I'm thinking of running my old Tabula Rasa campaign here and I'm looking for indications of interest.

The campaign premise is this: the players wake from sleeping.  They are naked and without any personal items.  They have no idea where they are or how they got there.  They don't recognize any of the others, and they don't remember who they themselves are.

Go.

The players come to the game prepared to role play and roll with whatever hand they are dealt, and that's it.  The GM (that's me) comes up with everything else including backgrounds, character sheets, body casts, and so on.  Not knowing who they are, obviously, the players don't start with access to anything except the body casts.

Motivations, goals, relationships, and where the game takes us is completely up to the players.  There will be a plot, and NPCs,and events happening around them which they will not necessarily understand.  And how they deal with these things - or don't deal with them - is completely up to the players.

Private messaging becomes important in this game.  Things get revealed via player actions.  You might see someone for the first time and, while you may not recognize the person, you might get a PM from the GM describing a gut feeling you have, or something else.  The GM might also feed you things like snap reactions based on muscle memory n'stuff in-game that might give you a clue about yourself.

Example: there's a loud bang from somewhere behind the group.  One person shrieks and reacts with panic.  Another dives to her right and instinctively seeks cover.  In both cases, somethng of the player is revealed.

The players have to be flexible and willing to take and run with whatever comes their way.  Remember, you won't get a say in your background or your appearance, etc.  All you get to define is your player's emerging personality and that can be anything you like - aggressive, passive, sarcastic, helpful, obstinate, good, evil - it's all up to the player, except where a certain player's background would specifically exclude it, and the GM would tell you in a PM if that came up. How does your PC react to being naked in a group of strangers?  What does your PC do when confronted by a cockroach?  Up to you.

I ran this camapign once with success.  Dave (Nemesis) was a player.  I'm thinking we have the right pool of players for this concept to work well.

I'd ideally be looking for 4-6 people.  Submisions would include just a simple framework of that whole developing personality thing.  Just tell me what you had in mind to guide your reactions.

Thoughts?  Questions?

I like the idea and I think I still have the write up I did as a submission for it's first incarnation.

Completely new iteration or some material from the old game to be included? I'm asking because I'd have a (slight) advantage if it's semi-recycled (in case that would be a problem).

However, just so folks know, that game rocked, and we had a blast figuring stuff out as we went. Learning our skills, powers and/or abilities (or some of them, anyway) was interesting, to say the least. It's incredibly cool to play a character when you don't know his/her abilities, much less the limits of those abilities, but John handled our investigations/experimentations beautifully.

Just be sure to keep good notes

Yeah, notes become very important in this game. 

I'd be coming with completely new stuff this time.  Everything will be different, including where the players start and the backstory plot.  That makes the playing field level.  It also lets me change things I thought needed changing.

IIRC, Vic (Ardent) was also a player in that game. 

This sounds right up my alley. 

I think I'd really get into role playing this, and it would be an awesome challenge.  So, if you make a call, I'll be submitting for consideration.  But...  can we choose our sex?  It would be too much for me to land in a guys body, is all.  I'd suck.  :)

 All I can say is there will be some bunny's in some stewpots if I don't get back into this game... 

Lawks yes... 

I remember when you ran that game. I'm afraid that I'll have to be the lone dissenting voice here. It's not a game I'd enjoy--I want a lot more say in who I'm playing than that framework provides. But it sounds like you won't lack for volunteers, so I'm sure you'll manage without me....somehow.

Note:  This is from China, but I wasn't sure how else to move it, so here it is.

Wanted to post my non-admin thoughts separate.

TORG sounds cool.  I've heard the name, but never ever knew what it was.  ...that sounds really neat.

What kind of game does it lend itself to?  Like heavy combat?  More roleplay?  Survival?  Wold type Domination/Strategy/Diplomacy?  ...I mean...what kind of campaign would run in a TORG setting?  I'm just very curious.

Of course you're welcome to run a game.  I have the GM portion of the FAQ done even.  Yay me, still needs some touch up, but fairly functional.  

With the number of games versus the number of members we have on the site, we might be running thin, but once you decide on your game, I can help you recruit off site as well.  There are some pretty good places to post player calls, and once you know system, that will open some doors as well for player recruitment.  And if you let me help you recruit - off site, it might get us some more good gamers over here.

PS.  Thanks for porting over my question! 

The game system for TORG is cinematic in feel.  Characters are, by definition, special and a cut above ordinary people.  Even the description of the adventures is Acts, Scenes, etc.  However the different realities have different feels to them as well.  The cyberpunk reality of the Cyberpapacy is, of course, dark and paranoid feeling.  The horror reality of Orrosh is spooky and frightening etc.  This is accomplished by the use of World Laws which modify the feel of the game some.  All of which is pretty much behind the scene, especially in an online game like this.

