Scott, if I'm missing something here, forgive me. However, Alpha, Beta, and Gamma are the first 3 letters of the Greek alphabet. I wasn't talking about a game called Gamma World. Like I said, if I missed that completely, I'm sorry.
What I was saying is Tad writes world one (Alpha) I write world two (Beta) and you write world three (Gamma) Again, if I missed something, forgive me. It's late, and I'm not thinking quite right at the moment.
Yeah, I know. It's a coincidence. I'm only talking about two worlds, Music Wars Alpha and Beta; I don't think a third world is really necessary. The part of your post I quoted reminded me of a role-playing game.
Three kinds of radiation given off by nuclear reactions are named after the first three letters of the Greek Alphabet - Alpha, Beta, and Gamma - and it so happens that gamma radiation is the most dangerous. The game, Gamma World, takes its name from gamma radiation.
Sorry about the confusion; I probably should have said something.
Gamma radiation is what mutated The Incredible Hulk. I see your point. Looks like we both confused each other hahaha. I do want to work on this though. And sorry for the multiple posts, I get ideas start flowing, and they don't stop sometimes. This is a good place for that to happen.
Praise and Worship: High holy magic. Sword of the Spirit (literally)
One Hit Wonders: Doesn't have a little of everything, has people that have a little of everything. Faced one on one, you have no idea what he will pull out. Faced as a group, they have a little of everything, but not a lot of it. You would have some attacks with high magic, some shooting, some hand to hand, some psionics.
That's all for right now. Is any of this making sense to anyone?
Death Metal: Evil, Unholy magic Lots of it. One Nuke. They're of the mindset "If we can't win this thing, we're going to go out in a blaze of Hell's Fire, and take as many of "them" with us as we can." The nuke is their last-ditch defense weapon, known about only by the upper echelon of the group. Actually, I probably would not include Death Metal at all, but I liked Scott's post on it, so I thought it might be cool. Besides, you have to have a "Bad Guy."
Maybe some of the 60s rock has some psionics too. Drug induced psionics. Healing spells. Hippie earth magic. "Flower power" in it's most literal sense. What hippies envision flower power to be.
Heavy Death Metal also evolved out of 60s rock, in a manner of speaking. So, the Flower Children are also rivals against them. Death Metal represents the "Dark Side of the Force"
60s rock and Praise and Worship are on somewhat friendly terms against their common enemy. How the Indians used to say "One against the Wolf" Rival Indian tribes would invariably stand shoulder to shoulder against the white man.
Wodium,
Good suggestion. Verra nice description of the two separate worlds--I'm tempted to revise it a bit, and make it a blurb for this set of paired worlds.
John, I'm for making an Alpha and Beta world. One thing, the Alpha world, in my view is almost complete. It needs integration, mostly, and a few psi skills, and some final polishing of last details.
The high bias world is going to be a lot more work. Your Champions of Music could have a very long list of powers with 12@ biases. A 12@ psi bias could probably telekinetically tow an asteroid into orbit, and drop it on the enemy.
But this is probably the wrong way to look at it. You come up with the list of powers you want each side to have...and then we'll fit and tuck the biases to make it work.
I'll be willing to help you with both.
Wodium,
One last point. I think JohnA1nut has something like zero experience with RPG's before this game. I've ran Gamma World, and so has MJ (previous editions than the latest). Now what world his reminds me of--with this Champions of Music is 'Tall Tales of Mythica' which is my world based on American Folk Tales of Paul Bunyan and Pecos Bill and Mike Fink.
Tad, I'm not sure how to explain this, but what I kind of wanted was for the music to BE their weapons. The music is some kind of "Hurt the enemy" magic. 60s rock. That's kind of hypnotic. Perhaps a spell that would "Mellow" the person, to the point of being comatose. When they wake up, they are a 60s rocker. That is IF they wake up..... 60s rock should also have "Mother Earth" type healing spells, both for themselves, and for other people, including opponents.
Death Metal. That would be "Slow painful agony" hurt the enemy spells. Immediate medical treatment can sometimes save the person, but not always.
