Voyages of Sinbad - experimental narrative system.

[Queenie]

Fenris's trip is going to be taking him out of commission until approximately the end of August. He won't be able to make almost any posts at all until probably the second week of August and then after that he should be able to check in here and then. The third week of August we have vacation together and after that we should be available.

I am able to post though

Mages are usually my character class of choice however I also enjoy rogues and that would probably fit just fine in this setting. Fenris's fav is a fighter. We're both pretty open to discussions on classes. You are right though with this kind of game everyone could play the same class and it would be fine.

Lady Blackbird really was some of the funnest gaming I've ever done. It just turned into this... I can't even describe it. It just flowed really well into this great, inventive, dramatic, funny, silly, intense story. At some point we almost stopped needing the GM! We just kept running and running with it - we chalked it up to how well he had set it up for us. He did have a very fleshed out world for us and we were playing characters from a book. There is no reason why that would make a difference here though.

I'm excited to start working on it. Is there any kind of guidance you want to give us before we start working on characters?

 

[airwalkrr]

I am not completely up on my Sinbad lore, but that is probably fine because I am familiar enough with swashbuckling tropes. I have the idea for a wizened scholar who takes painstaking attention to detail and obsesses about bizarre and fantastic things. "A roc egg, you say??? Oh the potions I could mix with that! Now if only I had the spittle of a djinn I could perfect my potion of love and the sultan will be eating out of my hands after I increase the size of his harem tenfold..." He is the guy who is always on the lookout for anything strange or unusual, especially if it is fantastic and mythical. He goes to great lengths to secure ingredients for his "potion of perfection," something he secretly knows he will never be able to create (it requires the essences of several extinct mythological creatures after all), but insists on dreaming and scheming about anyway.

 

[Someone]

I remember fondly Ray Harryhausen's movies like the 7th voyage of Sinbad and Jason and the argonauts and hoped to give the game a similar feel, where the central, civilized world is known and mundane but if you step outside all kinds of things are possible. The protagonists rely more on tricks and cunning rather than raw personal power, unlike more modern retellings.

I'm thinking on how we can modify the system so the three of us can be players, without needing a DM. Any suggestions? Or we could start with you two as players, and see if it works. I don't think this kind of game needs a fast posting pace, since it benefits more from longer posts, so Fenris would have time to join us. Tell me what you think.

 

[airwalkrr]

Well let me know what kind of changes you think we would need for that. I would be willing to give it a try. I think having someone to guide the story a bit is important though.

 

[Fenris]

Hey I can post! Not reliably but enough. I think I can get a character up. I do think we need some story guidance to begin with. Having played in systems like this before I think Someone, you could jump in later. In the Lady Blackbird setting it almost got to the point where to establish a threshold of success we could roll a die. Once it gets rolling we can see, but I think we need the start to get the rules down and the tone of the story first. Once that is good, we can have you join or maybe take turns being the narrator of the scene etc.

 

[airwalkrr]

I have no problems taking turns directing the narrative. I think that is one of the things that will keep a game like this interesting. The very first time I played through the Shackled City Adventure Path, we did a rotating DM schedule, and it was a blast. Each of us got a peak behind the scenes from time to time and it really added to the story a lot and helped us all get an idea of what was going on. We also each got chances to add our own flair to the story.

Another thing I think we could do with a rotating narrative direction is have the character focus shift from time to time. They do this in television shows with a large cast of characters a lot. I know Lost was well-known for this shifting perspective. One episode would focus on flashbacks for Kate and the next would focus on Sawyer and the next would focus on Jack and so on. I really liked the way their stories were told.

 

[Someone]

Ok, then I think we can get started. About the characters I'm not sure about what kind of directions you want.

I just had a thought. I'll post soon the initial IC post; that'll help stablishing a tone, then you can make your characters to fit it. Perhaps having a frame for them will help with option paralysis.

 

[Queenie]

I'm trying to think of how to post this in a way that would be helpful. Our GM had / has some sort of basic storyline. Honestly, we still haven't gotten to the bottom of it yet because we play at gamedays as we can. But he has some end plot I guess. He does sometimes throw us into situations that we react to.

The rest though is us all storytelling on the spot. A lot of Lady Blackbird is sort of on the fly "let's have a flashback - come up with how the two of you met" and suddenly we're seeing this whole other scene with these two players and it's hysterical. Or crazy or intense or whatever it is. All the characters get woven together nicely while we tell the story but it's a break from the current action. There are a lot of secrets going on, it's not all "that's a kobald and he has 2 HP because my monster manual tells me so."

This will basically be us telling a story, as I see it. I will admit now, I'm very rusty with my writing skills so while I will do my best I hope you will forgive me as I get back into the groove of things.

I think it's a good idea to post the first post and we can work on characters from there! I always get a little gunshy making characters, I get nervous thinking about who I want to inhabit for the next however long I will be playing. Only because I want her to be awesome

 

[Someone]

I'm trying to think of how to post this in a way that would be helpful. Our GM had / has some sort of basic storyline. Honestly, we still haven't gotten to the bottom of it yet because we play at gamedays as we can. But he has some end plot I guess. He does sometimes throw us into situations that we react to.

The rest though is us all storytelling on the spot. A lot of Lady Blackbird is sort of on the fly "let's have a flashback - come up with how the two of you met" and suddenly we're seeing this whole other scene with these two players and it's hysterical. Or crazy or intense or whatever it is. All the characters get woven together nicely while we tell the story but it's a break from the current action. There are a lot of secrets going on, it's not all "that's a kobald and he has 2 HP because my monster manual tells me so."

This will basically be us telling a story, as I see it. I will admit now, I'm very rusty with my writing skills so while I will do my best I hope you will forgive me as I get back into the groove of things.

That's the idea I have. I like the InSpectres system because it's just a framework; a map, rather than a railroad, if you like the metaphor.

I think it's a good idea to post the first post and we can work on characters from there! I always get a little gunshy making characters, I get nervous thinking about who I want to inhabit for the next however long I will be playing. Only because I want her to be awesome

I'll come with something in one day or two.

 

[Someone]

I'll come with something in one day or two.

Here's the IC thread! Have a look and let's get this running.