Ideas from the back of my head [MUL]

Started by Valerian, August 09, 2007, 05:47:56 PM

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Valerian

And it's kinda scary back there sometimes.  Anyway, I had several ideas scattered around in a couple of threads, so I wanted to update and compile them -- you know, help keep the place tidy.   :)

The Tome
I saw this idea posted elsewhere, though it never quite turned into a game as far as I know.  A wealthy, middle-aged collector is found gruesomely killed in his home.  The only real clue is a strange old book, which he was clutching when he died.  With the police stymied and quietly giving up on the case, the man's young widow (my character) hires a private investigator to track the book back to its source and find the truth.  But this time, the truth is something Man was Not Meant to Know...

This is Lovecraft-inspired, but doesn't need to be based on the actual Lovecraft stories or the Chthulu games, but it's the same idea -- humans finding themselves facing off against a bizarre supernatural evil that they'll never quite comprehend.  Maybe the widow hires a private detective to help, or perhaps someone with knowledge but questionable motives appears to help?  Or the poor woman might just have to go it all alone...

I'm not looking for anything hentai, at least not overtly -- tentacles might creep in, so to speak, but that shouldn't be the main focus.


Simone's War
Simone is a member of the French Resistance in WWII.  She's caught the eye of a German officer -- maybe SS, maybe an ordinary soldier, but definitely not someone any patriotic Frenchwoman would want anything to do with.  But he has access to some sort of information that the Resistance group wants very badly, so she pretends to fall in love with him in order to get that information.

From here there could (and should) be all sorts of complications.  Maybe she's in love with a fellow Resister who can't stand seeing her with another man.  Maybe she ends up marked for death as an apparent traitor.  Maybe the German ends up seeming like a pretty nice guy who's quietly helping her get information -- but can she trust him?  Will she end up falling in love with him in spite of herself?

I'm not looking for exact, actual dates and places and all that, just a good sense of the danger involved in that time period, and of how quickly loyalties could change and everything could go wrong.  There's bound to be violence, of course, but what I'm mainly hoping for is more a look at the psychological and emotional ways people can be manipulated.  Betrayals, questionings, desperate missions behind enemy lines -- there's all kinds of possibilities.


More things in heaven and earth...
One day, now or a hundred years ago, a young woman who's simply going about her life discovers, much to her surprise, that she can do something no human should be able to do.  Perhaps she finds she can speak to the dead.  Maybe it's something more like a super ability -- she can walk through walls, or can't be harmed by any normal means.

But as Samuel L. Jackson once said, this next part isn't going to be like a comic book.  She lives in the real world, and this ability suddenly causes real problems.  Maybe it's difficult to control, maybe she trusts the wrong person to share her secret with, but something -- probably many things -- end up going wrong, even as other things go spectacularly right.  Maybe she even learns she isn't alone, that there are other such individuals, scattered throughout the globe.

So here's the technical stuff: modern-day or historical, just so long as it's realistic.  System or freeform, either are fine.  Powers, whether supernatural or just plain super, should be rare.  And my character will somehow end up in way over her head.  Anything else is negotiable.
 
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Questions, comments, and suggested variations on the above are always welcome.   :)
"To live honorably, to harm no one, to give to each his due."
~ Ulpian, c. 530 CE

Valerian

#1
Now two games taken.  All I need now is someone willing to dare the trials and betrayals of WWII espionage...
"To live honorably, to harm no one, to give to each his due."
~ Ulpian, c. 530 CE

Valerian

Right, this idea is born mainly out of work-based boredom, and the annoying fact that when games slow down, they nearly always seem to all slow down at once.  (Don't you just hate that?)  It could be nearly complete fluff, filled with weird and improbable events just for the sake of weird and improbable things, or it could range all the way to something pretty dark and serious.

My character: an ordinary sort of girl from modern times, going about her usual routine, when something goes Terribly Wrong.  It might be an accident, or something/someone might pull her in deliberately, but she finds herself forced to travel from world to world, or perhaps era to era, or some combination of the two.  While there, she finds herself living other lives in other bodies, in a Quantum Leap-ish sort of way.  A goal or problem to solve is probably the easiest way to keep things moving -- once a specific thing is accomplished, she's dragged to the next problem and a new set of rules.