Jazz, transporter spells. That music makes me feel "Transported" Since Jazz has some guns, their tactic is to "Transport" into the room and open fire with submachine guns.
Praise and Worship. Godly spells. Raise people back from the dead, blood is a weapon, fire from Heaven, lighting storms, perhaps limited control of the weather as a whole? What God does in the Bible.
Extreme very little if any magic. Extreme is terroristic, existing in small cells all over the world. Bombings, assassinations, that kind of thing. They are harder to kill because of the cell network. Most but not all of them have some form of external bionic implants. This gives them superhuman abilities. Depending on the person, and their resources determines what kind. (Some would prefer running ability, some would prefer upper body, some might only have one bionic arm, that kind of thing.) External, exoskeletal implants. Removable, and visible. Kind of a status symbol also.
Classical: Often hires Extreme as muscle for hire. Pays in cars, bionic implants and explosives. Psionic ability to shut down a person's mind, and perhaps take control of their body for a short time. Using it against some of the leaders of Extreme without their knowledge. Willpower checks required every so often to see if it is broken. The target won't always know what happened, sometimes will. Another check. Classical are skilled with cane swords, and with fencing rapiers. Their guns are small pistols. Nothing larger than a 9mm for an automatic. 22, 32, and 38 revolvers as well. Even the occasional black powder gun. Their "transporter" drivers. (See also opening scene of The Transporter. I can't explain it any better than that.)
Country, Rap, very little if any magic.
Since Country and Rap are going at it so hard, they mostly leave everyone else alone, and everyone else mostly leaves them alone (for now).
Battles would be "skirmishes" Gang warfare kind of thing. One on one, or small groups against small groups, that kind of thing. They have divided the territory into "turf" with it being controlled. Some "normals" do live in these areas. Some are being converted, some are being used as spies, and some are blissfully unaware of it. The battles are the kind of thing you would read about in "National Enquirer and The Weekly World News." Believed by some, but not most.
Is this making any sense to anyone besides me?
It mostly makes sense to me - sadly I'm more a flavor guy than mechanics, more fluff than crunch. ( I'm sure JohnA1nut is used to my yapping-puppy-ness by now. How many of your projects have I nosed in on in the last week? :) )
But if I may be so bold as to throw a sabot in the gears... Rap (even moreso than Country, although it's somewhat true of both) seems to have those elements that would lend different rappers to different larger factions. Why not use Rap as a sort of mercenary faction, playing all sides off the middle for their own benefit, rather than committing themselves to the warring factions?
Dude, I like it. Don't worry about being a yappy puppy. I'm like that too sometimes. I couldn't think of what magic to put with Rap and Country, but at the same time, I couldn't think of how to make them stronger. They were kind of the "weak links" here. I think I'll use that as an idea. They're mercenaries for hire. I can go with you on that with Rap, but not Country. Country just seems more classy than to be mercenaries.
Eric, I don't know how to write this. Can you help me?
Why are Rap and Country rivals? I never thought about that until now. How about this. Country, their neighborhoods are old west style. Little House on the Prairie kind of living. Occasional small towns, but mostly old school, They're funded by mining. Coal, gold, silver, diamonds, other metals. Rap started hitting them for the gold and diamonds to make the gold chains that rappers are so fond of wearing. Country is mostly left alone, except by Rap. These two are smaller factions than some of the others. Country buys their way out of trouble by supplying minerals for the price of peace. Their more working class and cowboys types.
Rappers, inner city. Their magic is that the rap beats get caught in your head. This gives a temporary dizzying effect. Not usually fatal, but some fatal hits have been reported by upper echelon rappers. The dizzying effect can have the effect of throwing their opponent off balance, to making them have short psychotic episodes. This sounds more like a psionic skill, now that I think about it.
Country has healing magic. This, together with a willpower check can help them break the spell of the Rappers. Some are so good at the healing that the Rappers spells barely affect them at all. The healing magic can also heal a few gunshot wounds, but nothing more than 2 or 3 bullets.
