Play by Blog: A New Feature

I got this idea from Robin Laws’ blog (as suggested by my friend John), and I think it’s genius.

Basically, I want to try something similar to what Laws is doing with his “Angels and Operators” play-by-blog game. Before we get started, I’ll outline a little bit about how this game is going to work, what I’m looking for, and where I’m looking to develop this idea.

Basically the game functions kind of like a massively multiplayer “Choose Your Own Adventure” novel. We’ll establish a character and a situation, and I will pose a question to you all at the end of it.

You all will have some pre-determined amount of time to vote on the answer to the question. Once that has elapsed, I will roll some dice and consult a system and then narrate the outcome, pose a new situation, and ask another question. I also will post a bit about what happened with the rolls that caused the outcome (like Laws’ “Under the Hood” section). This whole thing ends up taking the form of a segmented interactive narrative, which hopefully will be pretty cool.

For the first one, I will go on for a pre-determined number of sessions rather than letting it drag on. If any of you have any friends who you think would like to play this game, feel free to direct them over here to take part, as I think the game will be better with more people involved. Also, I might (in future sessions) allow people to suggest outcomes rather than just voting on them, but I’ll work that out as we go along.

The other purpose of this is that I want to leverage it towards another project of mine that I’ve been working on in my spare time. I’ll mention more about that as it becomes relevant.

For the first poll, I’d like to suggest four possible games we can play and have you, the readers, pick which one you like the best. For future games, I might open it up a little more but to start with we’ll just pick from a couple of settings.

Dames, Dollars, and Derringers:

Dames, Dollars, and Derringers is a noir-styled tale about a hard-boiled detective and the case he just can’t refuse. It’s a gritty gumshoe tale about loss, love, and learning to let go.

Typical elements include: Inner Monologues, Dames, Guns, Booze, More Guns, Crime, and More Guns. May or may not contain supernatural elements.

Ward 32

It’s quiet now. The sounds of screaming and hysterical laughter, the bullets and bombs, the parties and revelry — all have faded away. Now all you hear is the breathing of the other inmates, the dry drone of Television’s Daytime Dramas, and the occasional clickety-clack of a Connect-Four board. Still, you know the quiet is only temporary. Tonight, like every night, the door to Ward 32 will open again. And when it does, you’ll be ready.

Typical elements include: Monsters, Insanity, Dreams, Paranoia, Doctors, Nurses, Medicine, Violence.

Trolls in the City:

It’s been a long time since the land of Faerie was closed to you. You were exiled, like all the others, for one reason or another — a crime either imaginary or all too real (in Faerie, who can tell the difference). Now you live in the big city with the rest of the outcasts and just try to forget all that you left behind. But sometimes the things that you leave behind have a way of remembering you.

Typical elements include: Apartments, the fantastic VS the mundane, magical creatures, monsters, wizards, subways, mundane jobs

Under the Bed:

Your parents always tell you the monsters are not real. They refuse your requests for a night light, for a crack in the door, to sleep in their bed. You need to learn to be independent, they say. It’s for your own good. But you know what lies under the bed. You’ve been there and they haven’t. You’ve seen the horrors with your own eyes, and seen what they can do to little children. The consequences are all too real.

Typical elements include: Childhood, fantasy, horror, monsters, death, parents, school

So vote for the one you’d like to do first:

Ward 32 won this contest with 14 votes. Runner up was Dames Dollars and Derringers with 8.