I'm contemplating hosting my own text-based Matrix RPG.

[Anonymous]

MUD = Multi User Dungeon
or something like that.
You know those things where you type North...Attack Zombie...Die Of Boredom.
That's a MUD.

Session = most games are too long to do in one sitting, so you have sessions. Splitting it up. I can't think of a way to simplify it more.

[ArchNemesis]

well i kinda knew what sessions were but the MUDs i had no idea what they were... well like i said ill be using trillian and i just wanna know if that wil have any affect which i still dont think so.

[Anonymous]

I already said in your other thread that I would like to join but I'll say it again, I'll join.  I love RPing, its great fun and it sounds like you can walk the walk sooth to say.

[Anonymous]

If you have the full version of trillian, as in, the version you pay for, then it'll work just fine. If you have the free version, it works much less better, as you won't be able to see the dice rolls, which can be a pain.

Anyway though, you can buddy list me on my AIM name, it's "Blade X Tyshalle." I'm still juggling my fairly hectic schedule, as I work a full time job, have a girlfriend who I live with (and she tends to take up most of my non-work time). My computer time has been much more sporatic since she moved in with me, and sometimes I'm able to get on for 5 hours a day, other times it's maybe an hour, sometimes not at all, which for a big nerd like me, is kind of a big deal.

At anyrate, my online time is spent in a lot of ways. I look around at some gamer websites, including this one obviously, check out the new and upcoming MMO's, then occasionally (rarely is more precise) I play SWG, and then I host two Star Wars RPG's, and am a part of a third one. And now I'm kind of hooked on America's Army, and to top it all off I'm a writer, working on my novel as much as I can.

So yeah, my time is pretty hectic.

I still want to do this Matrix RPG, and I'm glad a lot of you want to do it as well, I'm just going to need a little bit of time to work out the rules. I'm trying to make the combat system more than just ::attack:: ::roll dice:: ::get results::. I'd like for it to be a bit more fluid, and allowing for some improvisation. There's two ways I can go about this, the first way is the strict way, where I write down extremely detailed rules, so that there'll always be a rule/statistic/bonus/penalty for very specific moves. The bonus to this is that it's always fair. There's a lot of penaltys though, like for one, I won't be able to write down every single possible move, so you'd have to end up picking them out from a list, which'd have specific stats, and all that crap.

The other way is not very strict. I'd have general bonuses and penalties for real general moves, and I'd end up making up the stats on the spot during the game session. The good things about this is that you'll be able to do whatever your little minds can think of, so there won't be any restriction at all. The downside is, I'd be making up the statistics on the spot, so you may want to do a super cool triple scissors kick off of a 10 story building onto an Agent's head, assuming the bonuses for it will be extremely high, but then the realism and martial arts knowledge that I have will come into play, and the bonuses may not end up being as great as you'd have hoped. If you can trust me, the second option is definitely the way to go.

If you prefer things to be strapped down, locked in place, and very rigid and number based, the first one is for you.

Let me know what you guys'd prefer, and I can organize it like that.

[Anonymous]

Well, the second one is definitly the Rp'ers choice. Id rather have it like that, as I have a pretty good knowledge of martial arts, so i can come up with a plethora of things t write....

[Anonymous]

Same here.  Blue belt in Shaolin Kenpo, working on green for sometime during the summer.

[Anonymous]

I have a purple belt in Karate and a measly Yellow belt in Judo but I know lots of moves, used to be quite a sparer when I was in full swing.  I also have quite an imaginitive mind, you can check how so by looking at the RPs because I'm in all of them.  I would quite happily go for the latter of the two.

[Anonymous]

I also have a blue belt in Shaolin Kenpo, and a green in Tae Kwon Do. My mind kinda wanders into dangerous territory, which kind of got me in trouble with both...im not in either anymore. Im hoping to study ninjitsu in the coming years. If I can juggle that and football now.

Seriously, if an rp relied on stats, it wouldnt really be an rp would it?

[Anonymous]

Thats generally the prime idea of role plays, stats.  Sorry to be blunt but what we do in the Forums isn't really role playing it's making an awesome story using everyones imagination.  Even though it's called an RP it solely isn't one.  It just uses the same way of going through events.