I wasn't suggesting making them rivals... O.o; Where did that come from? You're definitely right about Country seeming too classy to be mercenaries. When I read that I got the idea of them being more like organized crime, but the idea of a redneck mafia is just too laughably ridiculous and even more not-classy.
Definitely working-class, though, I see that. Maybe Country is the music of the working-class? Like Rap they're not centralized to any one area, but spread out among the peasants and workers of every region? Where Rap are mercenaries working for whoever pays them, Country is the music-magic of people who don't fight except to defend their own few acres. It's got magic in it, but it's not the world-shattering effects of the higher styles, it's more about morale bonuses, increased endurance, good moods... the sort of utilitarian magic that is handy on a daily basis but not the sort of thing that is the makings of an army - not even a tasty peasant uprising.
johnostevens. How would you like to work with me on this? You've got some good ideas, and where you know little about Multiverser, I know little about gaming as a whole. Let's work together. Make it kind of a "Newbie's World." Designing mostly by two guys that don't know much of what they are doing hahaha. I'd like you to keep working with us on it.
Also, I posted several times. Did you see all of them?
Country works as hired hands for a lot of the groups. They design, maintain, and build cars for Classical, and some of the others. Extreme designs their own cars, Rap designs their own cars, but Country does the rest. They're workers, working class, peasants does sound like a good idea. Well, not peasants, but all of you, working class folks.
One hit wonders has powers from all groups, it is exactly the same as the other Alpha world.
Any other thoughts?
John, if you'll have me, I'd be glad to throw in on another of your projects.
I didn't see your posts until after you posted them, but I'm rereading now. In fact I think I'm going to go back and reread this from the beginning when I'm more awake, just to make sure I've gotten it all down.
I like the thing about Country having a sort of countermagic approach, too.
Edit:
I have a bit of a problem with anybody designing and building cars in a post-apocalyptic setting. Namely, where is the gas coming from? Unless we're sweeping it under the rug as one of those things that just doesn't need to be answered?
I wonder absently why Jazz isn't based in New Orleans?
Also, I like Praise and Worship having swords and magical guns. I wish one or another of these factions - maybe Death Metal? - would have the capacity to train snipers. In an urban setting it seems like the kind of thing that would be a major advantage.
Also there ought to be a rule against the use of headphones in terms of claiming the Loudness Bonus. After all, being able to hear your team's music in your head is NOT the same thing as feeling it in your feet when it booms from the sides of a speaker-carrying sonic tank. Plus which... it's just sodding cheap, from a mechanics standpoint.
(I'm really picturing these sonic tanks in some detail. They could be anything from pickup trucks to an army-style deuce-and-a-half with a generator, an MP3 core, and BIG - let me reiterate BIG - speakers, the kind of thing that causes deafness if you stand too close.)
Perhaps the headphones limit effectiveness of the bonus either way - that is, you can get a fraction of the benefit you could from a sonic tank by wearing the headphones, but at the same time, you don't have to listen to the other guy's music as much if it's louder.
The other thing is that, in terms of mechanics, it is likely that whoever is playing the music is also the one doing the magic. From that point of view, a Walkman and headphones aren't worth as much as a material component as, say, a pick-up truck with megaphone; also, your standard grunt fighter likely isn't nearly as good at the "spell" as your experienced DJs.
johnostevens, what's your real name? I liked your ideas. I was thinking more like Scott though, that headphones would still be an advantage. Perhaps there are some Extreme ninjas or something that get bonuses from wearing headphones at certain times. It goes along with another story that I was thinking about. Something else, who said anything about a post apocalyptic setting? I was thinking this one would be more like Urban war. However, I am open to suggestions. Perhaps the Alpha world is the future of this one? The nuclear war stripped everyone of their psionic and magic powers, and destroyed most of the technology.
Scott, I have no clue how to write all of this up. From what I've seen, you grasp a solid grip on the mechanics of this game. How would you feel about being the one doing the writing up? I have no idea, I'm just throwing out ideas at the moment. Perhaps we could all brainstorm some more, and vote on what to include?
