AMIA ARCHIVE :: View topic - Mystery Clock seeks: short change... villains?

The idea is indeed to play something very, very short lived essentially for the heck of it. I'm for now just gauging interest, but if it will roll I'm almost of the idea of turning it into a bit of a routine habit, and playing lots of these short change villains, everytime with a different concept. The idea is to have fun, of course, but also to allow other Amians to have fun.

The only annoying feature is of course having to reach level 30. Maybe something can be arranged to ease that, taking into account that their average shelf life should span between one week and one month. However, it's not impossible for them to live for longer, considering that running away is an option in most cases.

To Liz: Yes, failure is the point. However, a skilled villain can survive for impressive lengths of time, as the first death mentioned above is not the first random beating they'll take. However, if someone will specifically look for them with the intent of killing them, and not to just duel or knock them out, they will stay -down-. The intent is to provide lasting fun, generate good stories for fellow Amians outside of world or regional plots and provide stubs and ideas for additional development (ex alt-beginning villains? Alt-beginnings conflicting factions? Etc.).

The initial group concepts I had in mind were:
- Drow raiders
- Plain 'ol bandits
- Cultists of an evil god (maybe an existing/semi active one like Malar?)
- Straight up monsters (evil kobold tribe and the like)

Bandits being the easier to realize as a start, since they are very variegated in both composition and potential for malicious shenanigans.

If we can put down on paper the exact name and account of these characters and point out that they can be forcibly wiped by the staff for any reason and at any time (on top of having to stay down once murdered), would it be possible to start from level 30 or somewhere close?

Author:	A Mystery Clock [ Sat, Jun 06 2015, 0:29 AM ]
Post subject:	Mystery Clock seeks: short change... villains?
Hello community. I'd like to share with you an idea that sprung in my mind in the dead of the night. I'm looking for bold and capable people to embark on a roleplay experiment, and roll with me a band of evil alts. What's new with that, you will inquire? Simply put, the idea is to create those characters with the starting idea that they are disposable. That is, the first time they will be put down by another character as a consequence of their evil actions they will be actually permaed. The idea is to cause intelligent mayhem, to rock the boat and to play villains that, like it often happens with villains, are not as easy to play as the good guys. The idea is also to not aim to permakill anyone they will interact with, short of murdering npcs, but to leave lasting consequences nonetheless. Set taverns on fire, kidnap npcs, start brawls, mug people on the side of the road, trip old ladies and steal candy. And of course, should someone they interact with WISH for lasting consequences, allow them to get away with the proverbial cool scar. It can be anything from bandits, to cultists, to monsters of the week. As an additional requirement, I'd ask people who'd want to join, if no objection to the initiative as a whole will be brought up, to put some effort into making well-rounded PCs even though they know they will likely meet a swift death. A short background would be ideal.

Author:	The1Kobra [ Sat, Jun 06 2015, 0:44 AM ]
Post subject:	Re: Mystery Clock seeks: short change... villains?
I certainly do like this initiative. If you can get enough players to make it work, that would be awesome too. One piece of advice I'll offer... Kidnappings and ransoms make for great RP, and rather easy to do within the rules. You can force a capture for 24 hours and it involves a lot of roleplay between the parties. I do recall one group ran this out of Underport. Good times.

Author:	joe15552 [ Sat, Jun 06 2015, 1:15 AM ]
Post subject:	Re: Mystery Clock seeks: short change... villains?
Disposable evil? Hell yeah, I'm in. I've never played a sorc before, and this will give me a chance to play one through before starting a more "serious" one.

Author:	Lascer [ Sat, Jun 06 2015, 1:15 AM ]
Post subject:	Re: Mystery Clock seeks: short change... villains?
I'm game, except... that's a lot of levelling to get to non-bug level, for a character intended to be short lived. The power difference between lowbies and max level here is pronounced. That perma will come very swiftly.

Author:	Mr. Hackums [ Sat, Jun 06 2015, 2:48 AM ]
Post subject:	Re: Mystery Clock seeks: short change... villains?
Do you have any group concept in mind? Or is this just an interest gauging thing first, before you consider how to get these volunteers together?

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Author:	NinjaClarinet [ Sat, Jun 06 2015, 2:58 AM ]
Post subject:	Re: Mystery Clock seeks: short change... villains?
Lascer wrote: that's a lot of levelling to get to non-bug level Pretty much my thoughts. I'd love to play competitive evil, disposable characters to see how far they get if the grind to -get- them competitive wasn't such a bear. Good luck, though, Amia's always hurting for baddies. I'd suggest alt-accounts all around though, you're inevitable going to hurt some feelings no matter how IC you keep it.

