TFFA: Great X-Mas Caper OOC Discussions

[Zenithos]

Right, since the new arc is about to start, I thought we might as well start off our OOC discussions. First of all, to get us into the mood, I thought we should start off with deciding on an OST for the game.

How's this for an OST ?

Anyone want to suggest other possible OSTs? Please post links to audio streams, youtube, veoh, or other direct streams to make it easier.

I also wanted to suggest a new system. Rather than having full blown battlefields this time, there will be certain periods in the game called 'Black Blizzard Periods'. What is it, you ask?

Well, imagine Silent Hill, or Persona 3, where there are periods where everything becomes eerily dark. In addition to that, since this is a Christmas RPG, a huge blizzard descends during the period.

Most humans would turn into ice crystals and wouldn't even realize anything strange happened. Time seems to stop as well during this period. A few people, such as our characters, retain the ability to move about freely and would be aware of the Black Blizzard.

Also, a lot more people seem to go missing during Black Blizzards which causes our heroes to consider there being a connection between the recent dissappearances at TFFA and the Black Blizzards.

During the Black Blizzard, the trolls and other invaders will suddenly flicker into existence and attack. Once the black blizzard is over, everything will return to normal as if nothing ever happened.

This will allow us to retain the 'daily life' portion of TFF academy where we can try and solve the mysteries that will somehow lead us to finding out the cause behind the Black Blizzard, while still giving us a chance to cause much death and destruction during the black blizzard periods.

Ok, now, for the more mundane things which you could skip if you've seen this in the other threads -

The rules -

-You play as yourself. You can use your own nickname on the board. eg. I'll be playing as 'Zenithos' and I can refer to myself as 'Zeni' as most people call me in this forum.

- Each and every player must stay in groups of at least 4 people whenever possible, unless a solo is completely necessary. This will hopefully prevent fractured storylines. If possible, stay as one big group whenever possible.

- Please be sensible with your character power-ups. While having powers is fine, don't go all DBZ....at least until the final battle. tongue.gif

- You will be allowed one minor character to accompany you. Please be sure to post a pic and a short description. It could be an apprentice you're training up, a servant, a catgirl you found in a box beside the street, a best friend, a conscience, a pokemon, a digimon, a persona...whatever, as long as it's just ONE.

- Killing off other PCs is fine, off course. But if you see somebody dead please try to introduce a plot device that would somehow revive the person. Phoenix Downs, Elixirs, T-viruses...you name it.

- There is absolutely no need to maintain an air of formality or seriousness. Read: Hijinks and Comedy are highly encouraged.

- You are allowed to incorporate other PCs into your posts and write in actions and dialogues for them, as long as you keep them in character. If the PC's owner disagrees then please be courteous and edit the offending post. (so far, no such thing has happened as we bonk each other on the head so often it's become quite a fun routine).

The Location and Dialog systems -

From time to time, certain events, acquisition of certain items or information, or dialogs with certain NPCs will unlock 'locations'. These locations are, well, places such as rooms, basements, parks, laboratories, etc.

Each and every one of these locations will have 'descriptions' and 'points of interest' and they will also 'contain' items. I, or any game master, will specify the points of interest and items contained each time a new location is unlocked.

With this information you can write up what your character does upon entering the room. For example, from the location information, you know that there is a locked diary inside a drawer. You write in that your character decides to search around a bit and finds the diary then you decide whether your character decides to break the lock or keep it for later in case he/she finds the keys. You should also write in observations of 'points of interest'. For example, the 'points of interest' specifies that the e-mail indicator on the laptop in the laboratory is flashing. You should have your character examine it. If you entered the room with other players, try to share the findings and observations.

The items and points of interest would normally give you clues to allow you to work out a conclusion. For example, you had entered the room to find out why the occupant had gone missing. The items and points of interest in the room would normally point towards the cause and will allow your character to derive the answer. Occasionally, the answer, or perhaps items found within the room, will allow other locations to be unlocked. For example, you conclude that the person in question has run away to another location. Said location will become unlocked for detective work. Or say you find a key to a basement or a map to lost underground temple. That will unlock said places.

Here's an example of one 'location'.

Location Unlocked: Eterna's Room (yes, cause I'm evil like that)

Description: A rather dark, untidy room with a coffin for a bed. There are heavy shades on the windows.

Contains:
Closet: skeletons
desk drawer: serial murder notes
small refrigerator: Type O blood
underneath bed: bloody weapons
coffin: a bloody blankie. A rather torn up teddy.

Now for a second system - NPC dialogs. Sometimes I, or the game master, will announce an event where your character gets to talk to an NPC.

Example:
Dialog Sequence
NPC: Eterna
Description: Annoying Loli Vampire
Personality: (if the character's personality requires some elaboration, please elaborate)

Dialog content:
- Will talk about where she last saw the victim - last night in her room.
- Will talk about what the victim last said - "HELP!"
- Will talk about where she thinks the victim might be now - In her closet, rotting.