Overall I tend to run it more role-play.  The system itself is very fluid and open for player modification.  Players have possibilities which they can use to modify die rolls and to control, to a limited extent, what happens in the game.  They also use cards which allow them to influence die rolls.

Just to be complete, the invading realities are:

Living Land:  Dinosaurs and spirituality.  Think Tarzan of the Apes or Lost World
Aysle:  Classic fantasy with a early renaissance feel to it.  Magic, swords, and some primitive fire-arms
Cyberpapacy:  Cyberpunk world ruled by a theocracy (very) loosely based on the Avignon Popes.  Lasers and the inquisition.
Nile Empire:  Pulp action in Egypt.  Indiana Jones, nuff said
Orrosh:  Horror reality in Victorian England.  Terrifying monsters you never quite get a good look at until too late.
Nippon Tech:  Spies and betrayal in Japan.  Trust no one and everything is shades of grey.

It would be fun to figure out a way to handle cards, if you go with this game. 

So, just to be clear...all of these worlds/realms exist within any TORG game?  Is that correct?  Or are they various modules that use the same rules, but once you pick a module, it's all Cyberpapacy or all Living Land?

I think I'd be really into this.  I've never played something like this before.  Assuming it's RP heavy.  The only worlds that don't seem mega cool to me is the Nippon Tech and the Cyberpapacy.

One more question, how familiar would a player need to be with the world?

With all that said though...I really think you should run the game that inspires you most.  Cuz if you ain't happy, nobody's happy.  :)  ...and everyone loves a good supers game.

I've run the system over e-mail before and it worked out well.  I just notified the players of what cards they had and they let me know when they wanted to play them.

All the realities exist in different parts of our world at the same time.  In one adventure, you might start out in Core Earth Denver, drive a truck into the Living Land in California, fly over to Aysle in England, then take a boat across the English Channel to the Cyberpapacy in France.

The world is our world, so if you live on Earth, even part time like me, you know everything you need to about the world.  Part of the fun of the game is dealing with the other realities and learning about them.

TORG sounds *really* fun. I'm having a hard time imagining how all these different realities work together but I'd like to find out

I gots ideas. I do. Lots of 'em. Some of them are even good ones (well, I think so). But I'm not sure what to do with 'em, so I figured I'd put 'em here and see where they land.

These ideas, y'see, revolve around running a game. Not any time soon, mind you. A ways down the road, most like (months, maybe). But yeah, I'm already thinking about putting a game together. I was rifling through my story ideas, lookin' for something to work on, and I came across a page (or two...okay, it was eight) that was nothing but game ideas. Some of 'em tickled my fancy, so I decided to share 'em.

Game idea 1: Pulp Fiction - straight up adventure based on Doc Savage, Indiana Jones, The Mummy movies, and so on, circa late 1930s. Good fun on a (more than likely) international scale.

Game idea 2: Fantasy - Most likely Epic in nature, with mutliple character races, semi-defined classes, and so on. If I do this I have to decide whether to use an established world like Turakian Age or go with my own (which is actually fairly fleshed out but doesn't come with purdy maps or nothin').

Game idea 3: Superhero - Modern age stuff, bright and shiny and not so dark. More DC style than Marvel (cuz Marvel's all about the dark these days). Either another fictional city of my own making or possibly Millenium City.

Game idea 4: Urban Fantasy - Magical & fantastic elements in a modern urban city a la "Dresden Chronicles", "Greywalker" novels and (if you wanna include 'em) "Buffy" and "Angel" type stuff.

Game idea 5: Sci-Fi - Combining elements of pulp and even fantasy, my ideas are not far from the stuff inspired by "Farscape" and "Firefly" and, yes, even the original "Star Wars" movies. If anyone is in the know, I actually favor the Mike Resnick "Santiago" (et al) type of settings. But yeah, space fun.

So those are the basics - for each one there are ideas o'plenty in my notes and in my head, meaning it's pretty much what folks want a crack at next.

Again, though, it's not something I'm going to make a call for in a couple of weeks. I got classes to get through, we've got a website to hammer down, there's laundry, and dogs to walk....you get the idea. If I were to pick an approximate date I'd say mid-April, barring other life-altering events.

In any case, before I just start randomly adding to the material I have and possibly not getting anywhere any time soon, does anyone have any thoughts on the matter? Comments, questions and critiques are welcome.

I never did formally respond to this...I think I was having editing issues that day.

In any case, I'd be interested in the TORG idea, if only because it sounds different from what I'm used to.Not that I wouldn't seriously consider a superhero game run by you, but the TORG idea has a newness to it that appeals to me.

