Don't by any means let this take your attention away from Conquest and Preservation. Two RP's at once, though, are generally about the pace I like, especially when the one is at it's current pace
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So here's the idea I have in mind, and I want your help to hone it down to something workable before we start making up character sheets and whatnot. I almost posted this over at Fox Tales Forum...but then, well, you know, I didn't want it destroyed by someone mentally masturbating onto their keyboard, or leaking chromosomes onto their keyboard, or whatever derogatory comment you prefer
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I kind of want to make this way more open-ended, without much more than a general plot, to give it a lot of breathing room. This will be a big leap for me because I normally enjoy the very structured, directed sort of RP. I'd like to make it at least someone dissimilar from the other so as to not suck any attention away from it. I'm thinking the best way to do this would be to set up a situation for more of a character-driven plot idea revolving around relationships/general survival/whatever rather than an overall story arc involving grand wars and epic betrayals.
SO. THE GRAND IDEA.
If you have ever seen the television show "Jericho," that's basically exactly what I want to do. EXCEPT WITH FURRIES
If you haven't seen it, well, here's the general idea: The RP will revolve around how a small community is affected by a nuclear attack on the United States. Information blackout, spreading out resources (food, water, medicine, electricity, gasoline), how control will be maintained, etc.
NPCS:
The Mayor: The mayor will periodically step in to the RP at appropriate points to tell us what the town needs. Obviously the PC's will volunteer (or possibly not!) to obtain said resources, or perform necessary work/tasks, etc. This is the only NPC I can think of for now, but likely I will find need for more throughout the course of the RP.
PCS:
Role Ideas to get you going:
Farmer
Mechanic
Sheriff
Out-of-Town Business Exec (Fiancee of a Townie?)
"White Trash Hick" (Criminal Record?)
Science Teacher
Furries allowed/encouraged. I'd prefer diapers stay out of the plot. In fact, I think I'm going to go ahead and outright say, no diapers. Remember, this is a small, conservative, American community located in the Midwest/Great Plains - anything much outside the "norm" isn't socially acceptable. Unless your character has good reason to not be acquainted with the conservative atmosphere of the town, diaper usage isn't going to be something you make light of or don't bother to hide, or show off, or whatever. Even being a visiting outsider, think how you would act around a group of complete strangers in a different community. If you really need to have diaper usage of some sort to keep you interested in an RP, go for it, but keep it 100% private to your character.
Also, since this is a conservative community, people are a lot more homogenous and less exotic. A good thing to think about when picking your species - what are the more "plainer" and less outlandish creatures? Probably the ones that would be found in "furry" small-town America. If you want to be a duck-billed platypus or a deep-sea squid, I won't say anything, but just keep this idea in mind. I'd kind of like it if the characters fit with the setting. Education isn't necessarily going to be fantastic - a smaller, poor community in the middle of Kansas is going to have a lot of people staying with guaranteed work, even if they could afford college. "The Family Business" is a common norm. Factories keep people employed and also pay good money.
Keep in mind, too, that your family has likely been living here in Jericho, Kansas for generations. Small-town people tend not to move around very much, even in today's mobile society. You've got a rich history - expect to draw on that at least at some point.
Look at the characters already created by other players, and try to make your character's life experience deal with something that is probably going to come up in the future. Maybe nobody yet is a good mechanic. Maybe nobody is a good communicator/negotiator. Maybe nobody has the experience yet to lead a small militia. Maybe nobody knows how to grow food for the town.
I would like for no single player in this RP to have a significant amount of control or leadership. Survival in a small town is going to have great emphasis on cooperation. If your character is a leader (and I expect to have someone in that sort of role, eventually) be sure that your attitude is that you're only there because people wanted you there (otherwise, over time, you're likely going to be seen as a villian). You've got just a little bit of charisma and experience, but you're basically on the same level as the people you're "leading." Maybe with enough charisma, though, you might be able to turn the townspeople against the mayor or the sheriff, and take their jobs! Jericho had a host of people that fit the classic D&D alignments. I need enough "co-operators" to allow for survival, but if you want to go for the "manipulator," do it! Maybe you only co-operate to get the town on your side!
Personality - people in small towns may be more giving, sure, but think what is going to be asked of you in the months ahead. It's going to be quite a socialist atmosphere, and that's definitely going to upset your comfort zone. Small-town folks generally do not enjoy this. I'd like to see at least some of us NOT be that nice, giving character willing to sacrifice for the good of the community without a hell of a lot of convincing or bartering (or forcing!). I only mention this because I kind of expect that to come up
. The thing that will make this RP survive is variety.
These are all only guidelines for designing your character. Please do not feel confined by them in any way if you really want to take that leap outside the box. Just keep in mind I am looking for a little bit more homogeneity than you might be used to, but don't let that stymie your creativity in any way.
With that lengthy explanation out of the way...
Plot. Plot is going to be centered around conversations and day-to-day life of the characters, with "The Mayor" periodically stepping in, probably to get volunteers to go on missions or perform work seen in various episodes of the TV Show. The plotline will generally follow what happens in Jericho, although I'm wanting to focus more on what happens in Jericho, rather than the government conspiracy overtones of the TV show.
So where are we going to start?
Jericho, Kansas. A very large mushroom cloud has just been seen to the west. How is your character going to react? What relationships might he or she be worrying about right now? What are the thoughts running through his/her head? Where does he/she run off to first, and why?
What now?
I need ideas on where you think I need to improve this. I'll definitely take anything said here into consideration. Once we've got that going I'll ask for character sheets and see if there's enough interest to get this off the ground. I think I need around 4 bare minimum to keep this alive - but I would really like to see more.
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