Interest Testing: Waterworld

[nikohl]

Another interest testing thread!

I watched Waterworld (again) today and it's kinda made me really want to run a game based on the film. I have the time and the inclination, so I might do it. If you haven't seen the film, go watch it so you know what I'm talking about, or at least read the Wikipedia article about the film.

► Show Spoiler

If I do run the game I will be using the world from the film and the book-that-was-written-from-the-film, which is full of particularly dodgy science. For example, in the story, the ice caps melted and flooded the world; the only dry land remaining is supposed to be the peak of Everest, which is 8850m above current sea level. For the peak of Everest to be uncovered and yet the peak of K2 to be covered, water levels would have to have risen ~8610m... we don't have that many ice caps. Also, the Mariner happily dives down and fetches knick-knacks out of buildings in Denver with his missus in an upside-down umbrella looking thing full of air, and while he can do what he likes by the power of being a fishman, I don't believe she could go 7km down in such a contraption without dying horribly And don't get me started on the Smokers, who should have run themselves out of just... everything... long before the film started. Anyhow, we will just have to live with the science fails for the sake of fun story times. Suspension of disbelief! Yay!

I haven't finalised who you'd all be; you could be just people living on an Atoll (floating island-town), a small group of drifters on a single boat or a flotilla of a few boats, happily floating and living on the water or planning to get somewhere specific; you could also technically be Smokers (the bad guys)... I also considered that perhaps the reason you're all together is that you are all mutants, like the Mariner in the film - he's got webbed toes and functional gills (and ++physicality) - you could each have a minor mutation that would probably make you outcasts if it was found out, and that could be why you're drifting, or keeping it on the down-low in your chosen society, or whatever. You could also believe or disbelieve the idea of Dryland right from the get-go. I would very much like the entire group to already be "a group", though they don't technically have to be friends or family - Atollers or Smokers could just be acquaintances, but people who share a boat are likely to be close and on good terms. So, a consensus kinda needs to be reached on what people want to play as, because I can't (well...won't) do half of one and half of another.

I briefly talked about this in Potential:OOC and will say it again here - one thing I want to avoid is the game ending up being "Children of Ash: Sea Edition", which it almost could because it's a post apocalyptic world, so if we do go ahead and play I'll be trying my best to have that not happen, because that won't be fun for anyone and also that'll be treading on Synch's toes. It will be using the same system as SCH/CoA/Potential, because it's convenient and I like it, and it will be survive-and-thrive and adventure and all that good stuff, but hopefully it won't be too similar to what's already being played.

If there is interest and I do go ahead, please note - there will be limited spaces and I will not be able to make extra like I did with Potential, otherwise I run the risk of taking on too much and burning out both games Feel free to throw your hat into the ring at this early stage if you want to, but it's not first come first served, so don't worry too much about calling dibs or missing out; I just want to know if people are up for it at the minute.

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I'm away from Wednesday to Sunday, although I'll have internet and be able to check in. Please use this thread to discuss the game - if you think you'd like to play, raise your hand, and talk with me/others about what you'd like to see in the game; would you rather be a regular person or have some kind of a mutation (and accept the stigma that will entail if it is found out; see what happened to the Mariner in the film!), would you prefer to be a drifter or settled on an atoll, would you prefer to be a good guy or a bad guy, what would you like to have your character achieve, what would you like to be able to -do- in the short and long term, etc.

[spiderwrangler]

I'd have an interest in being a mutie, depending on the actual start time of the game... which it sounds like you're ready to kick it off soon, so I will likely not have time to join.

[nikohl]

I could technically start pretty much whenever, but I'd like to actually flesh out a basic planned story and such rather than leave it open like I've done (intentionally) with Potential, and that will take a bit of time, especially alongside running the two Potentials. I'm not sure how long you're on a self imposed "no new game stuff" kick, with your dissertation - is it til after summer, the same as SCH, or...?

[Arch Lich Burns]

*sees mutant* yes. Hell yes. Now to make a near useless power.

[Synch]

Not mutants, Icthyo Sapiens. (Interestingly, they exist in two worlds. The Mariner in Waterworld, and Abe Sapien in Hellboy.)
EDIT: Wait, yeah I suppose it is a mutant...

Jeez, I'd love to play the heck out of this, but I don't know how many games I can squeeze in with COA, SCH, GAL, Pokemon and Potential already on the go :-/

Also, don't worry at all about stepping on my toes. We certainly have room for 2 post apocalyptic games.

[spiderwrangler]

A month, month and a half.

[ChuckDaRighteous]

I'd play this. I'd rather not be mutant. I didn't like smokers as they were, yet in any maritime setting, I generally like to be a pirate so I'm sorta torn between smoker and not smoker.

[Arch Lich Burns]

Okay asides from a zombie with grabble tongue and someone who uses cigs...i have no idea what you are talking about.

[ChuckDaRighteous]

Smokers were Waterworld's pirate faction.

[Synch]

Pft, you can't play this game if you haven't watched the movie Burns!

[Runsaround]

I'd be pretty interested in this game, but what kind of system would it run?

EDIT: I apologize for having the reading comprehension of a potato.

[Theis2]

http://goblinsforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=1390

Something along those lines

[Runsaround]

And that would entail a game with a crafting focus?

[nikohl]

No, the skill system has a bit of a crafting bent because it was designed for SCH, which IS quite crafty. But Waterworld wouldn't have to be. It will, however, be "survival" based if it goes ahead, so there'll be plenty of tasks that are fairly long winded and potentially crafty like improving boats, fixing houses, salvaging, fishing etc.

