Weird Roleplay Ideas You're Afraid To Pitch?

[ArenaSnow]

The idea of an RP set in the context of another RP sprung to mind. Yet I do not GM the original one, and the RP set within that context... I dunno. Sci-fi gladiators are the idea, yet I can't do squat in Arena RP.

[ArenaSnow]

Ah, another one. A medieval 2 hotseat campaign, played similarly to other such hotseats (send email around, make player actions, etc). The catch - all actions from the hotseat are presented in text format. In other words, a roleplay that's basically built right off a video game.

Issues include game accessibility, dedication of players, cheating because they just gotta win, logistics of passing the hotseat file around, and working around some of the more inflexible elements of the game itself.

[HeySeuss]

Something involving airship piracy centering around a Nassau-style pirate's republic. Definitely very Guns of Icarus-inspired, and probably my first foray into steampunk.

[Cyndyr]

A Roleplay about a group of ordinary people fighting an Eldritch horror while trapped in a Lowe's. It could be serious or satirical.

[Crimson Raven]

A sort of Can you Escape?/Choose your own adventure with plenty of RL Stein influenced body horror, and transformative weirdness that could border on sextual.

Basically a group of hapless victims (aka rpers) are kidnapped and taken to a mysterious facility and offered choices that will affect them in many different ways that they have to take to advance and maybe escape. These can and will lead to bad ends. On top of that, their choices will affect other players in beneficial or adverse ways.

Just a loose and fast idea that probably will never see the light of day.

[Polybius]

Sci-fi gladiators are the idea, yet I can't do squat in Arena RP.

@ArenaSnow

I actually wanted to do this a while ago. Sort of a round by round thing. Never worked out all the details but I got quite a bit down.

Killem All

Kill'em All

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In the Far Future, a Battle rages, not for ideology or politics, but for Entertainment!
Death to the Loser, Glory to the Victor

Sound

This is Kill'em All, a turn based 'Sci-Fi Gladiator Simulator' where you take control of a stable of fighters and monsters to battle it out in a grimdark universe. This will be bloody, so if you have a weak stomach, stop reading and make yourself a cup of oolong tea. (gtfo)

Battle Worlds of the Empire

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The Battle Worlds of the Empire are sanctioned arena worlds where fights are conducted. There are black-market arenas on distant worlds that are not so heavily taxed, but these are unsanctioned fights and yield no influence for a stable master.

Each Battle World is ruled by a Royal Adjucator tasked with organizing fights, collecting dues and determing the fate of those defeated but not killed in a fight. Many of these Adjucators are corrupt, and take bribes and payments for a favorable outcome from competing stables. The Adjucators answer to the Emperor.

Polaegus, Goldworld
Entrance Fee:
Influence Required:

The capital of the Empire, the Goldworld is where only the best and most famous gladiators fight. At the heart of the city of Polaegus lies the Grand Arena, a mortuary for many, and an ascendance to glory for a few. Here blood and bile is spilled or spit and many centuries of battle have stained the metallic, angular terrain a pleasing ochre. The fans are the wealthiest in the Empire, and drink and f*** while blood is shed before them.

From the Emperors Dais, the Eternal Lords watch with pleasure or disdain and discuss the politics of the day to the dying screams of the unworthy. Beneath them, the lesser Lords bet and curse as fights are lost or won.

Chrydon, Iceworld
Entrance Fee:
Influence Required:

The wilderness of Chrydon has claimed the lives of many fighters, whether by cracking ice fissures, enormous spider-seals or upon the spears of the native Chrydonai, the Iceworld is a Survival arena, wherein the Gladiators fight to gain access to the spaceport and freedom. Many prisoners of the Empire are forced to fight on Chrydon for a chance at pardon, all the while surveilled by holo-drones that live-stream the trials of the condemned.

Imketz, Darkworld
Entrance Fee:
Influence Required:

Above the acidic seas of Imketz, upon the IronGlass Grid, Gladiators battle. A Darkworld on the distant borders of the Empire, here the most abherrant and alien contenders grapple. A human has never won a match on Imketz and to do so would be a great victory not only for the gladiator, but the Empire as well.

Dinstar, Artifice World
Entrance Fee:
Influence Required:

An artificial moon, the Dinstar was constructed by the Mad Emperor as his personal torture prison. Having conquered much of the known galaxy, the Dinstar has been repurposed as a hellish-nightmare of a battlefield for those truly insane gladiators. Survival rates are low, but it is one of the more popular battleworlds in the Empire.

