I'm thinking of starting up a new RPG but I'm not really sure what sort of game to start.

I've spent the past month in Guatemala studying abraod and in my spare time I've been toying around with a few different ideas. Some of them were based on that thread about RPGs we hadn't seen yet and a few others were based on random ideas I had. I haven't worked out every aspect of any of them. In fact, I've more or less just begun to touch base with plots, canon characters, settings, and the like.

I figured it'd be a better idea to ask what sort of game people actually wanted before dedicating myself to something that no one would want to join.

I´ve got ideas for a zombie game, BSG game, RL game, Speed Racer game, and a crime game.

So, the games.

Take Back The Night
` a post-zombie apocalypse game.
` takes place in Stockton, California.
` centers around students at the University, people in the mall, and students in a high school.
` centers around life after the end of the world and how people relate.
` it would be more about people than about the actual zombies.
` the idea is that people are stranded in very close quarters with no hope of escape.
` the characters have to figure out how to survive.
` there's all kinds of conflict and cooperation available as the different groups compete for resources and the ability to survive.
` more ideas welcome.

Wander, My Friends
` a Battlestar Galactica RPG.
` centers around a second fleet of ships trying to escape from the Cylons.
` the fleet is made up of three different different factions.
` the first group is a small salvage fleet led by one civilian who was dishonorably discharged from the military.
` the second is the fleet abandoned by the Pegasus who rebuilds with assistance from the salvage fleet; they are led by a surviving Quorum member.
` the third is a third Battlestar led by a young Captain who took over after his Commander was killed.
` no one trusts the military after what the Pegasus did; most people want to follow either the salvage captain who doesn't want to lead or the Quorum member.
` more ideas welcome.

Burning Bridges
` focuses around two year-long residential camps in Northern California.
` one is a boy's camp, the other a girl's camp.
` most of the kids would be in high school; possibly some would be younger.
` the camps are for orphans and wards of the state of California.
` they also accept troubled youth from around country whose parents send them there.
` it takes place in a small town and a lot of the townies resent the camp kids.
` there would be kids in that group of resentful townies.
` also, adult characters would run the camps and be townies.
` lots of conflict, lots of relationships to be had.
` more ideas welcome.

Racers, Start Your Engines
` a Speed Racer based RPG (could be IGPX based).
` focuses on racers and their relationships more than racing.
` obviously racing will be involved and a system created.
` rivalries, teams, and other relationships galore.
` if Speed Racer based: set before Speed Racer, possibly even before Rex Racer was racing.
` a couple different leagues, including an official league and thrill racing.
` there would not just be racer characters but also support staff, league officials, families, etc.
` more ideas welcome.

Calling St. Peter
` a crime RPG taking place in a fictional city named St. Petersburg in the North/Eastern part of the United States.
` three crime families exist in the city and the city is divided by very strict boundaries for each faction.
` one is an Irish family that has dominated for decades.
` one is a Korean and Italian joint alliance formed to oppose the dominating Irish family.
` the last is an up and coming, slightly American Gangster based group that started as a street gang that has grown under new guidance.
` for decades the famillies have been supporting scholarships and calling in favors.
` a lot of people who aren't members of the families are still intricately connected to them.
` including some of the cops and government officials who are supposed to be bringing these people down.
` the most recent event: one of the Irish family's sons is on the run after killing the only son of the Italian don.
` everyone's out to get him, the city is in turmoil, and people will die.
` more ideas welcome.

I've also been playing around with the idea of a Cloverfield game where the board is divided up into hours with different places that the characters could go. It'd be difficult, though, so who knows if that one would work out or not.

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So, what does everyone think? Which game or couple games would be worth trying to work out and which ones would you actually want to join? Which idea needs to be worked on more? Which deserves to actually be a game?

