The Mechanics' Guild: An RP(G) Community

[The Burning Sun]

Is this the entire ruleset?

Yes, for now. I wanted to hack out some kind of fully playable framework before I started adding bells and whistles to it.

There aren't any details on the units themselves.

Unit statistics are at the bottom.

Right now, this feels like a giant game of Risk but with an economy and more unit types. If you're going for a total war, national politics and diplomacy are probably irrelevant.

...oh. Now that I come to think about it, you're actually right. I was thinking RTS meets Diplomacy, but it really is a lot like RISK, isn't it?

Any ideas on how to fix that? I don't particularly want to include a huge economy system that will be a nightmare to keep track of as the OP. I want most of the mechanics to be all about the horrible things that the players will do to each other, but I don't really want it to just be about military warfare.

On the other hand, I don't see a way to include an economic/cultural warfare system, not include a complex economic/political system, and not have it seem like an obviously bolted-on gimmick.

Well, I've never played a game of Diplomacy (though I'd love to) but IIRC doesn't it have some sort of supply chain system meant to prevent massive snowballing? I remember its other big thing was secret turns, but again that's really hard to do.

[Plzen]

Well, I've never played a game of Diplomacy (though I'd love to)

Hmm... maybe I should consider just running a straight-up Diplomacy 1900 RP in P2TM. Could be fun.

but IIRC doesn't it have some sort of supply chain system meant to prevent massive snowballing?

Not really. It's really easy to snowball in Diplomacy if you get a good start and nobody interferes with you - hence the importance of forming and breaking alliances to ensure nobody runs away with the game, and hence the title Diplomacy.

I remember its other big thing was secret turns, but again that's really hard to do.

The two biggest things in Diplomacy are probably the secret, simultaneous turns and having no element of chance at all. But secret turns can be managed, I think, by keeping the IC RP one turn behind the actual game and having people telegram me orders.

[Plzen]

Okay. It seems pretty clear to me that very few people are interested in my idea. I'll scrap it and work on something else.

[G-Tech Corporation]

So I'm considering making a new type of hybrid mechanics RP, based around a system I've cooked up to minimize OP workload while also allowing things to be pretty cut-and-dry.

The general concept is to allow for mostly freeform RPing, but also include what I intend to call "Advancements", which will come in Minor and Major flavors. Advancements essentially function as small actions with mostly determined results that players can execute at various points in the RP to progress their character/faction/nation/etc. with only a few of them needing OP interaction in order to work out their outcomes. Mainly Major Advancements will deal with indeterminate results. So the average RP in this system will have a preset list of Major and Minor Advancements that all RPers have access to, which can be expanded individually as the RP progresses through research/whatnot.

So, by way of example, a faction might be allowed to take a Minor Advancement once per IC page, and one Major Advancement per OOC day. Minors could range from recruiting a half-dozen new soldiers, to constructing a small pallisade, while Majors might include launching an assault on another faction or establishing a new city in a river basin.

Comments? Criticisms? Recommendations on improvements?

Also- if I were to make a RP with this general idea, what would y'all like to play? Ancient history? Space colonization? I'm open to suggestions.

[Harkback Union]

So I'm considering making a new type of hybrid mechanics RP, based around a system I've cooked up to minimize OP workload while also allowing things to be pretty cut-and-dry.

The general concept is to allow for mostly freeform RPing, but also include what I intend to call "Advancements", which will come in Minor and Major flavors. Advancements essentially function as small actions with mostly determined results that players can execute at various points in the RP to progress their character/faction/nation/etc. with only a few of them needing OP interaction in order to work out their outcomes. Mainly Major Advancements will deal with indeterminate results. So the average RP in this system will have a preset list of Major and Minor Advancements that all RPers have access to, which can be expanded individually as the RP progresses through research/whatnot.

So, by way of example, a faction might be allowed to take a Minor Advancement once per IC page, and one Major Advancement per OOC day. Minors could range from recruiting a half-dozen new soldiers, to constructing a small pallisade, while Majors might include launching an assault on another faction or establishing a new city in a river basin.

Comments? Criticisms? Recommendations on improvements?

Also- if I were to make a RP with this general idea, what would y'all like to play? Ancient history? Space colonization? I'm open to suggestions.