Notable Gladiators of the Empire

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Some of the most infamous gladiators are able to break free of the Stable-System in the Empire and have become their own masters. They are not for hire, but may be met in battle.

Juresh Hellblade

A former Golden Legionnaire, Hellblade has a stunning record not only for victories, but the speed with which he slays his opponents. This has led to many viewing him as less a spectacle to behold, but an icon to be worshipped. Nearing retirement.

Selena

A poetically dark beauty who uses diabolical means to slay her foes. Takes trophies from her victims after dispatching them in a particularly garish manner.

Mad Mortimer

A warlock from the far reaches of the galaxy. Mortimer uses abherrant science to summon weird extradimensional horrors to do his dirty work.

Pain

The enigmatic warrior known as Pain is more cyborg than human and appears to enjoy receiving the wounds inflicted upon him as much as delivering them.

The Liquidator

The Liquidator uses clever tricks to confound or confuse his opponents. A disgraced engineer of the Bio-Weapons division of the Empires Scientific Order, the Triptych.

Screaming Thing

The Screaming Thing is an alien with an unpronouncable name. A mass of fur, claws and more than one gaping maw of fangs and teeth, the Screaming Thing lets loose a chortling scream before it makes a kill. It has a handler, known as Vox that arranges matches. It is unclear what Vox's relationship to the Screaming Thing is.

Pyrus

The weapons master Pyrus has enhanced his body through bio-engineering over many decades for increased agility, stamina and strength. His martial prowess in the galaxy is unparalleled. This efficient manner of killing has gained the disdain of the public as he is less interested in spectacle than surviving.

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Your Company

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Each stable is an incorporated company, that trains, feeds and boards fighters and gladiators. Gladiators are very specialized warriors that are the most-crowd pleasing and deadliest in the stable. Fighters are not as skilled, and have a higher chance of dying in combat.

Company Info

Name: Something cool
Homeworld: As a minor stable in an expansive empire, all companies start in the outer reaches of the galaxy.
Stable Master: The one in charge. A name will do, but you may give a brief paragraph on their personality/likeness if you wish.
Credits: The Empire uses credits for all transactions. Starting Credits are 10,000.
Gladiators:
List your gladiators and stats here.
Fighters:
A list of generic fighters and their combat status.

Gladiators & Combat

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Each gladiator has a 'deck of cards' they take into battle with them. At the start of each match, choose three from that gladiators repertoire. These are not the only cards available to them in a match as you draw from the 'deck' after the first 3 are played. New cards may be earned as your fighter wins matches and gains experience.

Note: I'm not going to kill off a Gladiator you are particularly fond of. Even if they are mortally wounded, their are many arcane and weird ways in the empire to keep a gladiator alive.

Bash (Attempt to destroy a piece of armor or a weapon)
Cleave (A devastating blow)
Disarm (Attempt to disarm an opponent)
Feint (
Fury (A careless attack, but deadly)
Hamstring (Attempt to negate opponents movement)
Slice
Trip (Attempt to put your opponent at a disadvantage)

Arena combat in the Empire is a brutal affair, with many gory deaths live-streamed across the galaxy. Fame is crucial for arranging the next match, and is the concern of any well kept Stable Master.

Fighters have a few choices in fighting styles:

Brutal
Stylish
Weird

A Brutal Fighter inflicts as much damage as possible on the enemy with little regard for elegant combat. They are strong, and can deal and take a lot of damage. The downside is a Brutal fighter does not gain as much Fame for fights because they are not in it for theatrics.

A Stylish Fighter deals considerably less damage than a Brutal Fighter, but engages combat with an eye for flourish and theater. Considerable risks are taken by the fighter for the sake of a memorable match.

A Weird fighter uses diabolical science or sorcery to fight. Whether by summoning extra-planar horrors to unleash hell or its own biologically enhanced body.

Your fighters may vary in strengths and weaknesses.
They may have special skills that they use during combat.
The more stylish they perform, the more fame they will receive. (Which will increase your stables standing, and allow for more lucrative fights).
Each world has unique terrain features that may come into play during a match.

There are different match types:
1v1 the classic match
Killing Field, where gladiators are unleashed upon a slew of condemned prisoners.
Survival, where gladiators fight to reach a designated spot in the arena.
Seasonal Matches like championships that will bring greater fame and wealth for stables.

The Economy

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The Empire is wealthy. Extremely wealthy after centuries of pillaging and raiding outer worlds. As such, their is a lot of money to be made.

