[Recruiting] Stephen King Dark Tower-based 1-shot

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ClosedBlack Tower HackPrivate5 / weekBeardHare
"The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed."

That's the first line of Stephen King's The Dark Tower series - and that's where you'll find yourself. A ka-tet of gunslingers, following a man in black as he flees across the desert...

We'll be using is The Black Tower Hack, a work-in-progress (WIP) hack of The Black Hack by Coffee All Night Games inspired by - and entirely legally totally distinct from - the worlds written by Stephen King, particularly in King's The Dark Tower series.

There won't be any racism, sexism, anti-LGBTQIA+ sentiment, ableism (including things like using slurs around intellectual ability such as 'stupid' or 'idiot'), body-shaming, and so on (King has a lot of awful fat-shaming, cultural appropriation, ableism in his writing) - and we'll use a Lines and Veils document and The X Card to try and make sure the horrors we experience in the game are of the kind that everyone enjoys, and not ones that make people feel unsafe.

We will play a short scenario. This is only the third game I try running PbP so I want to keep things contained and limited while I'm learning. I'm guessing the game might last 4-6 months.


Nov 17, 2023 9:36 am
✅ The Game System: The Black Tower Hack
The Black Tower Hack is a work-in-progress (WIP) hack of The Black Hack by Coffee All Night Games inspired by - and entirely legally totally distinct from - the universe written by Stephen King, particularly in King's The Dark Tower series.

Coffee All Night Games is happy for us to use their current Google Doc WIP rules - I find them concise and elegant.

✅ The Story
You will play as a ka-tet of Gunslingers - and as I expect many fans of The Dark Tower would hope, action will kick off as "the man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger[s] followed" (to slightly adapt the first sentence of The Gunslinger).

✅ The World, The Tone, and Safety Tools
The game will be a a gonzo horror post-apocalyptic multi-universe western.

The world is inspired by that of The Dark Tower - but it's also our own creation. In our version of the world, though, unlike that depicted by Stephen King, there isn't going to be any racism, sexism, anti-LGBTQIA+ sentiment, ableism (including things like using slurs around intellectual ability such as 'stupid' or 'idiot'), body-shaming, and so on (King has a lot of awful fat-shaming, cultural appropriation, ableism in his writing). Don't worry, there will still be plenty of horrible things going on. But I see and experience enough of these kinds of things around me IRL, I don't want them in the games I play.

We will integrate similar needs from all players through a shared open Lines and Veils document. We will also be playing with the X-Card - any player at any time can X any content, and this will be immediately removed from the game without any questions about why it's being removed - the only questions you might get will be ones to clarify what specific content is being removed from the game.

✅ Game Length and Posting
We will play a short scenario. This is only the second game I try running PbP so I want to keep things contained and limited while I'm learning. I'm guessing the game might last 4-6 months.

I'd be looking for 5 posts a week.

I'll run this as a Public game.

✅ Who can Join?
Everyone - no expectation that anyone has any familiarity with the rules. I'd like a mix of Dark Tower big fans, and people who maybe don't know much about the world but are intrigued. Would be looking for 4 or 5 players.

✅ Technology
Coffee All Night Games has made a Character Keeper in Google Sheets - we'd use that for our character sheet. We'd use the GP character sheet just to have a character name and a portrait for posting in the GP forums.

✅ Recruitment
To apply, post to this thread. I'll aim to pick a group that has a mix of experience with The Dark Tower, and of experience with PbP/GamersPlane

Ping @bowlofspinach @therecusant @Aegis @Smiley @Adrasthea @microtheMacroBear @DragonDweller62 (those of you who responded to the Interest thread I posted yesterday)

✅ Questions?
Please ping me with any questions!
Last edited November 17, 2023 11:18 am
Nov 17, 2023 10:54 am
HUGE fan of the series, reread every now and again- would love to check this out if you have room.
Nov 17, 2023 11:14 am
Hello! Count me! Love the Dark Tower series and would totally be part of a ka-tet

I'm relatively new to PBP, but I'm in a couple of games on here and I'm getting the hang of it.

Like I posted in the interest thread, I haven't played the Black Hack, but I'm willing to learn.
Last edited November 17, 2023 11:19 am
Nov 17, 2023 8:05 pm
Ah, sounds great you two - let's see if we get any more people who'd like to join. Ideally I'd have 3-4 players.
Nov 17, 2023 8:23 pm
Thanks GM. I’ve read many of the Dark Tower novels, but not all of them. I especially enjoyed the weird west trope. I’ve been on GP for a few years. I’d like to part of your ka-tet, but if you have more players than you can handle, I’d be happy to drop to a standby list to give others a chance.

I don’t know the system but, hey, its OSR, right? What more do you need to know?

Thanks
Nov 17, 2023 8:30 pm
Thanks for the ping, I'm glad to be considered! That all sounds great to me, especially the move for more inclusivity and safety tools. Like others here, I'm a huge King fan who would be pretty new to The Black Hack but comfortable with OSR stuff.
Last edited November 17, 2023 8:30 pm
Nov 17, 2023 10:10 pm
I throw my hat in the ring as well. I love King, but haven't played Black Hack yet. I always try to be consistent, however sometimes I get stuck at work and then I might not be able to post five times per week. If this is too much trouble, please consider someone else to play instead.

I think the idea is great, though! More SK themed games, please! ;)
Nov 17, 2023 10:16 pm
Quote:
I think the idea is great, though! More SK themed games, please! ;)
Do I need to pick up work on my It-flavored game idea again 🤔😅
Nov 18, 2023 3:19 pm
bowlofspinach says:
Quote:
I think the idea is great, though! More SK themed games, please! ;)
Do I need to pick up work on my It-flavored game idea again 🤔😅
Most definitely! I'll play and I can promise you'll float too! 🎈
Nov 18, 2023 8:19 pm
I'll leave this thread open a day or two more to see if there's anyone else who'd like to join.
Nov 19, 2023 9:11 am
This Ka-Tet full up? I have an interesting idea.
Nov 20, 2023 12:46 pm
Great to see the interest in the game :)

Still happy to get any expressions of interest as posts to this thread - keen to get a diverse group (in terms of PbP/GP experience, and familiarity with The Dark Tower).

I want to get the Character Keeper ready, prepare some initial forum posts, sort a Lines and Veils document, and then hopefully send invitations in the next few days. I am, though, running a training course the rest of this week (full days, on location) and that might mean I don't have the spoons to sort that all out this week. I'll keep you posted.
Nov 25, 2023 5:38 pm
Was away for work last week and it was very full on - so only today finished my prep for Session 0 of "The Black Tower Hack". Sorry for the delay - hope you're still excited to play!

Was thinking of 3-4 players, and there are 6 expressions of interest here. I've decided to send invitations to the first five who expressed interest - and if several people drop out, I'll reach out to people who've expressed interest but aren't in the game. If this goes well, I'd be excited to run more games in the system in the future.

Here's the link to the Game Page. We'll play it as an Public rather than a Private game.
Nov 25, 2023 6:06 pm
Got 3 invites but am not on the games page. Guessing I did not make the cut- if someone drops out still interested.
Nov 25, 2023 6:26 pm
Ah, no, sorry, @SenorDeebs, that was my browser being slow, me pressing the "invite" button lots of times and there then suddenly being like 5 invitations to you. I'll try and send you another one now. Sorry for the confusion!
Dec 1, 2023 7:21 pm
Hey. Sorry to disappear like that. Holidays and real life threw me for a loop. Is it too late for me to get in? If so, I totally understand.

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