Gauging Interest: Spirit of the Century

Lemme open by saying this: I hate roleplaying on forums. That said, I also refuse to touch forums for Play by Post games unless I'm either really desperate or have friends who want me in said game. I find forum roleplaying to be really slow (I'm find with waiting a half hour for an epic post over IM, but not hours for one) and sometimes irritating in itself depending on the site. Tabletop sessions on forums are even slower and have their own slew of difficulties added into a method I already don't like. For the most part I'd rather avoid the ton of PMs, side posts, and other crap that could be avoided my simply talking over skype or in person. So, why even post a thread here?

Spirit of the Century is set around the 1920s in America. The players are part of a secret organization called the Century Club. The Century Club has been dated back to per-Enlightenment days with new members added in every century, hence the name. Their purpose is basically to make sure that the world doesn't come to an end, demonic forces from the Void don't burst from the Veil, and other nasty stuff like that. George Washington has supposedly been a member of this club. When the players' characters come of age and are ready, the previous members of this club - the Centurians - appear to offer them advice, explain their new role in the world, and ultimately pass down the mantle of Centurian to the new guys.

The focus of the game is on the players' characters being super heroes, though with a pulpy feel. This is less about men in colorful spandex and more about the gritty, down to earth, not overly serious types. Examples of characters who fit in this pulp setting are Indiana Jones, The Shadow, The Spirit, Watchmen, James Bond, Batman, Rick O'Connel, etc.

The game is meant to be campy and corny to an extent. For the most part, players are good guys who are already ahead of the curve. They fight the good fight against the villains and usually come out on top. It plays like an old movie or comic book. Of course, nothing is set in stone. Depending on the GM, players could even be the bad guys, or other things could happen.

If I had to pin down an example for how Spirit of the Century ideally runs, it would be Indiana Jones. The Mummy, and The Shadow. If you haven't watched those movies, do it. Now. Spirit of the Century is a really rules-lite system with virtually no stats at all. There are no number crunching or even actual min/maxing. Hell, here characters are highly encouraged to put colorful defects (such as compulsive honesty) onto their characters. They are also rewarded for doing so! Everything from character creation to action sequences (yes, including fights) is heavily roleplay oriented. The rulebook itself is large, but the majority of it is merely examples, story snippets (which you don't even need!), plot hooks, and other useful stuff. The rules are pretty easy to learn and there's a reason they call this a "pickup game". They even tell you not to use the book once you've gotten used to it. This is also the type of game/setting where if ya can make the scene cooler or even shout something out (more on that later) there's a good chance not only the game will be more interesting but you will also be rewarded.

I can go into more details about the system, but I'm pausing here to see who reads this is actually interested in playing. To be entirely honest, I've only gotten around four sessions in with SotC, two of which I ran myself. The first game I played with these rules wasn't set in 1920's America at all, but rather the Starwars universe (Old Republic as the setting). The rules can be used to run literally any setting and theme. All ya gotta do is change names and so on.

So, who's interested?

Sounds interesting, and I'd be up for it next week.

I must say, I'm fairly interested in this idea. I've always loved the over-the-campy super hero style, if just for the fun there is in playing it.

Love to give it a shot. How campy can we be!? And power wise, is there any limitations? Do we have to be pulp heroes, or can we be more fun kinds?

Well, that's three people. The sweet spot for this game is four -or- six. Even numbers work best for one particular part of character creation, where you're literally swapping stories. Odd numbers work fine, too.

I'll write up more later on, or even make an OOC thread. Far as the corny-factor goes, ya can do pretty much whatever you want. I'll even let players make a villain. Though you must still be fighting to save the world (using that as a general, roundabout goal right now, XD). If anything your motivation could be that, if the world is destroyed, there's nothing for you to take over.

Sounds pretty cool, I will definitely join.

1920's...

I would join this is a microsecond. Put me down for 1 reluctant hero with lone-wolf attitude and an abandonment complex. Maybe some pyromania on the side.

I began to type up an OOC post, but for some reason my mind just isn't up to the task of writing a pulpy, comic bookesque style introduction right now. Tempted to skip that and get onto the information about the game itself. Introductions are always difficult for me to start, XD. Any suggestions there? Been a while since I've hosted a roleplay on a forum. Usually I just talk to my players in person or on skype, get a meeting together to discuss availability and what the game basically is, and then get around to making characters.

Not trying to sound like an asshole, Zorthax, but I've skimmed enough of this forum to see a lot of drama revolving around you. I'm going to say no to your entry in this one.

So far we have four people: God Donut, Jac, Ji, and Ra. Good size to start with. Might allow someone else in but me thinks we've got a good thing going so far. Would anyone be horribly put off if I skipped the fluff and talked about the game itself? Again, I stress that the rules are really, really simple. Thinking of actually talking about the rules -here- and keeping character creation on the forum. Basically, I am going to need you all to fill out a worksheet. This sheet asks questions like how your character's parents were, where were you during The Great War, etc. Totally roleplay based.

I suppose it'd be fine if you just started talking about the game itself, we can be fluffed into it later.

Gee, thanks for that. Not trying to sound too sarcastic, but you know you have a bad rap when you cant even get into a open-concept RP.

In the words of a favorite antihero: Hasta la vista, baby.

Well, maybe if you weren't such a jerk all the time Zorthy...


Anyway, I think you should pretty much just start with the mechanics and a description of the game. Any extra fluff can be worked out along the way for the IC.

Hey, hey, can the drama. Bad Jac, no cookies for you. Keep that to PMs or something.

Alright. I'll just ramble on about the game itself and how things work. Will even give some examples. Expect an OOC thread up soonish. I'll get y'all working on characters there. Keep in mind that, in this game, you are actually rewarded in multiple ways for contributing to the story and being overall entertaining. Hell, I as the GM can and will make things revolve on what's on your character sheets. You'll see more of what I mean later.

I make no drama, what is this, I don't even

Excalent to hear! I can't wait to see and begin making a character. Though, I must ask, how in-depth does the character sheet go?

Z just needs to read what he types some times. I'd sound like a complete D-bag if I didn't do this.

I hope there is nothing about personality... Gah the Ire of us people.

THE Derp Dragon wrote:

Hey, hey, can the drama.

Exactly.

Amon-Ra wrote:

Z just needs to read what he types some times. I'd sound like a complete D-bag if I didn't do this.

I hope there is nothing about personality... Gah the Ire of us people.

Well there is, but there isn't. In the sense that you'll be creating some aspects of your character's personality, which you will undoubtedly need to tap into in order to do special and memorable things.

I don't get it...

Ji seems to have fallen in love with the game so this should be interesting. I'll post a link to the book in the OOC thread. Again, most of the book is full of examples (such as a timeline of events and potential plothooks). The actual mechanics are pretty simple.

Darn you, you fiendish derp!

It only just occurred to me that it would be a good idea to link the OOC thread here, now that it's up. I guess this thread could be deleted now? Well, not right away at least. Wait until my players are there.

https://rpproject.rpg-board.net/t130-spirit-of-the-century-ooc