enablemeplz | April EMP Meme

April EMP Meme

ENABLEMEPLZ
meme goes up on the Second Saturday of every month
FOR GAME ADS:

➤ Put an ad up with the characters / crew / pairings / fetish you want for your game under the correct game header. This meme is primarily going to be focused on DWRP games but IJ and LJ games are allowed.

➤ PLEASE NOTE A RULE CHANGE HERE. ABSOLUTELY NO obnoxious coding (no font size > size 4 or 3 "big" tags, no oversized banners (they must be 250px in height or less), no blinking text, no obnoxious table html that doesn't collapse easily, no sparklies, no large pictures). Use all the colors you like, but please remember 3 "big" tags is the limit and that's only for headers or title text rather than for all the text in an ad.

FOR GAME QUESTIONS:

➤ RPers interested in a game can create a header for the game and ask questions about that game that aren't easy to find on faqs, such as the actual pace vs. what's listed/what kind of plots are run/if the game leans more towards plotty or slice of life/if a game leans more towards network or logs, etc. Both anon questions and anon answers are welcome in this section just like in the rest of the meme.

➤ This thread is not for speaking about wank or drama in a game. There are anoncomms that exist for that. This thread is specifically for general questions about a game that rpers want to get perspective on from players already in the game. Answers can be slightly negative (such as saying app response is slow or that the plots are repetitive or similar things) but this should at least be worded politely. Unnecessary vitriol, any mention of personal drama or wank, or mod teams/individual mods/players being singled out, will be either frozen or screened (based on what seems right based on the content).

FOR CHARACTER ADS:

➤ Put up an ad about the characters you are offering. For PSL ads, there is a separate subthread but for character ads for games, post directly to the meme post. Others will comment to you with the games/casts they want you to join.

➤ There is a "Find a Castmate" section, where you can talk about a cast you play in at a game, and try to lure people to join it. Not all games post to the meme or have a "wanted" section, so players that want to tempt people to their cast on their own can use this section for it. Please format this the same as the PSL section, where you post your character's canons in your subject. For the actual text of the ad you must use the "Find a Castmate" form provided at the bottom of this post so that these ads don't get huge. When listing who's currently in a cast, please do this in sentence form (with commas) rather than in list form.

➤ There is a "Find Crosscanon" section, where you can talk about a character you play and and desired crosscanon for that character. Please make sure this is not too generalized a search, because just wanting general crosscanon can be accomplished with the other sections of the meme. This is for specific characters or character types you're looking for. In the subject, please list the "Looking for [canon you're looking for]" rather than your character's canon. If looking for a character type, list the character type in as few words as possible. Do not make the subject huge or I'll screen your comment. For the actual text of the ad you must use the "Find Crosscanon" form provided at the bottom of this post so that these ads don't get huge. This section is only for game crosscanon as in the psl section people can list their preferences.

➤ Examples of crosscanon you can search for: You play The Flash from DC Comics and your dream CR is fellow speedster Quicksilver from Marvel. Or you might play a witch and want cr with other witches in general. Or maybe you play a good character messed up by evil parents and want to play against a villain character you know has evil parents, because you know it'd lead to some interesting negative CR.

➤ ABSOLUTELY NO obnoxious coding, with the same rules as the Game Ads Section above.

➤ If you're recommending a game to someone, try to match your suggestion to their needs. It's okay if part of your game rec is copy-pasted (such as what the game's about), but at least some part of the rec must be personalized to their ad. Try not to recommend the same game to every single ad, either. Ad spam that isn't individualized in some way will also be frozen or screened. Keep in mind this needs to be more specific than "this game has easy AC like you're asking for but meets none of your other requirements." Make sure you're advertising games that might click with that specific character, where a few elements fit what they're looking for. You should be thinking about the story reasons of how the character might click with the game.

IN GENERAL:

➤ Don't be a dick. This isn't one of the anoncomms, so any snide comments or unnecessary commentary on the RP plans of others will be frozen or screened.

➤ All mod responses regardless of whether they're rule breaks, correction requests (like someone posting in the wrong section), or thwapping someone for spamming copy-paste ads, have always been and will almost universally be public. If someone sends a PM and the conversation gets combative, this will also be made public and posted to the comments of the mod contact page. This is for the sake of transparency so people can judge the emp mod's communications for fairness themselves.

