There are not many role playing games that are done through a forum that I really enjoy. The only two I can think of are LBT ones and those that follow the formula of RPG video games. I was thinking that, maybe I could try combining the two for a new RPG here. Through the fan fiction section here, I already have a pretty big idea that fantasy and the LBT is not well-received when combined. Still, I thought I should at least try. No matter the odds, when they exist, give it a go, right?
You guys know how role playing video games work, right? A large portion of them have classes, various abilities, magic creatures, a looming evil, and so forth. Sometimes, people play these with a book, like the new pen and paper RPG I bought, Anima. Well, these types of role playing games can work on forums as well, especially: Dungeons & Dragons. However, in keeping with the spirit of the forum, I am not proposing we simply start a D&D role play here. No, I was wondering about a LBT role playing game that plays out in a D&D fashion. Totally disturbed? I don’t blame you. Still, please allow me to elaborate.
Can you imagine Littlefoot as a bard, singing songs to disrupt enemy attacks? Or Ducky as a cleric, healing wounds and banishing darkness? It’s not as farfetched as it seems. Many LBT fan fictions I’ve read have ample fighting, so this is not unpopular. Now then, you all must be thinking, “Uh, that doesn’t fit into the LBT universe at all, dude.” Well, I am a writer, after all. I can pull a few strings so it will. I mean, I did write a LBT trilogy where the gang gets powers while making it completely canon, fitting into the storyline of the movies completely and explaining why everything was the way it was. The seventh movie does leave a lot of room for mystical possibilities. Then we get to the peaceful nature of the kids, making a fighting role playing game out of character. Well, even the most peaceful kids can get down to business when their world, or perhaps just their families, are threatened.
One thing I would not have in this are weapons. This is already a stretch, so Littlefoot wielding the Sovereign Battleaxe of the Morning Star in his mouth, or Ruby carrying The Rending Staff is just going too far, really. All fighting would be based around class abilities and whatever that dinosaur could naturally do. Now, what about those of you who don’t know about D&D? Never fear! I know enough to answer any questions and can find the answers for things not known off hand easily enough. Although, I will do a lot of explaining at the start, so few questions should be needed. For those who do know about D&D, I will definitely not be using alignments. I want the characters’ real personalities used, and if someone playing Spike chooses the Chaotic Evil alignment, well, even non D&D fans know where I’m going with that. Because I would start this, I would keep the main story progressing, the Dungeon Master, as D&D and other players call it.
I feel that leveling up would make this too complicated. Slight increases in strength and wisdom and whatnot is too hard to keep tabs on when role playing on a forum instead of using pen and paper with an RPG while being in a room together. I mean, really, can you imagine how complicated leveling would be through the forum style?
Cera, angered by the foul beast who had knocked Littlefoot out, rubbed her front foot back and forth on the ground. He taunted her with a Fire Ball that almost hit her, so in a blind rage, she used her Feral Chrage ability and dashed at him with full speed. He barely felt the attack, laughing at her weakness, and, having grown bored, summoned a Wood Sprite. Cera increased her durability and braced for the attack. The Wood Sprite fired a forceful beam of Radiant Dust, which filled Cera’s nostrils, and her sneeze knocked her back a great distance. She knew that little thing couldn’t take much, so she acted dazed, luring the creature in closer. When it was in range, she took a deep breath, knowing full well what pain she was in for. She reared up, using Body Slam, hitting the Wood Sprite and getting a critical hit! It faded away almost instantly as Cera took the recoil damage of her powerful attack. Suddenly, Cera began to glow and energy pulsed through her body. She had gained a level, finally! Turning back to the unknown beast with a furious glare, she Feral Charged him again, and with her new strength, managed to knock him to the ground.
That may sound like it worked well, but trying to monitor multiple power gains with new outcomes over several characters would just be too overwhelming, so no leveling. However, I am all for learning new abilities over time. No fun starting with everything. The heroes can learn new abilities after so many fights, certain fights, etcetera. I also do not think items would be good here either, as how would dinosaurs carry them, and even if they could, how would four-footers actually use them?
This is not one of those lighthearted types of role playing games. They are deep and intricate, and require fairly active players. Unlike many RPG’s, this kind can literally come to a complete halt under certain circumstances if a member does not post for a while. Sure, there are ways for other players to deflect the situation at times, but too much of that makes for poor storytelling. Here’s an example of how to deflect in an RPG like this:
“Mwuahahahahaha! Young swimmer, you have no hope of banishing my servant. Stop wasting your magic and let me get this over with. Come on, what do you say?”
(Now, let’s assume Ducky’s user is away. The Cera user could write something like):
Cera saw that Ducky was frozen in fear, so she didn’t even wait for her to reply. She shouted at their foe, charging up for a big attack.
Sure, that went well, but constantly deflecting like that disrupts the flow so cannot be a common occurrence.
I’ve really thought about this, and for an adventure like this to work, I really can’t see much happening with less than six players. I have myself and one friend of mine said she’s join, so we’d really only need four more recruits at the least. At least one to control significant villains, at least five to control the main protagonists, any hero player can control minor characters that come in for a time to help, and everyone, both hero and villain players, can work with minor bad guys, such as a tiny wild creature or something. The reason everyone should be able to control the common, minor enemies is because it would be too complicated and overwhelming for one player to be in charge of every conflict outside of the heroes, yet just letting the good guys do it would restrict the villain player(s) too much.
As for character abilities, I am unfortunately unable to copy directly from D&D. I do not own the books, and I have looked online for a spell and ability list for weeks, and all I can find are lists with no definitions, and I most certainly have not memorized many powers during my playtime. However, I understand class mechanics enough to create my own skill sets. Now before I seem selfish, I really think that’s the best way. In all my years as a role player, I can spot overpowered spells and I know enough kinds to create quite a quantity. If people here tried creating their own, I’d have to rummage through them to find any that are too good, and possibly have to put restrictions on some. Secondly, if two players use the same class, there will be conflict on who gets to make what abilities for it, so to avoid any mess, it would just be easiest if I was allowed to come up with abilities. I’ve played D&D for many years, so I am very familiar with the classes.
I am not going to figure everything out right now. It wouldn’t be wise to do so until I can know if people actually want to do this. I can come up with a convincing plot and keep things from detouring too long, but that will take me a while and lot of work, so I just need to know if there is a reason to continue working on this suggestion. Now I understand how unusual of an idea this is. Therefore, I will not be surprised if everyone finds this to be utterly stupid and publicly says so, so don’t be shy about saying what’s on your mind should you wish to reply to this thread. Would anyone out there want to do this? If so, just don’t get your hopes up until we have enough players.
