To be clear - this is more of general brainstorming discussion with the intention of setting up a RP rather than an actual interest check to sign people up immediately. I have thought about this for some time and believe I have come up with a system but it's impossible to account for everything and I would love to have creative input here.

My idea, thus far, is this:

A RP where the players write as police detectives/officers/consultants working as a single team on various cases. This could be a broad base (arson, homicide, serial etc.) or it could simply be a single focus (which would be more realistic) such as homicide which occasionally branches out into other types of case.

To be clear: this would be ongoing. There would be multiple cases rather than a long one. I am also intending for the RP to (by and large) take place inside the constraints of the law. Sure, some vigilante events would most likely happen, as well as morally dubious methods, but by and large it would be a morally and legally conducted case.

In terms of how to go about the RP I had some thoughts:

-Each case would have one mastermind. Whether than be the GM or the players (or players creating a case together) and would be directed by the creator of this case. No one else but them would know the clues, evidence or witnesses that would lead to the identification of suspects, including the actual perpetrator.

-The creator would PM at relevant points the relevant players what the next scene should be like (for example, who would find what at a crime scene, what information would be retrieved from a suspect and how that suspected should be written) in a piecemeal way so that mystery would slowly be unravelled.

-There should be room for character development. Creators can come up with plots that put their character at the centre (people from their past coming up, budding romances between characters etc.).

That's what I have so far. As for where it would take place etc. I thought these things better laid out once any structural issues were hammered out.

Thoughts? As I said, I'd love some input on this one.

... People should really not let me peruse the interest checks anymore. Really. I have a problem.

In other words, I'm in freaking LOVE with this idea. Reminds me of long-running crime series like Criminal Minds, which I would assume is your intention.

As well you seem like a good writer and I'd love to help you brainstorm this, if you'd have me. World building and plotting are like, my pastimes. If anything I can just spitball some ideas around.

Right off the bat my first suggestion would be to have a definite player cap, say, 5 characters or less at any given time. I also like the idea that players couldn't pull clues out of thin air to magically solve the case. This means that you'll not only need good writers but the characters would also be more realistic, as they'd need to be written to the writer's strengths. For example, it would be very hard to write the team genius if the writer is less of a problem-solver, know what I mean?

In a perfect world, something like this would run and stay running for a long time. That means that this is actually a pretty good venue for a turnover of players. If someone has to leave the RP for reasons it's easy to write them out as a plot point (they get shot, transferred to another district, etc.) I'm sure you've thought of this already but hey, I just love the sound of this.

I'm probably way ahead of myself here but I hope I said something coherent. It's late, h e h.

This reminds me of a Detective RP I have played on a diffrent site with a similar premise I am in. I love these kinds of RPs.

I'd love to try this out.

I'm glad to see some interest in this.

What level of RP would people prefer?

@Obscene Symphony I hadn't thought of the benefits in terms of contributor turn over but that's a very good point.

I'm interested in this. I have a couple of ideas but they require a bit more fine-tuning.

There are definite faults with a roleplay set to progress in a manner such as this, but I'm sure the fun to be had outweighs them greatly. Keeping everybody relevant in a genre that is typically contained to one or two individuals in the spotlight at a time is tough.

@Tatsua Aiisen Agreed. The cast would need to be small and discipline would need to be kept in order to keep the balance equal which is down to both players and the GM.

In order to prevent any stalls I have thought that the writer of the case should PM the GM a brief summary of the case, with key details, before starting. I would not read said PM unless the writer in question was unable to post/direct sufficiently.

I really enjoy the idea of this!
Do you have any ideas for a particular setting? Would this be entirely a normal world?

Interested

I really enjoy the idea of this!
Do you have any ideas for a particular setting? Would this be entirely a normal world?

Yes. Not sure which country it would be based in - most likely the US as most of us will have seen some kind of detective/cop show originating from there. I don't expect any specific knowledge on locations seeing as I'm based in the UK and aren't very well acquainted with the area either.

If there's a consensus on another location I would be very much open to suggestions.

UPDATE: So I have come up with two options (really): an American city setting or a British town setting. Obvious differences would be gun laws (even the police in Britain rarely have firearms), diversity and also the frequency of events such as homicides (much rarer in the UK). Also the British town setting would have more of a community police style - a lot of people would recognise their local officers and would often know each other whereas in the US setting that would simply be implausible.

<Snipped quote by Snaketicus>

Yes. Not sure which country it would be based in - most likely the US as most of us will have seen some kind of detective/cop show originating from there. I don't expect any specific knowledge on locations seeing as I'm based in the UK and aren't very well acquainted with the area either.

If there's a consensus on another location I would be very much open to suggestions.

(Whispers Canada)

<Snipped quote by Snaketicus>

Yes. Not sure which country it would be based in - most likely the US as most of us will have seen some kind of detective/cop show originating from there. I don't expect any specific knowledge on locations seeing as I'm based in the UK and aren't very well acquainted with the area either.

If there's a consensus on another location I would be very much open to suggestions.

UPDATE: So I have come up with two options (really): an American city setting or a British town setting. Obvious differences would be gun laws (even the police in Britain rarely have firearms), diversity and also the frequency of events such as homicides (much rarer in the UK). Also the British town setting would have more of a community police style - a lot of people would recognise their local officers and would often know each other whereas in the US setting that would simply be implausible.

I say an American setting when I think of Detective's like RPs I think of a 1950s America.

Cooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooool

I tried something like this, and it failed.

Three times.

But color me interested.

I'll start working on an OOC soon as we've got quite a bit of interest. So far Canada seems to have the most votes for a setting.

This'll be a modern day setting with relevant technologies rather than a Columbo/Diagnosis Murder/Midsomer Murders set-up.

I'll start working on an OOC soon as we've got quite a bit of interest. So far Canada seems to have the most votes for a setting.

This'll be a modern day setting with relevant technologies rather than a Columbo/Diagnosis Murder/Midsomer Murders set-up.

On your subject of the differences between the US and UK, Canada is pretty much a happy medium between the two. There's tons of diversity, more stringent gun laws (AKA you basically just have to register them and can't own fully automatics without special permits I believe). Smaller communities in Canada also have a sort of familiarity that you were talking about.

Basically I will defend my country as a good setting until the day I die

EDIT** sometimes I miss things on mobile, heh.

@Obscene Symphony I have been just scanning through some pages on Canadian laws and the policing system and it suits the needs of the RP fairly well. I will carry on with my research and we'll take some creative license with it as well, I think.

@Obscene Symphony I have been just scanning through some pages on Canadian laws and the policing system and it suits the needs of the RP fairly well. I will carry on with my research and we'll take some creative license with it as well, I think.

Sounds great to me, unless anyone objects.

As long as we don't have moose killing people I am okay with it.

Or gratuitous use of "eh?"