To everyone. All of you reading this. Would anyone else like to add your own thoughts and ideas to this? Perhaps Adam or MJ would like to share something? More cooks equals better soup.
I was thinking this world would be more like Gang Warfare. More like an Urban setting. More like a civil war.
Jazz is based in New Orleans in the Alpha world.
I was thinking about perhaps dropping Praise and Worship's magical guns in favor of just solid magic. However, I could see it going both ways, so why don't you give me your thoughts on it?
I didn't want a post apocalyptic setting though. This one is more like 22nd century Earth. Not a war, more like The Fifth Element, perhaps.
Any other thoughts?
I'm not sure what I mean by The Fifth Element, just that I'm sure I don't want this to be a post apocalyptic future.
Hmm... I'm bored, so here's a couple of character background sketches while I'm too tired to sleep.
1: Death Metal -
Allysa "Acid" Raynes was born in Camden, New Jersey. A city solidly in the hands of the Rappers and a murder hive that rivals even Detroit itself, it was no place for a girl to be raised. Her family was poor, scratching out a living running drugs inland from the Shore, since they had the fortune to own an old military truck. Some people said her grandfather had stolen it during the War, but sixty years later the beast still ran, and nobody really cared where it came from. Her father spent most of his earnings just buying bullets.
He was captured by a wandering Preacher, who executed him on the street while his family watched. Allysa was twelve years old. The next day her father had scheduled a run to the Shore. She fired up the Beast, prepared to make the run herself. Her mother objected, but Allysa wouldn't hear of it. Instead her mother manned the gunnery pod - formerly Allysa's post - and the girls made the run together.
Allysa discovered she had the Spark when she was sixteen. After four years of leading her family, she had gathered a small following, most of them older than herself, but a scrabbling of kids, too. When she discovered her speeches had real magic in them, she realized it meant she would have to join one of the Factions. None of them would stand for a Wilder, and certainly not in a Rapper haven like Camden.
But Allysa had no talent for rap. Her speeches were too epic, her words too free of profanity. She could incite people to brutal acts of fanaticism, and inspired almost unquestioning loyalty. She was just the sort of person Father Destien Kincaide was looking for. Just the sort of person Death Metal needed. With a little training, she could learn to harness their breed of power. The Abyss already loved her, and she already clung to no particular morality.
She searched her soul. She spoke with her mother, and her other trusted advisors. Ultimately, left with no other options, she accepted. She donned the black leather robe of a Death Metal Minister and swore herself to apprenticeship under Father Kincaide. In time, she did learn to call upon the unholy fury of Death Metal, to conduct the dread rituals that were a purposeful mockery of the Masses clung to by P&W. Her penchant for violence made her fit right in in Camden, and she rarely had a problem hiding her cell in the murder capital of the east coast.
Now seventeen, she is nearly done with her Apprenticeship, ready to accept the title of Mother. She does not drive the Beast any more, having handed off the fund-raising operations of her cell to a man named Spider, whom she has in her magical thrall. Instead she has trained herself as a sniper, and takes a particular pleasure in assassinating other Singers.
2: Country -
There are few things that lift a man's spirits more than his son following in his footsteps. That was the feeling Garth Waylon Duff's father had the day he was born. The boy - second of three children in the family - was practically born with a banjo in his hands, and took to hard work like nobody's business. He could string a banjo by the time he was five, and play it at the Fair before he was seven.
He never took much to cars and trucks. He could drive okay, but he didn't know a wrench from a monkey under the hood. Oh well. With fingers and a voice like his, he hardly needed to. Whenever the ravages of the age passed through his home town of Murfreesborough, KY, he rode around in the back of an old pickup truck, plucking his banjo and singin' the healing into wounded men. In between fights, he'd lead the workin' songs while he plowed the land, burned up debris, or sat next to the fire tappin' out bullets in little hand-held moulds.