[Anonymous]

Stats are needed in an RP, yes. But Stats should only be a very loose factor. Come on, if in an RP youre fighting someone, and youre a much better RPer than the other person, and if you lose because they have slightly better stats because the rpg is based solely on stats, how much fun could that really be?

[Anonymous]

Ill join

[Anonymous]

Basically, what I've got going on in my mind right now is a system similar to the SWRPG rules, combat wise anyhow. You'd have a Defense Statistic, and in order for your opponent to hit you, they'd have to roll an attack that must beat your defense score. So say your defense is 10, your opponent has to roll an 11 or higher to hit you.

My idea with statistics is that depending on what kind of move you're doing, there'd be bonuses and penalties to the moves you choose. So say Trinity's famous lift off in the air in bullet time and kick you in the chest move. That attack would probably force you to expend some kind of focus point, which'd be similar to Force Points in SWRPG, and you'd get say, +4 to your attack roll, and an extra dice for your damage roll. But as a result of your lifting off of the ground, you take a -4 hit to your defense until your following turn.

Then take Trinity's scorpion kick. That's a flashy kick that honestly doesn't have a whole lot of substence in the real world, but it'd probably give you a high bonus to your damage roll, but you'd take a -2 to your attack roll, since you have to look down and kick over your head from behind... which is kind of ridiculous, but anyway, and for the same reason, you'd take maybe a -4 penalty to your defense until your following turn.

So there'd be major bonuses and penalties depending on what moves you're doing, what the circumstances are, and all that stuff.

Make no mistake, Statistics will play a heavy roll in this game. It's the only way to make sure nobody makes their character ultra-powerful to a retarded degree. I've played RPG's where there were NO STATS AT ALL, and these were just plain dumb. People'd dodge point blank shots to the face while chained up. Or hell, they'd take 3 bullets to the chest and keep on going like they hadn't been hit at all. This sort of unrealism is just boring to me.

In my opinion, being the greatest most unstoppable person in the whole universe is not interesting. What's interesting to me is when you take on overwhelming odds, and completely get your ass kicked. So your beaten down, and you get back up, and face your opponent again, and they just beat the shit out of you again, and every single time you get your ass kicked, or you fail a mission, or you cause a teammate to lose their lives, a little piece of you dies with them. And every time you get hit, a little piece of the glass that is your existance cracks. And eventually, your mirror shatters, and you fall helpless to the ground completely shattered. Living in an utterly hopeless existence, where a happy ending, or even remote success is so far off in the foggy night that you can't even IMAGINE what it could look like.

What choice you make when this happens to you. That's the interesting part.

Most people quit, because I'm too hard on their characters. And I will be very hard on your characters. Nobody joins one of my RP's and signs up for the easy life. You sign up for hell, and you'll be put through it, of that I can assure you.

Every once in a while though, someone who's had their mirror shattered, and the shards of glass stomped on until mere slivers remain will come along. Every once in a while, I'll get a person who learns from all this, and can actually use these experiences for real, to make them think. Every once in a while, I get a person who even though they've failed a hundred times, and each time they failed, the consequences got a little bit worse, until their whole lives were completely ruined, but every once in a while, I get a person who gets back up, and tries to glue these slivers of glass back together. I get a person who will hopelessly try to remake the slab of glass, in hopes that someday they'll be able to see their reflection once again.

Unfortunately, when you put shards of a mirror back together, the image you see is distorted. When your mirror breaks, you change with it. Even remade whole, you're a different person.

These things are interesting to me. These things make a good story, and are enjoyable to play.

A guy who runs around in the Matrix taking on 10 agents at once and blowing shit up all the time for no real good reason.... That's stupid for one, it doesn't make sense for two, it's no way feasable, and lastly, it's boring.

A girl who succeeds every mission with flying colors. Someone who never knows defeat, and is the baddest ass mother fucker out there, who is just too kewl to lose.... Someone who seriously gets pissed off at me, the GM, when they fuck up and their character gets into a bind.

These types of people bore me.

If you can accept that your character will never be perfect, then come take a look at my game. You might experience a storyline you'll never get in MxO. Because mine will be specific, and personalized toward you. That's something MxO can never do.

[Anonymous]

I'm into joining

[Anonymous]

im still into joining

[Anonymous]

After reading that I'm kinda scared, I may have wet myself. But you know I'll join.