Game ideas. Opinions wanted.

[Ecnalab]

So, I'm thinking of starting another group RP after the holidays are are all over and done with. I'm curious what sort of genres, and story beats people people might be interested in playing with. What sort of setting is preferred, fantasy, scifi, slice of life, other? How heavy do people like games to be on the sex, lots, little, none? What sort of kinks do people like to see, but never seem to come up in games? And, any other story ideas people might have, and would like to see in play.
Hope to hear from some of you, and happy holidays.

 

[TheShepard256]

Genres/story beats/setting: I personally prefer sci-fi, which also seems to be fairly rare for RPs (fantasy seems to be the default/go-to for this sort of stuff). I also don't like grimdark, dystopian, horror or post-apocalyptic stuff. I'd also prefer not to be a bad guy or other scum and villainy.
Sex: considering where we'll be doing this, I'd like at least a little bit of sex, please; the more, the better, so long as it doesn't get in the way of the story (and isn't a constant orgy, or something; there needs to be some downtime after sex). Also, and this probably crosses over with story beats, it seems fairly common to have sexuality be the providence of the "bad guys", even if being a slut is not exclusively a bad guy trait (e.g. demonic corruption from the CoC games often sexualises its victims) - that just feels indirectly sex-negative to me. I'm not a fan of that, so I'd like to see something where the heroes are inherently as sexual, if not more, than the villains.
Kinks and other story ideas: no idea, though I assume you're not going to include anything that's banned in FenGames. I'm quite flexible on this, though I'm not a big fan of degradation.

TL;DR a TiTS-like setting would be ideal for me. Sorry if that's not particularly helpful.

 

[MagicBanana]

Genres/Setting: I agree with Shepard, sci-fi is a rare treat no matter what. A lot of RPs and tabletop I've been in have been fantasy, so getting the chance to do something else is nice. Doesn't need to be space, cyberpunk is always good and not all post-apocalyptic stuff is especially grim. CATastrophe is a pretty good example, though a very niche one that does have some frightening things lurking just below the surface. Slice of Life is also nice, it's even less common than sci-fi to be honest.
Sex: Additive to most RPs to me. This site is suited for them, I will admit, but it has never been a hard requirement for me. Though it can absolutely enhance a story as well. Pillow talk is an amazing way for characters to connect and talk about backstory in a way they otherwise wouldn't have. It puts them both into a vulnerable position and can lead to very emotional exchanges. And not all sex scenes need to end with pillow talk either, characters having sex as a means to pass the time or just for pleasure are also good reasons to include it.
Kinks: A bit odd saying this on a Fenoxo Games forum, but I'm not a massive fan of Futa or TF stuff. They're not automatic turn offs, but they're definitely not things I actively look for. Otherwise, so long as it'd be allowed on the good Christian games here, I'm down to try just about anything.
Story Ideas: I haven't got much of anything to be honest. If sci-fi does win out, maybe a team on a research ships going out and tracking down abnormalities? Anything from living planets to folds in space-time, with these eventually leading into some bigger conspiracy. It could even work for a slice of life/modern setting, and it could be a sort of Lobotomy Corp/Library of Ruina type thing.

 

[HeroicSpirit]

Setting: An interesting idea, piggybacking from the Sci-Fi setting, would be for it to be set at a space port like DS9 from, well, DS9.
Sex: I feel like there should be at least some sex. Maybe some light elements in the world, such as goo girls and sexy uniforms.
Kinks: Generally, anything that appears in TiTS or CoC is good for me.
Story: Like I said before, a Space Port setting would work for a lot of things, such as either investigating mysteries, managing a bar, doing engineering work, or any of the myriad things that might be happening on a station.

 

[Ecnalab]

Well, that's three for three on sci-fi, so far. Sounds like people really want sexy startrek.

 

[HeroicSpirit]

How about we talk about the major factions within this setting! Like, for example, the faction which the players work for and it’s rivals!

 

[MagicBanana]

Space settings always have a unified conglomerate faction of varying morality that the main characters are a part of, usually named something like "The Federation", "The Republic", or even just calling it "Union". I think this is pretty serviceable, and that it can be made more interesting if you put in sub-factions. So The United Front has multiple groups within it that specialize in certain things, and the interactions between them cause friendly rivalries that constantly try and one-up each other. The Biolab Technicians have a friendly rivalry with the Cybernetics Division as they compare and contrast the merits and faults of flesh and steel. The arguments rarely, if ever, get violent, and usually end with both of them agreeing to disagree on how to best bring about improvements to humanity.