But he was always most famous for his music. He had the Shine in 'im, just like his daddy, and a heart o' gold for it to shine from. G-W's a family man now, 25 years old, married to his teen sweetie Gracie-Ann, with two kids and a third on the way, and it looks like his li'l girl is lookin' to take after him, the way she's always patchin' up her little brother and her cousins. O' course, the guys'll never stop ribbin' him, what with Gracie-Ann bein' a better shot with a rifle 'n him, but he's got the Shinin', and there ain't nothin' funny about that.
3: Classical -
Chaya - just Chaya, thank you - was born to a life of privilege in Upper Manhattan. Her grandfather had been a weapons-maker, and had turned a small fortune during the War. Her mother was a trained violinist, and when the Classicists established their stations, she enlisted at once, and rose through their ranks at a modest but appreciable pace. Chaya herself was born when her mother was at the height of her talent. Some say the woman played her violin even after her labor pains began. This apocryphal performance was to be her last concert, for she died giving birth to her only child.
Chaya carried with her the guilt of her mother's death all her life. She is haunted by it, and it reflects in the mellow, dirgelike quality of her playing. She carries still her mother's violin, which she has restrung innumerable times, refinished once a year since she was 13, and completely rebuilt only once. Those closest to her whisper in secret that the varnish of the violin includes an infusion of her sainted mother's blood.
Now a woman of thirty, she is in full command of her family's fortune. She has refused to marry and has birthed no children. Her few friends regret that her Talent will not be passed on. She travels alone in a stylish but somewhat dated ground-car from her home to the Station every other night, to play her mournful notes over the airwaves. Every piece she plays is an original composition of hers, by her own insistance. Every year on her birthday, she plays from sunset until dawn, breaking only to have healing notes sung to her bleeding fingers by a trusted friend - it is a talent she never mastered.
Her ghostly violin-playing cannot be called inspiring. It is neither transporting nor uplifting, but those who hear it are filled with a kind of fatalistic resolve. They have been known to linger in battle against overwhelming odds, calm even in the face of death. Her Listeners have been known to work tirelessly through the night of her birthday, even at complicated or exhausting tasks, only to collapse from exhaustion the moment she stops playing.
Very Interesting!!! Not quite what I wanted, but I really thought that was cool!!!!!
Are these the leaders of the factions?
BTW, I really liked that "Redneck Mafia" joke man. I was literally laughing for hours.
They're not intended to be the overall commander-in-chief-style leaders of the factions necessarily, but you can certainly use them that way if you like. I was just bored and kinda living in this world last night, so I wanted to write up some people. They could be anyone from local VIPs to commanders-in-chief to, y'know, just a really detailed random encounter, as per the referees' needs.
And I'm glad you enjoyed that - I guess I have my moments.
And as for my name... my "real" name is Harry, but I mostly go by John. It's kindof a long story, but I generally dislike being called anything else.
Sorry if I misinterpretted the setting, btw. It sounded sort of apocalyptic, but maybe I was getting the versions crossed at that point. Solid points about the headphones thing, too.
Personally I like the idea of P&W having magical guns. I'm totally picturing this guy dressed like Seifer from Final Fantasy VIII shooting blaster bolts from a silver-filligree-woven blunderbuss while reciting the 23rd Psalm. It's actually rather inspiring.
Just for reference, is P&W specifically a Christian faction? Or are there multiple religions backing them?
Hi Harry, I'm John "A1nut"
In my mind, Praise and Worship is strictly a Christian faction. All the different denominations of Christian (Catholic, Mormon, Protestant, etc.) but still Christian.
What would the magical guns shoot? That's the thing I have a problem with, and why I wanted to drop them in favor of just holy magic. I could still see it going that way, but I don't know what they should shoot. I'm still open to suggestions. The thing with it is that if we are going with the holy guns, it has to shoot something from the Bible. Something I was thinking that might make a nice compromise, the guns channel the power. They can get more direct hits with the gun, but the magic still works without it. Perhaps with the gun, they can throw a thunderbolt from God in one specific direction, but without the gun, they can only throw thunderbolts at random? What are your thoughts?
Yeah, no problem about getting the setting mixed up. This is kind of coming to me in waves. I wasn't really sure what setting I wanted until last night. I just knew I didn't really want it to be post apocalyptic.
