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IC: Fantasy Soldiers Into Monsters.

Posted by CaesarCV
CaesarCV
member, 157 posts
Thu 23 Jun 2016
at 21:02
  • msg #1

IC: Fantasy Soldiers Into Monsters

Hey everyone! I have a new game that I'm considering making, but I'd like to know if there was enough interest for it. The basics for how the game works would be a setting where mundane soldiers are becoming increasingly obsolete, threatened by increasingly powerful hordes of monsters and such. While some of the nations, known as the "Blessed Empires" have non-human races that grant them powerful magic, technology, and other abilities to even the odds. Unfortunately, the player characters are not from any of these blessed empires.

After a chaotic time demonstrating some of the ineffectiveness of human soldiers, the player characters will go through various transformations, becoming part monster in an attempt to get the strength to survive and protect their people. How the characters and society deal with their growing inhumanity will be a major emotional core of the game.

I'm currently planning to run it in a pseudo-freeform setting, since other similar established games like Rippers and Accursed don't fit my concept exactly, and I would prefer to avoid having to deal with balancing an the like.

Would anybody be interested in this concept?
Rinandien
member, 25 posts
Have fun,
help others.
Thu 23 Jun 2016
at 21:49
  • msg #2

IC: Fantasy Soldiers Into Monsters

This sounds amazing. I'd love to see how it plays out.
Aidhogan
member, 11 posts
Thu 23 Jun 2016
at 21:57
  • msg #3

IC: Fantasy Soldiers Into Monsters

This would be really interesting as a Cthulhutech plot. Though that's campy sci-fi with symbiotes and lasers, not high fantasy with werewolves and fireballs.
CaesarCV
member, 158 posts
Thu 23 Jun 2016
at 22:04
  • msg #4

IC: Fantasy Soldiers Into Monsters

In reply to Aidhogan (msg # 3):

I actually own that game! It's pretty fun. I do agree that a sci-fi version of it would be cool too. Gah. You just made my life harder lol.
Cubist
member, 62 posts
Fri 24 Jun 2016
at 01:00
  • msg #5

IC: Fantasy Soldiers Into Monsters

Very interesting concept. Would like to see it developed further.
CaesarCV
member, 159 posts
Fri 24 Jun 2016
at 03:34
  • msg #6

IC: Fantasy Soldiers Into Monsters

Hm...should I stick with the fantasy setting? Or move into Sci-Fi? Both are pretty interesting.
Novocrane
member, 253 posts
Fri 24 Jun 2016
at 05:14
  • msg #7

IC: Fantasy Soldiers Into Monsters

Have you considered Tenra Bansho Zero?

The default setting is feudal warring empires, but it's adaptable to empires threatened by monsters (monster creation has it's own section), and PCs have a range of inhuman ways to upgrade, from cyborg tech, to surgically inserting spirit-gems, or symbiotic insects. Worth looking up, imo.
This message was last edited by the user at 05:15, Fri 24 June 2016.
CaesarCV
member, 160 posts
Fri 24 Jun 2016
at 05:44
  • msg #8

IC: Fantasy Soldiers Into Monsters

I actually really do like Tenra Bansho Zero! I was thinking of giving it a slightly different feel though, and din't want to have to deal with Aiki Chits and all of that. While Tenra Bansho Zero is a fantastic freaking game and I love having it on my shelf, I'm not sure of how well it would work in a PbP environment. It's definitely a great game and good for inspiration though.
Syrris
member, 421 posts
Fri 24 Jun 2016
at 11:16
  • msg #9

IC: Fantasy Soldiers Into Monsters

  Fantasy seems like a better fit than sci-fi since fantasy is generally more about personal abilities while sci-fi is more apt to be about tech - tech that can easily render personal abilities (and the need to create super-soldiers) moot.
CaesarCV
member, 162 posts
Fri 24 Jun 2016
at 14:01
  • msg #10

IC: Fantasy Soldiers Into Monsters

That's a good point. It is sometimes hard to justify super soldier programs when drones, tanks, and airplanes exist. Of course, that could be rectified by having a sort of 'shadow war' angle with the players going against more covert invaders or something like that.

