Ersa93

Advice for "simple" racing mechanics in an rp

@Yankee Ooh, I should've known there was a system for racing out there somewhere. They look interesting, but probably a bit more than the mini-game feel I'm going for. But thanks for suggesting them to me.

Considering players rolling against each other, it looks like aggressive actions/attackers are favored slightly, which can work in an RPs favor if you don't want passive racers

Yeah, I was afraid it favored attackers too much. I wasn't aiming for any particular type of racer since I kind of want players to use the driving style they think their characters want to use. I might have to brainstorm that particular section a bit more, maybe change the 7-9 range to dealing guaranteed half-damage and make the 10+ range guaranteed full damage. I'm dropping the disadvantage for sure. I might also try to incorporate some sort of defense stat based upon the Durability Level.

Personally, since just looking at numbers and figuring things out isn't my strong suite, I would do some test play with your d10 system and see if it feels good. And then make changes based on that.

I was actually planning on hold an "exhibition" match for that very purpose. And then if I have to make tweaks, I can always say that the racing committee decided on new rules or guidelines.

I'd also be interested to hear your thoughts on how to determine the vehicle's stat levels. Point buy, rolling, etc.?

Since I'm trying to encourage people to make a vehicle that matches their character's driving style, I'm not sure. Maybe it'll be assigned stats, like you can have a plus one in one stat, a plus two in another, and then a plus three in one of them. I'm mostly trying to prevent people from making an OP machine and just pancaking the competition while traveling at top speed and dodging everyone.

Do all actions happen concurrently or would you prefer an order/stack to follow?

I think before each race begins, everyone roles for pole position and then the action order goes from lowest roller to highest. I might add the option to react to direct things like attacks. But it also might depend on how complex the players want to make it. Might be something to work out during playtesting.

Advice for "simple" racing mechanics in an rp

So I’ve been craving a racing rp for a few years now, with a focus mostly on the racers themselves and not so much the races, though I still want those to have an impact. I thought that using dice would be a good and fair way to determine what happens during a race, but I wanted to do a bit more than “roll the dice to see if you win or what place you get”.

My main goal is a system that’s not too crunchy, but still gives the feeling of vehicle stats mattering and adds a bit of chance. The players can add more descriptive flavor text based on what happens in the roll. Since I’m fairly inexperienced in this field, I would appreciate advice on simplifying, balancing, or tweaking to make this better.

Racing System (using a d10):

Dice Value meaning:
1-3: Complete Failure
4-6: A little success
7-9: Mostly success
10+: Full success

Stats and their meaning:

Think of level values themselves as stat bonuses to add onto a roll.

Turbo Acceleration Level (TAL): How fast the vehicle can go when the acceleration is hit; the higher the level, the quicker you can go in the less amount of time; stat doubles in the last lap

Turbo Acceleration Level
+1-Takes a while to affect vehicle speed
+2-Takes some time
+3-kicks in almost right away

Durability Level (DL): How many hits the vehicle can tank; the higher the stat, the more hits you can take.

DL Level 1: 30 HP
DL Level 2: 40 HP
DL Level 3: 50 HP

Durability Level (must be opposite of TAL unless TAL is a 2)
+1- made of tinfoil
+2- can take a few hits
+3- practically a tank

Handling Level (HL): Reaction time of the vehicle to what a driver does; the higher the level, the better you can take sharp turns and avoid obstacles.

Handling Level
+1-not good at sudden turns
+2- handles turns okay
+3- turns on a dime

Three possible actions a player can do:
-Accelerate (d10+ TAL)

1-3: Speed doesn’t increase enough to make a difference
4-6: Speed up to almost catch up to next higher-ranking vehicle
7-9: Speed up to be neck-and-neck with higher-ranking vehicle
10+: Overtake next higher-ranking vehicle, take an additional action

Attack (d10 + DL)

Damage dice: d10

1-3: Miss
4-6: nudge opponent; opponent rolls Handling with advantage to see if any damage is taken
7-9: hit opponent, sending them into a slight serve, opponent rolls Handling to see amount of damage is taken
10+: smash into opponent, sending them careening out of control; opponent rolls Handling with disadvantage if they remain in control, take an additional action

-Maneuver (avoiding obstacles, avoiding another vehicle, etc.) (d10 + HL)

1-3: Maneuver fails, take damage from hitting obstacle/barrier/vehicle
4-6: Maneuver succeeds, but not without a hitch, take half damage
7-9: Maneuver succeeds, take no damage
10+ Maneuver succeeds, take an additional action

If this works fine, I might play around with giving players the opportunity to upgrade vehicle stats to increase their bonuses more via temporary equipment. Like I said, I don’t want this to get overly crunchy.