Take Back the Night jumps out at me- kind of reminds me of the novel "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy, although it sounds like you would go in a totally different direction with the concept than he did. Very curious how you'd work out the idea of struggling for resources and surviving in the context of a high school =]

Burning Bridges also sounds wonderful, but the boy's camp/girl's camp separation might turn away some potential members for you. Love the camp idea though and I know a lot of people here were interested in the idea of a camp RPG, so I can definitely see it being successful.

I have to agree with Saraj about Take back the night.

However I disagree about the camp. It'd be hard to pull off... well hard to pull off well. People would probably join but... girls & boys camps are often overplayed and usually attract a young, inexperienced audience. Also, I'm not into cars so that one's not my bag.

Who doesn't like the apocalypse though? There's so many angles to take, and you can probably create some very in depth characters.

I also like the crime RPG, but it's not as much my thing. If you could organize all the member groups of the different sects successful it could be really great.

Best of luck!

Write me down for Take Back The Night x)

Burning Bridges is interesting, also- you have room to open up a really original spin on such a common roleplay theme- but gosh, I have such a soft spot for post apocalyptic.

Zombies make me happy.

Dude, if you make Take back the night, I will be there in a flash of zombie loving light!

The crime RPG seems nifty as well, I'm always up for an rp that reminds me of Godfather...

I would absolutely check out Calling St. Peter & Take Back the Night; I'd be more likely to join Calling St. Peter, but if Take Back the Night was done well there's a good chance I'd join up.

I'm pretty sure Take Back the Night is going to happen. Hands down it's been the one I've seen the most support for since I started talking throwing the idea out there during finals. If anyone wants to throw out any ideas that they might have, that'd be awesome. I'll probably start advertising for staff and the like in a few days once I have real internet and I'm not paying an arm and a leg for it in internet cafes, lol.

I haven't read the Road (I know, shame on me) but I've been meaning to when I got back Stateside. I heard it was really good and I've had it almost spoiled for me half a dozen times on this trip.

I agree, TBTN sounds awesome~ :3

When I think of Zombies, I oftentimes think of diseases or plagues.

If you had some sort of mysterious plague as a plot (members solve what the problem is!) it might be fun. o:

It could be the last bit of the zomie virus kicking around or something. A temporary character that turns into a zombie and dies would be sort of cool, too. x)

I'm not one for zombie games but that does sound interesting.

However, I would join a BSG game in a heartbeat. Live out a life long fantasy of being a fighter viper pilot. I can see so many huge plots emerging from this and depending on what season you've set it in could modify things to make it a bit more dramatic (such as not knowing the final five or even the four we do know about in that group as of yet).

Right now off the top of my head I can see three big plots going on for a basis on that board. Not to mention the many sub-plots that could occur and then add on people's own personal plot. Put this all in outer space and who couldn't be happy? The only thing that could be difficult would be the known models of cylons. It would be bad to limit one model per person, but there would need to be differentiation and without the had of differing cybercasts that could be a hurdle to jump over.

My only concern with a BSG game is that it would need a lot of dedicated fans to really function. It's not too hard of a plot to figure out but I wonder how open it would be to people who hadn't seen the show. And I wonder how many people would actually want to play on a BSG site. I mean, I'd be down with doing it but I don't know if it would be well received.

Takw Back The Night, the zombie one, sounds pretty interesting to me. Then again, I'm rather fond of things involving zombies. Call it a personal quirk.

But it would definately be fun to join if it were handled well.

The only one I like is the Gang RP and Take Back the Night.

The issue with the other ones - they're all boring to me. None of them jump out at me. When you focus so heavily on people relationships, it seems to me that it would end up being a problem with romances and other such things. I've seen that played out on so many sites, and it rarely looks good.

I would need to know how sites like these would go before I looked at any of them.

I had a RP board where there were a lot of little RP-ettes (for lack of a better word) and I ran one called 28 Days at Walmart. It was good fun!

After thinking about it for a while, I think I'm going to actually do both Take Back The Night and Calling St. Peter.

If anyone is interested in helping with either, PM me. I put up a staff post for TBTN in the employment center.

Thanks for the thoughts.