Round Robin Interest Check

So I've been wanting to participate in a different kind of game, and I figured I'd check to see if there's any interest for it.

The main concept of the game is that it'd be a Round Robin style. For anyone unfamiliar, this means that the GM switches every now and then, and all players are, at some point, GMs instead. The twist to this is that the game would center around characters stuck in a time loop, a la Groundhog Day, where the day repeats itself. If you didn't guess it, the GM position would switch to a different player at the start of each new repeated day. Different things can happen during the day---it doesn't repeat exactly the same each time---and the GM can find reasons to take his character out of the action for the in-game day that he's GMing, if he wants to.

Originally, I wanted to run this with superheroes using the Mutants & Masterminds system. A couple problems with that, though. 1) The system isn't on GP, 2) I'm only somewhat familiar with M&M 2e, and it's pretty clunky, and 3) the better 3rd edition is one that I'm not familiar with. I have it, and I could learn it, though.

But the concept could be run in a multitude of game systems; D&D 5e, World of Darkness (mortals), FATE Core, FFG Star Wars (maybe not in a Star Wars setting) just to name a few. The issue is that it'd need 4-6 people that would all need to be comfortable DMing the same system, hence the purpose of this thread. Also, GMing anything that involves weird time stuff can be pretty difficult, so there's that.

I wouldn't be in charge of the game. I would be willing to be the GM first, but otherwise I wouldn't know any more about the story than any of the other players, when their turns to run it came around.

Anyway, I thought it could be a pretty neat story, but if it's too hard to achieve, then I understand. Anyone interested?

Wow....this is a concept...

I have participated in a rotating GM game. The concept we used was played in 3/3.5 D&D Ebberon Setting. We were an adventuring guild set in the big city of Sharn. Every two or three sessions the guild members would gather to take a new job. Through this story we had three or four "over-plots" that had us fighting with different mob families.

So, yes, I'm interested. On the technical side, I am not a huge fan of FFG Star Wars. I could play it, but I'd prefer not compared to any other system you mentioned.

Time travel is a great idea. I have done time travel stories, and Ground Hogs day is a great story. Initially I am worried about the "1 day" limit for each GM. I would hate to have someone get a very short turn in the GM chair because players decided to spend their day doing research or something.

That shouldn't be a problem! I figure it'd be up to that GM to introduce new events that are too tempting to miss out on. However, even if that was the case, and a GM's day was wasted somehow, then as a collective group there wouldn't be anything stopping us from offering that GM another day to run. I would definitely prefer to keep it to switches happening in between loops, though. There's some charm (to me, at least) in each day having a different "feel" by being told from a different mind with fresh ideas. :)

And any system is fine with me, really. I'd be willing to pick up the books to a system that I don't have and learning it in order to run it.

That's a good point about just agreeing to extend the "turn" if need be. And I suppose if the story could be constructed that sitting around doing research is not needed...just figuring out the other goals.

And suddenly i am reminded of a story in the series Eureka on what became the SyFy channel. I there was a story about a time machine that could only connect to the first time it was turned on.

So in the 40s, scientists turned it on...and it did nothing. They turned it off and mothballed it. 60+ years later when the main characters turn it back on...suddenly it works and they are in 194p whaterver. They learn that if. Once home they ever turn the machine on again they will undo some major timeline changes they made in thr past.

Rotating GM's is a great idea. I've read a little about a group that ran a game with changing GM's a loooong time ago, but I remember a bit. They had 'plot points' they could spend to take over the GM position at any time. That way they got to run the part of the game they wanted to, or they could take over and push the plot in a whole new direction. Seems like a lot of fun, for players who like that sort of thing.

Your Groundhog's Day style game is a great idea, I've been toying with that idea for one of my games. It's perfect for a round robin style game!

As for a system... I would say that you'd need something that all the players found familiar, or something simple that everyone could pick up easily. DnD is played to death, so I am hesitant to suggest it. I'd suggest something PbtA, like Apocalypse World or Dungeon World. They are rules light, easy to run, and a lot of fun. The 'turns' should be at a certain plot point though, as it's hard for people's schedules to line up.

Anyway, count me in! I'd gladly play, just shoot me a PM if we get the ball rolling.

//Handle

Is be up for it, the first game I played was kinda done like this, only problem is it landed in my lap and never left. Sure that won't happen this time ;)

dungeon world sounds like the best system for this.. easy to learn, rules light, lots of input from everyone. whoever takes over GM won't have as much to keep track of as in other game systems.. and I have urban shadows, so the rules shouldn't be too unfamiliar

I agree that Dungeon World would be amazing for this as well.

I'll have to check out dungeon world before I can input, but I've always heard good things about it.

It's already a game where the players help build the world, so it seems a logical extension for them to take turns controlling it. Also very rules-lite, which is always good for a story-based game.

That is something I hadn't considered. Apocalypse World...Dungeon World being a derivative of that system, so equally valid...does seem like it could work.

Another issue to address would be the disappearance of characters. Something in the story would have to explain the appearance and absence of characters every time the "day" ended.

What if the story took place in a "dreamrealm" of some kind? Each iteration takes place in the individual mindscape of the active GM's character. This explains why things are different as we all see the world in different ways.

