Rekki Looks Sublime in a Subligar member is offline
the little samurai
Joined: Jul 2006 Gender: Female Posts: 64 Location: San d'Oria
Villain of the Month Club « Thread Started on Nov 5, 2007, 3:16am »
So, it's not technically just "villain of the month", but a better translation of that catchy phrase would be more "story of the month," or even "problem of the month."
The idea has yet to actually be done for real in any linkshell that I know of, but the premise we thought up over on Phoenix lately, is that:
1) Most people have a personal story, which revolves around a personal conflict, that they'd like to have developed at some point and especially publicly on the linkshell.
2) It helps when someone else role-plays your villain - or antagonist - or cranky mother - or insane moogle - or random barkeeper while you're on an investigation. This prevents you RPing with yourself and feeling stupid.
3) Therefore, it stands to reason, that one could create a "villain of the month" to incorporate not just one storyline but a few or all storylines that might tie in to it... and one of the sackholders can then roleplay out this villain for the interested parties. I'd recommend the interested parties sign up for it somewhere on the forum.
An example: On Phoenix right now, Rekki is a guest-star (even though she's housed on Garuda and isn't there for real). Via LS, I run her around as an NPC in different cities picking up the trail of an actual player-character called Kian, who is on the run from the Empire after botching up as a Blue Mage. I play Rekki the NPC as a way to encourage his LS-mates to interact with Kian's storyline.
We decided to do this because Kian is without-a-pearl "in character" because he lost his pearl when escaping, and Rekki has his pearl after they found it and told her to hunt him down. This creates an interesting and involved dynamic for the whole linkshell. Some are searching with Rekki, some are wary of her, and Kian is both avoiding and interested in her for various sub-plotty reasons. Taking up this role has expanded Kian's storyline into the linkshell and let everyone interact with it on their terms. This is one way to do Villain of the Month.
Example 2: One character created a tarutaru puppetmaster who randomly attacks various linkshell members to test them out. (With their OOC permission of course.) This puppetmaster is a scientist who is looking for certain people he can use to further his nefarious plots to overthrow civilization -- or whatever his Dr. Evil plans are -- we /still/ dont know yet and that's half the fun.
Example 3: You can also have big-view linkshell or societal problems, political rival linkshell factions, or some other mental or strategic problem where you don't need "a villain" per se, but you do need several NPCs to interact with along the way to solving that problem. Such as the linkshell needs new headquarters and doesn't have enough money. Or a political faction is trying to shut down the linkshell seeing it as a threat. The linkshell gets involved in a war... etc etc.
There are millions of possibilities. I'm curious if any other sackholders would be interested in hosting this along with me? I would also be using the GM system in any battle type conflicts when I do this.
Re: Villain of the Month Club « Reply #1 on Nov 5, 2007, 12:33pm »
This is intriguing. If people are interested in bringing in "NPCs", it could be fun. I would be willing to try taking on a roll for someone to interact with.
In the instances where you did it, how did you indicate that you were speaking as an NPC rather than as your PC? A simple method I can see would be to add the name at the beginning of the chat line something like this
Renardine: [Baron von Badass] Ha ha! We meet again, but this time the advantage is mine!
One piece of advice I would put out is really hash out your goals with the person playing your NPC. What are the important aspects of the character? Are there specific actions you will expect them to take? How much autonomy do they have in how they play the NPC? If you both understand this going in, you're more likely to have a satisfactory interaction.
Rekki Looks Sublime in a Subligar member is offline
the little samurai
Joined: Jul 2006 Gender: Female Posts: 64 Location: San d'Oria
Re: Villain of the Month Club « Reply #3 on Nov 5, 2007, 5:45pm »
Phoenix LS doesn't use sound-only, so they use world-style LS rules. You can do the following on their LS, which helps develop NPC interactions a ton:
<Rekki> I'm bored. --Standard normal RP when you're on Rekki and you're your character.--
<Rekki><Moirean> I'm bored. --Standard RP style for indicating you are on your other character. Just throw their <> in front of yours.
<Rekki> [She moves across the room and grabs the man's katana, staring into his eyes in a showdown.] --Standard for describing any actions that your character takes. Some people prefer :: :: or * * as well.
I thought I'd get really confused by this, but I didn't and in fact it opened up huge potentials for RP interaction because you were suddenly not limited to your location, your thoughts and your voice. So the whole Villain of the Month seemed to come from this method of RP, since once you opened yourself up to <Rekki><Moirean>... and the like, it just evolved from there.
Re: Villain of the Month Club « Reply #4 on Nov 5, 2007, 5:46pm »
Oh, nice idea! Though I wouldn't say Alca has a personal conflict, he just needs to toughen up a bit, but I'd gladly help out with anyone else's stories!
Rekki Looks Sublime in a Subligar member is offline
the little samurai
Joined: Jul 2006 Gender: Female Posts: 64 Location: San d'Oria
Re: Villain of the Month Club « Reply #5 on Nov 5, 2007, 8:29pm »
If Alca needs to "toughen up a bit," this is also a perfect example of how it can be achieved. Alca meets with me OOC to discuss some ideas that we toss around like maybe he 1) encounters and NPC bully then 2) encounters a benevolent mentor who can help him learn to be stronger and/or 3) re-encounters said bully to take him on again.
I'm totally just tossing out random ideas here -- this is just a "what if" scenario, but I'm using it to illustrate how versatile "villain of the month" can be. ^_^
Re: Villain of the Month Club « Reply #6 on Nov 6, 2007, 10:39am »
^^ Liking this more and more. And I can give you my MSN if you want to talk there, seeming we're not on the same server and all, or we could just wait till December when you are.
Rekki Looks Sublime in a Subligar member is offline
the little samurai
Joined: Jul 2006 Gender: Female Posts: 64 Location: San d'Oria
Re: Villain of the Month Club « Reply #7 on Nov 7, 2007, 5:55pm »
Since my return is only about 3 more weeks away, feel free to just (private message) PM me here on the forum. I'll be happy to think up some ideas for you. I'm also on the LS frequently as Widdershins, my secondary account character.
That goes for anyone else interested. I'm a big fan of "work out all the details in /tell" and not letting anyone feel out of control of their own storyline. So if you want something planned, just PM me and let me know!
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