For Barrayar mods (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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forbarrayar_ooc2017-05-24 03:38 pm
barrayarmods) wrote in forbarrayar_ooc2017-05-24 03:38 pm
Entry tags:
ENDGAME PLANNING POST
HEY GANG it's yr friendly neighborhood mod again. It's time to talk about endgame (again), since it's coming up real fast! I'd like to talk about two things in this post: the endgame narrative, and the implications of character death and staying behind. Based on the poll results, I've put together a loose endgame narrative for the next month and a half. It was a three-way tie on what kind of Star Gate to have, so as a tiebreaker I'm going with space-based Star Gate because it fits in more neatly with the rest of the poll results. People near-unanimously voted for uniting the factions and hijacking/stealing the Star Gate, and WOW a surprising number of you guys are down for killing your characters or trapping them on Barrayar. And as for the DNA plot, the majority voted for the destruction of the samples, although this option does not preclude exposing Sei. Anyway, here's roughly what I've come up with:
In the aftermath of the bombing of Vorkosigan Vashnoi, Piotr turns his efforts to the outsiders, partly because it's where the Cetagandans' efforts are focused as well, and they already have nuclear weapons and clearly aren't afraid of using them -- they don't need a portal to other worlds on top of that. But the outsiders have risked life and limb for the Barrayaran cause, and Piotr is a man of honor, so he'd rather see the outsiders make it home than not. If they fail, he'll settle for simply destroying the Star Gate -- but that's Plan B. Right now, Piotr is consolidating his intelligence assets by revealing his informants' identities to one another and ordering that they make contact with Micah, as well as start vetting the other outsiders on their side for inclusion in their operation. Any outsiders on that side deserve the chance to make it home too, but they can't risk tipping off the Cetagandans to what they're planning. Micah, too, will be trying to quietly to spread the word to PCs. Piotr is going to try to broaden his intelligence network as they run down to the wire on time and get as many points of contact as possible and keep correspondence going.
June I: Planning phase. Missions during this event will be centered on reconnaissance and strategy, designing a plan to infiltrate the Cetagandan base with all of the outsiders in tow, rendezvous with the other side, and board the Star Gate ship so they can take hijack it and head for the wormhole. This will be even riskier than their last mission, as the base will have since received reinforcements and restored power. Communication between the two sides will be vital during this time. Plans (however loosely you want to use that term) to destroy the gene samples should be solidified by the end of this round, at least OOCly.
June II: Action phase. They put their plan into action and infiltrate with the base, and will have to take countermeasures to ensure that they don't alert security, and to ensure that the Cetagandans can't follow or shoot them down -- or at the very least, buy themselves a big head start. If you want your character to die, you'll have to decide for the event signups for this round. Ditto for your character missing the opportunity to catch the ride on the Star Gate ship. This will also be the opportunity for the exotics to destroy the gene samples before they leave.
July I: Final phase. This will be kind of a downtime/wind down event for CR wrap-up and such. They'll be in space, headed for the collapsed wormhole, and they'll have to deal with some obstacle or another that prevents them from using the Star Gate right away. They'll be able to start sending people through the Star Gate by the end of the round. If you want your character to somehow die last minute or miss their last chance to go through the Star Gate, you'll have to decide for the event signups for this round. After this, whoever remains on the ship with the NPCs will have to find a way to get back to Barrayar and destroy the Star Gate before the Cetagandans can take it back. Depending on how many people are left behind, there might be a sort of mini bonus round to wrap up things for them.
This is just a loose outline -- don't worry, there will be plenty of room for things to go wrong. And now I'd like to talk about character death and people staying behind!
The possibility of a SEQUEL GAME in the indeterminate future has been tossed around for a few months and there's been some considerable interest expressed in one. The concept for the maybe-sequel would be set during the next war on Barrayar, which is, in a fun twist, a civil war to overthrow the then-Emperor Yuri. This game would see the return of the loyalty system and the mission-based format, although it'd be a little different because there would only be one faction, and the plot would demand that the PCs actually help end the war. Most of the Barrayaran NPC cast would return too, with the notable exception of Olivia, who will have died in the massacre that sparked the war. Returning CRAUs from this game could carry over some of their LP, and I think I'd run a longer game next time, something more like 8-12 months. This war takes place roughly 15 years after the events of For Barrayar, which is where considerations for characters who stay behind come in.
