Sombrero

Weird Roleplay Ideas You're Afraid To Pitch?

I've been furiously tapping out a several-page-long world with an assload (or, at least an assload compared to most of the things I write) of history, full of different feuds and struggles and cultures. I haven't been sure what I've been doing it for, but the only thing it'll be half useful for in this form is an rp. The thing is, it's a semi-generic fantasy setting at its plainest and I'm not sure people would be interested in reading about it when I plan to make it casual. After all, when there's not a definitive minimum post size, it's very easy to maintain a certain vigilance when running an open world because they tend not to be exceedingly long...

Which is another thing, how would time be handled in an open-world rp that takes place in a landmass about the size of the British Isles put together? It would take a long time for people to travel between some places, and there would be no definitive party, so timeskips would throw each individual's continuity out of whack. I'd like to think I handled time relatively okay in other partyless, open-world games I've done before, but that took place in just a city, and the majority of the characters had supernatural powers. I'd do a single universal time for everyone, but I wouldn't want to give travelers a load of filler/completely improvised BS while people at their destinations are off doing things, and I wouldn't want to make days pass by for travelers going cross-country when it would mean stationary individuals could watch the sun and moon passing by like birds...

I'd make it party-based, but I'm kind of into the idea that everyone would be their own character with their own motivations doing their own things independently or not, like Mount and Blade Multiplayer but with less hacking, more complex NPCs, and an ovreword bit.

Let's B!tch. I feel it's a healthy release for our roleplay annoyances 2.0

<Snipped quote by NuttsnBolts>
Mongolians/Native Americans = Vikings!? India = Vikings!?

@Shorticus

The less people know about history and the people who lived in it, the more all fantasy will gravitate towards one of the two RenFaire singularities. Anything that is strongly medieval and/or tribal with iron age+ technology will immediately be Vikingised as soon as boats are mentioned. Anything that is vaguely steampunk or late medieval high-tech will immediately become Piratised whenever they reach a coastline. Those are the typical settings that people with no knowledge (and therefore no basis for a middle ground) of the society that these people are living in will jump to because it makes them feel like they know what they're doing and that they can worldbuild too. This is (slightly) more avoidable if you remove the notion that these are fantasy counterpart cultures and write out long, detailed descriptions of the cultures, but you're bound to get TL;DRs and people who assume and appropriate anyway.

Of course, this could also be attributed to ignorance of a much more innocent kind, where the player is afraid to write about certain cultures because they're afraid of making an offensive stereotype and don't know what aspects of this culture are and aren't politically correct to bring about. People are a lot more comfortable being vikings, because they're white and it's much more forgiving to mistranslate those cultures, and they're afraid of other kinds of characters because nobody likes to come off as ignorant/bigotted. It's a completely logical fear, and there's not really an easy solution.

It could be mostly cruel stupidity or misguided reverence, however optimistic you feel. Or maybe something different, it all depends on individuals, but this is what I've seen with this kind of thing.

Star Wars: The Bounty Hunter Guild~ IC

Yski found his way over to the table in time to learn everything important about the mission. He glazed over the questions and snapped to attention again when a big grey blob told the blob in charge all about his long list of impressive-sounding names. Intimidating as it seemed he was trying to be, it seemed rather impossible to take seriously over the club music pumping from the speakers.

He quietly, non-chalantly thought aloud in Bith tongue that it was, in fact, an impressive list. Absentmindedly, he wondered if this was the same grey blob that was known for hunting. He heard about it in a news gram he sort of listened to a while ago... If so, why was he here?

The Bith resolved to remain utterly casual. The worst thing you can do around this kind of person is show even a shred of fear or subservience. If one does, it's very difficult to get them to treat you as an equal thereafter.

He calmly leaned back in his chair and rested his hand on the pommel of his lightsaber, in a way that suggested he didn't plan on dying and would rather nobody start trying anything funny rather than insinuating he was frightened and about to draw.

It wasn't a very difficult act to hold when all the threats, real or imagined, had been made over a backdrop of bright, childlike colors and cheerful bar music.

Star Wars: The Bounty Hunter Guild~ IC

Weeellll, I wouldn't quite call 10 or so years a lifetime of melee training, (Or at least 10 or so years of formal training) but I suppose getting into bumfights and bar brawls once in a while, then spending a decade or so as the mall cop apprentice to an eccentric, paranoid Ex-Sentinel would have the same effect.