Knowing what the character will say, you write up a post that explores all the answers and then come up with a conclusion based on them. Obviously, you're going to want to visit Eterna's room and that will unlock the location 'Eterna's Room'. You also got some clues as to who the culprit is, and the clues you find in 'Eterna's Room' will most probably support your hypothesis.

Well, ok, the examples here are so blatantly obvious. But in the game itself it won't be that easy, for sure.

From time to time, the exploration of a location or a dialog with an NPC will trigger an event. For example, the NPC escapes and a chase sequence ensues. Or an item you find in the location becomes activated, summoning a dangerous swarm of ghouls which you have to fight off. Or you activate some giant robot in the laboratory and it ends up kicking your ass. Well...you get the idea. There'll be action in between to keep things upbeat.

Now I'd like to announce yet another system that will allow variety in the game. Every player here gets to be a game master. O RLY?! YA RLY. How? Here's how. If you've got an idea for a mystery arc, please PM me with the details. I will compile it along with other mystery arcs from other potential GMs and then try to work out a continuity and post them back to you. Once that's done, you will be the game master of your own mystery arc and you will provide the 'locations' and 'NPC dialogs' that will guide other players towards the conclusion of your mystery arc. Work out any quirks with me via PM to make sure you don't spoil the mystery.

And the banners:

 

[Shiakou]

That OST is cool beyond words. I'd be satisfied if we were half as cool.

 

[Zenithos]

Now we can start thinking up a set up for TFF Academy City:

Let's start with a few pics.

TFF Academy City at night.

A picture of the somewhat less urban parts of TFF Academy City where a lot of the commercial districts and student residences are located.

A sub-urban district that is somewhat more teetered towards Eastern cultures.

TFF Mahora Academy, one of TFFA's high schools (Zeni goes to school here).

Sakura Kinomoto, trapped in a Black Blizzard period

Rooftop view of back alleyways of central urban district.

An urban district where magic seems to be more dominant.

Outskirts of TFFA

Feel free to add more pics and perhaps pictures of specific locations in TFFA City along with descriptions.

We could have a local diner, cafe, or clubhouse where some members of our group gather to discuss findings, plans, strategies, etc.

We could have all sorts of other things too and it's all up to you folks to shape our world of TFFA.

 

[Mick]

nothing.

 

[parker]

Well I was thinking of having Zaraki's being in the slums of TFF, with the Bartender being the unoficial boss of the slums. The bar has heavey protective spells laced into it like Loren's bar in Angel, you go there and you are made physicaly unable to even think about doing damage to any of the patrons or workers while inside the bar. The bar is a place for heavey hitters, refuges, criminals and people just looking for a good time or place to sleep. Some of the people that can be found there are, Hellboy, The Hulk, Marv, Wolverine, Predators looking to stock up on stuff, and arm dealers looking for someone interested in some weapons.

The slums are a hollowed out wasteland with camera's on every corner, in every building and they are all connected to the bar, where people can place bets on the fights that happen so often in the slums, watch people doing stuff all over the slums, and track prey that is yet to be hunted, all of which is carefully monitored by the Bartender. It is set near the harbor and has alot of strange boats come in to land, most of them are heavily armored and armed, and the ones that aren't usualy don't last long or are fast enough that sometimes even the Bartender doesn't even know they were there.

So thoughts on the slums?

 

[knight_of_ni]

I would suggest the slums be at the bottom of the area with all the people flying on brooms.

With that many tall buildings, not much light is going to make it through, which means that mostly people who have no where else to go, or are trying not to be found are going to live there. It also means that there won't be much in the way of plant life down there, and with all those people above it, and humans being who they are, trash is going to accumulate down there.

So dirty, dark, and almost no law.

I am trying to think of the best location for my character's lab, I was thinking that it would be best to have it near a cemetery.

Anyway, I was thinking for the interior of the lab be basically an evil laboratory for the main lab. You know, jars with green liquids that hold various organs on shelves, a massive slab in the center of the lab, that sort of thing.

The containment chambers are going to be a bit different, all of the disposal units in labs at TFFA end up at the containment chambers (they have to eat too you know). He also carries a wide selection of spices (such as dried and ground up brains) for their cook (also happens to be a zombie) to prepare their meals with. A nice living space with television in each room and a library is also included.

Nikolaus, apparently decided that human rights activists didn't like the way most zombies were treated, and since his successful zombies were sentient enough to carry out conversation (should their bodies be capable of it) he decided that they should receive equal treatment. Granted the payment outside of the living quarters and the free food is to be able to have some sort of revenge against the living. At one point he was even considering hiring a psychiatrist to help them with that, but it was universally agreed by his minions that no such thing was happening.

He still doesn't know why the human rights activists only shake their head when they see him. Nor does he know why they would be worried about they would call themselves "human rights activists" at all, if they were concerned about the treatment of the living dead.