There are times where the player's post may be screened (such as if they posted to the wrong section) but the mod's response will be left unscreened.

➤ Players may sometimes be allowed more than one strike for copy-paste ads since this is often just enthusiasm behind it, but game mods should know better. They'll get one warning for copy-paste ads, and if they spam anymore copy-paste ads after the warning, they'll be banned from the meme.

MOD CONTACT:

If there's trouble, tell me HERE, please!

RESOURCES:

enablemeplz - The plurk for Enable Me Plz. Follow for monthly, replurkable EMP reminders
DWRP Masterlist - A regularly updated basic list of public DWRP games.

dedoralive - A more detailed listing of DWRP Games.

GAME/AD LINKS:

General Game/Dressing Room Ads Link
- New Games
- Small Games
- Medium/Large Games
- Museboxes/Memes/Dressing Rooms/Misc.
- Game Questions
- Game Start Discussions/Questions

PSL Offerings
Find a Castmate
Find Crosscanon

Latest Page

Textbox for Character Ads (Optional):

Textbox for "Find a Castmate" Ads (Required):

For "Find Crosscanon" Ads (Required):

➤ Important note: IP logging has turned on due to multiple instances past and present of problem players trying to return to the dwrp community via emp after being banned other places, so I'll be IP logging from now on, and will compare notes with the rpa and wg mods (as well as game mods) where appropriate if it seems like someone that has been mass banned. I will not pay attention to IPs otherwise. I don't care what people like playing or who's who. So please feel comfortable to keep doing your thing, anon or otherwise. The knowledge will only be used for really egregious problem cases.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Want to do an interest check to see if people would be interested in a game idea you want to run? Looking for comods to help you start a game? Or do you have questions about possible game mechanics?

Ask questions regarding starting a new game here. Please put the topic of your post (i.e. "looking for comods," or "interest check for a steampunk sci fi game") in the subject of your comment.

(rp account because i can't be bothered switching while i do tags, you all know how it is)

i'd like to run a fallen london game in the future - same setting, new city - and one thing i really can't make a decision about is whether to include the tabletop-style dice roll mechanics for succeeding in certain tasks that are such an integral part of the game, so i'm interested in hearing thoughts from outside my own rp circle!

1) would you personally be interested in a game that utilises "skill check" mechanics to determine the outcome of IC actions? for instance, say your character wanted to break into a house: the mods RNG a number from 1-10, and it has to be above a 5 to succeed. in a "fail" outcome, perhaps the character still gets what they're after, but there are consequences.

does that sound like something you'd find fun or inspiring for rp, or does the idea of your character being able to randomly fail at things put you off?? it definitely wouldn't be something used for every single character action, but for things like plot-related investigations and characters wanting to impact the setting.

2) are stat bonuses something you'd want incorporated? say, when you app to the game, you get to allocate a certain number of skill points into like... stealth, strength, perception, charisma. (perhaps with opportunities to allocate them later, so less capable characters can ICly train in skills?)

e.g. your character breaking into a house up there rolls a 4 on the dice, but they have 2 skill points in stealth, bringing their score to a 6 and letting them succeed.

does that feel like your character is rewarded for their abilities? or is this more complicated than you'd want in an rp game?

SORRY THIS IS SO WORDY!! i know other games have done this before, if anyone has examples of places it's worked or failed in the past, i'd be interested to hear about it! and if you've got any other thoughts about this kind of mechanic, and ways to make sure it's fun instead of tedious, i would love to get some opinions

I never really care for dice rolls determining if characters succeed at things or not, since that has the potential to force them to go OOC very quickly. The stat points could resolve some of those issues, though. That's an intriguing angle. I'm not sure how it would work on apps, though, since maybe some of the categories wouldn't be addressed in canon to know how to put them on an app. Unless the apps would allow a certain amount of headcanon?

yeah, I definitely wouldn't want anyone to feel like they're being forced into situations where they'll be OOC or even just situations that aren't fun to play - though, I think some of that can be mitigated by taking care with what counts as a "failure" just like any good tabletop DM. it's common DM advice that a failed roll should never mean you just say no to your players and stop the game there, which is something that could definitely be employed in this situation too.