Basic Fighter: 1,000 c
Gladiators: A list of Gladiators available is posted on each planet. Prices vary.

Sorry for copy/paste I can't get the link to show up properly.

EDIT: It's based on a roleplay @Gutshot brainstormed but never got off the ground.

[HeySeuss]

The Sci-Fi gladiator thing would be fun-- especially if it were the start of a Spartacus-style revolt.

[Polybius]

The Sci-Fi gladiator thing would be fun-- especially if it were the start of a Spartacus-style revolt.

@HeySeuss

Rereading my notes- actually some pretty good ideas worth salvaging.

[ArenaSnow]

That was precisely the idea for a later plot point.

But again, arena deficient, and that's how it would start up >.>

[Polybius]

I have an idea set in pseudo-Europe around the years 1890-1910 that involves a supernatural event where major cities, hugely important cultural and historic urban centers simply vanish overnight. They are replaced by a primordial landscape that slowly expands its borders-eventually engulfing all of civilization. It's a bit steampunk meets the Lost World-airships become the most important means of transportation. Gas powered rifles and literal towers of civilization surrounded by a miasma of humid jungles, bubbling swamps and ash and smoke-spewing volcanoes. Characters could be soldiers, explorers, priests, doctors, scientists or just an average citizen trying to survive. As the story progresses, ruins of an unrecognizable civilization are discovered...Thematically it is man vs. nature. Technology vs. faith.

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^{A F A R L I G H T}

From the HAMPSHIRE CHRONICLE, evening edition,
Monday, June 11th, 1875

_{DISASTER !! MIRACLE !!}

_{PREHISTORIC LANDSCAPE APPEARS!}

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<sub>Danburge, Brecha
On the Evening of June 10th, passengers aboard the Airship Bravado were witness to an event of divine magnitude. At 4am, the crew was ordered by Captain Arneld Breschia to rouse the passengers in case abandonment of the ship would become necessary. Navigation of the Frigate Class Airship had become impossible, as an unanticipated heavy fog appeared. The Captain, acting in accordance with aeronaut procedure ordered a drop in altitude.

What happened next is unconfirmed-several passengers claim flashes of 'eerie lights (north) towards the direction of the city of Danburge, and then darkness'. In the morning, dozens of reports claimed that the city had vanished- to be replaced by a landscape that can only be described as 'prehistoric'. Captain Breschia ordered his men to begin a search of the area using the spot lights of the Airship. After 4 hours of searching, and with coal reserves diminishing, the Bravado was forced to make an emergency landing in the nearby town of Great Bridge. The fate of some 250,000 citizens of Danburge is unknown.</sub>

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In the years before the Miracle, an industrial revolution had gripped the world. Advances in technology and medicine were poised to change the face of the world. Great continent traversing airships dotted the skies. Engines were powerful & efficient. Every infantryman in every Great Powers' army carried a gas powered rifle. Advances in art, literature and philosophy made it seem as if another great enlightenment was at hand. It all ended with the Miracle.

Nearly 30 years ago, cities the world over began to vanish overnight. After the swirling mist, fog and glimmering lights vanished, what remained could only be described as a prehistoric landscape. Humid jungles sprang from the earth overnight. Volcanoes sprouted and spewed smoke and ash into the sky. Primordial swamps, teeming with all manner of nightmarish creature oozed and bubbled. The event was a Miracle. It was a Disaster. The 'Wilderness' as it would come to be known, began to spread.

_{WORLD LEADERS HELPLESS!! WILDERNESSE GROWS MONTHLY!}

<sub>Nearly twenty years ago the Disaster that took in an instant countless cities across the globe resonates with the world today. At the Worlds Fair in Hampshire, World Leaders met with top scientists in the newly formed field of PREHISTORIA. Sources confirm that the WILDERNESSE is expanding at an astonishing rate. Reports indicate that several small towns have been enveloped by the WILDS and the civilians forced to flee. An unconfirmed number of casualties have been reported.

Besides the terrible jungle comprises the vast majority of the WILDERNESSE, several sightings of PREHISTORIC-like beasts have been observed. Enormous reptiles and oversized insects of horrific nature. Dr. Simeon Brightweather, of the Royal Academy of Natural History (Overseeing the newly created Department of Wilderness Studies) was summoned By HER MAJESTY QUEEN REBECCA III. The details of that meeting remain unknown at this time.</sub>

Efforts were made to curtail the advance of virulent growth. World Leaders, increasingly alarmed at the spread of the Wildernesse agreed to wage an all out war on the growth. The most devastating weapons in the worlds arsenal would be launched at the encroaching landscape.