Thanks a bunch for your help. Even if this rp never happens, I can put this in my back pocket and use it for future endeavors. Feel free to ask any questions if something’s unclear.

Ersa's Half-Baked Ideas

Bump with a character list added

Ersa's Sacred Texts

A list of my characters so far and it's sure to grow. If any interest you, don't hesitate to message me and we can see if we can get something going.

Creon Stein (Fantasy)

Age: 45
Gender: Male
Appearance: Green eyes, dark brown hair, grey at temples and beginning to get grey in his beard. His skin is very weathered from being outside so much.
Height: 6’2”
Build: Slightly larger than the average person, but probably not enough to be considered large
Strengths:
-Wilderness survival skills
-Competent with a shortsword
-Understands people well
-Keen senses
Weaknesses:
-Used to leading, not following
-Pushes his body too hard
-Stubborn
-Can be outclassed when against a very practiced opponent (like a mercenary or seasoned soldier)
Most important equipment:
-Dagger
-Bow with a few arrows
-Saddle bag with only one day’s worth of rations
-A waterskin
-A ratty, fur-lined cloak he managed to nab on his way out

Allison Visia (Sci-Fi)

-Age: 24
- Gender: Female
- Appearance: Brown eyes, short, straight brown hair gathered into as much of a ponytail as it can go, light brown skin, but clearly doesn’t actually spend that much time in the sun
- Height: 5’5”
- Build: Average
-Strengths:
Organized
Retains information well
Doesn’t complain (often)
Puns
-Weaknesses:
Easily discouraged
Can be a bit single-minded
Needs to work on cardio
Will stay silent even if something is wrong
- Most important equipment: Her carry-on bag, which contains her personal pad and a couple of snacks, plus the emergency pack from the pod. She’s not completely sure what all is in it at the moment.

Jason Castillo (Superhero)

Jason has a link because he has quite a bit of info. His backstory is vague so that he can fit in most universes. If I have to come up with a backstory for a particular universe, I will note it here.

Elle Stone (Fantasy)

- Age: 21
- Gender: Female
- Appearance: Green eyes, long, red hair done into a simple, but functional braid, lots of freckles from spending so much time in the outdoors and under the sun
- Height: 5’3”
- Build: Slight, but she has great endurance when it comes to walking, running, and climbing
-Strengths:
Observant
Can sneak around
Knowledgeable of plant life and other survival skills
Good sense of direction
- Weaknesses:
Blunt, but not out of malice in most cases
Doesn’t like large crowds
Doesn’t do small talk
- Most important equipment: Her main weapon, a saber; a knife she uses for utility purposes and hunting; bow and arrow; bag of various herbs and plant matter; other things necessary for a long journey

Elle is someone very familiar with the outdoors, having grown in up in a small, rural settlement. Her wanderings during childhood have left her with much knowledge about survival along with her father. Her mother taught her about plants. Her solitary nature means she doesn’t spend too much time around people, so she’s not the most interactive person. She doesn’t necessarily dislike people, she just prefers to be alone.

Khil (Fantasy)

A young elf who is on a coming-of-age journey, though he is a tad younger than most elves when they embark on this journey because of lore reasons. (I can give you a quick run down of elven lore related to this character if you want.) He is social, very friendly, but a little bit scattered-brain and doesn’t seem to take anything seriously. He’s also claustrophobic. He’s also not great with animals. He wears a headband and will use it to occasionally cover the tips of his ears if it’s a place hostile toward elves.

Torren (Fantasy)

An almost middle-aged human (late 30s) carpenter who was chosen by a sacred blade (simply known as the Blessed Blade) to wield it in the face of an ancient incoming threat. Torren has never been the most social person, preferring to stay on the edges of social gatherings, and the Blade brings a lot of attention to him from people he’d rather avoid. He’s very perceptive, stealthy, and has little tolerance for small talk. He’s good with kids and if you’re a friend, he’ll always have your back. (if you’re interested in this guy, I can give you a much more thorough description of his background and why he’s so people avoidant and who he wants to avoid exactly)

Ersa's Half-Baked Ideas

Bumped with updates

Ersa's Half-Baked Ideas

I’m Ersa and this is my 1X1 search thread. Expect this post to be updated in the future.