I had thought of a similar system where players would be given "Credits" to spend on Enabling God-mode and rampaging through the land (and for getting ahead of other players in expansion, technology and other fields) in a civilization RP. However, any advancements gained are temporary, and civilizations whom lose wars/get enslaved/lag behind get credits to spend in a later age. This would mean that every player would at some point in the RP be allowed to build and maintain a powerful empire at the expense of others, whilst suffering disasters earlier or later down the line.

[G-Tech Corporation]

So I'm considering making a new type of hybrid mechanics RP, based around a system I've cooked up to minimize OP workload while also allowing things to be pretty cut-and-dry.

The general concept is to allow for mostly freeform RPing, but also include what I intend to call "Advancements", which will come in Minor and Major flavors. Advancements essentially function as small actions with mostly determined results that players can execute at various points in the RP to progress their character/faction/nation/etc. with only a few of them needing OP interaction in order to work out their outcomes. Mainly Major Advancements will deal with indeterminate results. So the average RP in this system will have a preset list of Major and Minor Advancements that all RPers have access to, which can be expanded individually as the RP progresses through research/whatnot.

So, by way of example, a faction might be allowed to take a Minor Advancement once per IC page, and one Major Advancement per OOC day. Minors could range from recruiting a half-dozen new soldiers, to constructing a small pallisade, while Majors might include launching an assault on another faction or establishing a new city in a river basin.

Comments? Criticisms? Recommendations on improvements?

Also- if I were to make a RP with this general idea, what would y'all like to play? Ancient history? Space colonization? I'm open to suggestions.

I had thought of a similar system where players would be given "Credits" to spend on Enabling God-mode and rampaging through the land (and for getting ahead of other players in expansion, technology and other fields) in a civilization RP. However, any advancements gained are temporary, and civilizations whom lose wars/get enslaved/lag behind get credits to spend in a later age. This would mean that every player would at some point in the RP be allowed to build and maintain a powerful empire at the expense of others, whilst suffering disasters earlier or later down the line.

Hmm, interesting. I remember you using a system vaguely like that in one thing you did some time ago. That would require a lot of codifying though of who is doing better/worse, and balancing. I'm mainly counting on activity/posts to allow one to flourish or not.

[Indo-pasif archipelago]

So I'm considering making a new type of hybrid mechanics RP, based around a system I've cooked up to minimize OP workload while also allowing things to be pretty cut-and-dry.

The general concept is to allow for mostly freeform RPing, but also include what I intend to call "Advancements", which will come in Minor and Major flavors. Advancements essentially function as small actions with mostly determined results that players can execute at various points in the RP to progress their character/faction/nation/etc. with only a few of them needing OP interaction in order to work out their outcomes. Mainly Major Advancements will deal with indeterminate results. So the average RP in this system will have a preset list of Major and Minor Advancements that all RPers have access to, which can be expanded individually as the RP progresses through research/whatnot.

So, by way of example, a faction might be allowed to take a Minor Advancement once per IC page, and one Major Advancement per OOC day. Minors could range from recruiting a half-dozen new soldiers, to constructing a small pallisade, while Majors might include launching an assault on another faction or establishing a new city in a river basin.

Comments? Criticisms? Recommendations on improvements?

Also- if I were to make a RP with this general idea, what would y'all like to play? Ancient history? Space colonization? I'm open to suggestions.

I'm not very good in making up mechanics, so I can't give lots of suggestions. I think you should standardized the time requirements though (ie. using IC pages or OOC days for both Minor and Major advancement) since there are times where it took longer for the IC page to go one page than to wait for one day. Another alternative is to use something like a conditional, eg. Major Advancement requires one OOC day or Two IC pages, whichever is longer.


I generally prefer fantasy or ancient history RP, but seeing how it would work in the future is also quite interesting.

[G-Tech Corporation]

So I'm considering making a new type of hybrid mechanics RP, based around a system I've cooked up to minimize OP workload while also allowing things to be pretty cut-and-dry.

The general concept is to allow for mostly freeform RPing, but also include what I intend to call "Advancements", which will come in Minor and Major flavors. Advancements essentially function as small actions with mostly determined results that players can execute at various points in the RP to progress their character/faction/nation/etc. with only a few of them needing OP interaction in order to work out their outcomes. Mainly Major Advancements will deal with indeterminate results. So the average RP in this system will have a preset list of Major and Minor Advancements that all RPers have access to, which can be expanded individually as the RP progresses through research/whatnot.

