Post by Renekin Skywalker on Apr 16, 2011 7:29:29 GMT -5
Red Dwarf-style game
There are going to be only four PC types (keeps things Red-Dwarf simple). All are in their early 20's.
Living human (preserved in suspended animation, and the only survivor). Part of the Skelton crew, and low-ranking, at that.
Holographic representation of a dead human (50% only an image, 50% can actually affect the environment) resurrected to carry out ship, duties (only 2, any more and they are just light). More than like crew, but possibly a colonist.
Creature evolved from the ship’s Caribou ... Or cat (if you want a classic).
Humanoids evolved from house(tabby/Tom/alley) cats (perfectly human, except for the varied colour of body hair, and longer canines. A somewhat solitary creature, vain and selfish. No specialized breeds)
Humanoids evolved from caribou (look perfectly human, except a longer face, and antlers that look and function like super-thick dreadlocks poking out of shorter head hair. Human hands and feet, group oriented, somewhat competitive between males, and a bit of a worrier.
All living PCs are the last of their kind. Humans died from a fast-acting disease, forcing the cats and caribou to evolve to take care of themselves. The cats and caribou eventually evolved and lived side by side. Everything was fine until they decided that had had enough of each other, and fought for dominance. A war destroying the ship would have broken out if the same fast-acting disease hadn't evolved and decimated them, too. However, dwindling numbers survived, and now, Only the pcs remain.
In fact, pretty much all intelligent life seems to have come and gone.
When creating characters, remember that they are exaggerations of blue-collar and less-than-perfect personalities. They could be people that are so obsessed with proper behavior, they forget about relationships, or so focused on today that they never consider the impact of their actions. However, any exaggeration should be done with subtlety, variety and without taking themselves too seriously. Otherwise, characters we love to hate become characters we hate to read about.
Do not worry about consistency too much, since the game is not intended to be played with a serious mind. So, something that did not exist before may suddenly become day to day. Or wardrobe may change inexplicably. Again, these would be applied with subtlety and variety to ensure they do not ruin the fun of the story.
Human characters, whether alive or hologram, are among the lowest ranking crew in the ship. likewise, the once-great Caribou and cat cultures have declined to what amount to a couple of vagabonds (though, don't make them bums, just make them as something less than awesome), with self-taught skills, and wardrobe to match.
Cats are cats, for how they would look, watch the series. Caribou would most likely be dressed in utilitarian clothes, and as clean as a typical human. Humans have access to their own uniforms.
Through a miraculous feat, everything the humans ever had (except in the park) is still there, even after millions of years. Don't ask how.
Cats and Caribou start in the Park and do not have access to the crew decks. Given the dwindling numbers left (really only the PCs), the old animosities are gone. The Lister/Cloister cult stuff doesn't happen. They only know of humans, generally, as a sort of world-builder god.
Humans start out in their own time, living ones end up in stasis, the holograms die shortly after.
Convergence happens shortly after stasis.
The ship will be maintained by intelligent, non-human robots (we can call them scutters) that have worked tirelessly to maintain the decks and he workings of the parks.
The ship they are on is called the Eden, humanity's first interstellar colony ship. It is a 50-mile long, 10-mile wide super-cruiser (like Babylon 5, but much more ambitious), based on centrifugal principles. Inside is 2/3s hollow (2000+ km^2 ground space (3 times area covered by city of Toronto), with grown-over green lands (just like in classic science-fiction imagery. Originally, this ship had a crew and colonist population of 5000, with stasis chambers that could house a skeleton crew (100). The interior has a complete ecosystem that has evolved to suit it's new environment.
the Ship's super computer, Joey (the GM) is now a little neurotic.
This game will borrow very heavily from the Red Dwarf series in concept, though I ask some restraint in applying concepts or items that make things unnecessarily complex, or problem-escapingly simple. Especially if it does both
Examples include:
Bad:
"James looked over at his IDE Mars 5 viral detection and classification system and immunization system mark 3, the common tool provided to any and all corpsman when adventuring to a dangerous area and waits as it immunizes him against everything in the room."
Better:
"James uses the only virus scanner left on the ship. James notes John's worry when the system didn't give a solid reading."
Red Dwarf Style:
"James looks at the virus scanner. Looks up nervously, and rattles it and stalls for a minute while the team waits for a reading. Then says 'And we are going to... live. Yes.'"
