So, I thought I had a plan for this, and then I realized I didn't. I mean, ultimately the plan is to have a nice clean choose-your-own-adventure-type thing that I can hopefully translate into verbal storytelling to try and rope in people who are utterly unfamiliar with the prospect of role-playing. What I'm having trouble with is coming up with the means to that end lol. So I'm going to enlist your guys' help in trying to come up with a story that will hopefully rope people in, not scare them away, etc. Once you guys help me come up with a good starting-off point, then I'll give it a test run here : )
b.t.dubs, I totally got my inspiration from
RubyQuest, and will probably aim towards that type of atmosphere (which, for anyone who doesn't feel like reading through that [ALTHOUGH YOU SHOULD CAUSE IT'S AWSUM], the atmosphere starts off as innocent and cute and slowly descends into the downright mind****ery of creepiness that just might make you shit bricks).
Anyhoo, present thoughts:
Setting I'm kind of at a loss for. Wherever the story takes place, the goal will be to explore the setting as much as possible, either because we're trying to escape, or because we're looking for something, or quite possibly both. Some ideas I've toyed with:
1. Modern day, a cave out in the woods turns out to be a place where stereotypically creepy pagan things seem to have happened. Depending on how receiving a General Audience might be (remember, I want to eventually aim this towards the Average Joe who happens to attend college), it's possible that this will lead to contact with some form of fae, some of which will be likeable and helpful, and some of which will be aggravating and counterproductive, and some of which will be utterly malevolent and creepy.
2. Some unknown date at an unknown place that we wake up in and have to get out of. This kind of covers a few, mostly like a fantasy castle place (a la Ico) or a sciency possibly testing facility (a la RubyQuest). I'm not sure if I want to go the route of 'oh, start out here with little to no explanation, and try and get out (a la Portal),' cause that seems rather often done. Then again, there may well be a reason that the hook is tried and true, eh? Not sure. Would appreciate feedback on this approach, and also what setting would be best for it. I'm torn as to how much I should resemble Portal, because on the one hand, Average Joe might feel more comfortable if he kinda recognizes the motifs, but on the other hand, it would be hard to be very original with it (and I wouldn't be able to pass up the temptation of getting to roleplay GLaDOS, lol). So, yeah, I'd appreciate your guys' thoughts on this.
3. Modern day, some Haunted Mansion type thing (a la Fatal Frame). Obviously ghosts and the like would be involved. Also seems decently comfortable subject matter for Average Joe College Student to feel comfortable interacting with, but I think it's my least-favorite option. Cause, I dunno, I'm just not very big on ghosts. I do have to consider it though, cause, like I just said, General Audience is the least likely to be scared away by weirdness in this one, I think.
4. Outright Fantasy, possibly resembling dungeoncrawling, except more flavor and puzzle solving and less slashing monsters. In fact, no matter what setting I put this in, the main character is going to have definite incapabilities, probably including and not limited to an inability to do anything about a hungry monster who wants to eat him/her (unless there's some puzzly solution nearby ^_~)
5. Blatant Zelda Ripoff. Similar thoughts as to what I said pertaining to Portal earlier; it'd give Average Joe something to feel familiar with, and it would give me a spring-board to leap from, with plenty of flavor and atmosphere to steal for funzies. Like, I am notedly tempted to just go ahead and name the character people end up controlling "Link." I've ever considered doing that if the setting isn't very Zelda-like, because let's face it, no matter
what setting I'm in, I will most likely end up making it feel like a Zelda game.
So, I guess, those options aren't all exactly mutually-exclusive, but I had to organize it somehow. *shrug*
Anyhoo, as for the main character I'm thinking it will be a young teen, like 14, haven't decided on gender yet. Do you think Average Joe/Janet will care whether the main character is their gender or the other? Basic personality either way will probably be curious and feisty, and then obviously whatever eccentricities the audience collectively gives the main character. Name will likely depend on gender, and also your guys' thoughts on just going ahead and naming the character Link either way. Like I said, I'm tempted lol.
Storyline I have also (gasp) not decided about. Toying with the idea of a younger sibling (I'm leaning towards brother for some reason) having gone missing, and main character heading out to look for her/him. Then there's the (arguably cop-out) "we don't need explanation; you wake up here! Find your way out!" (which... knowing me, I'll still have to come up with a reason we wake up there, cause I'm anal-retentive like that).
Soooo, I think that's about it. Biggest thing is what sort of setting to have and how blatantly to rip off Zelda and/or Portal and/or Ico and/or RubyQuest (all of which are certainly putting a lot of inspiration into this). Share your thoughts with me, my minions, and then we shall have an RP : )