Eric, Scott, anyone else. Any thoughts? Scott, I'd like for you to have a hand in writing this up. I don't know enough to do that, but you do. Please help.
Do they have to shoot something from the Bible, or is it enough that they shoot ammo with crosses on it? If they're using a blunderbuss or musket, it's cut straight into the round. If they're using cartridge ammo, it's emblazoned on the brass. And yeah, the bullets are the focus for their destructive magic. I wouldn't say they shoot thunderbolts at random without it, but maybe they can't make called shots without it - un-gunned holy lightning always shoots center-mass.
I'm also picturing them being able to channel their magic through cruciform longswords, as well. A sort of "Smite Unbeliever" ability. Their warriors really should come off as a sort of bard/paladin, unless you're trying to keep it low-key and gritty?
I also see them having really powerful defensive magics, but that don't necessarily protect themselves. Shields to protect their flock while drawing fire on themselves seem appropriate.
Either way they should have the ability to heal. It's one of the quintessential abilities of the faithful - maybe demonstrating the ability to heal is even a prerequisite for P&W formal training. That is, if you can't manage a simple healing, maybe your faith isn't so strong after all...
I like a lot of your ideas. I think we're getting somewhere with the P&W rifles. I don't want them to be traditional ammo though. Not a standard lead bullet, if you know what I mean. A magic gun. Looks like an old flintlock, but can lay down a stream of holy magic. It focuses their power.
Holy magic swords makes sense. I was kind of envisioning those huge 6 foot swords that you see in Roman Gladiator movies. Shaped like a cross. They can channel their power through that as well. Perhaps throw lighting with it, or the blade is charged with lightning, or something. That's what I was thinking with on the swords.
Healing spells definitely. I wonder if there is a "Raise people from the dead" spell. Probably so.
Any thoughts on any of the other groups?
There shouldn't be a "Raise Dead" spell if you want there to be the fear of death. I've always felt this was somewhat cheap, especially if there's no time-limit on it.
I'm mostly focusing on P&W today. I had the idea for a character for them, but when I realized his "background sketch" was three pages long, I decided he was a bit much to post. Suffice it to say he is a P&W Reverend Cardinal (the equivalent of a Colonel, I'm envisioning), who is a redeemed Night Priest (shall we say, captain of 100 men?) of Death Metal, devoting his P&W carreer to the sad duty of hunting down his six children who all lead Death Metal cells.
I definitely agree with you on the P&W rifles looking like normal guns but not firing normal bullets. Maybe they don't even actually have to load them, they just pray and fire, but they won't fire at all for anyone else.
I'm also envisioning them as the best organized of all the groups, with a definite militaristic hierarchy based on experience and on magical power. There's just something scary as Hell about a line of sixteen men in white plate-armor carrying swords, marching in lockstep down the streets of a big city, chanting the Battle Hymn of the Republic in unison.
Also, as much as I like the sword-ness, those six-foot greatswords are a bit ridiculous. I'm picturing them more as wielding bastard swords (hand-and-a-half) or regular longswords with a shield. Yes a shield even in the modern age. Keeps the shotgun pellets off you.
I'd like to go through all the factions one more time and make sure we have a clear idea of which bias they use. It seems like all the ones we've talked about so far have been Magic, with the possible exeption of some Psionics in Classical. I'm thinking that P&W would be good with a strong Bod bias as well as Mag, since we both seems to agree on the image of them as warrior bards.
Yeah, we're getting somewhere. I guess the 6 foot swords are a bit ridiculous. (I'd like to see you say that to the face of someone that knows how to use one though hahaha) Long swords would work too.
Raise dead, if we use it at all, would only be in the upper upper upper echelon of P&W. Like perhaps The Pope or somebody. I did kind of want to have that, but you're right, it shouldn't be used too often.
Rifles that you pray and fire was pretty much what I had in mind. When I think of the P&W, I kind of think of Crusaders. White robes with a scarlet cross on the front of the tunic. Knights Templar would be another example.
