Democracy in Action: A Governmental RP

[Byrd Man]

"Laws are like sausages — it is best not to see them being made"
--Otto von Bismarck

Bullet Points:
-- NRP set in a single nation
-- You play members of congress and the presidential administration.
-- The game will work like a super small scale NRP, each person getting a single order.
-- The key to this game is cooperation and working together, not winning the game.
-- Fine, you want to win? Get your president reelected and make the country a better place

Setting: United States of America, present day

Situation: The presidential elections have just finished and a new commander-in-chief is in the White House. With the president comes a new cabinet and administration, it's up to them and Congress to help the country by enacting new laws and policies that will benefit the people of America. Keep in mind that every choice and decision doesn't happen in a vacuum There will be resistance from members of the opposition, your own party, and even from the voters. As good as it is to change things for the better, it's also good to get reelected. Will your legacy be one of immense fortune and prosperity? Or one of economic ruin? Will you stand firm against the foreign powers of the world? Or bend the knee in the name of peace? Those decisions are yours to make.

In Character Info: The game will run pretty much like any NRP. You'll all have one single order you can use in a turn, each turn will consist of about three months. If you're a cabinet member your orders need to be run by the president for confirmation (chain of command and all that) but members of the House and Senate don't need presidential approval to try to pass legislation through their legislative bodies.

Here's the roles I have so far:

President
Vice President
Secretary of State
Secretary of Defense
Secretary of the Treasury
Attorney General
Senate Majority Leader
Speaker of the House

Out of Character Info: To make things work better, I figure I can create an IRC channel for people to discuss things together before submitting orders. Like I said, the key to success is to work together.

[Theodorable]

I think this would work (and in a phenomenal manner) if you used a fictional country, as opposed to the United States. Just my opinion.

[Doctor Belasco]

Theodorable said if you used a fictional country, as opposed to the United States

since not everybody knows how the american political system works... :)

[Poet]

.

[Theodorable]

I mean -- most Americans don't even understand the American political system beyond "Legislative, Executive, Judicial."

[Byrd Man]

Well, I wanted to use America and the American system of government because that's the one I know the best. As for using Frank Underwood as President, I was kind of hoping to go for a little less... uhh... cynical approach to politics.

[Poet]

.

[Byrd Man]

Theodorable said
I mean -- most Americans don't even understand the American political system beyond "Legislative, Executive, Judicial."

The game and the rules are still being worked on at the moment, but I really don't expect someone to have a degree in political science to get everything going on. And like I said, this system is the one I understand the best. I could slap a fictional title on it and call it "Freedonia", but it would still be America for all intents and purposes.

[Heyitsjiwon]

Interested. Also, what about Senate whips and Secretaries for every cabinet position. Homeland security would be an interesting one.

Edit: Also, how do you plan to make committees work?

[Byrd Man]

With the cabinet positions I wanted to just include the "big four" of the cabinet. I just figured nobody really wanted to be the Secretary of the Interior, but hey, you never know. Same way with whips, since the senate majority leader and speaker are already leaders of their respective legislative assemblies. Just feel like it may be redundant to have two players as speaker and whip. As for the bills and laws, my idea would be that I would roll dice on it. A good score means it gets out of committee and makes it to the House floor. From there the congressmen and senators try to pass the bill or kill it.

[Hound55]

Hrmm...

[Ruby]

I want to, but I'd steal too much from Sorkin and West Wing.

[Byrd Man]

That's now always bad. If you're gonna steal, steal from the best.

[Labyrinthine]

Ok just saying if this happens totally not America based on American systems but maaaybe not so preset. Also I would want to play the political fixer, the media communications and public relations lady. Like Olivia Pope from Scandal.

[Byrd Man]

I don't really envision having a need for an Olivia Pope character in the game. Pretty much, this is going to be a government and political sim. Not any real intrigue to be found. I know that's going to be super boring to some, but that's kind of what I want to shoot for.

EDIT: To give you an idea on how the IC thread would work, look at this NRP for an example: W.I.R.

Pretty much it would be the president and administration making announcements and introducing legislation while I as the GM would post results of turns and the occasional situation that would pop up.

[Labyrinthine]

Nevermind, not interested anymore. I thought it'd be a lot more interesting, not virtual law school. I'll pass.

[Byrd Man]

Hey! That's not what it's like at all. It's more like a virtual US government class.

[Ruby]

Byrd Man said
That's now always bad. If you're gonna steal, steal from the best.

So much love for that comment. <3

[Byrd Man]

Bumping this because I forgot to mention I opened a second interest check in the NRP section: Link