Author:	Kawaiian [ Sat, Jun 06 2015, 3:12 AM ]
Post subject:	Re: Mystery Clock seeks: short change... villains?
I'm not sure I understand this concept. Why do you want them perma'd after the first death? Is it to gain some sort of sympathy with players to get them to roll with evil consequences? It might work, if that's your goal. There will be no lasting consequences however, I can promise you that (unless it's adding to someone's sob story so they can get more attention in the nomad). I'd suggest evil without perma. You might get 3 deaths out of it before you're perma'd by the powers that be, and your tiny evil footprint, can then be like a full body print. Of your character's dead body. In the dirt. Beheaded and burned. Forgotten. You're gonna fail. GL! ^_^

Author:	Liz [ Sat, Jun 06 2015, 3:44 AM ]
Post subject:	Re: Mystery Clock seeks: short change... villains?
It sounds to me like the inevitable failure is itself the point. To give the goody-goodies the chance to accomplish something meaningful by acheiving a lasting IC victory over a nontrivial enemy, and to embrace the challenge of staving off defeat for as long as possible. It's a great idea, if they can pull it off in that spirit.

Author:	bobofwestoregonusa [ Sat, Jun 06 2015, 4:31 AM ]
Post subject:	Re: Mystery Clock seeks: short change... villains?
I don't have energy to level anything on amia but a shifter with the system that's currently in place, and I would rather not contribute to amia's current bloat of shifters.

Author:	wolfurt [ Sat, Jun 06 2015, 4:52 AM ]
Post subject:	Re: Mystery Clock seeks: short change... villains?
good luck

Author:	joe15552 [ Sat, Jun 06 2015, 11:08 AM ]
Post subject:	Re: Mystery Clock seeks: short change... villains?
A Mystery Clock wrote: The initial group concepts I had in mind were: - Drow raiders - Plain 'ol bandits - Cultists of an evil god (maybe an existing/semi active one like Malar?) - Straight up monsters (evil kobold tribe and the like) Bandits being the easier to realize as a start, since they are very variegated in both composition and potential for malicious shenanigans. If we can put down on paper the exact name and account of these characters and point out that they can be forcibly wiped by the staff for any reason and at any time (on top of having to stay down once murdered), would it be possible to start from level 30 or somewhere close? I love role-playing cultists of an evil god. It does 3 things: gives plenty of race/class flexibility, give players plenty of motivation to find and kill us, and gives us something to talk about during "down time". I can also have fun doing bandits or monsters. Drow are too restrictive, in my opinion. You will find people are more willing to play other races besides drow. If we get lucky and we find a few people willing to play throw away drow, I'm game. Anyone can start at a high level that's willing to burn DC's. That's the only way, though...

Author:	The1Kobra [ Sat, Jun 06 2015, 11:59 AM ]
Post subject:	Re: Mystery Clock seeks: short change... villains?
A Mystery Clock wrote: The idea is indeed to play something very, very short lived essentially for the heck of it. I'm for now just gauging interest, but if it will roll I'm almost of the idea of turning it into a bit of a routine habit, and playing lots of these short change villains, everytime with a different concept. The idea is to have fun, of course, but also to allow other Amians to have fun. The only annoying feature is of course having to reach level 30. Maybe something can be arranged to ease that, taking into account that their average shelf life should span between one week and one month. However, it's not impossible for them to live for longer, considering that running away is an option in most cases. To Liz: Yes, failure is the point. However, a skilled villain can survive for impressive lengths of time, as the first death mentioned above is not the first random beating they'll take. However, if someone will specifically look for them with the intent of killing them, and not to just duel or knock them out, they will stay -down-. The intent is to provide lasting fun, generate good stories for fellow Amians outside of world or regional plots and provide stubs and ideas for additional development (ex alt-beginning villains? Alt-beginnings conflicting factions? Etc.). The initial group concepts I had in mind were: - Drow raiders - Plain 'ol bandits - Cultists of an evil god (maybe an existing/semi active one like Malar?) - Straight up monsters (evil kobold tribe and the like) Bandits being the easier to realize as a start, since they are very variegated in both composition and potential for malicious shenanigans. If we can put down on paper the exact name and account of these characters and point out that they can be forcibly wiped by the staff for any reason and at any time (on top of having to stay down once murdered), would it be possible to start from level 30 or somewhere close? The staff will not forcibly wipe characters on a whim. As a rule, I do not enforce permanent deaths on DM events unless other PCs stand to lose significant NPC resources or the like. (AKA: Faction base assaults, Open Assault of Cordor, trying to assassinate an important NPC rather than some average nameless commoner, etc) Even then, I will allow things like true resurrection to bring such PCs back if it IC, would work. I do try to encourage PCs who want to do things like this to cover their bases. (Things like keeping a cleric in your pocket to bring your people back if things go horribly wrong is encouraged).