After everyone goes home, in theory, time proceeds as normal, which means, for this hypothetical maybe-sequel game, any characters who stayed behind would age with the years just like everyone else. That means if your character stays behind, and you bring them back for the maybe-sequel, they’ll have aged about 15 years. And as far as character deaths go – I try to keep 4B's setting as grounded in consistent internal logic as possible, and this is a game about consequences, and permadeath is a big part of that. PCs who die in this game stay dead; they'll be buried and honored with death offerings like anyone else (unless you're someone like Tarn, in which case, good luck getting anyone to mourn your villainous ass). It's something I'm reluctant to mess with without a good internally consistent explanation, and I don't have any solid plot premise for this maybe-sequel at this point, so it's hard to pull any ideas out of my ass on this just yet. I want permadeath to carry over to the maybe-sequel; however, I feel a little :/ about players contemplating character death being beholden to the consequences in a game that might or might not happen in the future. I'm not sure if it's totally fair.
That said, if your interest in killing off your character is to end their arc and have that be it, or if you don't think you'd want to bring them back to this setting for a maybe-sequel, then by all means, go all out on character death. And nobody has to decide right now, but since I'd have to think of a non-world break-y way to justify bringing back dead characters, if you're thinking about killing off your character at the end of the game, consider if you'd like them to be able to come back for a potential sequel. I want you all to reach for the stars and fulfill your heart's deepest RP desires, but I also don't want it to come at the expense of future fun. And if you'd like to make it ambiguous somehow, I'm sure I can find a way to help you with that. That said, in this very hypothetical maybe-sequel, if you wanted to app a fresh version of your dead character – as in, not a CRAU – that's totally fair game. The only permadead characters are the ones who die on Barrayar.
Bottom line: as always, your fun is the top priority to me, and I don't want to throw a wrench in any plans, but it's just something to think about if you're thinking about your character staying behind, either alive or dead. Playing a decade and a half aged character in a potential future game could be a lot of fun, especially since they'd have aged alongside the NPCs and gone through the rest of the war (still another ten years of that, by the way). This maybe-sequel is entirely contingent on whether or not I can come up with a plot that's at least as interesting and engaging as 4B's (which is looking like a challenge), but if I can, I really do want to run it. So these are just some things to keep in mind while you contemplate how you'd like things to go for your character in endgame. And as always, regardless of how the dice fall, character death is ALWAYS 100% at the discretion of the player. Unless you really want me to roll for it.
I know this is a big chunk o' mod post to digest, but please feel free to leave questions and comments below, because I'd like to hear back from you folks on any and all of the above. And if you'd rather contact me privately, you can always hit up the mod feedback post (comments are screened) or PP me at![[plurk.com profile]](https://plurk.com/favicon.ico)
runawayballista.
In the aftermath of the bombing of Vorkosigan Vashnoi, Piotr turns his efforts to the outsiders, partly because it's where the Cetagandans' efforts are focused as well, and they already have nuclear weapons and clearly aren't afraid of using them -- they don't need a portal to other worlds on top of that. But the outsiders have risked life and limb for the Barrayaran cause, and Piotr is a man of honor, so he'd rather see the outsiders make it home than not. If they fail, he'll settle for simply destroying the Star Gate -- but that's Plan B. Right now, Piotr is consolidating his intelligence assets by revealing his informants' identities to one another and ordering that they make contact with Micah, as well as start vetting the other outsiders on their side for inclusion in their operation. Any outsiders on that side deserve the chance to make it home too, but they can't risk tipping off the Cetagandans to what they're planning. Micah, too, will be trying to quietly to spread the word to PCs. Piotr is going to try to broaden his intelligence network as they run down to the wire on time and get as many points of contact as possible and keep correspondence going.
June I: Planning phase. Missions during this event will be centered on reconnaissance and strategy, designing a plan to infiltrate the Cetagandan base with all of the outsiders in tow, rendezvous with the other side, and board the Star Gate ship so they can take hijack it and head for the wormhole. This will be even riskier than their last mission, as the base will have since received reinforcements and restored power. Communication between the two sides will be vital during this time. Plans (however loosely you want to use that term) to destroy the gene samples should be solidified by the end of this round, at least OOCly.