Though more hostile factions that exist outside of it also exist, like a radical group of body purists who violently oppose changing the human form in any way at all. The Biolab Technicians and Cybernetics Division tend to put aside their differences to tackle that threat since it's opposed to both of them. And there are also obviously factions that are opposed almost universally, like pirates and slavers.

Regardless of scale though, having the player faction be made up of freaks and weirdos that stick together out of circumstance and/or friendship is a must, since the players will likely mirror that sentiment with their characters. You'll probably get a human or two, they're easy to project onto which makes them pretty popular, but it's a guarantee that they'll be just as strange (if not more) as the aliens that a few other players are going to play as.

 

[HeroicSpirit]

Some ideas:
-The Xyrk Empire, an expansionist alien empire composed of the ruling species, the titular Xyrk, and the nine conquered species, each of whom have had "Xyrk" put into their species' name as a mark of their servitude. The Xyrk believe that they're the inheritors of the galaxy, having risen from the ruins of an ancient interstellar civilization. Despite this, they are no fools, and seek to further improve upon these archaic designs. They use powerful weapons based on manipulating gravity.

-The Kasekh, a machine species possessing the minds of their ancient creators that had been entombed for a hundred millennia. They were first found on what first seemed to be an ordinary moon circling around a gas giant, but was revealed to be an ancient Kasekh complex which, as it was explored, began to awaken to their presence. In every encounter, they have proven hostile and incredibly dangerous, highly resistant to damage and able to quickly replace their bodies with new ones. Little is known about them, from their history to their language; just that one should be careful where they set their feet upon, for that world may be host to terrible secrets from ages past.

-The Golden Hive, a trade empire built by the Zyrin, a bee-like species noted for their delicious soporific honey, hexagonal organic structures, and well-developed diplomatic relations. Zyrin tend to be quite attractive, being generally well-endowed. They are split into separate castes, such as the muscular six foot tall warrior caste, the four foot tall worker caste, and the eight foot tall royal case. There are also the all-male drones, who are five feet tall.

 

[TheShepard256]

Another idea: how about, instead of science fiction, we do science fantasy (essentially, sci-fi with magic and maybe some other fantasy elements)? That seems to be even rarer than regular sci-fi.

 

[Ecnalab]

Another idea: how about, instead of science fiction, we do science fantasy (essentially, sci-fi with magic and maybe some other fantasy elements)? That seems to be even rarer than regular sci-fi.

So, warhammer 40k. Just not so grimdark?

 

[TheShepard256]

So, warhammer 40k. Just not so grimdark?

I'm not familiar enough with WH40K to answer the first half of that question, but it's a hard yes on the second half.

 

[Ecnalab]

I'm not familiar enough with WH40K to answer the first half of that question, but it's a hard yes on the second half.

Basically sci-fi with magic mixed in, like you said. It's not a bad idea.

 

[MagicBanana]

So, warhammer 40k. Just not so grimdark?

Ain't no party like a Slaanesh party. Though it'd be for the best if that was toned down a bit as well.

Some ideas:
-The Xyrk Empire, an expansionist alien empire composed of the ruling species, the titular Xyrk, and the nine conquered species, each of whom have had "Xyrk" put into their species' name as a mark of their servitude. The Xyrk believe that they're the inheritors of the galaxy, having risen from the ruins of an ancient interstellar civilization. Despite this, they are no fools, and seek to further improve upon these archaic designs. They use powerful weapons based on manipulating gravity.

-The Kasekh, a machine species possessing the minds of their ancient creators that had been entombed for a hundred millennia. They were first found on what first seemed to be an ordinary moon circling around a gas giant, but was revealed to be an ancient Kasekh complex which, as it was explored, began to awaken to their presence. In every encounter, they have proven hostile and incredibly dangerous, highly resistant to damage and able to quickly replace their bodies with new ones. Little is known about them, from their history to their language; just that one should be careful where they set their feet upon, for that world may be host to terrible secrets from ages past.

-The Golden Hive, a trade empire built by the Zyrin, a bee-like species noted for their delicious soporific honey, hexagonal organic structures, and well-developed diplomatic relations. Zyrin tend to be quite attractive, being generally well-endowed. They are split into separate castes, such as the muscular six foot tall warrior caste, the four foot tall worker caste, and the eight foot tall royal case. There are also the all-male drones, who are five feet tall.

Killer Robots my beloved. The other factions are interesting too.