Chemicals, designed to wage war on man were instead turned against nature. Fired from artillery, or dropped from enormous Airships, the campaign was carried out with great success.

At first.

As the 'weeding' campaign (as one former Monarch put it) continued, the Wildernesse renewed its advance with a seemingly sentient vengeance. Devastating incendiary bombs were deployed and the atmosphere was choked with ash and smoke from the burning wilds. All would prove to be in vain as one by one the capital cities began to be overrun.

Log

From the Personal Log of Lieutenant Percival Arnherst, HMAS Constitution, June^11th, 1850

Morning- Mission complete. We found the wreckage of the airship Prescott just north of the Yellow Lake. Poor fellows must have flung everything but the engines overboard to gain altitude. It was all in vain as we found her hull smashed against a rocky outcropping. No sign of survivors. I suppose they ran out of coal. We attempted to salvage their silk sails but the balloon had been shredded to bits...

We are...under similar circumstances. We returned in the evening to find the settlement of New Hope completely wiped out. A giant redwood had sprung from the grounds where the docking bay once stood. Captain Baines pointed us further south. I wonder if we can make it to James-Bridge?

Afternoon- I wonder why I continue this chronicle despite the increasing evidence that in all likelihood our airship is doomed. Maybe all of mankind is doomed? This...Miracle has turned out to be a Devastation. I wonder how Annie fairs back in Whitehall? I miss her dearly. Must remember to bring back something nice from the Fringe.

Evening- We can see the towers of James-Bridge just up the gorge, but a trio of those terrible lizards refuse to budge. Captain ordered a broadside just above the ghastly beasts head in an effort to scare them off. They fled, but one found its' way back. He is a nasty brute-supposing it is a he. His head is nearly as big as the maindeck! What those teeth could do to a man...I don't want to think about that. I wish the fellows would quit dropping flares to track his movement. I can't stand the sight of that scaly beast in the phosphorescent glow any longer-

[Mao Mao]

I am not sure if you could consider this a weird idea but... I always wanted to do a riot-themed roleplay, where the police force tries to restore order into a city as rioters trash the entire city and do crazy shit.

[Penny]

We all play versions of the same Federal agent who suffers a time skip resulting in multiple versions of him existing. Investigating reveals that an apocalypse is coming but we dont know which version of the story to believe and we all go insane.

[HeySeuss]

I've stopped pitching ideas of my own for fear of not being able to follow through on them for a variety of reasons. It's like I have a really good idea, but execution is increasingly harder to do.

[pugbutter]

I want to do a comedy crossover RP in the Free section, where you play as the very first character you ever wrote back when you were a 13 year old shithead on Neopets or whatever.

So in my case, my character would be me. Literally me. Used my name as his name and my face as his portrait. Except according to the bio I had purple eyes and telekinesis.

I'd love to see just how bad we all were when we first started participating in this retarded-ass hobby.

[HeySeuss]

I want to do a comedy crossover RP in the Free section, where you play as the very first character you ever wrote back when you were a 13 year old shithead on Neopets or whatever.

So in my case, my character would be me. Literally me. Used my name as his name and my face as his portrait. Except according to the bio I had purple eyes and telekinesis.

I'd love to see just how bad we all were when we first started participating in this retarded-ass hobby.

@pugbutter

Drizzt Do'Urden ripoff. :(

[Sigurd]

I wish someone would start a casual adventure RP about the Viking age. Something similar to The Long Ships novel or the sagas or the Vikings TV show. You know, a ship crew sailing around the world and getting into trouble. It sounds really comfy on paper if you ask me. I thought about doing it, but I'd just been overwhelmed recently by real life chores.

[Mixtape Ghost N]

I want to start a horror-esque, Silent Hill-type, RP set in a strange world where a group of random people are dropped into it, and are hunted by monsters. I want to use it to explore themes such as loneliness, isolation, and what it means to be human.

[ZB1996]

A meta crossover RP consisting of characters from old RPs, except its actually the RP afterlife since all their home RPs died.

[HeySeuss]

Sigil Pub Crawl.

@Rin

[GoodLuckTuck]

In the future, virtual reality game that's in the 80's and everyone is stuck or has a time limit to being there each night. Centers around a club. Essentially San Junipero from Netflix's Black Mirror.