As another option, an 'urban fantasy' style game could be interesting as the group starts to get more and more removed from ordinary life.
Cubist
member, 63 posts
Fri 24 Jun 2016
at 14:31
  • msg #11

Re: IC: Fantasy Soldiers Into Monsters

CaesarCV:
That's a good point. It is sometimes hard to justify super soldier programs when drones, tanks, and airplanes exist. Of course, that could be rectified by having a sort of 'shadow war' angle with the players going against more covert invaders or something like that.

I dunno about that. Covert invaders or not, contemporary technology just plain does make the physical traits of individual soldiers less important. Going with a fantasy campaign would be more compatible with the 'gotta boost the soldiers' premise, methinks.
CaesarCV
member, 163 posts
Fri 24 Jun 2016
at 16:00
  • msg #12

Re: IC: Fantasy Soldiers Into Monsters

Hm...you do have a point there. Still, if there's more interest for a Sci-Fi setting I'd be happy to do it. What do you guys think about a more Urban Fantasy idea? It would be probably almost like a weird take on the 'Magical Girl' concept, with people getting powers to save people and all, but also getting transformed? Could be interesting to see how people might try and cling to their ordinary lives or fall to their new ones.

Of course, sticking with the fantasy setting is just as well. What do you guys think?
Cubist
member, 64 posts
Fri 24 Jun 2016
at 17:36
  • msg #13

Re: IC: Fantasy Soldiers Into Monsters

CaesarCV:
Hm...you do have a point there. Still, if there's more interest for a Sci-Fi setting I'd be happy to do it. What do you guys think about a more Urban Fantasy idea? It would be probably almost like a weird take on the 'Magical Girl' concept, with people getting powers to save people and all, but also getting transformed? Could be interesting to see how people might try and cling to their ordinary lives or fall to their new ones.

The "why bother boosting the soldiers?" objection has rather less force if magic is involved. Magic is, after all, not exactly the most rational, coherent phenomenon in the world! Maybe the PCs are getting inhumanized because that's just how the magic works; maybe the source of the magic (whatever it may be) has some sort of hidden agenda, and the inhumanizing fulfills that agenda; maybe the inhumanizing isn't a necessary part of the magic, but it's happening because of ignorance (i.e., "you mean we could've avoided this if we'd done X!?") or expedience (i.e., "well, it was either get inhumanized or let the Nasties run rampant until the next solar eclipse"); maybe something else entirely.

So, contemporary Urban Fantasy is a viable option. If you choose to go there, it would be neat if you didn't invoke the Masquerade [ http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Masquerade ]…

I think I'd still prefer Fantasy of the non-Urban kind.
CaesarCV
member, 164 posts
Fri 24 Jun 2016
at 18:02
  • msg #14

Re: IC: Fantasy Soldiers Into Monsters

That's pretty much exactly what I was thinking about for the Urban fantasy option. You probably put it much more eloquently than I could have ha ha. But yeah, it does highlight one of the bigger differences between the two concepts though. Namely the element of choice for your character. I imagine for the Medieval Fantasy setting the characters will have had a lot more choice in becoming a monster (I intended a new 'chivalric' order called the Order of the Chimera) since they'll tend to be knights and mercenaries and such. In the Urban Fantasy I'd probably prefer to have them be more 'normal' people though, and the element of choice in the matter would probably be more limited.
CaesarCV
member, 165 posts
Mon 27 Jun 2016
at 14:26
  • msg #15

Re: IC: Fantasy Soldiers Into Monsters

I'm going with the fantasy option for now! That being said, Magical Girl Cthulhu-Chan is on the backburner, and I'd love to run it once I have less games and/or more free time!

I want to thank everyone on this thread for the awesome discussion! If you want to check out the game and/or join, you can follow the link below!

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