Another idea: how about, instead of science fiction, we do science fantasy (essentially, sci-fi with magic and maybe some other fantasy elements)? That seems to be even rarer than regular sci-fi.

Science Fantasy is also pretty good, though it can be a bit of a balancing act. There are some interesting perspectives you can go with though, like if magic is able to integrate with technology as magitech, or if it's more like Arcanum where magic breaking the laws of physics also breaks machines since they rely on those laws to function. Though the latter would be a problem in a space age campaign for pretty obvious reasons.

 

[HeroicSpirit]

Science Fantasy is also pretty good, though it can be a bit of a balancing act. There are some interesting perspectives you can go with though, like if magic is able to integrate with technology as magitech, or if it's more like Arcanum where magic breaking the laws of physics also breaks machines since they rely on those laws to function. Though the latter would be a problem in a space age campaign for pretty obvious reasons.

Yeah, as much as I’ve heard good things about Arcanum (and those things are pretty high praise), I do think that the best route wouldn’t be that.

Also, maybe, rather than straight up magic, it’s something more along the lines of biotics from Mass Effect where there is a scientific explanation for it and augmentation of some kind is necessary to actually use it.

 

[MagicBanana]

Arcanum is good, but there's a reason why it's set in an industrial revolution and not in space.

I like the idea of an implant that lets you tap into what is essentially psychic powers though, even though I haven't played Mass Effect. Psionics work a bit more than straight up magic for stories set in space as well, probably due to it usually relating to improving the human form through technology and the more modern invention of psychic powers as opposed to the more ancient nature of magic.

 

[TheShepard256]

Yeah, I'd rather not go with the "magic inherently breaks technology" route. The way I think of magic is as some reality-altering thing that's only available to organics (and possibly even a subset of organics, as is usually the case) and can't be properly replicated by technology (by which I mean we might be able to invent something that has the same end result, but the method/process/etc. of getting that result is different to how magic does it; also, magic can only come from other magic, or pop up randomly by itself). By that logic, Mass Effect's biotics aren't a type of magic (as they use the exact same physical principles as most of the setting's advanced technology), but the Force from Star Wars is.

Somehow, I find proper magic to be more interesting (or at least, more exotic) than pseudo-magic; it can follow its own set of rules that, while not following the laws of physics, is still (hopefully) internally consistent and makes sense, especially if it incorporates spiritual/non-physical aspects. I think the Avatar series (the good one, not the movies) did an excellent job of making such a magic system.

 

[MagicBanana]

One option that I thought of, but didn't mention due to the massive power imbalance that it can present, is cultivation. If you don't know what that is, it's essentially the process of perfecting the body, mind, and spirit to be able to perform godlike feats. It's essentially Chinese punch magic. It's also incredibly involved and complicated, which doesn't translate well for roleplaying without some kind of system, and the power imbalance is ludicrous. Though the degree of power can be toned down so technology is on par with it (or future technology is so advanced that it is as good as it), and anything complicated can be made more simple pretty easily by just dumbing it down.

The benefits of it are that technically anyone can become a cultivator (including animals, so no alien species is off the table), it's just that the only people who can get really good at it are either filthy rich and able to afford the magical ingredients to make medicine to get good at it or they're naturally born with the ability to be good at it.

As far as how it would work, cultivators need to develop an understanding of the universe on both a cosmic and local scale, along with understanding that mystic things exist and how to control/live with them. This can be achieved by studying the base elements (obviously not the ones from the periodic table) and how they interact, embracing and absorbing the power of the stars, or undoing the limitations that their body puts on their mind and vice versa.

It could definitely work in a science fantasy setting, with technology developing and expanding to match and even overtake the power of cultivators, it tips the balance of power to something more even between the strength of someone able to afford being able to spend their life meditating in a castle and the common folk plowing fields that strapped guns onto pickup trucks.

 

[Ecnalab]

Okay, I've got some ideas. Thinking of setting a game in the TiTS universe, just because it's already set up, and everyone here is at least somewhat familiar with it, but in a different part of the galaxy then where the game takes place. I'm thinking a group of planets surrounding a strange star, or some other celestial oddity, that require exploring, and are having strange effects on the ships, and crew who go near them.
What do people think?

 

[MagicBanana]

It sounds pretty interesting. It's been a while since I've played TiTS so my knowledge of it is probably a bit more rough than everyone else's, but I'd definitely be interested.

 

[TheShepard256]

Fine by me!

 

[HeroicSpirit]

Sounds alright.