Viewpoint Crossover Roleplays

[Onmyoji]

What do you think about crossover roleplays that include characters from different fandoms?
A fairly common example of such rp would be 'a tavern' or another meeting place where characters from different franchises can meet and interact with each other. Yeah, a pretty old concept that I barely see nowadays and this is also one of the reasons that made me curious. I don't see crossover roleplays very often.

Are they too hard to organize? Not as interesting to people?

What can be done for it to work well or do you think it never works?

Have you got any success (or disaster!) stories from crossover group or 1x1 roleplays or maybe even LARP?


Personally, I've seen it work well for a while in group roleplays but eventually those roleplays still derailed too much from the original idea and the players got confused and started leaving. But that's common for any type of roleplays so I don't think it's characteristic for specifically crossovers.
Also, I've seen a few LARP that were fun and had a logical conclusion, where characters from different fandoms met and interacted. But I assume it's a bit easier to manage players when you actually see them than in an online rp environment.
Never tried that as 1x1 though. I suppose the isekai roleplays could be marginally considered crossovers too because they have characters from different 'worlds' lol But as for fandom roleplays, I don't really have experience with merging fandoms.

 

[rae2nerdy]

I only do 1x1s but I have a few crossover plots I have tried. And they worked fine as long as my partner was familiar with both properties.

And they worked as fusions. So the idea is both properties have always existed on the same Earth just in different locations. So the crossover is just making Canon A meet up with Canon B for X plot.

 

[Crayons]

Personally I dislike crossover rp as I am ridiculously uptight about internal consistency and continuity. I can't stand multiverses or anything where a crossover happens between two universes that can't possibly be together. (Slightly different if the two universes could plausibly overlap but still wouldn't join one.) The more things that cross over or the mor different the properties are, the worse it becomes for me; I just can't suspend my disbelief enough to enjoy it. This is absolutely a "me" thing and I don't judge other people for holding different opinions.

Having said that I did run a gritty grimdark Wild West Pokemon discord server for a bit. Not sure if that counts. XD

 

[Crenando]

As someone who's been helping run crossover RPs for most of my time on the site, I think the secret to success is strict quality control and learning when to say no to ideas that just don't work. That sounds like common sense but at least half the crossover RPs will just let anything slide.

Personally I dislike crossover rp as I am ridiculously uptight about internal consistency and continuity. I can't stand multiverses or anything where a crossover happens between two universes that can't possibly be together. (Slightly different if the two universes could plausibly overlap but still wouldn't join one.) The more things that cross over or the mor different the properties are, the worse it becomes for me; I just can't suspend my disbelief enough to enjoy it. This is absolutely a "me" thing and I don't judge other people for holding different opinions.

Having said that I did run a gritty grimdark Wild West Pokemon discord server for a bit. Not sure if that counts. XD

I feel like companies do disbelief-pushing crossovers enough, though. Why should people on the site be disqualified?

 

[Daisie]

I legitimately just joined a Tavern RP. Honestly, they're a whole different thing, and I kinda like it. I like seeing other folks' characters while expressing my own, as it makes for some neat interactions you just couldn't get otherwise. I also like the casual-ness of it... I've been having trouble keeping up with my ongoing RPs lately, so it's nice to have a RP where I don't have to take it too seriously. I can join in, have my fun, and have my character leave anytime I please. No having to worry about an overarching plot, hardly any drama at all, no having to keep track of character growth... While all those things are good, sometimes it's nice to take a step back into simplicity.

It's good to clean the rust off my writing skills, and there is the possibility for a whole lot of shenanigans.

 

[Crayons]

I feel like companies do disbelief-pushing crossovers enough, though. Why should people on the site be disqualified?

They absolutely shouldn't be disqualified.

 

[Crenando]

They absolutely shouldn't be disqualified.

At any rate, you can be uptight about continuity and character portrayals and still do a crossover. A good crossover should feel accurate to both pieces of source material. If the characters don't feel like the version that the players signed up as, and the tone is all wonky, it might as well be an original RP or story.

 

[readfoxes]

I have seen a lot of these advertised, lately, albeit not here. A lot of the time they're called "multiverse" roleplays, or drop-in, drop-out friendly. It reminds me a little of RDI, or roleplaying in AOL chatrooms back in the late 90s, early 00s. It was chaotic, spontaneous, and very much crossover friendly.