as for the stats, I would definitely allow some headcanon/personal interpretation when it comes to allocation! and the stats themselves would be quite broad categories. for instance, a character who is very meek and unassuming could have points put in stealth because they're unnoticeable and it's not likely for them to be suspected of anything, rather than because they have any master thief abilities.

and there's also the option of what I mentioned with like... storing unused points for later, basically? maybe your character isn't good at anything but you want them to learn skills in game, so you've got 10 points to use and you "bank" 6 of them, then have your character learn to pick locks and start adding a few of those reserved points into stealth.

but again my biggest concern is that this would be too finicky and boring in a DWRP game... as a player I like dice roll mechanics a lot! as a mod I don't want my players to feel like I'm adding too many extra elements and rules to their pretendy fun times.

The stats honestly sound super fun! I would probably enjoy figuring them out in an app. I'm still not sure what I think on the dice rolls, but that's a good point about the failed rolls.

Would it be like a jamjar game and people are brought in from other worlds, or would it be meant to be the London of their world (if they're from Earth)?

definitely a jamjar! though it'll be the type of jamjar where I make it clear from the beginning that characters can never return home and have to become part of the setting instead.

I don't think I'd use Fallen London itself, for various reasons, and instead would come up with the next city to take its place, whether that's a real world location or a new fictional place. the canon setting provides a lot of means by which I could make a jamjar happen in fun ways.

I'm not familiar with Fallen London specifically, but I personally LOVE your idea of characters getting to allocate stats at the start in order to keep dice rolls from feeling "IC." If the game had some degree of power nerfing/scaling overpowered characters down to the point where the stats have more bearing on success (instead of their canon overpoweredness) I think that would do a lot to keep it from feeling OOC or unfair!

oh yeah I'm DEFINITELY going to have some power nerfing. because of the nature of the setting, it's really easy for me to provide reasons why some powers and even some natural talents aren't as effective as they used to be. I don't want to completely remove powers but I fully intend to level the playing field a little with power scaling as well as providing long-term avenues for less powered characters to gain new abilities (at some personal cost to themselves, most likely, since a lot of Fallen London is about reshaping yourself in new and horrific ways) so that nobody feels their character is permanently disadvantaged or locked out from aspects of the game.

Hello, this sounds very interesting! I have always wanted to see a successful marriage of TTRPG and DW happen! I think it totally can but I think it needs to use a fiction-first system to work since DW is already very fiction-first with things. I think it would work best if the game stays small in size because the mod(s) will be doing a lot of heavy lifting responding to scenes/situations/questions based on dice outcomes.

Powered By The Apocalypse systems sound very similar to what you're describing. Blades in the Dark for example (which is very close to Fallen London in vibes) uses dots to determine how many dice you're rolling; more dots = more skilled in a thing = more chances to roll a success. Playbooks (classes) have moves but you can "cross-class" very easily taking moves from other playbooks. There's even more fan-made playbooks and hacks over on itch.io. PBTA style games tend to be easy to learn and pick up. The outcomes are also much more narrative/character focused with (full success | partial success (with consequences) | bad outcome) being the options. Even a "bad outcome" can make for a really fun/interesting/exciting scene. It assumes characters are already very skilled and good at what they do and even when they "fail" it's usually because they're in over their heads and not because they aren't competent or OOC for it. The failing forward approach lends itself well to these systems, and I think DWRP by extension.

I think that after players learn your system of choice they could be trusted to govern their own private dice roll outcomes since we kind of do that already, just minus the dice. It would help take some of the weight off the mods so they could focus on event or plot-centric stuff.

A lot of DWRP games use extra activity check threads to give character rewards/special powers/etc so you could offer something similar to gain "experience points" for the characters to get more dots.

