Post by Deleted on May 7, 2018 18:25:08 GMT -5
We keep talking about dnd style play in a mud. I have wondered for a while if code support would be required for such a thing, as the only games I have found where the staffing storytelling model worked were all pay muds.
What if...
Lets assume the idea of a narrative thread in a game. A narrative thread is a notetaking system as much as anything else, categorizing a type of story, involved npcs and pcs, flags for story type and content, a mechanical way to comment on tension levels in the narrative, and a way to procedurally generate monsters or other enviromental challenges along the way (by a storyteller).
A couple examples:
A player wants to have a person to person or person vs person story, with only two primaries involved. They start or request a narrative with social, romantic, possible betrayal, whatever else flags. Along the way they or a storyteller can involve other pcs, notate their involvement, and indicate periods or points of challenge, tension or climax.
A group of players want to have a "company of heroes against the world" story. They look for participants IG and OOG, notate, and run. Since this is a vs world story, the story could spawn or empower various monsters in the area only when fought by the group, and possibly spawn monster elites as minibosses from time to time, even if only run manually by storytellers.
A group of crafters decide to build a town. They organize, gather materials, and have a mechanical way to show how many pcs have been involved for how long. The narrative might require a key pc leader and a couple designated subordinates, possibly driving some politics. The storyteller can then play directly to the ongoing town vs town or town vs environment story, and notate from the staff side as well.
The game could randomly spawn miniboss monster lairs, limited use mines, stray military units, dimension incursions, or whatever else fits the story. These have procedural scripts that run and note the plotline object until and after the pcs get involved.
The catch here would be writing as many narrative threads as possible, in a way that was as procedural and automated as possible. This would keep the game environment fresher than Arm, and limit the storyteller time needed to keep it so. Better yet, this system could be developed in an agile or spiral method, starting out very manually run by storytellers, and coded to automation as players invest heavily in specific styles of plotlines.
Thoughts?
What if...
Lets assume the idea of a narrative thread in a game. A narrative thread is a notetaking system as much as anything else, categorizing a type of story, involved npcs and pcs, flags for story type and content, a mechanical way to comment on tension levels in the narrative, and a way to procedurally generate monsters or other enviromental challenges along the way (by a storyteller).
A couple examples:
A player wants to have a person to person or person vs person story, with only two primaries involved. They start or request a narrative with social, romantic, possible betrayal, whatever else flags. Along the way they or a storyteller can involve other pcs, notate their involvement, and indicate periods or points of challenge, tension or climax.
A group of players want to have a "company of heroes against the world" story. They look for participants IG and OOG, notate, and run. Since this is a vs world story, the story could spawn or empower various monsters in the area only when fought by the group, and possibly spawn monster elites as minibosses from time to time, even if only run manually by storytellers.
A group of crafters decide to build a town. They organize, gather materials, and have a mechanical way to show how many pcs have been involved for how long. The narrative might require a key pc leader and a couple designated subordinates, possibly driving some politics. The storyteller can then play directly to the ongoing town vs town or town vs environment story, and notate from the staff side as well.
The game could randomly spawn miniboss monster lairs, limited use mines, stray military units, dimension incursions, or whatever else fits the story. These have procedural scripts that run and note the plotline object until and after the pcs get involved.
The catch here would be writing as many narrative threads as possible, in a way that was as procedural and automated as possible. This would keep the game environment fresher than Arm, and limit the storyteller time needed to keep it so. Better yet, this system could be developed in an agile or spiral method, starting out very manually run by storytellers, and coded to automation as players invest heavily in specific styles of plotlines.
Thoughts?