The Dream Merchant

Started by forlorn1, August 07, 2006, 09:01:06 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

forlorn1

The Dream Merchant

A mostly free form modern day RPG based mostly on the Deliria RPG from Laughing Pan Productions.
http://www.laughingpan.com.  Their newest source book "Everyday Heroes" is a brilliant piece of
work for anyone looking to run a modern day "neomythic" type of game.

The 'also-inspired-by' list looks like this :  A wonderful LARP I played in at Dexcon 9,  PrimeTime
Adventures in any of its forms (but especially for the "Hound and Hare" game played at Dreamation
2005).  Delerium - the stunning visual creation of Cirque du Soleil.  Delerium the band and their
album Chimera.  Novels by Charles DeLint, Christopher Moore, and Terry Pratchett.  The magic
that is all around us.

Setting :
   Each player's story will start with a visit to Malick's Second Hand Shoppe, a seemingly
normal store set in a modern larger city of the player's choosing.  All the stores are both
the same and different all at once, and are linked through the Mysterium.

   Malick's Second Hand Shoppe is a place easily passed over by busy people, not seen but
still taking up space there between other stores.  It's usually down a back alley or off a small
courtyard.  People don't see it unless they are meant to, and what calls them to see it for the
first time is different for each.  Maybe it was a newspaper advertisement that no one else remembers
seeing.  Perhaps a missed step and a stumble on the curb brought you up short staring at the
name on the door for the first time in hundreds of trips down that particular street.  Or maybe
it's just a happy find on a day exploring for bargains.

   Whatever the cause, Malick's is mostly your average second hand store.  Packed floor to
ceiling with now discarded pieces of people's lives, unwanted clothing, things that have outlived
their usefulness, or never found their niche.  It has all the nooks and turns of the best used
book stores, and a comfortable but cramped atmosphere.  There is no Starbucks here, although you
can occasionally find an overstuffed chair to take your weight, especially when you want to try on
those used hiking boots.

   While each store in each city looks different, and has different stock, each has a few
constant things.  There is always a huge oak counter in the back where purchases are made.  No
cash register is ever around.  The proprietor always makes change from a strongbox, although the
prices charged are rarely something you can easily make change for.  And there is a small back room
with several doors for customers to exit out of should they not want to use the main store entrance.

   The proprietor is named Jack, or perhaps Jaqi, Jacqueline, or just J if the owner is female.
Either is possible, and they may be brother, sister, cousin, father, daughter, or anything in between.
He may be an older silver gray man with a tweed coat, or young many-pierced goth girl reading a copy
of Nietzsche and sighing.  Who is there depends on what the payer is looking for and ultimately
who they think should be running the store in their city.




Character Creation :

Character creation in Deliria always starts with "Tell me a story...", so for this game, I'd like
to start with "Tell me a story of how you came to find this shop..."

But I'd also like to get:

A name
Three things your character is good at
Three things that are important to your character
Three things that get in your character's way
Three things your character doesn't want anyone to know
The one thing your character wants more than anything else to find/possess
Does your character believe in magic, the fae, or anything beyond the normal?

These can be one liners or woven into a story.  The one thing they want more than anything else
is one of the ultimate game driving pieces, so please be as specific as you can.  It can be something
metaphysical, or a normal possession lost in the past, or anything in between.  But I'm not going to
be able to do much with "to bring about world peace" or "to know the essence of nothingness".  It's a
modern fairy tale, and as such should be more personal than epic.

I'd like an idea of how much or what kind of sex, violence, and magic you'd prefer in the story.  And
the more specific the better.  Combat is not tradionally a big part of modern day fantasy, but if you want
to turn the story more toward a vigilante/justice tale, then I need to know that beforehand.  The main magic level
here is that of mostly faery magic.  Its infrequently noticed by the normal world, but it does exist.

This is not a typical high magic adventure, but if you want a coming into her powers story I can probably
make that happen.  I'd also like to know ahead if there are any particular sexual acts or situations that
your character would like to explore.

Each character will have their own thread and really their own story.  Usually they won't intermix, unless
both parties involved request and agree to it.

