Having seen SAO in it's entirety and now watching Log Horizon, it got me curious as to exactly how one might implement an MMO-themed forum game.  While several suggestions come to mind, I'm interested in what others in the community might think on the subject.

One word... or rather two words and some oddly placed punctuation:

.hack://sign


In any case SAO and .hack://sign are definitely different, but for an RP they'd both work fine. Do you plan to use a system or freeform? *cough* BESM.

This message was deleted by the user at 06:23, Wed 16 Apr 2014.

I think each "player" would have their own real-world thread, maybe one that's hidden from the others, and then a thread for each location inside the game which everyone has access to. If they're not all trapped inside the game that is. I'd do it with only the MMO characters having sheets, and the RL characters just having descriptions but no dice.

Must be a quiet week or something, to get only two responses.

What I'm leaning toward is a modified version of Pathfinder (as it's fantasy and familiar to most people).  Probably around 7th level (enough to give some versatility though I could probably be talked into a higher level) and I'm thinking all the characters would be in the same guild (to give them a reason to be working together).

It's Easter this week.

Would you be willing to take a Pathfinder noob?

In reply to pilkunnussija (msg # 6):

Easter...Oh yeah, it is.  -.-

Yes, the game would be open to everyone.

I know Mutants and Masterminds 2E goes into such a game theme in the Mecha and Manga book. M&M makes it easier to differentiate game characters and real world characters if both have separate plot lines. If there is no plot for the real world individuals, than it might make for simply a interesting different toned game wherein we're not playing fantasy heroes, but playing people playing fantasy heroes. It would make metagaming, in a sense, a completely legitimate part of the RP, where it wouldn't be odd for people to call out stats or feats to each other.

I am however curious as to what you plan on modifying if using Pathfinder.

In reply to Roaming Shadow (msg # 8):

I was thinking first off to eliminate multi-classing and then add a mana pool to spellcasters that matched their hit points.  Casters would use mana as I'd outlined in my slayers d20 hybrid system (https://www.dropbox.com/s/f1r4...%20first%20draft.pdf).   I'd also eliminate the battle map and use a turn based sequence similar to the older final fantasy games.

I hadn't decided whether to lean toward the SAO model (where the game is basically a giant dungeon that you have to finish to escape) or something else (like a series of quest lines to escape back to reality).

The problem I'd have with BESM (which someone suggested earlier) and M&M would be my lack of familiarity with the systems.  I'd lean toward Pathfinder because it's available to everyone (via the SRD if no where else).
This message was last edited by the user at 05:13, Sat 19 Apr 2014.

How would you handle all the positioning elements of Pathfinder? Tactical movement and positioning is a big part of the combat rules. If you eliminate that entirely and make it like Final Fantasy, you are going to be throwing a huge wrench into the balance of the game I think. If you're going to use Pathfinder, you should at least abstract movement and positioning, and not eliminate it entirely as you seem to imply, unless I'm mistaken.

In reply to Roaming Shadow (msg # 10):

I wasn't planning on dealing with positioning at all, as you correctly inferred.
This message was last edited by the user at 05:40, Sat 19 Apr 2014.

Yeah, I think that's going to cause too many complications:

Attack of Opportunity: Gone altogether or every ranged character and spell caster is getting thwacked.

Rogue: What sneak attack? Surprise only lasts a round and there's no such thing as flanking.

Non-melee characters: Have fun facing down that enemy knight with no way to keep him from hitting you other than what passes for your AC.

And that's just what comes immediately to mind at a quarter to two at night. If you are going to eliminate positioning altogether, you're likely better off looking for a different free system, as too much of Pathfinder combat revolves around tactical positioning. M&M 3rd Edition has an SRD; it may not be nearly as user friendly, but I think the system would work better for what you're looking to do.

I've seen a ton of these games on other sites.

In that case, I'm going to shelf this idea until some other day.  (So a moderator can lock this thread, thank you.)
This message was last edited by the user at 05:53, Sat 19 Apr 2014.