Anyway, just thought I'd share.

I would love a game like this.

This sounds like a lot of fun...I was never in a game like this that got off of the ground.  I think that I'd enjoy it alot if I didn't suck at the genre.  I love all those types of movies though!

This is likely my favorite genre, and usually one that I don't have.  ...but oddly enough, I have 2 successful fantasy games right now.  I still wouldn't be able to resist applying to another one though.

I love Millenium City.  (Sorry, I got way way too much sleep last night.  I'm lovin' too much stuff, can't help it.)  I love super heroes!  I'd need help with the bright and shiny part.  *grin*  ...but I think I could get the right feel if you pointed me to the right movie.

I've never played in a genre like this either.  Sounds interesting.  Imajica mentioned running an Urban Fantasy, and making a call around the end of March.  ....something like Delirium?  ...or some such.

I think i could have a lot of fun with a Sci-Fi game...if it was more space opera and less ... hrm...  physics?  :)  I don't have much fun with the science in the Sci-Fi, but I love the idea of being stuck in small quarters with a variety of characters, and visiting far off lands, and all that rot.

yeah...a website to hammer down.  I'd like to be moved or have our CPU resources firmly in hand with InMotion before many more games go live. 

Well...obviously, in typical wishy washy China-style.  I've been no help.  Taking into consideration my preferences based on what appeals to me right now, the other games that I'm in and such.

My favorites are the Pulp game, Hero game and the Sci-Fi game (assuming it doesn't require too much work to play).   

Wow. I'm not really into swords and sorcery, but the other three all sound good. I would probably be most interested in the pulp and urban fantasy ideas. I know Imajica has been hinting about starting his own urban fantasy campaign but I think there's room for two (or more). By the time this gets going we will be looking to expand the pool of players anyway.

You know the Fate System folks are working on a Dresden Files game, right? 

Can I just say yes to any and all of them and thus be simple.  : ) 

They all sound cool to me.  As usual my biggest problem is not getting in too far over my  head. 

If Richard runs with his TORG idea that'd be cool, but if he goes with a more mainstream superhero  game then I'd take that off my list, too, and focus on a genre not necessarily represented as yet.

And no, I didn't know about the Dresden game, but I'm not surprised someone got to it. I'm just surprised it took so long.

"Hey you mugs. What's the big idea? Why I oughta paste you one right in the choppers."

Yeah, I could have too much fun with this. For some reason I'm imagining myself as a Joe Pesci type of character.

Wow, I haven't played a fantasy game in... decades?? I would jump at this, but I think I would jump at most any of the other games with a tad more gusto.

Oh yeah, now we're talkin'.  Glittering heroes streaking across the sky and orbital bases with a big round table in the meeting room. Yep, Star Sentinel and I would definitely be up for this.

Meh. I like the genre enough, but I just don't have much wood for the idea right now.

I'm a big fan of the Firefly, and I'd like to play in a space game that had a similar 'lived in' feel.

Summing up, if you run most any of the above ideas, you'll get a character submission from me.

Step 1: You create a skilled normal. 50 base, 25 disads. Full background needs to be included, along with those important to your character and why. Picture would be nice, physical description would be a must. Modern day - today, February 19th, 2009 - DOW is at the lowest it's been in six years, just got rid of one prez and got another, etc. etc. etc.

Step 2: Submit to gamerawaved@me.com

Step 3: Wait for it all to begin.

Additionals: 5 player max. I need to know what power set you would truly love above all others - I just ask that your concept be sound and not totally random. "I want to be a telepath. I want to fly. I want to teleport. I want to bend steel. I want to magnetically rape the earth"... that sort of thing. In developing your characters, the sky is the limit. You can be feelthy rich. You can be on death row. You can be a child, a paraplegic, a savant. Let your imagination take hold... just have it make sense.

What's Going To Happen: You're going to go to bed one night with everything making sense. You're going to wake up the next morning with the power of a god. And then it gets really interesting... "What do you think sirs?"

I can easily see myself in this campaign.

That sounds interesting.

*groan* Too....much...temptation.

It does sound interesting....

I'm with you.  Man I want to jump in.  Just barely have time for what I've got.  I made a submission to another game that I'm really interested in (which I only had time for as I had a couple of games at Hero Central closed on me), so I should wait and see how that pans out, but my mind is already spitting out ideas for characters.  Some of them quite interesting to me.

When is the deadline for submissions?  I'll keep it in mind in case I don't get picked for the other game.

Most likely around mid-march. I'll be making a formal call for players at the end of February (around the 28th) 

The closing didn't take.