Basically, I want ideas of what you, the player, wants out of the story.  Not a script for what you want to happen,
but an idea of the things that drive this character, and make roleplaying them interesting.

Elvi

Wow!
Bit of an epic task there Forlorn, but very well thought out.
It's just after 3:00 am here, but I'll certainly have a look at this again tomorrow.......
It's been fun, but Elvi has now left the building

Darwishi

Wow I'm definitely interested...so long as I could play a superheroine?  I wouldn't want any huge powers or anything, but maybe that could be what she's looking for...

forlorn1

Quote from: Darwishi on August 07, 2006, 10:33:48 PM
Wow I'm definitely interested...so long as I could play a superheroine?  I wouldn't want any huge powers or anything, but maybe that could be what she's looking for...

A superheroine would be fine.  You may want to wait though, as I have another game I'm trying to revamp that didn't go anywhere on RPOL - "The Sidekick Lounge".  Its super hero sidekicks as members of an underground resistance against an alien opressor.  Had the potential to be quite fun.  I hope to have it reworked sometime in the next two weeks, but I make no promises.  Or play in both.  Up to you.


forlorn1

Quote from: Elvi on August 07, 2006, 09:10:43 PM
Wow!
Bit of an epic task there Forlorn, but very well thought out.
It's just after 3:00 am here, but I'll certainly have a look at this again tomorrow.......

I'm flattered, but really most of the ideas are stolen from other games.  The players providing ideas of what their characters are driven/interested in is generally called Flags, or Keys.  I originially found it in "The Shadows of Yesterday" an indie rpg by Clinton R. Nixon.  Not sure if he thought it up, or just gave it a name.  TSOY is available under the creative commons license from his website

http://www.anvilwerks.com/index.php/Anvilwerks/TheKeysOfUriel?The-Shadow-of-Yesterday

The setting and most of the character creation is lifted straight from Deliria.  The original book is beautiful, but a bit overwhelming to read, and not quite as organized as I'd like.  It does a great job of illuminating the differences between the personal scope of Fairy Tales and the epic scope of Myths or Legends.  Their first supplement - Everyday Heroes - is about the best supplement I've ever seen.  Beautiful, well thought out, well written, plenty of examples.

Several other idea came from very creative folks who were LARPing at Dexcon 9 - a great con in New Jersey (of the USA, but is there any other New Jersey).  Burton, who ran the LARP, is part fae I think.


kylie

This sounds nifty.  (If perhaps a bit abstract to start.) 

I've been a little dizzy with rl concerns lately...  But may see if I can propose something in a bit. 
     

Elvi

Well I am deffinately interested here.....things are fermenting......*smiles*
It's been fun, but Elvi has now left the building

NikitaFirestar

*peeks in and chuckles* I think I'm following Elvi around... Oh well, I'm still interested!
He who makes a beast of himself gets rid of the pain of being a man.

Elvi

*laughs at Nikita*

Yep it seems so.......
It's been fun, but Elvi has now left the building

Darwishi

Hey don't worry I'm half stealing my character from a site called www.newphx.com  look at RetroGirl and that's the costume/abilities I'm stealing.  ^^  Or thinking of stealing, I haven't really thought on it very long.  But anyway I can see a way into the store for her...hmm yeah that'd be fun.  Also, I can play in  both games, I've only got the one with Kylie currently which means I can pick up two more easy. ^^

Moondazed

I'm definitely interested :)  I'll PM you my character idea.
~*~ Sexual Orientation: bi ~*~ BDSM Orientation: switch ~*~ Ons and Offs ~*~ Active Stories ~*~

forlorn1

All righty then.  I'd like to get this game up and running soon.  Anyone who has a character idea please let me know.

After I get some threads going we can do the character gen either by post or PM whichever folks are more comfortable with.

Forlorn1

kylie

I wanted to check, is this still going up?
     

Moondazed

~*~ Sexual Orientation: bi ~*~ BDSM Orientation: switch ~*~ Ons and Offs ~*~ Active Stories ~*~