Author:	davis114 [ Sat, Jun 06 2015, 13:23 PM ]
Post subject:	Re: Mystery Clock seeks: short change... villains?
As a general rule of thumb, this is a no no. A lot of people don't like the grind, but I've seen efforts recently to lessen its length. Besides, these characters could use that time to build relationships, and trust. That would make their deaths that much better, really. Because they would understand what they had lost when one of them truly died. But, since they are disposable, I suppose it could be something to discuss. Especially with the conflict to it could create. Interesting concept. Edit: A DM could theoretically oversee this group, like the other alt beginnings groups. Then if DC's were fairly liberally distributed, leveling would be easier. Just think how much fun it would be to play a group like this though. Especially if everyone has a set role, like in a thieve's guild. Carrying out your plots with the actual threat of death would be unrealistically fun. Then if one of them gets caught, and the rest of the group has to decide what to do, IE breaking them out or allowing their imprisonment or execution...oh, the possibilities. Ok. I'm done. Just a really exciting concept.

Author:	Yossarin [ Sat, Jun 06 2015, 14:30 PM ]
Post subject:	Re: Mystery Clock seeks: short change... villains?
The better route might be for Mystery Clock and the handful of other interested parties to work together to draft the villains collectively and then present that as a "group storyteller GM idea". Thus, if approved, all of those players could be temporary story GMs who can make the villains as NPCs and autolevel them. This gets past the sticky grind problem and also ensures that what you are doing really is for playerbase enjoyment (since you would all be running it from the Client as GMs.)

Author:	A Mystery Clock [ Sat, Jun 06 2015, 16:08 PM ]
Post subject:	Re: Mystery Clock seeks: short change... villains?
Hackums: that's the idea yes. They will simply not be resurrected over and over, but they won't die at, say, their very first encounter with random people they're trying to disturb. PVE doesn't obviously count, unless it's a DM initiative. I'll make some examples: Evil character tries to kidnap someone. They fail, are knocked unconscious and left for dead. - Not dead. Evil character tries to kidnap someone. They fail, are knocked unconscious, badly wounded and rescued by fellow evildoers immediately afterwards. - May or may not be dead, depending mostly on the will of the killer. Other characters actively seek to kill one of these short change villains, succeed and execute them. - Dead. This is an excellent case of "when in doubt, this is where the character should die": Mr. Hackums wrote: However, there are cases when the victorious party would say, bury the cultist after severing his head and warding the area. In that case, it would definitely be a full permadeath. As a rule of thumb, if someone actively -tries- to kill one of them outside of a casual encounter, they will die. Of course it's up to interpretation, some might agree they have just been "left for dead", others such as paladins or druids might have stronger reasons to push for an execution straight away. Current players: - A Mystery Clock (Rotbringer Zhalsar Aketar) - Joe15552 - Kahuna - Magiros

Author:	Dergaii [ Thu, Jun 11 2015, 10:49 AM ]
Post subject:	Re: Mystery Clock seeks: short change... villains?
Will a complementary idea be launched as well? Short change martys? Those willing to be the first victims of the short change villains to support them in building some street cred? That would be nice as well. Though if there are kidnappings, I know of a certain crop growing maiden in Bendir that shouldn't be too hard to spirit away.

Author:	davis114 [ Sat, Jun 06 2015, 14:55 PM ]
Post subject:	Re: Mystery Clock seeks: short change... villains?
That could work too. Although having that many players on the DM client at once seems kinda iffy.

Author:	Yossarin [ Sat, Jun 06 2015, 15:06 PM ]
Post subject:	Re: Mystery Clock seeks: short change... villains?
I assumed she was referring to 3 or 4 people, and those people can actually operate multiple NPCs.

Author:	davis114 [ Sat, Jun 06 2015, 15:12 PM ]
Post subject:	Re: Mystery Clock seeks: short change... villains?
There are 3 or 4 currently, but this is a pretty interesting concept. It wouldn't surprise me to see more than that. I do like the idea of this being a GM story, but I think only one or two topside would be best. But, that in itself doesn't alleviate the issue of repeatedly leveling characters. And I don't know how well allowing the characters to grind normally, or issuing DC's in bundles for that express purpose, would work.

Author:	Magiros [ Sat, Jun 06 2015, 15:20 PM ]
Post subject:	Re: Mystery Clock seeks: short change... villains?
Mystery Cloak, count me in for now at least if you have space (?). I seem to have wrapped my mind around a toon that I could play in this kind of situation. Lovely to get testing another character than just my main. To me lvling with a group is not a big deal, it is relatively fast with proper group.