So, by way of example, a faction might be allowed to take a Minor Advancement once per IC page, and one Major Advancement per OOC day. Minors could range from recruiting a half-dozen new soldiers, to constructing a small pallisade, while Majors might include launching an assault on another faction or establishing a new city in a river basin.

Comments? Criticisms? Recommendations on improvements?

Also- if I were to make a RP with this general idea, what would y'all like to play? Ancient history? Space colonization? I'm open to suggestions.

I'm not very good in making up mechanics, so I can't give lots of suggestions. I think you should standardized the time requirements though (ie. using IC pages or OOC days for both Minor and Major advancement) since there are times where it took longer for the IC page to go one page than to wait for one day. Another alternative is to use something like a conditional, eg. Major Advancement requires one OOC day or Two IC pages, whichever is longer.


I generally prefer fantasy or ancient history RP, but seeing how it would work in the future is also quite interesting.

My logic with tying Major Advancements to OOC time and Minors to IC posts is mainly to allow for even people without much time to post to be relevant to a RP- pages of IC can pass in hours if a RP is really rolling along, whereas actual IRL time will only ever pass so quickly. So allowing people who are more active to gain marginal benefits makes sense to me, but allowing them to fill pages with content just to gain an advantage on people who aren't able to post so much seems like not the way to go.

If that makes sense. I think it does.

[Harkback Union]

I had thought of a similar system where players would be given "Credits" to spend on Enabling God-mode and rampaging through the land (and for getting ahead of other players in expansion, technology and other fields) in a civilization RP. However, any advancements gained are temporary, and civilizations whom lose wars/get enslaved/lag behind get credits to spend in a later age. This would mean that every player would at some point in the RP be allowed to build and maintain a powerful empire at the expense of others, whilst suffering disasters earlier or later down the line.

Hmm, interesting. I remember you using a system vaguely like that in one thing you did some time ago. That would require a lot of codifying though of who is doing better/worse, and balancing. I'm mainly counting on activity/posts to allow one to flourish or not.

To the contrary, it was quite simple. Players could negotiate the price of the actions.

For example, player A could pay player B x sum of credits to burn down his capital...

[Indo-pasif archipelago]

I'm not very good in making up mechanics, so I can't give lots of suggestions. I think you should standardized the time requirements though (ie. using IC pages or OOC days for both Minor and Major advancement) since there are times where it took longer for the IC page to go one page than to wait for one day. Another alternative is to use something like a conditional, eg. Major Advancement requires one OOC day or Two IC pages, whichever is longer.


I generally prefer fantasy or ancient history RP, but seeing how it would work in the future is also quite interesting.

My logic with tying Major Advancements to OOC time and Minors to IC posts is mainly to allow for even people without much time to post to be relevant to a RP- pages of IC can pass in hours if a RP is really rolling along, whereas actual IRL time will only ever pass so quickly. So allowing people who are more active to gain marginal benefits makes sense to me, but allowing them to fill pages with content just to gain an advantage on people who aren't able to post so much seems like not the way to go.

If that makes sense. I think it does.

Ah, if that is what you aim for I think I understand it. After some thoughts, I think your idea is better than mine, giving equal chance for everyone in the RP whether they're active or not.

[Plzen]

Also- if I were to make a RP with this general idea, what would y'all like to play? Ancient history? Space colonization? I'm open to suggestions.

Near future? Climate change, resource exhaustion, overpopulation, neocolonialism, and other such modern social issues don't tend to be covered by RPs that often.

Could be fun to see something set in a dark, pessimistic 2060~2100.

---

Also, don't run that too early. Give me an opportunity to test out Neocolonialism once life is less hectic before you move on with your new RP.

[G-Tech Corporation]

Hmm, interesting. I remember you using a system vaguely like that in one thing you did some time ago. That would require a lot of codifying though of who is doing better/worse, and balancing. I'm mainly counting on activity/posts to allow one to flourish or not.

To the contrary, it was quite simple. Players could negotiate the price of the actions.