Most of this is negotiable.  Just give me some good description and the chance for some character development and a lot of different settings and strangeness, and I'll probably be happy.  Anyone inspired?
"To live honorably, to harm no one, to give to each his due."
~ Ulpian, c. 530 CE

Jester

~~~~~~Sticks head in.

If only I wasnt busy...

Captain Maltese

#4
Oh my. Simone's War would be perfect for me - I have the German officer or Gestapo interrogator down pat, maybe even a shady bureaucrat who may be either a part of the plan to kill hitler or be a member of the secret SS intelligence. Mach schnell!

Incidentally I was the brain behind and main arranger of a 60-person ww2 larp four months ago, where these elements were key plots  ;D

Posting status:  25th December: Up To Date 5 of 9 : last month 2, this month 5, total 38 posts for 2023.

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Valerian

#5
Live action WWII?  With 60 people?  Yikes!  That sounds like you're overqualified.  Heh.  However, if you'd like to tackle the story, go ahead and send me a PM and we can work on some ideas...

P.S. Ideas taken!  But watch this space, in case inspiration strikes me again...
"To live honorably, to harm no one, to give to each his due."
~ Ulpian, c. 530 CE

Valerian

#6
Added in a new concept above.  *waits hopefully*

Edit: Okay, new idea taken.  I might still have room for another game, though I have no particular ideas myself at the moment...
"To live honorably, to harm no one, to give to each his due."
~ Ulpian, c. 530 CE

Valerian

Once again, an idea born of being given slightly too much opportunity to let my mind wander at work.  Once, something terrible happened -- a domestic tragedy rather than a national one, but something that has haunted the minds of the survivors for years, becoming part of the mythos of the town.  Perhaps an entire family died tragically, cut down one by one by a cold-hearted killer.  In any case, no one knows the whole truth of what happened that day.  Either someone was wrongfully convicted and executed, or perhaps no suspect was ever found.

In the present, a young woman (me) stumbles across this long-abandoned house -- maybe even buys it to fix up and resell, since it's such a good deal.  And slowly -- maybe through some outright haunting, maybe through odd coincidences and old letters, she starts to piece together the real story through the eyes of the victims.  But even if the spirits appreciate what she's trying to do, some among the living might be less happy....

Ideas for a variation on the above?  Just ask.  This might also work as a three-person game -- one to play a local who helps her out, or a boyfriend who tags along; and another to handle the ghosts and other things that might go bump in the night.
"To live honorably, to harm no one, to give to each his due."
~ Ulpian, c. 530 CE

MagicalPen

Ever see "Hot Fuzz"? New cop comes to town, starts making changes. Town doesnt like it, has a mysterious cult/murderer. They try to kill the cop, but he ends up solving the 'case'. [Of course, the movie is a comedy, and involves hillarious scenes...like kicking a granny in the face...but thats what you got me thinking about.]

My On and Offs
When the Ink Runs Dry

Looking/Available for New Games

Valerian

I also have a specific character I'd like to play... originally created for a supernatural type of story, then altered slightly to fit a superhero campaign, neither of which quite got off the ground.

The character was born blind, but managed, to her parents' relief and delight, to grow up fairly independent just the same.  Unbeknownst to them (and even to her, really, since at first she thought this was just the way things always were for the blind), she could be independent because she could 'see' in a way.  For the supernatural angle, it was that she could see spirits and communicate with them, using that vision, plus a sort of sixth sense, to help her move about.  In the supers team, she was a psionic, using a form of echolocation to get around, and able to dampen others' sight, use postcognition, that sort of thing.

A very fun character, who could really use a home...

P.S. Still looking for someone for the idea above with the long-ago crime... something dark and shivery, with at least a touch of the supernatural.
"To live honorably, to harm no one, to give to each his due."
~ Ulpian, c. 530 CE

Hades69

I'm all for the crime story.  We'll have to hammer out some details, but other than that I'm game.
I stole your heart, love.

Valerian

Bumped, as one story waaaay back up in the beginning post is now open once more...
"To live honorably, to harm no one, to give to each his due."
~ Ulpian, c. 530 CE

Valerian

Still looking for this one:
Quote from: Valerian on May 09, 2008, 11:35:06 AM
Once, something terrible happened -- a domestic tragedy rather than a national one, but something that has haunted the minds of the survivors for years, becoming part of the mythos of the town.  Perhaps an entire family died tragically, cut down one by one by a cold-hearted killer.  In any case, no one knows the whole truth of what happened that day.  Either someone was wrongfully convicted and executed, or perhaps no suspect was ever found.

In the present, a young woman (me) stumbles across this long-abandoned house -- maybe even buys it to fix up and resell, since it's such a good deal.  And slowly -- maybe through some outright haunting, maybe through odd coincidences and old letters, she starts to piece together the real story through the eyes of the victims.  But even if the spirits appreciate what she's trying to do, some among the living might be less happy....