About me:
She/Her
Age: Over 21
I work a full-time job, so replies will be slow and sparse.
I do have a discord available for planning/rping if you prefer to do it there. Just message me for the name and please note that I’m not good at OOC chatting if it doesn’t relate to the rp, so I apologize ahead of time.

Type of player:
I enjoy character development, a little bit of world-building, and deep character interaction. The plot and setting can be pretty basic as long as the characters are interesting. I don’t mind combat either, as long as that’s not all that’s going on in the thread.
Genres I mostly play in are fantasy, sci-fi, and superhero.
I don’t have time for novella-length threads, so anywhere to 1-4 paragraphs is fine as long as I have something to work with and I’ll do my best to match your length.

My ideal partner:
IRL Age: 18+ (not going to be writing smut or hard mature themes, this is just for comfort reasons)
Willing to collaborate on characters, plot, setting, etc. We don’t have to do deep worldbuilding, but a little something be in the background is preferred
Rules:
Please be patient
No ERP or anything overly gory.
I keep things platonic between characters, no romance (at least not between our characters)
Keep things PG-13.
Please tell me if you want to end an rp. I won’t ask questions or bug you about it.

Characters I have made so far can be found here: https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/191407-ersas-sacred-texts/ooc

Plots:

Please note that even though I might be partnered on some of these, I have no qualms with using the characters and scenarios with different variations. And also if you have a desire to turn it into a small group rp, that's up for discussion too. And if you see a character you're interested in but don't want the plot, an alternative plot can be discussed. Anything with a strike through is a thread I'm not looking to do at the moment but don't want to necessarily take off my list.

I Wore the Wrong Shoes for This (sci-fi):

Partnered

When a passenger ship is attacked and passengers are forced to evacuate to escape pods, somehow Allison Visia (my character) ends up by herself on one of the pods and a piece of shrapnel hits her pod, sending it off course. She survives but has no clue where she is or where any of the other passengers or pods are. After wandering around for a bit, she finds a pilot (your character), who has likewise been downed. Now the two must work together to either find the rest of the group, a working beacon to call for help, or something to get them off-planet. Then there’s the matter of who attacked the passenger ship in the first place. Chances are they’re on the planet too…

A Simple Job (fantasy):

Partnered

Elle (my character) wasn’t 100% sure it was a good idea when a royal (your character) wanted to hire her to help guide them into a neighboring kingdom through an unconventional route, but the money seemed good enough and she knew the route well. But once their destination is in sight, Elle has a sinking feeling that it’s going to be a while before she can go back home, despite promises.

I’m not a Doctor (superhero):

Open

Jason Castillo (my character) is an EMT first and a superpowered person second. Oftentimes, that means he’s right behind the heroes, helping evacuate or treating anyone who may have been caught up in the crossfire or initial villain attack. He stumbles upon your character (can be hero, civilian, or villain), who is hurt and in need of help. Things spiral from there as complications arise.

Road Trip! (Transformers, based in no particular universe):

Open

Thanks to a Space Bridge malfunction, an Autobot (your character, can be an oc or canon one) is stranded on the other side of the US from the Autobot base and stuck in vehicle mode. They must drive back under radio silence since there's suspicion that the Cons are hacking their comms. But won't it draw attention if someone sees a car driving itself? They have their holoform, but it would take up too much energy to maintain the whole back. Fortunately, they find a human (my character) stranded on the side of the road and offer her a ride. They just don't tell her that their destination is on the other side of the country. What shenanigans will they get up to and what adventures will they have?

A Family Affair (Sci-fi, but more as a backdrop than a focus, mostly family dynamics):

Open

Charlie Simmons's (my character) life hasn't been the best lately. His wife died unexpectedly very recently and he has a young daughter to take care of while grieving. As if all that emotional toil wasn't enough, there's a war going on that the planet he lives on is embroiled in. While the planet itself hasn't been attacked, there's a worry that it could change at any moment.