For example, player A could pay player B x sum of credits to burn down his capital...

Mm, but you’re relying on the market system to determine prices. That is hazardous in excess.

Also- if I were to make a RP with this general idea, what would y'all like to play? Ancient history? Space colonization? I'm open to suggestions.

Near future? Climate change, resource exhaustion, overpopulation, neocolonialism, and other such modern social issues don't tend to be covered by RPs that often.

Could be fun to see something set in a dark, pessimistic 2060~2100.

---

Also, don't run that too early. Give me an opportunity to test out Neocolonialism once life is less hectic before you move on with your new RP.

I’ve actually been thinking that a “start of space colonization” setting might work quite well for the conceit. Maybe not quite as despondent, but an interesting era nonetheless.

[The Burning Sun]

To the contrary, it was quite simple. Players could negotiate the price of the actions.

For example, player A could pay player B x sum of credits to burn down his capital...

Mm, but you’re relying on the market system to determine prices. That is hazardous in excess.

It also generally requires a lot of people. With our typical groups of 5-7 people trading would be dominated by personal relationships, not any kind of economic theory.

[Lord Dominator]

Right, I'm already a member under a different name (Maljaratas), but would appreciate it if that name/app link could be replaced with this one:

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APP:
#2424
Nation Name: Lord Dominator
Experience: Axis and Allies, Chess, Shogun/Samurai Swords, one of Hark's rps, read the core rules for D&D 3.0 and 5.0
Preferred Level of Detail: Any level is good, though I don't like having to describe/list every single weapon an army uses.
Activity: Generally daily, though I occasionally will go a week without checking.
RP Example: From Hark's Ascent of Mankind. From a different rp.

---

Also, that Major/Minor advancement thing sounds pretty nice

[The Burning Sun]

Right, I'm already a member under a different name (Maljaratas), but would appreciate it if that name/app link could be replaced with this one:

---

APP:
#2424
Nation Name: Lord Dominator
Experience: Axis and Allies, Chess, Shogun/Samurai Swords, one of Hark's rps, read the core rules for D&D 3.0 and 5.0
Preferred Level of Detail: Any level is good, though I don't like having to describe/list every single weapon an army uses.
Activity: Generally daily, though I occasionally will go a week without checking.
RP Example: From Hark's Ascent of Mankind. From a different rp.

---

Also, that Major/Minor advancement thing sounds pretty nice

I got you fam

[Lord Dominator]

Thanks!

[G-Tech Corporation]

Oi, that Cyberpunk RP I mentioned is now live, with the Major/Minor Advancements thing: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=442116

It's a pretty rough draft, though functional. Any comments or criticisms?

[Harkback Union]

Homeworld reboot is nearing completion, but I'll w8 for some current RPs to blow over before launch.

[Dragos Bee]

APP:
#2424
Nation Name: Dragos Bee
Experience: New World of Darkness/Chronicles of Darkness, Exalted 3e, and a Mecha Tabletop System named Battle Century G.
Preferred Level of Detail: Light to Medium; nothing too heavy.
Activity: The majority of the day and the majority of the week; I go by Philippine Time.
RP Example: viewtopic.php?p=33375761#p33375761

[G-Tech Corporation]

Hmm, so the Advancement concept RP is chugging along, but slowly and without too many people. Still, it has made good progress without barely any of our usual culprits. So feedback time:

What would make you more likely to join such RPs? A different setting? More initial freedom? Different mechanic handling?

[Harkback Union]

Hmm, so the Advancement concept RP is chugging along, but slowly and without too many people. Still, it has made good progress without barely any of our usual culprits. So feedback time:

What would make you more likely to join such RPs? A different setting? More initial freedom? Different mechanic handling?

I liked it, even though I barely posted.

[Harkback Union]

I've been working on something in the meantime.

[G-Tech Corporation]

I've been working on something in the meantime.

Mm, I can make some lethal combos with that.

[Dragos Bee]

I've been thinking of leaving NS as a whole.

[Harkback Union]

I've been thinking of leaving NS as a whole.

Leave? But this is such a wonderful place! Why would anyone want to ever leave?

Calling all mods. Thought crime in progress on thread #20583.

This reminds me, I need to do a 1984 mechanics RP at some point.