Dec 26, 2023 11:05 am
✅ Short Pitch
Recruiting new players for a short science fiction game where you are a crew of a starship who escaped together from prison, and travel around smuggling, moving cargo, generally doing things you're not supposed to.
We have two players (@RageRed and @timplausible) and are looking for two, maybe three, more players.
The ship is fast and shiny. The game system is a PbTA called Starscape that is currently in beta.
Important things to note are:
Starscape is all about how the crew feel about themselves, each other, and how much they trust each other - you can do all kinds of cool science fictiony stuff but the PbtA moves are mostly about how you're feeling. So this is a game aimed at people who care most about building/changing relationships rather than action.
As a player and GM, my big pleasure playing TTRPGs is co-creating an exciting world and story collaboratively with others - so I want an open, positive, constructive approach to playing from all players. All about "Yes, and" rather than "No, but". We don't criticise each other or the ideas in the game unless someone does something against the rules, against the safety tools we put in place, or is egregiously awful (racism, ableism, sexism, anti-LGBTIQA+ attitudes etc).
Post below if you'd be interested to join us!
✅ What's happened already in setting up the game
We previously recruited for this game in November via this thread.
Together we built a starship and PCs. Several players have left the game, two players have stayed with the PCs they built already.
We would like to add two more players to the game. New players will do full character creation for their PCs, while RageRed and timplausible (the two players who want to continue with the game) will stick with the PCs they have already built.
We will also stick with the starship ("The Ballerina") that was already built for the game.
Once you have your PCs built, we'll build together some shared lore about the relationships within the crew, and details of a recent adventure you all experienced together. And then we'll start the action :)
Here's the page for the game here on GamersPlane.
✅ The Game System and Rules Version.
Starscape is currently version Beta 4.0 and is pay-what-you-want. It is a medium-complexity PbtA system that "focuses on the ebb and flow of trust and the dynamic relationships that form between a crew as they explore the stars. It is a found family game that is ideal for stories that focus on a small number of main characters who agree on a central goal, such as in Star Trek, Farscape, or Firefly."
You can tell all kinds of one-ship-focused science fiction stories using Starscape - but the rules and the core of the 'action' focus on how PCs feel about each other, how they trust each other, how these things change given what they encounter. As such there are no hit-points, PC death is always a choice made by the person running that character, and this is not for combat simulation.
✅ The Pitch.
You're a crew of smugglers on the cargo ship "The Ballerina". You met in prison, escaped together, got your hands on The Ballerina, and make a (dis)honest living together.
Travel is by jumps once far enough from a big gravity well e.g. a star, with impulse drive to reach such distances (think the way travel works in the original Elite video game). Lots of non-human species, the ones you encounter/play will be human-sized, able to safely co-exist around humans (just because those are the kind of species most likely to be working together/encountering each other). No transporter technology, no FTL communications technology.
Game tone will be aim to include some drama, some action, but not to take itself too seriously.
You're in the middle of a smuggling run - the hopefully-boring part where you hope to make your way un-noticed through to your destination. Maybe it'll be uneventful this time. OR MAYBE NOT?!
I guess we're gonna have to play to find out...!
✅ Safety tools.
Extremely important to me that we feel safe and comfortable at the table. To help with that I'll be using two safety tools.
Firstly, the X-Card. At any moment, any player can just say "X-Card" with a short description of the content that is being Xed, and that content will be removed from the game, no questions asked about why, only perhaps some follow-up to understand specifically what is being removed. Players can X content for any reason.
Secondly, Lines and Veils. I'm using the Happy Jacks Google Sheet version of this. In the sheet, indicate any topics that you want restricted or not included in the game, or that you are perhaps particularly excited to see included. Restrictions/exclusion will always trump requests for including content. I'll need all players to fill out the sheet before we begin play.
✅ Character Restrictions.
All PCs will be different Playbooks. Two playbooks ("The Gifted" and "The Unfamiliar") are already in use, but other than that you are free to take any of the other Playbooks. Character Creation is fairly quick, and I've prepared a GamersPlane Custom Character Sheet Snippet to act as a template. You'll need to edit it somewhat, to include Playbook-specific content (moves, connections, background questions, conditions).
Initially we'll build everything except Connections and Personal Directive - these we will fill in collaboratively.
If you want a pre-gen, just let me know the Playbook you want, and I'll make one for you.
✅ Game Duration and Post Frequency.
Aim to run this as a short "one-shot" scenario - my guess is it takes a few months to run though. I have the feeling that 5 posts a week could work well.
I'll run the game "Public" because I might want to share posts with other people outside the game for advice/thoughts on how the game is going (because I'm keen to learn from others about how to run games effectively via PbP).
✅ Specialized Software and Resources.
Planning to only use GamersPlane.
✅ Player Experience Requirements.
Game is open to anyone. I'm keen to play with people who already have experience playing and running games on GP, just because I have little experience myself and think it could be good to have people involved who do have that experience. And space for enthusiastic newcomers too :) Aiming to recruit 2 additional players.
✅ How to Apply.
Reply to this Recruitment thread indicating your interest, any thoughts you have on a Playbook you'd like to go for. I'll pick players based on my feelings about what would work well given the existing PCs, the ship, and your interest in playing a game that's all about feelings and trust in space.
I'll leave this thread/applications open into the beginning of 2024, to give people who are travelling, busy with other things, during this season time to check out GP and this thread.
✅ Welcome Marginalized Groups.
I'm an allocishet middle-aged middle-class white guy who strives to make this game as welcoming and safe as possible for any disabled people, any People of Colour, anyone LGBTQIA+, of any gender, of any neurominority, of any class.