June II: Action phase. They put their plan into action and infiltrate with the base, and will have to take countermeasures to ensure that they don't alert security, and to ensure that the Cetagandans can't follow or shoot them down -- or at the very least, buy themselves a big head start. If you want your character to die, you'll have to decide for the event signups for this round. Ditto for your character missing the opportunity to catch the ride on the Star Gate ship. This will also be the opportunity for the exotics to destroy the gene samples before they leave.
July I: Final phase. This will be kind of a downtime/wind down event for CR wrap-up and such. They'll be in space, headed for the collapsed wormhole, and they'll have to deal with some obstacle or another that prevents them from using the Star Gate right away. They'll be able to start sending people through the Star Gate by the end of the round. If you want your character to somehow die last minute or miss their last chance to go through the Star Gate, you'll have to decide for the event signups for this round. After this, whoever remains on the ship with the NPCs will have to find a way to get back to Barrayar and destroy the Star Gate before the Cetagandans can take it back. Depending on how many people are left behind, there might be a sort of mini bonus round to wrap up things for them.
This is just a loose outline -- don't worry, there will be plenty of room for things to go wrong. And now I'd like to talk about character death and people staying behind!
The possibility of a SEQUEL GAME in the indeterminate future has been tossed around for a few months and there's been some considerable interest expressed in one. The concept for the maybe-sequel would be set during the next war on Barrayar, which is, in a fun twist, a civil war to overthrow the then-Emperor Yuri. This game would see the return of the loyalty system and the mission-based format, although it'd be a little different because there would only be one faction, and the plot would demand that the PCs actually help end the war. Most of the Barrayaran NPC cast would return too, with the notable exception of Olivia, who will have died in the massacre that sparked the war. Returning CRAUs from this game could carry over some of their LP, and I think I'd run a longer game next time, something more like 8-12 months. This war takes place roughly 15 years after the events of For Barrayar, which is where considerations for characters who stay behind come in.
After everyone goes home, in theory, time proceeds as normal, which means, for this hypothetical maybe-sequel game, any characters who stayed behind would age with the years just like everyone else. That means if your character stays behind, and you bring them back for the maybe-sequel, they’ll have aged about 15 years. And as far as character deaths go – I try to keep 4B's setting as grounded in consistent internal logic as possible, and this is a game about consequences, and permadeath is a big part of that. PCs who die in this game stay dead; they'll be buried and honored with death offerings like anyone else (unless you're someone like Tarn, in which case, good luck getting anyone to mourn your villainous ass). It's something I'm reluctant to mess with without a good internally consistent explanation, and I don't have any solid plot premise for this maybe-sequel at this point, so it's hard to pull any ideas out of my ass on this just yet. I want permadeath to carry over to the maybe-sequel; however, I feel a little :/ about players contemplating character death being beholden to the consequences in a game that might or might not happen in the future. I'm not sure if it's totally fair.
That said, if your interest in killing off your character is to end their arc and have that be it, or if you don't think you'd want to bring them back to this setting for a maybe-sequel, then by all means, go all out on character death. And nobody has to decide right now, but since I'd have to think of a non-world break-y way to justify bringing back dead characters, if you're thinking about killing off your character at the end of the game, consider if you'd like them to be able to come back for a potential sequel. I want you all to reach for the stars and fulfill your heart's deepest RP desires, but I also don't want it to come at the expense of future fun. And if you'd like to make it ambiguous somehow, I'm sure I can find a way to help you with that. That said, in this very hypothetical maybe-sequel, if you wanted to app a fresh version of your dead character – as in, not a CRAU – that's totally fair game. The only permadead characters are the ones who die on Barrayar.
Bottom line: as always, your fun is the top priority to me, and I don't want to throw a wrench in any plans, but it's just something to think about if you're thinking about your character staying behind, either alive or dead. Playing a decade and a half aged character in a potential future game could be a lot of fun, especially since they'd have aged alongside the NPCs and gone through the rest of the war (still another ten years of that, by the way). This maybe-sequel is entirely contingent on whether or not I can come up with a plot that's at least as interesting and engaging as 4B's (which is looking like a challenge), but if I can, I really do want to run it. So these are just some things to keep in mind while you contemplate how you'd like things to go for your character in endgame. And as always, regardless of how the dice fall, character death is ALWAYS 100% at the discretion of the player. Unless you really want me to roll for it.
I know this is a big chunk o' mod post to digest, but please feel free to leave questions and comments below, because I'd like to hear back from you folks on any and all of the above. And if you'd rather contact me privately, you can always hit up the mod feedback post (comments are screened) or PP me at