I like the idea of a Colonel being from Death Metal converted to P&W and trying to hunt down his children. He's not trying to kill them, just capture and convert. Why don't you see if you can shorten that character paper down a bit and post it? I'd be interested in reading what you have in mind.
We need Scott or Eric in on this. Guys, where ya at??????????
Rap would have a psionic skill. Their rapping gets inside your head. Like getting a song caught in your head, but much, much more powerful. It can cause confusion, paranoia, low grade psychotic states (which I can describe from first-hand experience) Rap has a lot of guns, so I kind of wanted to keep their other powers down a bit. Kind of to balance things, ya know? Their power is not fatal in and of itself, just kind of crippling.
I think this thread of ours has become sortof the "kids table." The big kids are staying out of our way and seeing what sillyness we come up with.
Death Metal: Magic
Country: Magic / Technology
Rap: Psionic
Praise & Worship: Magic / Body
60s Rock: Body / Technology (which works if they're all about the hallucinogenic drugs, rather than hallucinogenic magic)
Jazz: Technology / Psionic
One-Hit Wonders: A little of everything. (Do these guys even HAVE turf?)
Extreme: Technology / Body
Classical: Psionic
Does this sound about right?
I thought it more like:
Death Metal: Magic
Country: Magic / guns
Rap: Psionic / guns
Praise & Worship: Magic / Body
60s Rock: Hippie magic, mother earth magic, "Flower Power" that kind of thing.
Jazz: Technology / Psionic
One-Hit Wonders: A little of everything.
Extreme: Technology / Body
Classical: Psionic / some technology
I think that's more what I had in mind.
I can't speak for anyone else, but assuming I'm one of the "big kids," I'm just waiting until I have an hour or two together when I'm not doing something else so I can sit down and post lots - both here and elsewhere.
Some quick things I'll elaborate on later tonight:
- Yes, John, I can help with mechanics, but . . .
- I like the idea of post-apocalyptic; I'll link to Tad's post that started it, and I wrote it into my Alpha-Beta world concepts earlier in the thread; reasons and thoughts on that later
- Resurrection doesn't have to be cheap; Multiverser magic works very well for this sort of thing . . .
- Tad wrote a cool bit for P&W arms and armor; I think it's tagged as Martial Arts, if you want to look for it before I come back and link it
- For magic: consider that the style of magic from faction to faction may be just as or more important than the effects each faction invokes. This isn't D&D, where all magic is performed in a minute or less via handwaving and arcane muttering . . .
Scott, I appreciate your help. You're a really cool guy, I've always thought so. The thing with this world though is that it's high in technology. I don't think you would see high technology following a nuclear apocalypse. That's why I was suggesting that the Alpha world is the future of this one. The nuclear war dropped all of the psi and mag skills, decimated the technology, and turned it into the world that Eric is building. I'd really like to keep this one more of an urban-type setting, if at all possible. I want fast cars, bionics, big guns, all kinds of cool things that probably would no longer exist after a nuke war.
And yes, I think you're one of the "big kids" I think he was referring to him and myself being newbies to Multiverser and to gaming in general.
As far as the style of magic, I was thinking that the music would BE the magic. Bonuses for if the music is performed live, although recordings will work. Singing will work, playing a harmonica will work. If you can make music in some form or another, you can make magic. That was kind of how I envisioned it.
Let's say that Scott is one of the Country boys. He's engaged in combat, and watches his little brother get shot and wounded. Scott whips out his harmonica and starts playing it and singing. His brother recovers from the gunshot wound.
One of the Death Metals wants to cast a spell? They whip out their electric guitar, and start going into an unholy riff about AntiChrist. 20 people collapse into gut wrenching spasms. Do you see what I'm saying?
Cars, vehicles, and such.
Classical. Sleepers. 7 series BMWs with 12 cylinder manual transmissions. Fast, agile, but with style. See also opening scene of The Transporter.
Extreme. GTOs, Camaros, old muscle cars. Loud, fast and flashy. Motorbikes. Dirt bikes. Fully loaded SUVs
Rap. BLING!!!!!!!!!!
P&W Horses, camels, their technology is kind of low.
