An idea I have for PCs in roleplays

[Wayne]

May or may not be an all-original idea, but I'm too damn lazy to check. Either way, this idea around player characters in roleplays has been floating around my head for a bit now, and I'd like to share it.

Basically, every PC in the roleplay has to have some sort of relation to the last PC posted, and that each player starting from the GM or the first person with a posted character sheet onwards has to tell what kind of relation the next character would have to theirs.

To try and explain myself a little better, let's say that I was GMing a crime-related RP with detectives and lowlifes. The character I decide to use is this rowdy drunkard being interrogated by the police. For the kind of related character I'm looking for, I could keep it simple and just say "Sheriff, interrogating Mr. Rowdy Drunkard" or go into further specific details I'd want, like personality, age, gender, and so forth. So the player that takes the role of the sheriff makes the character and gets to choose what they're looking for in the next player character. And so on and so on.

I'm thinking of using this concept if I ever get around to GMing an RP again, but I'd like to hear your thoughts.

[Brovo]

... Interesting idea. So basically...

Player A: I am the Sheriff and I am talking to my deputy, who...
Player B: Is a short man, who is worried about his friend, because she is a chef who...
Player C: Works in the shop where the murder took place, though she knows the vicitm's husband is an office worker from...

And so on and so forth?

[Wayne]

Brovo said
... Interesting idea. So basically...Player A: I am the Sheriff and I am talking to my deputy, who...Player B: Is a short man, who is worried about his friend, because she is a chef who...Player C: Works in the shop where the murder took place, though she knows the vicitm's husband is an office worker from...And so on and so forth?

Right on target.

What do you find interesting about it?

[Brovo]

Wayne said
Right on target.What do you find interesting about it?

Well that it ties everyone's ideas together quite neatly. Most times people struggle to form group cohesion but this would pretty naturally create group cohesion. It's also simply different, and sometimes that's nice to have instead of the same formula over and over again.

If I used it I'd probably make sure to add the addendum that the next person adding a character could request to alter certain aspects of the previous submitted. Like the person A who asked for a deputy might instead get a partner--someone equal to them in rank instead of lower, by request of person B, which would then ultimately be moderated by the GM if the two of them can't agree on it.

That aside... Yeah I like it. It's refreshing and different, and functional. Brovo approved!

[Wayne]

Brovo said
Well that it ties everyone's ideas together quite neatly. Most times people struggle to form group cohesion but this would pretty naturally create group cohesion. It's also simply different, and sometimes that's nice to have instead of the same formula over and over again.If I used it I'd probably make sure to add the addendum that the next person adding a character could request to alter certain aspects of the previous submitted. Like the person A who asked for a deputy might instead get a partner--someone equal to them in rank instead of lower, by request of person B, which would then ultimately be moderated by the GM if the two of them can't agree on it.That aside... Yeah I like it. It's refreshing and different, and functional. Brovo approved!

Funny thing is, I can come up with lots of wonderful ideas for RPs, but putting them all to the test myself is a whole different story. The way I see myself is that I can help things along from the sidelines really well, but when I have to run and dictate things all by myself, I do really poorly. My own personal stuff ends up confuddling me, and I end up not being able to GM and RP, and then I take it out back and put it out of its misery Old Yeller style, even if it's going along fairly well.

On another forum I still sorta frequent, this one game I started back about 2-3 years ago ended up being so popular after being rebooted by other members that they ended up making TVTropes pages and all sorts of other things for it, and it's still going in its 3rd reincarnation, I believe.

But back on topic, I'm glad you like it so much. It's a real self-esteem booster, so thanks. =D