There are going to be only four PC types (keeps things Red-Dwarf simple). All are in their early 20's.
Living human (preserved in suspended animation, and the only survivor). Part of the Skelton crew, and low-ranking, at that.
Holographic representation of a dead human (50% only an image, 50% can actually affect the environment) resurrected to carry out ship, duties (only 2, any more and they are just light). More than like crew, but possibly a colonist.
Creature evolved from the ship’s Caribou ... Or cat (if you want a classic).
Humanoids evolved from house(tabby/Tom/alley) cats (perfectly human, except for the varied colour of body hair, and longer canines. A somewhat solitary creature, vain and selfish. No specialized breeds)
Humanoids evolved from caribou (look perfectly human, except a longer face, and antlers that look and function like super-thick dreadlocks poking out of shorter head hair. Human hands and feet, group oriented, somewhat competitive between males, and a bit of a worrier.
All living PCs are the last of their kind. Humans died from a fast-acting disease, forcing the cats and caribou to evolve to take care of themselves. The cats and caribou eventually evolved and lived side by side. Everything was fine until they decided that had had enough of each other, and fought for dominance. A war destroying the ship would have broken out if the same fast-acting disease hadn't evolved and decimated them, too. However, dwindling numbers survived, and now, Only the pcs remain.
In fact, pretty much all intelligent life seems to have come and gone.
When creating characters, remember that they are exaggerations of blue-collar and less-than-perfect personalities. They could be people that are so obsessed with proper behavior, they forget about relationships, or so focused on today that they never consider the impact of their actions. However, any exaggeration should be done with subtlety, variety and without taking themselves too seriously. Otherwise, characters we love to hate become characters we hate to read about.
Do not worry about consistency too much, since the game is not intended to be played with a serious mind. So, something that did not exist before may suddenly become day to day. Or wardrobe may change inexplicably. Again, these would be applied with subtlety and variety to ensure they do not ruin the fun of the story.
Human characters, whether alive or hologram, are among the lowest ranking crew in the ship. likewise, the once-great Caribou and cat cultures have declined to what amount to a couple of vagabonds (though, don't make them bums, just make them as something less than awesome), with self-taught skills, and wardrobe to match.
Cats are cats, for how they would look, watch the series. Caribou would most likely be dressed in utilitarian clothes, and as clean as a typical human. Humans have access to their own uniforms.
Through a miraculous feat, everything the humans ever had (except in the park) is still there, even after millions of years. Don't ask how.
Cats and Caribou start in the Park and do not have access to the crew decks. Given the dwindling numbers left (really only the PCs), the old animosities are gone. The Lister/Cloister cult stuff doesn't happen. They only know of humans, generally, as a sort of world-builder god.
Humans start out in their own time, living ones end up in stasis, the holograms die shortly after.
Convergence happens shortly after stasis.
The ship will be maintained by intelligent, non-human robots (we can call them scutters) that have worked tirelessly to maintain the decks and he workings of the parks.
The ship they are on is called the Eden, humanity's first interstellar colony ship. It is a 50-mile long, 10-mile wide super-cruiser (like Babylon 5, but much more ambitious), based on centrifugal principles. Inside is 2/3s hollow (2000+ km^2 ground space (3 times area covered by city of Toronto), with grown-over green lands (just like in classic science-fiction imagery. Originally, this ship had a crew and colonist population of 5000, with stasis chambers that could house a skeleton crew (100). The interior has a complete ecosystem that has evolved to suit it's new environment.
the Ship's super computer, Joey (the GM) is now a little neurotic.
This game will borrow very heavily from the Red Dwarf series in concept, though I ask some restraint in applying concepts or items that make things unnecessarily complex, or problem-escapingly simple. Especially if it does both
Examples include:
Bad:
"James looked over at his IDE Mars 5 viral detection and classification system and immunization system mark 3, the common tool provided to any and all corpsman when adventuring to a dangerous area and waits as it immunizes him against everything in the room."
Better:
"James uses the only virus scanner left on the ship. James notes John's worry when the system didn't give a solid reading."
Red Dwarf Style:
"James looks at the virus scanner. Looks up nervously, and rattles it and stalls for a minute while the team waits for a reading. Then says 'And we are going to... live. Yes.'"