I have no clue what the hell I just wrote, but it was fun writing it.

 

[David Alan Abramczyk]

I was considering something.

The old saying is "Clothes maketh the man", isn't it? So, what if, when David is caught out in a Dark Blizzard, he starts to act like "The Fat Controller"...?

 

[Upgrade]

Which version of the Fat Controller? The original from the first book, the more current one from the books, or the one from the tv show? They all look the same, but they have different attitudes.

 

[David Alan Abramczyk]

Possibly the one from "The Railway Series".

 

[Left Shoe]

Hey, I thought of a way to (probably) eliminate all the continuity problems that we ran into in the first RPG. Does a prescribed posting order seem feasible?

Yes, I'm serious. I honestly think it could work:

• Main strength: various types of continuity errors, like the bone-to-pick I had with Parker, or the retro-deletion of posts by Mick and knight_of_ni, would all be prevented.
• Drawback: Reliability of participants to respect the system. I'm not saying that there is no room for flexibility here, but if people make lots of posts out of order and without respecting each other, then the system falls apart.
  (In other words, one post out of order is ok, and a couple are fine too, but at some point you have to face the reality that trolls just suck.)
• Drawback 2: Not every player can be connected to the internet at the designated times, let alone whenever they want to be. See GH's semi-farewell thread for a good example of this. Hopefully, though, this can be worked around with a little foresight.

What do you all think?

 

[David Alan Abramczyk]

I'm in favour of it.

 

[Mick]

I won't be able to post much before 5:00 Pm. As such though I'd like to give Zeni or Eterna permission (ask them nicely) to use my character and Motoko in their posts for some of the events that should have all of us do something.

That way I might be able to figure out what I should do with my character when he posts. In a way to keep track of him so that I don't have be in a place he shouldn't be in my posts.

 

[knight_of_ni]

Well, I am in favor of it. Especially since finals are in a few weeks and I need to concentrate on studying those when finals do come up.

 

[Epsilon]

Well, if a person's turn comes up, they should be given an option to pass for this round if they feel that they can't come up with anything within a certain time frame (a day? a week?).

 

[Mick]

I know I wanna post some contribution to the battle going on but I can't think of anything.

 

[Zenithos]

Well, if everyone agrees with it, then ok, I suppose... :mellow:

I personally disagree. We've had players who only post once a week at most, and even players who suddenly dropped out with no explanations whatsoever, for example NKVD and Os. Such a system would end up holding everyone else up if the player in turn for whatever reason doesn't post. And considering the number of players we've got in X-Mas Caper, that's not going to be pretty.

So, in favour of flexibility, I suggest we just try and manage with our current system. And besides, most posts can be worked in with a few slight modifications. My recent post is a testimony to that. It took a little working out, but it ended up fine in the end.

But it's up to the other players. If everyone agrees with the system, then by all means. ^_^

EDIT: I'm in favour of Parker's suggestion, that we post in the OOC thread to give people a head's up when we're about to post. Then we add an EDIT line when we've finished. That'd prevent some discontinuity, I think.

 

[Shiakou]

Either way works fine with me.

 

[Epsilon]

Come to think of it, Parker's idea seems more flexible.

 

[Upgrade]

Parker's idea sounds much more effective to me.

 

[Vexarian]

I'm also in favor of Parker's suggestion. (Which doesn't seem to exist in this thread)

 

[Epsilon]

I remember him mentioning it in another thread. Can't remember though...

 

[Xaosite]

Parker's suggestion sounds reasonable. We should give it a shot, to see how it works out. If it doesn't, we can adjust it.

 

[Meinos Kaen]

Question. The character has to reside in the city or can he be a traveler? because a resident should know at least a bit of the city. lol At least his quarter.

And I love the Zaraki's thing. XD Getting an ale with Hulk and Wolvie without risking your life is good. :mmm:

 

[Legendary Legacy]

You don't have to be from the TFF world. You can cross over from another world, appear through a warp/rift/whatever. My own character has only been a resident of TFF for a few months, but he was born in the Slayers universe (how he came to be in TFF is a mystery even to me at this point...)

 

[Mick]

You don't have to be from the TFF world. You can cross over from another world, appear through a warp/rift/whatever. My own character has only been a resident of TFF for a few months, but he was born in the Slayers universe (how he came to be in TFF is a mystery even to me at this point...)

Had an idea in my head that sorta involves you LL. Was thinkin even if the TFF itself gets restored, was thinking of having the rest of the world reduced back to the middle ages. With gun's being scarce and ammo all but gone.

Could have me and Motoko eventually traveling this 'new world' hunting for whatever new treasures/magic items may have been created in all this mess.

Here's where you come in..was thinking you could be brought back as a Mazoku working under Xellos. With your first assignment being to harrass us in much the same way Xellos would mess with Lina and her group.

Sound good?