Oh, and his older brother (your character) who died in jail seven years ago just showed up on his front door step. And is a mercenary currently working for the other side. And is saying that Charlie and his kid are coming with him one way or another.

Lovely.

Time Waits for no Dark Lord (fantasy, probably with a humor bent, but could probably be played seriously):

Open

1000 years have passed and the seal on the Dark Lord has weakened enough for them to break free. Now, they can once again conquer the land, revenge themselves on the descendants of the ones who sealed them, and other Dark Lord things.

But a lot can change in a thousand years. The kingdom they attempted to conquer has long since split up and the off-shoots don't even speak the same language anymore. Fine, ruling a kingdom is boring anyway. There's always revenge.

Oh, the bloodline of that person ended centuries ago. And a whole nation claims to be the descendent of this one person. No one knows what happened to this bloodline.

Well, maybe that just means there's no one to stand against them any longer. Maybe they'll just spend their time terrorizing the inhabitants. Surely despite all the time that's passed, they whisper stories about the dread dark lord, as if the mere mention of their name would summon them.

But no, they've been relegated to fairy tales and children's stories, and not even children find them that scary. There is someone the inhabitants fear, but it's a mere mortal who's decided they want an empire.

What's a Dark Lord to do? Well first, they need an underling. Maybe they can brainstorm something together.

(I can play either the Dark Lord or the underling and the underling can either be a willing recruit or not).

Weird Pokemon idea:

Open

Anime-esque based I suppose. It's not really tied down to any particular continuity. But the short and long of it is that a lab (could be for any evil team or even just a private venture) develops a Mewtwo, but unbeknownst to them, Pokemon is able to reach out with his psychic abilities at an earlier stage of development and find out their intentions for him. He bides his time, reading the thoughts of everyone on the project and gathering knowledge. Once he gains enough strength (think around the "teenage" stage), he breaks out, destroying the lab in the process. On his way out, he nabs one of the scientist and takes them with him in order to help him re-create the machine he was in so he can mature fully and unlock his true potential. He knows that this particular scientist was coerced to be there in the first place and was practically a prisoner, so he has a sliver of trust for this particular one. But not much. So begins a long and tense relationship between the two as the scientist finds themselves the prisoner of what used to be an experiment they unwilling aided in.

Operation Doppelganger:a Non-historical period plot

Open

Setting:fictional countries, very loosely inspired by of Princess Anastasia): The government of Syreal has a problem. The last remaining member of the now-deposed royal family is out of their reach in another country with no way of getting a hold of him without bringing down international retribution. But then someone gets an idea. If he thinks his beloved sister is still alive, he may come back. So they just have to find someone who looks like her. Unfortunately, she had a very unusual hair color for a Syrealean. They shelve Operation Doppelganger for a few years and almost entirely forget about the plan when the almost-perfect candidate comes and visits with a group of visiting scholars. She's not a 100% match, but it wouldn't take much to at least make a couple of trick photos. And with some forged papers, diplomatic finessing, and trickery, Operation Doppelganger is a go.

I'm thinking the two main characters are the poor student and the handler. The relationship is antagonistic, but not necessarily violent. No romance will come up between them.

Character dynamics (aka things I want to play but have no ideas about what the plot should be):

Hider

Villainous character+civilian relative (can be toxic or not)
Recently resurrected big bad+distant descendant of a relative who reminds them a lot of said relative
Ex-pat of a certain fictional nation+estranged sibling of said nation who is now a soldier/intelligence officer for said nation's invading force
Mad/morally dubious scientist+old associate forced to work for them

Fandoms that I’m willing to play in/am interested in (though as before, I don’t do them often):

Hider

Marvel (comics, fusion, or original verses preferred)
DC (comics, fusion, or original verses preferred)
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Transformers
Pokémon
Legend of Zelda
More TBA probably

And finally, if you want to rp and feel like we would be a good match but I don’t have any plots or characters listed that you’re interested in, feel free to message me and we can see if we can get anything going.

Thank you for your time and hope to play with some of you soon!

Word association Game!

Mars

Greetings!

Hello everyone, you can call me Ersa.

I've been roleplaying on various platforms for a few years now, mostly in the sci-fi, fantasy, and superhero genres. I enjoy mostly action/adventure threads along with a bit slice-of-life. I also like character development sessions and to learn about the world around the characters.

I'm looking forward to hopefully playing with some of you in the near future.