[BadgeAddict]

oo...I want.

Also, in an effort to explain the science of waterworld. The tectonic plates may have shifted vertically, forcing denver and much of the USA up to heights that would allow surface to bottom swimmings..

^My attempt at helpfulness.

[nikohl]

The poles did shift, in the canon. That's why the people couldn't figure out Enola's map; it was backwards. It still doesn't explain how there was enough water frozen in the ice caps to flood all but the peak of Mt Everest. Nonetheless, if we play we will play the world as it stands, weirdness and all, because picking holes in things for the sake of it spoils the fun.

I'm done working for the day but now I'm going to shower and probably go play a ton of boardgames! Wheeee.

[BadgeAddict]

I love boardgames...

In fact, my wife and I met some Brits on our second cruise...we introduced them to Munchkin, which we had brought with us...they were instant fans, went back to the UK and bought every single copy in existence... haha...

[nikohl]

I don't dislike Munchkin, but it isn't high on my list of things I suggest when it comes round to game time - in fact, I sold my copies (base game and a few of the expansions) when I last had a "purge the unplayed!" session.

[Nerre]

Sounds like a very cool idea, just like your last one with cavemen.
I would like to play a mutant.

[BadgeAddict]

oh, don't misunderstand me, I hate munchkin, and I feel the same way about Killer Bunnies <-- Bleh...

Favorite game is a tie between Race for the Galaxy and Ingenious... The Wife and I have a fairly huge collection.

► Show Spoiler

Settlers of Catan (various expansions)
Ticket to Ride (various expansions)
Dominion
Carcassonne (various versions)
Ingenious
Small World
Settlers of America
Village
Revolution
Key Harvest
Sylla
Royal Palace
Order of the Stick
Munchkin (various versions)
Le Havre
Agricola
Taj Mahal
Ranking
Stone Age
Tower of Babel
Through the Ages
Empire Builder
Pantheon
San Juan
Killer Bunnies (various versions)
Palazzo
Race for the Galaxy
Medici
Strozzi
Lost Cities
7 Wonders
Terra Nova
Veneta
Pillars of the Earth
Power Grid
First Sparks
Guatemala Cafe
CanÔÇÖt Stop

[Synch]

Oops, posted this in the wrong thread so I'll post it here:


I think the difference that would make the two games unique is that CoA involves people who have never had to survive before, learning what has happened in the recent raw aftermath of an apocalypse. (Which I suppose also slightly parallels SCH and Potential, in which people are learning and adapting right from the start.)

In Waterworld, you'd have hardy survivors who have grown up in an environment that everyone accepts as the status quo, and who already know how to survive and function in this world. So the roleplay would be totally different. Less RP of confusion, fear, desperation. More of ruthlessness, cunning, adaptability etc. So to me although the mechanics and the settings are similar, given all players would have been born into and grown up in this world we'd be playing it totally differently, and thats enough of a variation for me to want to play it in addition to CoA.

[Arch Lich Burns]

Cards against humanity is the best where ypu try to be obseen.

[nikohl]

Right, I'm still interested in doing this and I've left it a little while to make sure I wasn't just totally enthusiastic having seen the film and then got bored once that excitement wore off. (This happens a lot: I also want to run a Matrix game, and a Jurassic Park game, and so on.)

Anyway; I'm going to do this. Not necessarily right this instant, but I'm totally up for making it happen. However! The people who have expressed interest have not all agreed on what they'd like to be, which is fair enough... but I reaaaaally want to run a game for a cohesive actual GROUP, who are all in it together.

I don't want to run a game where we start on an Atoll and two people are discovered to be mutants and kicked out by the anti-mutant rest and have to go be Drifters and then half the remaining group fuck off to be pirates after a day and then I'm not running one game, I'm running three. I'm okay with the idea of roleplaying-personality-things happening in the game organically, but I want to start with five or six people who are already friends/associates/team-mates/whatever, who have something in common, and have a goal. The easier it is for me to plan a story and run the game, the better it'll be, I promise

So, if you think you would like to play this game, please state your preferences (copy paste the below and delete bits if necessary)

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I want to play!
I would like to be a mutant / I would NOT like to be a mutant
I would like to be a Drifter / Atoller / Smoker
My idea of fun would be _____________ (finding dry land, drifting doing drifter stuff, raiding as a piratey type, surviving as a secret mutant on an atoll, whatever - vague or detailed as you like - just tell me what you'd plan to do given free rein.)
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I will not run with half a group who are mutants and half who aren't, so everyone will be or won't be, and I have to go with the majority vote on whether you're Drifters/Atollers/Smokers too... therefore you should probably try and make your case for what you want, so you can convince other people that it'll be fun and they edit their vote and join you. If there's something you literally will not play if you have to be, say that in your post.

[ChuckDaRighteous]

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I want to play!
I would like to be a mutant / I would NOT like to be a mutant
I would like to be a Drifter / Atoller / Smoker
My idea of fun would be: Smuggling/trading/something along those lines.
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[Synch]

Two characters I have in mind, happy to play either with whatever fits best for synergy.

I want to play!
I would like to be a mutant / I would NOT like to be a mutant
I would like to be a Drifter / Atoller / Smoker
My idea of fun would be: Raiding and looting.

I want to play!
I would like to be a mutant / I would NOT like to be a mutant
I would like to be a Drifter / Atoller /Smoker
My idea of fun would be: Having a shop, bartering and trading, repairing boats, salvaging etc.