in a diverse world
- Communicate what they want from the game and don't hesitate to improvise
- Respect their fellow messageboard users (no punching down)
If you're interested in playing, post here with what you'd like to get out of a travelogue game. System, setting, tone, technology level, any plot elements - everything's fair game. I'd also appreciate links to any of your prior PBPs or campaigns, if you have them. Please refrain from character building for now - like, you're welcome to create as many OCs as you want, but you'll have no idea if they'll fit the setting or system or party we end up having.
I'll be back by the 12th of January to say whether or not I'll be able to run this game, and will probably choose players soon after. Until then, I'll be here to answer questions and read your input.
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Paint me interested,
Id like to see something Gothic horror or possibly Lovecraftian.
I do love myself that form of old fashioned horror just a little too much :P
I've also gotten into Warhammer recently and found myself enjoying the skaven(if your unfamiliar think evil mutant Ratfolk)
And would like to do something with that, but honestly I'm just curious, it's not often you get to play a story driven Champaign with no real focus in combat or statistics
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Horror is probably going to be an element (unless someone specifically can't abide it). I am already contemplating introducing a horror element in the first episode.
Races outside the main books are also definitely an option. When it comes to character creation I was also going to offer the species in these projects.
I could be interested in this kind of game. Sounds like a good one to play a mounted character class in.
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I forgot to add this to the first post, but I consider KC's journey PBP to be a good example of what a travelogue campaign can be. Not that we'd necessarily have the same tone.
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I'd be interested.
I haven't done a PBP for a couple of years, but life has settled back down quite a bit and I'm looking for a game to jump back into. Can play PF, but I'm familiar with several other systems (including 5e) as well, if you decide to go a different direction.
I think if I were to join such a game, the Setting would be key.
A game world that the players know nothing about and have to explore would work very well. Possibly they know they have to reach a specific place or find a specific thing. But the setting needs to be vivid and intriguing.
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I think if I were to join such a game, the Setting would be key.I agree, and I understand it's a bit difficult to say "I'd like to be part of this game" without knowing what the setting will be like. Would you prefer a homebrew over the Pathfinder Chronicles setting? Do you have any preferences for setting themes?
An idea if it's going to be very travel heavy is a Western fantasy, something based on Western expansion. Or possibly something older, like Europe and it's eastern expansion into the orient.
I should say early that I want to avoid playing out colonialism - I get enough of that "flavor" in Serpent's Skull. No imperial expansions.
However, I was actually thinking of having the starting location be Arcadia (Golarion's equivalent of pre- (and anti-) colonial Americas). It just wouldn't be some Avistani (European analogue) trying to establish settlements on stolen land. Ideally we'd have mostly Arcadian characters traveling on diverse business.
Not entirely apropos: Another thought I had was to have characters beginning in Tian Xia (Himalayas-and-eastwards analogue, ish?) and crossing the Okaiyo Ocean (to reach a safe haven, or to find a MacGuffin, or for any other number of reasons).
My thought is that a good starting point would be the PCs having some sort of specific end destination in mind that they are travelling to (which may or may not actually exist) but end up getting roped into other things and stop at various places along the way. They don't even necessarily have to reach this destination, but having one in mind would be a good explanation for why the characters are travelling together, and would provide at least some sort of overarching plot to tie the narrative together.
I do think a single destination would be a good motivation, and I also agree that each character should have discrete goals. I like the idea of an episodic game, though, because it would give me time after each episode to evaluate what to change about the game and organize my ideas for the next segment. It would also make it easier for players to swap out or switch characters.
For my two cents, I'll say I don't mind the PF setting, but if you've got time to put together a homebrew, I'm open to that. Just a lot more work for you. :)
Also agreed with the no colonialism angle.
Another option if you want everyone to have a good 'business' reason to go on a long journey might be a Marco Polo explore/merchant/trade journey. Perhaps an attempt to open up a new trade route either via land, sea, or both depending on geography. Something like this might provide additional RP opportunities for dealing with locals, establishing trade agreements for patrons (or ourselves), etc.
Alternatively, it could be a "science" or magical "magical" society sponsored journey to someplace significant but unexplored. Like a race to the South Pole ala Amundson. Be easy to add a little extra challenge by having other groups we would need to compete (or cooperate) with in order to succeed. This might be better suited to a homebrew world since much of the PF setting is documented and explored.
Anyway just some quick thoughts I had this morning...
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Sounds like the Pathfinder system wouldn't raise any hackles, but the Pathfinder setting might be a bit restrictive for some concepts: no steam power, limited guns, the written-up places that COULD be Wild West were made colonialist by early PF writers. Departing from the setting is fine with me.