Ideas for a variation on the above?  Just ask.  This might also work as a three-person game -- one to play a local who helps her out, or a boyfriend who tags along; and another to handle the ghosts and other things that might go bump in the night.

Also, I'm pretty much always looking for a 'pure' historical tale.  By that, I don't mean absolute historical accuracy, as that would probably drive everyone crazy; just general accuracy, and knowledge of the important points of an era.  I'm best at English/British history, from the Wars of the Roses up to 1603; with lesser knowledge of the English Civil War and the Restoration.  I can also hold my own with the late 12th century (Eleanor of Aquitaine and Henry II).  Otherwise, I know a little about a lot of different eras, with ancient Egypt (Old Kingdom) and Rome (the Republic) being two of the ones where I'm slightly better informed.  But, I'm always willing to research a new era if anyone has an idea that strikes my fancy.
"To live honorably, to harm no one, to give to each his due."
~ Ulpian, c. 530 CE

Sherona

Quote from: Valerian on May 09, 2008, 11:35:06 AM
Once again, an idea born of being given slightly too much opportunity to let my mind wander at work.  Once, something terrible happened -- a domestic tragedy rather than a national one, but something that has haunted the minds of the survivors for years, becoming part of the mythos of the town.  Perhaps an entire family died tragically, cut down one by one by a cold-hearted killer.  In any case, no one knows the whole truth of what happened that day.  Either someone was wrongfully convicted and executed, or perhaps no suspect was ever found.

In the present, a young woman (me) stumbles across this long-abandoned house -- maybe even buys it to fix up and resell, since it's such a good deal.  And slowly -- maybe through some outright haunting, maybe through odd coincidences and old letters, she starts to piece together the real story through the eyes of the victims.  But even if the spirits appreciate what she's trying to do, some among the living might be less happy....

Ideas for a variation on the above?  Just ask.  This might also work as a three-person game -- one to play a local who helps her out, or a boyfriend who tags along; and another to handle the ghosts and other things that might go bump in the night.

Oh wow, this sounds pretty interesting. It could be tied in to her lineage, such as one of the victims was related to her unbeknownst to her, or if you want to pull a romantic swing to it, a literal apperition could appear as a young man of the same age...jsut different time periods...he wouldn't be corpreal, so their love could never be "consummated" so it would be a story of the emotion rather then the physical.


Darthvegeta800

Hmm is the WWII story actually taken atm?

As for a historical plot or the blind (superheroine?) one... either interest me.
I'm a historian by education (one year to go for my Master degree!) so that could be fun. Don't worry though i won't nitpick about historical accuracy.
I also enjoy fantasy settings and superhero ones. So i don't mind doing the blind girl rp.
Perhaps her love interest is physically not the most handsome person around? (as in not physically perfect, scarred or something else?)

Give me a pm if you're interested. ^___^

Valerian

A slightly vague idea, that can be worked out in more detail: My character is an amnesiac, awakening one day to find herself in odd/dangerous circumstances, with no memory of anything personal, only certain skills remaining.  Think the Jason Bourne series, but not necessarily as dangerous and violent.  She might be a spy (not a superspy like Bourne or Bond, but possibly a lower-level spy), but she could just as easily be a random person who was somehow swept up into spying, crime, a government cover-up, etc. 


Everything not crossed out above is still open -- actually, even if it is crossed out, ask anyway.  With a few twists and changes, playing out the same story in two different ways can be fun.
"To live honorably, to harm no one, to give to each his due."
~ Ulpian, c. 530 CE

MagicalPen

Hmm...that triggers in my head a little scenario. Which could be taken so many different ways. Perhaps she looks like some one else, and that person is a  Spy/Fugitive, and since she can't recall who she is, she is forced to work/flee for that reason. Or perhaps she was high profile target who survived an assassination attempt, and now needs to figure out who she is, why she was targeted, and who targeted here. Oh the possibilities!

My On and Offs
When the Ink Runs Dry

Looking/Available for New Games

Valerian

A plot once worked out, but never begun:

A genetic scientist loses his wife in an abrupt and violent way, perhaps murder, perhaps a suspicious accident.  In his grief, he throws himself into proving his pet theory, ridiculed by most -- that memory leaves a mark at the cellular level.

He dedicates his experiments to his lost love, even using some of her DNA.  But something goes wrong (or perhaps very oddly right) and he manages to create an actual clone of his wife.  But the cloning process is far from perfected.  The clone does have some vague and disjointed memories from the original, somewhat proving his theory; but that and various problems in the cloning process have left her dazed and confused, almost insane.

The scientist now has lots of decisions to make -- from hiding her existence to deciding if he should use her hazy memories to try to track his wife's killer.  There's also the whole host of moral questions to deal with, and all sorts of other intriguing issues.


I'm looking for someone to play the scientist.  Variations on the above are also welcome.
"To live honorably, to harm no one, to give to each his due."
~ Ulpian, c. 530 CE