My issue has always been how to implement an easy to use dice rolling thing into play. Most people just pull up random.org in another tab which is fine, it works, but that's not always convenient or great for accountability (not that I think that's a pressing issue). Maybe a basic dice rolling script built into dwtools? Or some hybridization using an actual TTRPG system like roll20 or forge or even discord (with dice bots) for "live" sessions at set times and let people thread out things in-between? I don't know if that would be too much of an ask to make people sign up for accounts, too split up, or too much of a time commitment. I guess murder-games work on a similar principal, but that'd be up to you if you want to run it more emphasized in that direction. Either way I think dice + dw is totally doable with some kind of simple stat block modifier + ac rewards or quests or events serving as experience.

ooooh, I'll definitely look into how those more narrative-focused TTRPG systems run for some inspiration, thank you so much for the rec! I don't know that I'll really establish a full system so much as just implement some RNG elements, but Blades in the Dark already looks really really interesting and pretty relevant for DWRP with the emphasis it makes on collaborative judgement calls, so I'm keen to read about it.

I'd definitely leave minor dice rolls to players to decide on their own - players can implement them or not as they so choose, it's still a DWRP game first while borrowing some TTRPG elements to introduce a little variety! my main intention for where dice rolls would be implemented is, like-- players being able to pursue individual character plots/missions that can result in material rewards, furthering a character's personal goals in the game, or contribute to a faction's interests. once they submit the plot request, the mods first state the DC beforehand and then RNG the outcome and describe it to the player -> the player plays out the scenario and is able to submit the thread for reward once it reaches a certain number of comments. to me as a player, one of the biggest appeals of dice rolls and RNG has always been providing me with direction before starting a thread, especially with investigations and exploration.

I was definitely also considering making it possible to increase stats with AC rewards as an option! even if it doesn't end up being used much, since I'm not sure how concerned players would be with their characters' stats when they can get other fun stuff with their AC bonuses instead, I think it's something I would put on the table as a possible choice. and other things too, like one (1) guaranteed success in a dice roll, or a reroll, or a temporary stat boost... depends how heavily the RNG gets incorporated into decision-making, I suppose.

another thing I'm pretty sure I'll implement is that there's a better chance of success when more characters are involved, to encourage plotting with multiple people - maybe the stat bonuses of ALL characters taking part in the plot/mission are added to the dice roll, so say you've got a DC of 15 and you roll a 6, but there are three characters participating and there stat bonuses are +4, +3, and +2 which brings you to a 15.

Yeah! Spicing things up with dice rolls now and then or to give yourself some direction in threads (especially with investigation/exploration!) is really fun, as well as to more numerically contribute to factions or plot/event outcomes.

Maybe it'll help to have players translate their desired character actions/skills into categories (strength, dex, etc) or sub-categories (athletics, stealth, etc) and then base the rolls off those? D&D is pretty intuitive with the whole skill list, but sticking with just basic str/dex/con/wis/int etc or even more simple mind/body/spirit kinds categories that might be easier and offer more flexible narrative wiggle-room.

I like the idea of having a few bonus mechanics someone can expend to make a DC. In Blades there's a mechanic called a "devil's bargain", which is you get an extra dice towards success or effect, but comes with a definitive consequence of some kind that causes trouble (affectionate, derogatory) or raises the stakes. example: you might talk your way out of being thrown in jail but now that police officer will fall in love with you. Or, you land that punch where you want but you'll lose your favorite ring, which might get traced back to you later. Stuff like that is always fun, especially when it comes back to haunt players later.

I don't know how complicated you might want to get with group rolls but you could also offer character relationships towards DC checks? That might be fun and incentivize CR building if you incorporate it into the stat bonuses or bonus mechanics somehow.

Like say a group of 3 characters want to save an animal shelter from being burned down. Two characters are very strong and fast and can move animals in and out. The third is not fast or strong but maybe they did a favor for (or will do a favor for) an NPC or PC to acquire a vehicle to help contribute towards the DC success. Stuff like that?

Judging from the ideas you've shared, I think you've got good ideas here. I'm a longtime Fallen London fan myself (and so are some buds of mine) so there's definite interest!

I definitely like your idea of having players allocate points into the trait/skill categories at the start so characters can stay within their canon parameters. Personally, I like simple RNG elements (I think they're useful for keeping characters fallible) but echoing the sentiment that they're best when used as a creative aid rather than a potential roadblock. I also like the idea of having broad definitions of success and failure. DWRP's used to needing to pick options under an umbrella so I think that can cross over pretty well, just framing things as something already familiar to them.