By happenstance, there is actually a Great Basin-inspired homebrew "world" (starting adventure area) that I've had in the back of my head for some time. Ghost towns, deserts, craggy volcanic mountains, and giant monuments that no one really remarks on feature. Also, I'm not devoted to the idea, but because I'm kind of tired of the regular D&D races' ubiquity I was thinking of dropping a few of them and making dwarves the most populous race. Does that sort of setting sound like y'alls sort of thing?
e: Also, I don't have any real interest in designing deities or different planar systems, so we'd probably use the Pathfinder theology as a template.
Sound interesting, and I've been itching to play a high-society lady seeking to define her own future and become a genuine legend.
For me, having an extremely wide array f locations to visit would be incredibly fun. Perhaps something like "Around the world in 80 days"
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That sounds good for a starting area. I dunno how I feel about dwarves, though. I sort of feel like the beginning area should be kind of a melting pot, somewhere people might travel to regardless of species or background.
Oh, yeah, I didn't mean to make it sound like it was Only Dwarves. The city I'm thinking of is absolutely a melting pot, but with dwarves replacing humans in the typical RPG setup of "who's 60% of the population."
Around the world in more than 80 days is definitely a possibility.
Sounds interesting to me. I'm the sort of person who can enjoy just about any variation of role-playing, so I don't have huge preferences to state in the kind of campaign played. I just like playing unusual races/characters. :D
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I'm very interested in the Great Basin inspired setting you've laid out (and in fact I don't think I don't think there's a setting that would interest me more than a Great Basin inspired one lol). My experience with TRPGs is relatively limited, but I have DM'd a few sessions of 5e with friends, as well as playing as a character in a few sessions (so I'm not at all averse to learning TRPG rules), and I have done a lot of other roleplaying in my life (in MMOs and the like).
The idea of Dwarves or a non-human race being the most populous sounds great, and I think exploring a non-human race would be very compelling for a campaign about travelling and ultimately exploring.
Horror elements, specifically a kind of unease and slow burn-styled horror, is something I'm massively into for tone. Dark Souls/Bloodborne styled horror specifically is really interesting to me, but I'm mostly attracted to the very weird things they showcase. I think a horror-like element attached to a Great Basin setting could be very cool (terrible eye ball hurting monsters under the Big Sand? who knows)
I'm also really interested in an exploration of eastern-analogue environments, specifically Himalayan styled settings and Japanese countryside/coastline like areas.
Anyway, an RP heavy travelogue game sounds really cool to me, and I'm excited to see what comes of this.
I'm interested, for my own odd reasons.
I like to tell stories of people slowly turning into things or adapting to alienation.
In that regard, a largely roleplay game would defiantly interest me- a chance to roleplay a charecter despratly falling to hie waht they're becoming.
The first viewpoint I had from this was the kind of person that doesn't mind the rough-and-tumble, just because that's how they are. Perhaps one beer too many prompted the desire to explore- or the beer provided the circumstance that is the motivation– and while they might be prone to the monosyllabic trend, inside their head, they're pretty wordy.(Krieg is an example, not a template) The kind of personality that is motivated by a cheerful nihilism, and the sights that might lead to seeing. They reserve their words for the journal that they keep, in the sense of a fatalistic storyteller.
Given the pervading theme of horror, it might be from the viewpoint of the one sober(heh) person as the world descends into the way it's going.
This sounds awesome for a gunslinger, but like a pisterolo. I get a feel of the Jonah Hex series here with what you said, only eastern flavoured. OR a musketeer. Only not the standard mysterious stranger. Just local who got bored of no one knowing what them monouments mean
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So, it's Friday, and I've sat down to decide whether or not I have time to run this right now.
The bad news: The time expenditure required for this course I've started is a little bit too much with my other obligations. The last two days I've been running ragged just keeping up with sleep, languages, friends, and family. So I can't run the game as originally advertised.
But on to the good news: The interest in this game, and the ideas proposed, have convinced me to run it anyways.
(Back to the bad news:) But I'm going to be shooting for 3 posts a week, not 5, which increases the risk of dropout players and makes it harder to engage those who stay on. I'm also going to just run one episode, and if I'm not enjoying it enough for it to be worth the time-management headache, I'll close out the episode and the game at the same time. I don't want to do that, but I want to get an A in this course, if you feel me.
(Good news? Sort of neutral, really:) I'm going to open up a Recruitment thread with more details about the setting I talked about, the character creation guidelines, and application details. I'll still consider everyone who posted in this thread, and a description of your character is nowhere near as important as evidence of your prose-writing skills (which I'll check through your Campaigns history) or your general newbie-ness to PBP, but once I make the new thread I encourage you to post there and continue the discussion.
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Here's the recruitment thread with those details I talked about! Sorry for the delay.
As a reminder, anyone who posted here will still be considered, but you're welcome to post in that thread as well. I'll send PMs to anyone here who makes the final cut.