How would you handle an MMO tabletop?
Not a tabletop set in the world of an MMO, but a game that's meant to take place in an MMORPG.
I'm thinking of taking inspiration from Eclipse Phase, since treating your body like equipment is a core aspect of that game, but I'm sure there's a better way.
>>48077336
You explicitly allow metagaming at the table.
That's all.
The idea for the game is that it's 20XX and most things are done through virtual reality. Even stuff like shopping is handled in virtual malls, and you can have the real thing delivered to you.
The core focus of the game is on a massive MMO that just happens to also be connected to other VR networks because it's all by the same company or some such, everything is connected, whatever. I'm still figuring that out. One of the AIs has gone rampant and is corrupting things in The World, and even causing sickness in the real world through emerging Agent Smith type abilities. A second AI on the other hand grants the player characters access to debugging abilities that allow them to combat the evil AI and defeat the corrupted systems.
There's a bit of a thing going on where the AIs basically have to work within the limitations of the existing system, and end up taking the form of gods and demons, but really that's just to keep the evil AI from killing anyone connected to the servers and to make the game interesting.
Since it's an MMO, the players are able to swap out their Avatars. There'd basically be two types of experience: One for the players (so they can gain "OOC" stuff, like better skills to represent how good they are at the game or with social/mental tasks) and one for the Avatars, which learn Class Skills (i.e. magic powers).
>>48077575
That doesn't really cut it for what I'm talking about. The game is meant to revolve around replicating the mechanics of an MMO.
In addition to the character swapping, I'm thinking stuff like Friends Lists and Group Chat would be treated the way other games treat Telepathy spells.
>>48077663
What mechanics are you talking about?
>>48078295
Swapping characters is really the main one. Everything else is minor. I want the avatar to feel like you're piloting a mecha or something, but with your own personal skills, as opposed to a "Pilot" skill.
All the things you'd normally do through interacting with an MMO are player traits, while anything that the Avatar can do is like an ability granted by equipment. Your ability to get enemies to pay attention to you instead of your allies or to shoot lightning would be a Talent specific to the Avatar's Class. I feel like I'm doing a terrible job of explaining this, though.
Virtual Mekton is a fun take on that concept. You should be able to find it with a quick google search.
>>48078835
So just make a few meta-abilities for the playing characters.
And swapping characters is as easy as swapping characters.
>>48078909
Making it "just change out your character sheet" isn't exactly what I want. For one, it doesn't have the same feel as if you were actually dealing with an MMO.
I'm planning on having two types of experience systems. One an "OOCXP" that the real world players can use to upgrade their characters (and maybe buy off Drawbacks like having a shitty machine) while the other is Upgrade Points to buy Talents for their Avatars. (Upgrades will probably be treated like magic items or rewards, instead of just experience).
>>48078870
I'll look it up, though mostly for inspiration. I didn't care for Mekton when I tried it. Then again, we were using it for Ace Combat instead of super robot, and never got passed chargen.
>>48079045
>For one, it doesn't have the same feel as if you were actually dealing with an MMO.
How so?
>return to character screen
>pick different character
>appear somewhere else in the world
How is that meaningfully different from swapping character sheets?
>>48079163
For the same reason that mecha anime don't have you switch your entire sheet when you get in a new mech. You only change the mecha part of your sheet. You're still playing the same character, just with a different Avatar.
>>48079787
But MMO players, unlike mecha pilots, are just ordinary schmucks.
How do you plan to make that part interesting?
>>48079854
>what is slice of life?
>>48079854
They're ordinary schmucks who through full immersion virtual reality equipment are able to become expert swordfighters and heroes. It's like an Eva or G Gundam. You're playing with your mind, not your mouse.
>>48079964
I'm planning for even that to be in the virtual world. I don't know if I want to have any sort of focus on the real world, but if you do, it would be as a very default "Avatar" without most of the abilities. I figure as interesting as *actually* doing snooping might be, the characters aren't likely to be in the same country, much less city.
Sounds pretty lame desu.
Why is everyone so into this whole "virtual reality mmo" concept.
>>48080313
Because it's a neat concept. What do you find lame about it?
>>48080313
Because we have to go deeper.
>>48080313
Did you miss the last 9000 threads started by people who just watched a movie/ read a comic/ fapped to a hentai and are now really excited to run a game in a ripoff setting? Because every time [NEW MEDIA PROPERTY] comes out or gets popular, people make threads about it.
>>48080313
Too much generic fantasy tripe, sold in a finished package, making people used to approaching fantasy without creative involvement. Perhaps an attempt to personalize the MMO experience, make it less aimed at a huge market and more adaptable for the wishes of a small group.
>>48080464
I actually haven't really seen much new media about the concept, other than Log Horizon. If anything, this is more based on .Hack//Sign, and more the game series than that, which is like a decade old. Mostly I just think it makes for an interesting core mechanic. This isn't a "trapped in the MMO" thing, though. In fact, one of the problems I'm having is making it interesting WITHOUT trapping them. Closest thing I've got is treating the AIs and the corruption the same way other series treat angels/demons/gods in that they have to work within the limitations of the system, instead of just reprogramming everything on a whim.
>>48080477
>making people used to approaching fantasy without creative involvement.
I have no idea what that's supposed to mean. But it sounds kind of pretentious, especially considering the usual fare from /tg/ homebrews.
>>48080462
Tabletop about writing an anime about a virtual reality MMO?
>>48080603
Deeper.
>>48079787
Then have 2 sheets one for the player one for the character that you swap out.
Also how are you gonna make the players care about their characters if you're not gonna pull the whole, "We're trapped in this game if we die in here we die in real life!!!" Trope?
>>48080592
In .hack//, they don't really have alts.
>>48080592
>I have no idea what that's supposed to mean. But it sounds kind of pretentious, especially considering the usual fare from /tg/ homebrews.
So it's pretentious because you don't understand it?
>>48080662
That is what 'pretentious' usually means these days.
>>48080633
>Also how are you gonna make the players care about their characters if you're not gonna pull the whole, "We're trapped in this game if we die in here we die in real life!!!" Trope?
Still working on that, although dying as the ultimate consequence of failure has always been lame to me. There's more to lose than just life, and there's more reason to care about things than "I could die". In fact, I find that systems where death is inevitable tend to make it harder to care about your character than systems where death isn't there. Ideally, the players--and their characters--will care about the core mystery, i.e. secretly fighting the corruption. If they absolutely need a reason, there's always things like "my sister is in a coma and I need to find out why".
>>48080638
I know. One of the things I'm trying to avoid is that tendency for these shows to ignore actual MMO aspects.
>>48080662
>>48080675
No, it comes off as pretentious because it's dismissive in a way that feels self-aggrandizing. "Kids these days are so uncreative"
>>48080769
Have you already considered that there might be a very good reason for these shows to ignore these particular MMO aspects?
>>48080769
The majority of people have always been uncreative. It's just that now it seems more of those uncreative people than usual consume generally uncreative (and awful) stories about a generally uncreative genre of gaming. Why? Probably because they've played such games, which is again an uncreative activity. Writing stories about the uncreative genre is still a more creative activity than playing it, and why do it if not because you want to have more personal power to be creatively and personally involved with the genre/style?
>>48080769
It's not so much about death being the ultimate consequence but there's very few actual consequences to failing at an mmo.
What are the real stakes to the corruption? Do the players characters just lose out on playing "MMO the Game"
Are aliens causing the corruption to somehow backdoor into the world defense systems?
Maybe it's because I'm just ignorant of this genre but I'm just not seeing how you can get tangible drama from playing an MMO.
Unless you go the Lawnmower Man/Tron route I suppose.