My main suggestion would be to keep things as simple and intuitive as possible. I also think there should be stat caps in the interest of fair experience in game for everyone. That way characters who are powerful/specialized or weak/unskilled in canon have an equal shot at integrating and developing in the setting without shoving one or another out ot involvement.

Anyway, that's my two cents and I'm excited to hear about this being in the works! Fallen London is such a fun setting and offers so many cool opportunities as a game!

yeah, I 100% agree that as a player, I like RNG elements because it gives me a little direction and mixes things up. it gives me more ideas to chew on for my own threads rather than just "idk my character goes there and does the thing I guess" especially for situations like combat, investigations, exploration, etc. so my intention would always be to use it that way rather than becoming a gatekeeping DM who's like. oops you failed the roll, you get nothing, too bad!

I would aaabsolutely have stat caps, you're right. because the Neath is so fucked, I feel I have a lot of room to implement not just power nerfs but even some restrictions on natural talent - maybe your super strong martial artist character just isn't as strong as he used to be now that he lives in a dark cave and has died at least once and he's cut off from the Sun (and i.e. basically the laws of his own universe, by Neath logic) so his strength stat is still high! it's just not, you know, 10/10 anymore.

my thoughts were everyone gets maybe 10 stat points to assign at the beginning of the game, and players also have the choice to hold onto some of those points and use them later as their character develops, which I think works well for characters who really don't have any special skills yet and could learn new ones. additional stat points could be available as like, event rewards or AC bonuses, with an overall cap if necessary to make sure nobody is crazy OP just because they've been around longer.

a fallen london game sounds DELIGHTFUL to me!! would you be following the general timeline laid out by failbetter games and include content from sunless sea/sunless skies? any chance of having the different factions in-game be factions player characters could affiliate themselves with? (e.g., the masters of the bazaar, queen victoria and/or the ominous princesses, the revolutionaries, etc.)

my thinking was to AU the setting at a point between fallen london and sunless skies - london didn't manage to take to the wilderness, but it's no longer the current city either (and i have a plan for what it's up to as a future location in the game hehe) and the bazaar has acquired a new city which it's using the player characters to populate. i loooove london and i do think it would be fun itself, but a brand new city gives me a little bit of wiggle room in terms of freedom for adding new things to the setting and also not having to worry about every single detail and piece of london lore i might be missing.....

definitely would include sunless seas content, since it would be fun to allow players to travel across the zee at some points! and i have plans for factions to be available, as well as for characters to do little personal plots and missions for their faction to try and further those interests in the neath and affect the outcome of the game :3c

ooooOOOOOoooooh. yes i think that is the right call, esp because there are just SO many bits of esoteric London-specific lore in that game that i think it's impossible for anyone (who isn't also, like, a FBG employee lmfao) to accurately translate it into dwrp. would the newly acquired city be a real-world location like the other cities (e.g., the second city, first city, etc.) or will you be making something up whole cloth? either works, i'm just extremely nosy and keen on this idea lol.

that's the trickiest decision! both definitely have their merits, and i think it's probably easier for me to make up a new city whole cloth - if i picked an existing real world city to give the neath treatment, i'd have to do a LOT of research and be very familiar with both its geography and culture in order to twist it. which i'm not opposed to! it limits me a little more, but it can be interesting.

currently i've been rolling with making up a fictional city from scratch, with the in-game explanation that the bazaar itself is making a last-ditch effort to succeed in its mission and picking a place from another world, after every earth city has been such a catastrophic failure lol. most of the work before i can get the game off the ground will probably be building this new setting from scratch in as much detail as i can, because i don't want to lose out on the charm that you get from using a real world location... my biggest worry is just ending up with Generic DWRP City Setting so i have to ponder a lot about things like the architecture and technology and etc. to make something that i feel confident will be Fun and Interesting to play with

I played in a game like this once and it was amazing. Dice rolls are super fun to incorporate into rp I think if it’s used judiciously. like not for major plot outcomes and such imo but just for fun little flavor bits.

can I ask what kinds of things they were used for that you found fun? I definitely agree that major plot outcomes should be a result of player effort, not RNG, but I'm interested in what other areas I might be able to implement them other than the idea I discussed above with personal character plots/missions.

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April EMP Meme

GAME START DISCUSSIONS/QUESTIONS

dice roll/difficulty check mechanics

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