60s Rock. Buses, VWs all painted to look like a bad acid trip.
Jazz, Model T, model A Fords. 1930s cars.
Death Metal. Hearses.
Country. Horse drawn carriages, carts, etc. Pickup trucks, station wagons, RVs. A few really hopped up 4X4 trucks. Country builds and maintains cars for most of the other groups. Except Rap, Death Metal, and P&W (No cars after all)
I thought I mentioned somewhere that I was off for a trip. In any case, I'm back.
It seems like your conception of things is wandering a bit A1nut. If you go back in this post, and look for David Marcoe's post that might help remind you of where the Alpha conception gelled. Some of this wandering isn't bad because it got you some pretty cool ideas about a high magic, high psi world. Now perhaps that is what you had all along in mind, and I didn't understand.
I really like going with Wodium's two world descriptions. I thought at the time that he caught the essence of both ideas.
It is essential that both worlds be post-apocalyptic if they are twin worlds. Moderate high-tech is not impossible in a post-apoc world. In Alpha, SDI, worked pretty well. America got nuked, but most of the people survived.
Now Beta could be a descendant world, what is called a 'contingency world'. I would prefer putting that possibility in a set of Variant Notes, and focusing on making it fit Wodium's description. Now most of what you and John7 have can easily fit so thats not a problem.
Also, I'm still hoping to see some integration of weapons and factions for Alpha....I would like to finish Alpha first. This does not entail stopping on Beta because ya'll are coming up with some really kewl stuff which should continue, but it does mean focusing first on Get R Done, and Nailed Down, and Finished before shifting into higher gear on Beta.
Eric, you did mention that you would be leaving, I just forgot.
This is more what I had in mind from the start. You kept insisting on low magic and low psionics, but this is what I had in mind.
Why does the world "NEED" to be post apocalyptic? I don't want to argue with you guys on it, but I see no reason whatsoever why it would need to be that way. I hope we can come to a resolution on this, because I really hate it when I argue with people for too long. As I explained, I didn't want this to be a shattered, desolate wasteland. I wanted it to be more of a thriving society. A world where Music is God to some people. Not a wasted, barren stretch of lonely highway in the desert.
As far as finishing Alpha world, well, feel free to post here. Just consult me first if you want to use any of my new ideas. I don't want too much duplication between the two worlds.
Moderate high-tech is not impossible in a post-apoc world.
Especially if, say, aliens are involved in said apocalypse. Let me explain what I'm thinking here.
When I wrote the two descriptions (which aren't binding, of course, but it seemed like ya'll liked them), I had it in my mind that the two world were mostly the same up until the hours before Alpha's apocalypse. At that point, both worlds experienced an event or series of events that destroyed modern society as we know it today. Most of the people died, cities suffered major damage, and a lot of the infrastructure - power plants, plumbing, public transport - was destroyed. However, very little knowledge has been lost, and the radio broadcast system suffered the least damage. What makes the two worlds different is that they suffered from very different series of events - very different "apocalypses", very different aftermath.
In the Alpha, there's plenty of technology sitting around, and everyone still knows how to use it. I imagine that New York has more cars than living people - want a ride? Grab one off the street. The trouble comes when you need to gas it up, and the only gas station with any fuel left is controlled by a rival faction . . .
In the Beta, that's also true - but you also have John's "fast cars, bionics, big guns,[and] all kinds of cool things" that have been, not prevented, but made possible by the same reality-warping cosmic crisis that killed 90% of the world's population and brought magic and psionics into a previously sensible universe.
We've been ignoring Techno, by the way. For some reason, when their music's playing they can somehow comprehend the bizarre workings of the wreckage the alien ships left behind, cobbling together fragments of extraterrestrial technology into truly "out-of-this-world" cyberpunk weaponry - all to a groovy techno beat!
If anyone's interested, I'll elaborate on my idea for the Beta apocolypse, which involves the launching of nuclear weapons, summoning of an Elder God, arrival of Unsettling Floating Ovals, and malfunction of an anti-doomsday device - simultaneously.