Recruiting new players for a short science fiction game where you are a crew of a starship who escaped together from prison, and travel around smuggling, moving cargo, generally doing things you're not supposed to.
We have two players (@RageRed and @timplausible) and are looking for two, maybe three, more players.
The ship is fast and shiny. The game system is a PbTA called Starscape that is currently in beta.
Important things to note are:
Starscape is all about how the crew feel about themselves, each other, and how much they trust each other - you can do all kinds of cool science fictiony stuff but the PbtA moves are mostly about how you're feeling. So this is a game aimed at people who care most about building/changing relationships rather than action.
As a player and GM, my big pleasure playing TTRPGs is co-creating an exciting world and story collaboratively with others - so I want an open, positive, constructive approach to playing from all players. All about "Yes, and" rather than "No, but". We don't criticise each other or the ideas in the game unless someone does something against the rules, against the safety tools we put in place, or is egregiously awful (racism, ableism, sexism, anti-LGBTIQA+ attitudes etc).
Post below if you'd be interested to join us!
✅ What's happened already in setting up the game
We previously recruited for this game in November via this thread.
Together we built a starship and PCs. Several players have left the game, two players have stayed with the PCs they built already.
We would like to add two more players to the game. New players will do full character creation for their PCs, while RageRed and timplausible (the two players who want to continue with the game) will stick with the PCs they have already built.
We will also stick with the starship ("The Ballerina") that was already built for the game.
Once you have your PCs built, we'll build together some shared lore about the relationships within the crew, and details of a recent adventure you all experienced together. And then we'll start the action :)
Here's the page for the game here on GamersPlane.
✅ The Game System and Rules Version.
Starscape is currently version Beta 4.0 and is pay-what-you-want. It is a medium-complexity PbtA system that "focuses on the ebb and flow of trust and the dynamic relationships that form between a crew as they explore the stars. It is a found family game that is ideal for stories that focus on a small number of main characters who agree on a central goal, such as in Star Trek, Farscape, or Firefly."
You can tell all kinds of one-ship-focused science fiction stories using Starscape - but the rules and the core of the 'action' focus on how PCs feel about each other, how they trust each other, how these things change given what they encounter. As such there are no hit-points, PC death is always a choice made by the person running that character, and this is not for combat simulation.
✅ The Pitch.
You're a crew of smugglers on the cargo ship "The Ballerina". You met in prison, escaped together, got your hands on The Ballerina, and make a (dis)honest living together.
Travel is by jumps once far enough from a big gravity well e.g. a star, with impulse drive to reach such distances (think the way travel works in the original Elite video game). Lots of non-human species, the ones you encounter/play will be human-sized, able to safely co-exist around humans (just because those are the kind of species most likely to be working together/encountering each other). No transporter technology, no FTL communications technology.
Game tone will be aim to include some drama, some action, but not to take itself too seriously.
You're in the middle of a smuggling run - the hopefully-boring part where you hope to make your way un-noticed through to your destination. Maybe it'll be uneventful this time. OR MAYBE NOT?!
I guess we're gonna have to play to find out...!
✅ Safety tools.
Extremely important to me that we feel safe and comfortable at the table. To help with that I'll be using two safety tools.
Firstly, the X-Card. At any moment, any player can just say "X-Card" with a short description of the content that is being Xed, and that content will be removed from the game, no questions asked about why, only perhaps some follow-up to understand specifically what is being removed. Players can X content for any reason.
Secondly, Lines and Veils. I'm using the Happy Jacks Google Sheet version of this. In the sheet, indicate any topics that you want restricted or not included in the game, or that you are perhaps particularly excited to see included. Restrictions/exclusion will always trump requests for including content. I'll need all players to fill out the sheet before we begin play.
✅ Character Restrictions.
All PCs will be different Playbooks. Two playbooks ("The Gifted" and "The Unfamiliar") are already in use, but other than that you are free to take any of the other Playbooks. Character Creation is fairly quick, and I've prepared a GamersPlane Custom Character Sheet Snippet to act as a template. You'll need to edit it somewhat, to include Playbook-specific content (moves, connections, background questions, conditions).
Initially we'll build everything except Connections and Personal Directive - these we will fill in collaboratively.
If you want a pre-gen, just let me know the Playbook you want, and I'll make one for you.
✅ Game Duration and Post Frequency.
Aim to run this as a short "one-shot" scenario - my guess is it takes a few months to run though. I have the feeling that 5 posts a week could work well.
I'll run the game "Public" because I might want to share posts with other people outside the game for advice/thoughts on how the game is going (because I'm keen to learn from others about how to run games effectively via PbP).
✅ Specialized Software and Resources.
Planning to only use GamersPlane.
✅ Player Experience Requirements.
Game is open to anyone. I'm keen to play with people who already have experience playing and running games on GP, just because I have little experience myself and think it could be good to have people involved who do have that experience. And space for enthusiastic newcomers too :) Aiming to recruit 2 additional players.
✅ How to Apply.
Reply to this Recruitment thread indicating your interest, any thoughts you have on a Playbook you'd like to go for. I'll pick players based on my feelings about what would work well given the existing PCs, the ship, and your interest in playing a game that's all about feelings and trust in space.
I'll leave this thread/applications open into the beginning of 2024, to give people who are travelling, busy with other things, during this season time to check out GP and this thread.
✅ Welcome Marginalized Groups.
I'm an allocishet middle-aged middle-class white guy who strives to make this game as welcoming and safe as possible for any disabled people, any People of Colour, anyone LGBTQIA+, of any gender, of any neurominority, of any class.
