Interest Check: Spilt Ink

[SliceOfDog]

I had a good idea for a concept the other day, but found to my annoyance that I had no setting to place it in. I didn't want to shelve this idea, which I really like, so I've been racking my brain for a way to include it in something. I hope the solution I've rested on will be both entertaining and original.

I wouldn't be able to start it for a while, maybe upwards of a month, but if the interest is there then I'll work on making it a good one, and ensure that I have enough content so that it doesn't grind to a halt like the Numberless did (Yes, I've learnt from my mistakes!)

So in this RP (assuming I get enough interest) you will be playing characters.

Yes, you heard me right. You will be playing actual characters, created by a struggling sci-fi/horror author. The author who created you has been successful in the past, but recently has been suffering from terrible writers block, to the extent that he can still create interesting ideas, but not make them fit into any of his stories, and he can still write stories but they are extremely generic, and not worth publishing.

You would be the generic characters of his most recent attempt, which he is on the verge of giving up entirely. However, luckily for your continued existence (well... you might not see it as lucky...) he places the pages in which you are written next to his notebook of 'interesting concepts', and leaves the room.

Enter boisterous child/pet who knocks over a glass of water, covering both sets of paper. Suddenly, the ink of the interesting concepts, including alien invaders, post-apocalyptic raiders, serial killers and horrific monsters, begins to drift into your own generic world. A new story begins to be written; one where you have the opportunity to become the unique, interesting characters your author needs and cement your existence in a published novel, but where you must avoid the many dangers that a wild imagination provides.

Remember, the two realities are merging, and if you die in new story, you will die in your own. Fail to adapt, and your author will end your story entirely. Can your band of bland^(tm) make their way in a world of original ideas, where nothing is quite as it appears?

I'd be looking for 4 - 6 players. It would be quite heavy on the roleplaying aspect, with a lot of movement through the different areas of your story (which become steadily more and more distorted and overtaken by the new ideas) and interaction with many different characters. You would need to be open to different ways of dealing with things, as the concepts are not all intended for the same story. Some may be mindless, violent and incapable of reason, some may be immortal or indestructible where the only option is to run, some may be potential allies who assume that you are villains and must be persuaded otherwise. Adaptability is key here, and should be the main source of entertainment in this RP.

*Edit: Oh, and even though you start off as generic characters, the idea is that you develop and get more interesting as the RP goes on, so don't worry about that. I could even make it so that your physical appearance and abilities change if you want to play as, for example, a fire-breathing winged 8ft fox, which you certainly would not be able to start as. Magic may be in the 'interesting concepts', so you could be given wings by an artifact, or made bigger by a sorcerer or something.

Any takers?

[BIos_Reaper]

This does sound interesting! O.o *me gusta face* I would like to join x3

[SliceOfDog]

Hah, well you certainly can! I've been thinking about this a lot since posting this (and briefly talking to Dusty about it) and I'm extremely excited! I'm actually considering trying to do it as a series of novels, so this will double-up as a trial run

Oh, and a note on the beginning play: You would start as generic characters, so you would have to act generic. In your own time you would develop deeper personalities, but at first you would need to act generic and fit the character type I will provide (you will be able to pick from a list, so please don't worry about that). A hero or leader must start off as being completely selfless and feeling immune to death, such as firing a pistol while standing behind knee-high cover trying to take out several machine-gun toting baddies. In reality this would likely result in death, but in generico-world the hero always wins, and would kill all of the baddies without taking a hit. This is the type of logic you would need to start off with. The other archetypes I want to include so far are the kick-ass dame (often the target of nefarious schemes, looks like a damsel in distress but actually can fight/shoot better than every male character other than the hero), the bumbling villain's sidekick and the young hacker genius. If you're interested in joining this please have a think as to which of these characters you might like to play for the first part of the RP, knowing that you will have to act as the typical version of that character. More archetypes will hopefully be available when I actually open this. Suggestions are more than welcome

[Brome Teks]

This looks pretty damn cool. As for generic archetypes, Hacker, scientist, or dame/Flighty broad would all be interesting ones to do.

