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Gauging interest in an Anarchy play-by-post game

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Tecumseh

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« on: <01-01-17/2005:52> »
New year, new game. Maybe.

I'm posting this here first before posting it on the other boards because I figure the audience most interested in Anarchy will be here.

Who: GM + 3 to 4 players.
GM = me, dashingly handsome with 24 years of playing/GMing experience but limited to PbP games for the moment.
Players = no Anarchy experience necessary, but PbP experience is a big bonus. Ideally you'll be someone who enjoys writing and exploring the Sixth World.

What: A combat-heavy PbP Anarchy game. The basic premise is that you are Sioux Wildcats on a behind-the-lines mission. I'll post more details if there's enough interest. Character generation will be Prime Runner, with some added perks for being badass Wildcats. (Also some constraints. For example, negative qualities shouldn't be anything that would disqualify you from service.)

When: In-world time will be January 2077.

Where: North America. You'll be behind UCAS lines on a covert op.

Why: It's going to be Anarchy for two reasons:
1) Because I haven't played Anarchy before and want to; and,
2) there's going to be a lot of combat and it would take literal years to go through it via PbP with proper initiative rolls, complex and simple actions, etc. I don't want to focus on the minutiae; I want to explore the characters and the world. You're Wildcats, so you're going to be the deadliest things on two feet. Given your physical superiority, I am more interested in how to you react to evolving situations.

The basic thinking is that 3-4 players will be enough to cover the Meat/Magic/Matrix trinity. A rigger will be useful. One character will be the officer-in-command and will be the default decision-maker if the players can't OOCly come to a consensus about a course of action.

I have successfully GM'd two PbP games to completion, largely through stubbornness and determination. I've been paying attention to other Anarchy PbP games to get a sense of the pros-and-cons. In some ways, PbP is perfect for the system since it allows for lovingly crafted descriptions of the game world. In other ways, it's difficult to leverage every aspect of Anarchy gameplay. (For example, it is next-to-impossible to interrupt someone to interject a plot point.) This will be a bit of an experiment as we figure out what to keep and what to skip.

As for the question of GM control vs. player control, I would suggest that we tackle the first chapter in a more traditional arrangement (with the GM at the helm, puppeting the NPCs and adjudicating rolls) and then migrating to a less-centralized arrangement in the second chapter once we've established a rapport both OOCly and ICly.

That's the high-level vision. I'll leave this here for a few days to gauge interest before casting the net wider, if necessary.

Edit: grammar
« Last Edit: <01-17-17/1427:43> by Tecumseh »

imperialus

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« Reply #1 on: <01-17-17/0841:50> »
I'm a bit late here... well at least as late as anyone can be with a first response but I just picked up Anarchy and would definitely be interested.

Tecumseh

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« Reply #2 on: <01-17-17/1425:58> »
You're the first person to reply, so you are early, not late.

I GM'd a game for 3+ years over at Dumpshock so I'm passingly familiar with your work there. This game has some parallels with you I Am The Law campaign, at least in terms of chargen and the nature of the characters.

Judging from your posts, our play styles also seem compatible. As best I can tell, we started playing around the same time (early 2nd Edition).

I'll cross-post the recruitment pitch on some of the other boards to see if we can drum up another 2-3 players.

BigSexy

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« Reply #3 on: <01-21-17/1801:02> »
Interrupting to interject a plot point isn't difficult...
you use Out of Character thread to do so.
The person you interrupted either erases his post or modifies it depending upon what the other person did with the plot point.


Tecumseh

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« Reply #4 on: <01-22-17/0008:15> »
Maybe I'm the only one who spends an hour writing an IC post, but I would not be keen on erasing or editing a carefully written post every time a plot point interrupt occurs.

In the "yes, and..." spirit of Anarchy, the goal would be to keep retconning at an absolute minimum unless it is easy to incorporate.

waspeyelad

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« Reply #5 on: <01-27-17/1448:02> »
Just passing by to show my interest. Only by initiatives such as these will Anarchy online play get some traction. I've only received my physical copy now, so only recently have I returned full time for Anarchy.

Prodigy

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« Reply #6 on: <01-27-17/2240:53> »
I am interested. I have zero pbp experience, but 15 years SR experience. I do own most of the 5ED books and obviously own Anarchy.

Tecumseh

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« Reply #7 on: <01-28-17/0119:26> »
Prodigy, waspeyelad, thank you for your interest.

As you are both new to PbP, I'd like to properly set expectations. rednblack (another interested player) and I have a game we've been running for a couple years now. Just so we're setting expectations accurately, do me a favor and go read a handful of our posts so that you know what you're getting into. It can be laborious but storytelling is central to Anarchy. (Of course, it's possible to tell a story with fewer words than I do, but I'm letting you know how I work.) This thread has some good examples:

http://forums.shadowruntabletop.com/index.php?topic=23178.180

Please check back with a "yes, that sounds great!" or a "no, too rich for my blood" follow-up. The last thing we want to do it get the game off the ground only to have someone burn out within a week.

imperialus, I know you're a PbP vet, but do me a solid and let me know whether you're still checking this thread or not.

If people are still interested, we can start chargen next week.

Prodigy

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« Reply #8 on: <01-28-17/2242:05> »
I like the idea. I have played some White Wolf online stuff years ago. I like the Anarchy model though. Story driven by the players sounds great. I am one of those that has been a GM all my life, so the role of a player/GM mix sounds fun!

MDMann

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« Reply #9 on: <03-01-17/0845:55> »
I'd be interested if this is still open.

I'm familiar with pbem as GM and PC. Reasonably familiar with shadowrun lore and like the style.

Tecumseh

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« Reply #10 on: <03-03-17/0002:05> »
There is another thread for this game in the Looking for Games topic. I am going to close this thread and point traffic to the other one.

Prodigy, of the three that originally expressed interest, you are the only one checking the boards at regular intervals. If you (or anyone else) are still interested, please post here:

http://forums.shadowruntabletop.com/index.php?topic=25704.0