Star Wars: The Bounty Hunter Guild~ IC

The Bith was much relieved when he heard the sound of credits rolling across the bar and the greenish-brownish-grayish blur next to him offered to pay. It was just like the old days! Granted, the "old days" were never very good, but the upside of being a beggar, or a fugitive, or any mix thereof, was that sometimes drinks came free. He was once the town drunk, after all.

"Thank so much, good person!" the Bith said in sorely translated basic.

But then he heard the voice of a Rodian behind him, and footsteps headed away towards a distant corner of the joint.

"Hey guys. We got a guild party going on at that table over there. Rhetorically speaking, care to join us?"

Yski realized that he would have to drink responsibly if he hoped to keep the job, and that, while inebriation would have made the loud music more bearable, it would cloud his judgement. Of course, he could keep it behind his lips to absorb the noise, as he sometimes did in uncomfortably loud situations, but he wouldn't be able to talk if he needed to... He then judged, by the rate at which the sound deadened, that it would probably be just fine at that distance and he wouldn't need to cover his "ears" anymore.

"Ah." Yski said, turning to the vague, friendly shape next to him and nodding apologetically, "Not meaning to hassle Good Person, but there is no need anymore. The noise will be not so bad over there."

Star Wars: The Bounty Hunter Guild~ IC

Name: Yski T'Thion
Age: 38
Species: Bith (long-headed-style, not enormous-bubble-easy-headshot-style.)
Appearance:

Affiliation: He's one of the guild newbies. He is minorly associated in parts of Wild Space with the eccentric jedi that sold dangerous illegal bio-weapons and got himself killed for it.
Background: Yski was a street beggar-turned general store guard and heavy lifter on the planet of Bakura, under the employ of a retired Aqualish gray jedi named Togar Po, often referred to as "Togar the Mad". It was his job to escort thieves, rowdy customers, superstitious persecutors of force-users, or really anyone that Togar thought was distasteful, out of the building, whether they wanted to be or not. Granted, there are much more intimidating people to hire than a Bith, but Togar found it was much less expensive to hire the town drunk and teach him how to fight than it was to hire one of the town mercs and teach them how not to aggress against any customer who looked at them funny. And fight he did, sometimes. It was usually as simple as a quick grapple, but sometimes extended headlong into fistfights and occasionally some blasters being pulled, but Togar usually got involved if things unwound that far and closed down the store. Of course, Bith have... Odd vision, to say the least. Togar often had to let him know ahead of time which people to keep his ears on and which people had just transgressed against store rules before he knew what to do.

He wasn't the best bouncer, but he was effective. Nothing exceedingly bad happened at the store, until one moment that changed his life forever.

It was late at night when the eccentric old man woke him up from his sleep by slapping him awake. In his meditations he had detected something unknown and living entering the gravitational field of Bakura. Something huge. He closed down his shop "For maintenance" and dragged Yski along with him for a meteor chase. It fell in a blaze of glory some miles away, and they finally found it a few days later. It appeared to be some massive ball with tendrils that large, powerful-looking aliens had been using as a starship. It looked like the ship had been grievously wounded before it even entered the atmosphere, and the gash, as well as the externally visible wear and tear on the "ship" told that it had been wandering for a very long time after the battle... Possibly long enough to have come from another galaxy entirely... Since there were no living operators, Togar did what he always did when he found ships that fell from Wild Space and decided to loot any weapons he could find... There were no traditional weapons per se, but some of the "sticks" the creatures were holding turned out to have very much survived the landing, were very difficult to destroy, and were also very capable of producing larvae. Togar almost immediately sold the general store in favor of starting a new bio-weapons dealership out in the wilderness, renovating the ship and starting a small amphistaff farm and training school.

Needless to say, with a seeing-eye staff in his hands to point things out and fetch objects for him, Yski was a much better bouncer. He was also a very deadly bouncer, since these snakes were apparently very sharp. His amphistaff, (nicknamed "Sticky" by Togar) had to be trained for several months not to turn into a sharp staff unless specifically commanded. Needless to say, selling something this dangerous, while lucrative, is highly, highly illegal. The trade federation shut the joint down as soon as they found it, and took the amphistaves, including Sticky, away for safekeeping. Togar fought them for it, was killed after the third or fourth wave of droids, and with his dying shouts instructed Yski to take everything he could and run.

And Yski did run, for years, halfway across the galaxy, until he was dragged into prison by the Trade Federation and questioned. Yski played dumb exceedingly well, and he was let go. Tired, hungry, and with no other work in sight, he decided to turn in a very short, "concise" resume in at a nearby guild hall, managing to get himself a license, and possibly a meal ticket, if this job starts picking up...