[SliceOfDog]

Ooh, scientist. Nice, I think I'll include that one. Thanks

I'm also welcome to ideas for the 'interesting concepts' notebook. They don't have to be violent, not everything from it is. Several characters may come to your aid, for example, or even become long-standing allies who you can call on when you need them. But I'm mostly fine for humans. What I need more than that are creatures (both evil, such as monsters, or animal-like and friendly/neutral. Clockwork animals that are 'alive' would be an example of the second) or pure concepts, such as a wind that whispers the future, or a village where everyone is immortal but ages much faster.

[Daryn]

This sounds really interesting so far. I'd be willing to jump in on this if you get it started. The hacker type of character would probably be a good fit for me.

I wonder though, how will all these disperate characters end up meeting? Are they just thrown together or would we all be starting off seperate and gradually our storylines merge?

[SliceOfDog]

What I think for now, although I'm open to change, is that they're a team of heroes who have gone to stop an evil villain. They are the main characters of the authors newest attempt at a work, and he is about to finish (he is in the process of writing the final chapter, where they capture the villain) but he gets worn down by the poor quality of his writing and sets it aside for a while. This is when the spill happens, and during the confusion, the villain escapes, leaving the story with an open end. However, the team are only together because they've been written together. It may turn out after they begin to develop that they're not well suited to be a team, and then that strain will just be another obstacle to overcome. As for the NPCs, they are just thrown in, although the more dominant the idea, the more it will establish itself (I will explain that more when we begin, or else you will learn about it as we go along)

I also think I might separate it into chapters, but because you start at the (unfinished) final chapter, they will work backwards. You will be working through to get to Chapter 1, which is the most affected by the new ideas because that chapter was on top, and so that is where the spill directly hit (the ink seeped through to chapters below). You might be trying to stop the spill, to destroy the new ideas, or to spread your new, more developed personalities throughout the book to prevent the author from choosing to get rid of you. I'm not quite sure yet, but it's an idea for me to bat around

(Oh, and I have enough interest now, assuming that Dusty is still wanting to join, but don't let that stop new people expressing interest. I can have up to about 6)

[Llamas-Rule]

Interesting concept... I'll definitely be keeping up with this as the story expands.

[Dusty]

I like it, I could play the traditional hero rule It would be funny to see how someone who always wins deals with losing.

[SliceOfDog]

Cool, yeah, I think that would be great Dusty. And Llamas, I'm planning on splitting this into it's own version of 'chapters', so you could easily join later on if you decided you wanted to

Oh, and we've now reached my maximum number of desired players (Including Rufus who PMed me). I don't want to stop new people from expressing an interest, but I'll put you 6 on a Reserved list, so unless any of you change your mind (or if, for example, Llamas wants to join a bit after it's started) you will be the starting team. Anyone else can jump in whenever a hole is made, if someone quits or changes their minds etc.

Remember, I'm not planning on this starting for a good couple of weeks yet, so please don't assume that it has died. I'll be planning it on my end and waiting until I have enough time to dedicate to running it.

Thanks for all of the interest so far

[Daryn]

I had a thought about this just now. If it's going to be split into chapters, why don't we make this something that can go into XAP as well? Maybe a completed chapter could be put together as part of the podcast's Drama section?

[SliceOfDog]

Sure, that's a definitely possibility! It depends entirely on how long the chapters are, and they might need quite a bit of editing, but it might work. And please don't think I've forgotten about XAP. I've been a bit busy recently with going back to Uni, but I do intend to get an episode done soon. Also I'll need to talk to you about Foxhunt when I have a bit more time. I remember you mentioned that in regards to XAP and general audio work. Thanks for the suggestion, anyhow

[Buzzwolf]

Grawwwwwdammit....I can't believe I missed the signup for this one....it sounds like it's gonna be a lot of fun! Put me on the list them mate, I'll keep an eye open for it xp


....I play really good villain types too by the way, hint hint, nudge nudge XP kidding, kidding...but I do play good villains xp

[macrorufus]

Definately got my interest! Great idea Slice!