Author:	Yossarin [ Sat, Jun 06 2015, 15:21 PM ]
Post subject:	Re: Mystery Clock seeks: short change... villains?
Ok. I bring it up because that is the only way I see anyone "skipping" the grind. It is actually why I aborted a concept I had for a character recently. I knew that being evil alone, even if not out to slaughter everyone evil, was justification enough for murder, and the thought of time invested leveling ending in a couple of minutes while being badmouthed as a player for playing an evil character at the same time was a turn off.

Author:	davis114 [ Sat, Jun 06 2015, 15:35 PM ]
Post subject:	Re: Mystery Clock seeks: short change... villains?
Magiros wrote: Mystery Cloak, count me in for now at least if you have space (?). I seem to have wrapped my mind around a toon that I could play in this kind of situation. Lovely to get testing another character than just my main. To me lvling with a group is not a big deal, it is relatively fast with proper group. Leveling with a proper group is definitely more fun, and easier. But if you do that, only to have your characters repeatedly die off, I think this would lose interest fairly quickly. And I'd hate to see that, because it's a very fresh and interesting concept.

Author:	Mr. Hackums [ Sat, Jun 06 2015, 15:42 PM ]
Post subject:	Re: Mystery Clock seeks: short change... villains?
I would recommend not that the characters permadie at the first death-- but at the first perma-death situation. For instance, if you fall over in combat while in PvE, or if an enemy PC kills you, but doesn't kill the remainder of your party before having to flee-- those situations could be solved by a raise dead scroll or a clerical resurrection. However, there are cases when the victorious party would say, bury the cultist after severing his head and warding the area. In that case, it would definitely be a full permadeath. I think that's a healthy compromise and would allow the characters to flourish a little more after the grinding investment-- but would also still give the good guy players the satisfaction of seeing something through to the end (And there actually being an end)

Author:	Eurgiga [ Sat, Jun 06 2015, 19:55 PM ]
Post subject:	Re: Mystery Clock seeks: short change... villains?
I have a 30 I'll dedicate to this, he was meant to be this anyway.

Author:	KingArthur129 [ Sat, Jun 06 2015, 21:39 PM ]
Post subject:	Re: Mystery Clock seeks: short change... villains?
I would love to do something like this, especially if the DMs allowed such characters to skip the grind. I have no problem with making a character with the idea he be evil, and the fact that he is content for others to chew on, what I would be opposed to is spending 100 hours grinding, for a 2 hour RP scenario where he dies, and I have to 'roll' another toon. Seems like a complete waste, no? Especially if the idea of this is to create new conflict scenarios for other players.

Author:	Silent2001 [ Sun, Jun 07 2015, 11:58 AM ]
Post subject:	Re: Mystery Clock seeks: short change... villains?
Okay, count me in. I just need to figure out what to be.

Author:	WrathOfTheNorth [ Sun, Jun 07 2015, 13:40 PM ]
Post subject:	Re: Mystery Clock seeks: short change... villains?
Ill be watching this space!

Author:	Estara [ Sun, Jun 07 2015, 18:49 PM ]
Post subject:	Re: Mystery Clock seeks: short change... villains?
I have a character I can use as support for this or another idea, who has a history with a few characters on the island already. (Looking at you Nak!) I can't be terribly active with it, though, so I'll let you keep me in the loop on whether this one or another initiative might be best!

Author:	Travis [ Mon, Jun 08 2015, 2:05 AM ]
Post subject:	Re: Mystery Clock seeks: short change... villains?
I'm in!

Author:	joe15552 [ Mon, Jun 08 2015, 2:25 AM ]
Post subject:	Re: Mystery Clock seeks: short change... villains?
Travis wrote: I'm in! oh my. hello there, trav.

Author:	A Mystery Clock [ Tue, Jun 09 2015, 13:43 PM ]
Post subject:	Re: Mystery Clock seeks: short change... villains?
PM me. I'll update the "list" soon.

Author:	Broldi [ Wed, Jun 10 2015, 23:47 PM ]
Post subject:	Re: Mystery Clock seeks: short change... villains?
Broldi, checking in. I'm pretty excited for this, actually.

Author:	joe15552 [ Thu, Jun 11 2015, 11:07 AM ]
Post subject:	Re: Mystery Clock seeks: short change... villains?
Dergaii wrote: Will a complementary idea be launched as well? Short change martys? Huh. That is interesting... almost necessary! The good guys definitely need someone to protect/rescue besides themselves.

Author:	A Mystery Clock [ Thu, Jun 11 2015, 14:13 PM ]
Post subject:	Re: Mystery Clock seeks: short change... villains?
Complementary help is obviously welcome!

Author:	LibrisMortis_666 [ Thu, Jun 11 2015, 16:35 PM ]
Post subject:	Re: Mystery Clock seeks: short change... villains?
Poke me Ig Mystery. I'm interested.

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