Equipment: Two bottles of Kyrf, (One new, one half-empty) a DL-44 blaster with a detachable scope, (Allows him to clearly see mid-range in a somewhat shallow depth of field) a grappling hook, a cane to make his way around with, and Togar's yellow lightsaber.
Abilities: As a Bith, he has incredible senses, and can pinpoint the details and location all kinds of smells and sounds from even very overwhelming backgrounds. He can even see microscopic details in front of him with his eyes... At the expense of having myopia that puts Mr. Magoo to shame. But hey, at least with smell and hearing like that, he can tell which blobs of color he should and shouldn't shoot at! He has learned a good deal of Teras Kasi from his "master" Togar Po, and even some minor use of the force, though this was mostly for the purpose of learning to use (or even activate, since it's sometimes tough for him to see buttons) a lightsaber, and keep his Amphistaff from turning on him in the days before they knew how to properly train one. He is fairly skilled in the use of force with his weapons in melee, and if they are capable, he can fairly easily block or deflect lasers. He prefers running away once guns come out, though. As such, he's also an expert at moving quietly, which he's done since he became a fugitive long ago, and found to be a quite handy skill ever since he started bounty hunting.
Credits: He only has about 5. food, room and board, and the occassional pocket change was enough payment for him back in his general store days, and what little he's saved up has been spent of food, bartering items, and bribes to make some ship guards look the other way whenever they find Bith stowaways in their cargo...

Star Wars: The Bounty Hunter Guild~ IC

This could just be me having trouble with my own text blocks, but I forgot to clearly mention in the app that Yski no longer has Sticky with him, which is why he uses a regular cane, although I think you understood where I was going pretty well anyway. I feel like his motivation to find Sticky (or Sticky's motivation to find Yski, for that matter) may add an interesting twist to things whenever either of them are made to cooperate with and/or battle the Trade Federation. The amphistaves could come up as a sidequest/random encounter, or their reunion could happen offscreen if it's too much bother. The point is, though, that he doesn't have it right now, which makes him more of a stealth-oriented cowardly lion than the martial artist he's supposed to be later, since his moral support could, y'know, see what he was doing clearly and make sure something terrible didn't happen. Because character development!

Star Wars: The Bounty Hunter Guild~ IC

Yski was feeling fairly grouchy. The music was earsplittingly loud to a Bith, so much so that he had to clench his mouth shut and hold his hands over it in order to hear clearly. Of course, he could have done what he normally did and swilled his olfactory/vibratory glands with kyrf until his mind and senses were too dulled for the club to cause him pain or damage, but he wasn't allowed to bring drinks with him into a bar, for obvious reasons. The kyrf planet was a long, long way away, and he only had 5 credits. There he sat, drinkless, in this most uncomfortable position, glaring with much frustration at what the men around him insisted were the most gorgeous pair of thighs in the world, but only being able to see a barely Twi'lek-shaped blob of dull color practically drowned out by the vibrant lights above and behind her.

He reached for his scope, but alas, the girl was just out of the focus range. He leaned in and out slowly to no avail, and decided to look elsewhere for something to do, putting the scope away and drawing his cane with his free hand, he made his way to the bar.

"Cheapess drink?" He asked through his hand in muffled basic, unaware that the two people that the fat man had told him about were right next to him. He reached for the few credits in his pocket. He was a beggar all over again, and likely couldn't afford much, but his kyrf was stored somewhere at the entrance and something had to be done about this loud, ceaseless noise.

Let's B!tch. I feel it's a healthy release for our roleplay annoyances 2.0

I have a strong dislike for romantic drama due to the amount of talentless drivel floating around in the genre. Furthermore I have seen my favorite fandoms being invaded time and time again by horny teenagers who want 'muh ships' to be some sort of talking point. Oftentimes in universes that would be less when a romantic subplot were forced into it.

@Altered Tundra

@Natsucooldude

You have a point, but... I can't possibly be the only one who thinks that Shrek and Sonic are star-crossed lovers!

Star Wars: The Bounty Hunter Guild~

I am fine with that!

Gisk can have his final words on him and then we will accept him!

....So anyone wanna join who is not the typical small mouthed merc? XD We have no technician, Pilot, demolisher or pure stealth guy....So btw!

@Gravislayer

... Ideas... Ideas are happening so hard right now. BRB!