WaRP 2024 Discussion

[Astaroth]

Discuss entries! Encourage each other! Share bits and bobs! WaRP on!​

 

[rissa]

its too quiet in here, so lemme make some noise​

warp is wonky this year - might as well get the elephant out of the room!

i think that's okay though. life, in beautiful chaos, happens.

with all that outta the way, since submissions for warp are reopened it does give us an opportunity to discuss some worldbuilding and gamemastering topics-- both to aid these future winners (as well as current and future gms!) --aaaaaand perhaps to drum up some anticipation for the community vote! the renewed submission deadline is august 1st!

i'm in the works of making a crossword puzzle from all the warp submissions but until i'm done

• Are there any game mechanics you've tried or would like to see in a roleplay? I've been itching to try a faction reputation system of some kind and a branching narrative rp that's (ideally) endlessly replayable... But these may just be pipe dreams, as I've learned over time mechanics in roleplays tend to be difficult to manage in the long run. Is your experience any different?
  
  
• Do you dabble in cross-genre rp and/or worldbuilding? If so, how do you typically handle that in a group setting and what are the challenges that come to mind? Both broadly and specifically... like the evergreen conundrum of magic and technology.
  
  
• For players: When it comes to writing posts and creating characters and crafting those pesky little headcanon goblins, how much creative freedom are you comfortable with? Do you like to envision it completely without too many constraints or do your prefer to have dedicated lore to sift through to ensure you're doing it "right"?
  
  For GMs: What's your balance between creative liberty and creative control of your roleplays and lore? Does it depend on what aspect of the world you're talking about (ie. I like to have a couple good rules about magic, but personally, I'd love players to have the inspiration to flesh out their character's background in it's entirety, including the town and castle he grew up in, if need be.) or is there a hard line for you? Any reasons why?
  

 

[Kuno]

Questions! I like questions :o I can answer one or two without my brain overheating.

- What's your balance between creative liberty and creative control of your roleplays and lore? Does it depend on what aspect of the world you're talking about (ie. I like to have a couple good rules about magic, but personally, I'd love players to have the inspiration to flesh out their character's background in it's entirety, including the town and castle he grew up in, if need be.) or is there a hard line for you? Any reasons why?

This is food for thought. Generally, I think the GM should truly have a backseat role in the roleplay. My style has largely been to provide foundational lore for the world, the setting, and major plot points--and that's it. I try to leave whatever happens between each junction of the story largely in the hands of the players and let them be as creative as they'd like. I think about it like a playpen for kids...not that my players are kids (aren't we all at heart?) but they can do whatever they like within the boundaries of the playpen. I don't care for creating a long list of character restrictions; it honestly just depends on the world and just how powerful characters can be. As long as what they're going to do won't derail the plot entirely, I'm pretty hands-off. Even in that event, I'll use NPCs to get things back on track. It's not a big deal.

Short answer: it just depends on the aspect of the world I'm talking about.

 

[firejay1]

- game mechanics are actually the reason why I don't think I'll ever try DnD. I WANT the freedom to just write my characters however I want and let them be whoever they're gonna be even if that means being unique or OP in one aspect, or any number of things. And the other types of game mechanics, like faction points etc just go beyond why I like to RP. I found RP bc I like to write, and that's really all I want in it.

- Not entirely sure what you mean when you say cross-genre, but I definitely love to write and RP in genres that vary widely from romance to adventure to family drama. Mostly I don't like sci-fi or grimdark horror, or slice of life. I typically don't GM, so I won't speak to that, but as a player, I actually find groups can be really freeing, allowing you to do almost anything without having to worry you're going to derail the narrative. Uh... that is, unless the GM has a strongly defined narrative in mind and really wants full control over their RP, then it's really hard to enjoy the whole thing. I don't know that I consider magic and tech to be huge challenges in most? Of my worldbuilding, bc I like to really play it by ear and see what sticks, and that means my magic systems are almost exclusively soft, and tech is whatever historical timeline vibes I got from that world. What I find really challenging is making the world feel unique and real by fleshing out that deep mix of culture, politics, international relations, and SOMETIMES (not often) religion. (As in I don't like putting religion into my worlds precisely bc it would require too much intermingling of something that doesn't necessarily NEED to be in there, not that I don't mix my religion in all the time.) In groups, forget it. I leave the worldbuilding to the GM or to the whim of some character who decided they NEEDED to have a backstory involving breeding skeletal horses, yknow?

- this is probably gonna shock and horrify some of the GMs in the room, but fundamentally, if I see a lot of lore and a well defined plot, this is a sign to me that I should not attempt to be too creative. Not bc I don't appreciate having a lot of detail and care shown by the GM, but I guess bc I've met a lot of GMs who want very tight control over what they consider to be their worlds and their narratives, and all of them have been the ones who write 5 pages of lore. This isn't to say that I assume all thorough GMs are like that, but I think it's a knee jerk reaction for me that I get real nervous about adding my own thoughts and flare when the response might be "didn't you see on page 3 that I said vampires SPECIFICALLY CAN'T have children with werewolves?" On top of which, I know myself, and kind or not, the more work I've put into a world, the more upsetting I find it when someone stomps in all over that carefully thought out lore and goes "WELL I DON'T CARE ABOUT YOUR RULES, I ABSOLUTELY NEED TO HAVE A FAEBLOOD WHOSE MOTHER WAS WALKING AROUND THE EARTH EVEN THOUGH FAE WENT EXTINCT 5000 YEARS AGO." Whereas if I just typed up a sloppy "here's a generic apocalyptic fantasy setting," it's a lot more delightful if someone grabs that by the buns and comes up with something weird with it. Speaking as a player, the most fun RPs I've been in have been the ones where I can randomly decide to poison my character or literally have my demigod curse a god and the whole cast rolls with it, bc this is a generic academy mystery or pjo rip off with 50 characters and 20 players one linering at top speed and no one gives a fig.

 

[Absyinthe_Artica]

Yay! I love the discussion.

I do like putting game mechanics into my roleplays. Although, it can be hard to maintain for a long time if you haven't worked out the kinks. I have found that a proper roleplay game mechanic requires input from the potential players because you could be off with the math or how a reward system pans out after an action. I want to make a card game mechanic. However I tend to stay with game mechanics I have experienced in video games; level systems, ranks, classes, etc.

Most if not all of my roleplays are cross-genre. I prefer having both options instead of sticking narrowly to one genre. Fantasy and science fiction mixed are my favorite games to play out. However, Adventure Mysteries can be fun too. I'm open to mixing various genres if it fits the plot.

The balance between creative liberty and control over my game's meta is fluid. I allow revisions and additions from players. I may write one thing in the OOC that explains the idea a certain way, but that is never concrete and if a player puts thought and effort into elaborating on why they want it a certain way, I am willing to go with their idea. It depends on how far they bend the pre-determined lore for me to say no. It has to be something so far removed from the setting that it doesn't work for me not to even compromise with a player. I like to give everyone chances to play out their ideas in my world. I don't strictly forbid certain players wants that may differ from the plot.