I LOVE Dungeon World! Been pushing for it to become a featured system here, and just recently Keleth did include it. Just waiting for the character sheets. Keleth's got a lot on his plate but I've got my fingers crossed. ;-)

http://www.dungeonworldsrd.com/

that could be an interesting twist, and why the day is slightly different for each GM, each player takes turns being the "dreamer"

If you mean the appearance/disappearance of NPCs in the surrounding area when a loop repeated, I had imagined that PCs would also wake up again at the start of their own day, the same way (or perhaps slightly different?) each time. Maybe this was as a group, for ease of play, or maybe they set up a place to meet each other each day.

If you mean the appearance of the PC from the previous Day and/or the disappearance of the PC for the current Day, I figured that GMs can handle what happened to their PC to cause them to not be present. Maybe they play a minor, support role. Maybe they're the ones that waste the day with research. Maybe they got killed in some unprecedented event? As for the incoming PC, he/she just woke up as usual and plays a larger role in that day's events.

Another note about this concept was that I thought it'd be interesting if most people didn't remember things about the previous day. The PCs could, because they're special snowflakes, as well as some choice NPCs, but maybe they didn't remember everything. When the concept was built with Mutants and Masterminds in mind, which has D&D-esque stats, I was thinking they could remember a number of simple phrases equal to their INT score. "I am trapped in a timeloop," and "My friends are PC 1, PC 2, PC 3, etc," would be two good ones. This is mostly because I enjoy roleplaying challenges.

If "it's all just a dream" then that could be something that a GM could push the game toward or hint at during his time running it. :)

I was referring mostly to PCs and how they would come and go.

If the whole story was in their heads, like...they were all trapped by a spell, or strapped chair with their brains jacked into a Virtual Reality of some sort...like the Matrix. Still could be a fantasy world inside the computer. Lots of possibilities there, but the Active GM's character is the "architect" of the shared vision. I could go on, but there are a million ways that could play out.

I also was reminded that I own a copy of Spark. There is a very interesting world creation process layed out in that book. Gameplay in Spark isn't my favorite, but the world creation is really good. I'd be happy to coordinate it. Others do no have to have access to the book to participate. After the world was built we could decide on the actual system to use.

You mean if a player drops and a new one comes in?
I still think that something like this shouldn't be decided prior. It's my opinion that any explanation as to what, how and why should be crafted throughout the course of the game by the combined storytelling efforts of the GMs and the clues and hints that they put out. The game doesn't need to make sense in the beginning. It's up to everyone involved to bring it to that point by the end. :)

I think that he means when the GM takes over and fades their character out (if it's decided to be done that way), how is it going to be explained?

Like this! :) I wasn't clear, but I mean the appearance/disappearance of a PC controlled by the GM of the previous/current Day.

And for the record, I think these are all excellent ideas, and that it'd be really amazing if that came up by a collaborative effort of GM's working in-game through their allotted times to run the game. I'm not trying to dismiss how cool these ideas are. I just think it shouldn't be decided prior.

Well, perhaps not the specific explanation of what connects their minds, but the fact they are in some kind of mental construct should be known to the players. It could be OOC knowledge. I might recommend agreeing that it could not be discovered until an entire round of GM changes. Then perhaps it is randomly determined which GM is allowed to reveal it.

Just a difference of opinion, then :P I feel like it'd be much more shocking and interesting if something like that came up as a surprise, to characters and their players, throughout the course of the game. I always try to limit OOC knowledge that differs so drastically from character knowledge.

The player that the GM controlled previous could just become an NPC that works in the background. Or the character could just poof away, since this is just a game. Like Maskcot said, there are million ways to explain it.

I like the 'stuck in computer game' setting, you could even do a 'magic time loop' or a 'scientific device causes parallel universes' setting. I also like the idea of character's consciousnesses being swapped, so the player would get to control a different character with each iteration. That would only work if the players were okay with it, of course.

hey! maybe all those things can happen!

Body switching is a fun idea. I've never used it but I've thought about it.

well, with each GM the explanation could be different. one day you wake up in little town, USA. tomorrow you're going through the same events as a japanese high school student. the next day you're driving around in the nuclear wasteland looking for gasoline. this could be fun

If you guys are considering DW, there's another PbtA game called Night Witches that is AMAZING (and I don't use all caps lightly) and specifically had rotating GM as part of the game play. It's not a Groundhog Day situation, so it it probably isn't what you want, by its worth checking out.

The game centers around the lives of female Russian bomber pilots in WWII. It rotates between a night cycle where bombing missions (pretty lethal ones, to reflect history, but there's also the a bevy of characters to be cycled in) are carried out; and a day cycle, to deal with the relationships formed in the crucible of an incredibly misogynistic Red Army that literally set these women up for failure. The author, Jason Morningstar, had done several interviews about it, but there's a good episode of a podcast called +1 Forward where he explains the inception of the project and does a little demo playthrough with the host.

Like I said, probably not what you want, but it's so worth looking at just for its own sake as well as seeing how it implements rotating GMs.

Unless I missed it, I do want to mention: if a system isn't up on GP, you can always use custom, and if I see a custom game of an established system used more than once, I typically add it to the top of my todo list.

Warhammer :) *cough cough*