 

[Ace Cream]

I kinda like the casual tavern one, it can be used to test character and how good we are at playing them. The other more serious kind though, I'm usually skeptical. GM usually don't put any limit on fandom and while wild and unexpected interactions is one of the appeal of a crossover, I find it hard to visually imagine Blade, Sasuke and Twilight Sparkle fight evul together.

 

[Crow]

I find it hard to visually imagine Blade, Sasuke and Twilight Sparkle fight evul together.

Sasuke and Twilight has probably happened. Somehow, somewhere. And I'm too curious.

I feel like companies do disbelief-pushing crossovers enough, though. Why should people on the site be disqualified?

When you've seen Kratos playing golf and the official covers for the upcoming TransformersXMLP crossover you've seen everything. Overall though, I think what kind of crossover the Roleplay should be depends on GM, though it's important for the Roleplay to have its own identity. I've run All-alls before being on this site and the last few sites.

I like story, action and interaction between characters from different worlds, see how their views mesh and all. If you want something that does this well (and at times fail) try playing Super Robot Wars. Like all the iconic GAR characters from mecha history teaching Shinji how to get his shit together and face his problems and become like them. That's a story!

And on the other side of the coin you have everything related to Cross Ange.

And I'm running a crossover saga of my own right now. So uh... whatever info you all can dish out I can look. And I guess I'll share what I can.

Are they too hard to organize? Not as interesting to people?
It really depends. In my case, I have had singular RPs based on one setting. Some people are all 'eeeeeh I don't know this setting', which will happen a lot in crossover RPs.
But when I pull stuff like 'yeah everyone just jumps in and out of portals and shit' then people are pretty open.

What can be done for it to work well or do you think it never works?
Basically like any other RP - get your audience, get your friends.

Have you got any success (or disaster!) stories from crossover group or 1x1 roleplays or maybe even LARP?
Success stories? Quite a few. i.e. Every time I play my main of Crossover RPs, Ben 10. Some of his feats include acquiring some of the strongest alien species in the multiverse (exactly what you think it is), acquiring the ability to use the Gae Bolg's magic, so on. Crossovers are fun to play with, and they're even more fun if you're willing to venture out of a character's standard comfort zone. A lot of people are so adamant on character accuracy they forget to develop their characters, a problem that is rarer in non-crossovers.

 

[Crayons]

At any rate, you can be uptight about continuity and character portrayals and still do a crossover. A good crossover should feel accurate to both pieces of source material. If the characters don't feel like the version that the players signed up as, and the tone is all wonky, it might as well be an original RP or story.

Ah, OK. You guys are all talking about canon character crossovers/multiverses. In which case count me especially out as I don't do canons generally.

I have seen a lot of these advertised, lately, albeit not here. A lot of the time they're called "multiverse" roleplays, or drop-in, drop-out friendly. It reminds me a little of RDI, or roleplaying in AOL chatrooms back in the late 90s, early 00s. It was chaotic, spontaneous, and very much crossover friendly.

I remember this kind of thing and they were kinda fun at the time. But not really satisfying in any way.

 

[Crow]

Ah, OK. You guys are all talking about canon character crossovers/multiverses. In which case count me especially out as I don't do canons generally.

I myself have thought of Crossovers between different Roleplays, albeit never having seen one before beyond people setting up their own cinematic universes, but that probably doesn't count.

 

[Crayons]

I myself have thought of Crossovers between different Roleplays, albeit never having seen one before beyond people setting up their own cinematic universes, but that probably doesn't count.

Hmm... there are probably lots of different types of crossovers. I'll continue watching the thread and see what else people come up with.

 

[Idea]

To me crossovers do two things that are just not compatible with what I can agree to have in roleplays. First, crossovers by nature will bring two universes, or two characters from different universes, together into a single story. As someone who is passionate about worldbuilding this kind of drives me up a wall as in many cases the rules under which those characters operate are entirely different and at times entirely incompatible. That said, it is not like this issue is always there (sometimes a character can be pulled from a story that does not have any special rules or where the rules are not contraditory) and there are ways of actually fixing it, namely either a statement of how the two or more universe's rules are compatible and interact with one another (different universes may have different ways of using mana, but it could be that the mana is treated as the same for the sake of the crossover) or there is some omnipotent-ish device or entity that is able to generate a sort of "personal reality" that justifies each character functioning as if they were in their home universe. A lot of crossovers though, from what I've seen, just kind of take it as a given, which more than lacking the justification telegraphs to me that the aspects of the setting are being treated as non-relevant.

The second thing I don't think can really be corrected though: Cannon characters. I only use cannon characters in my RPs if they are an essential part of the plot and setting, and thus can't be reasonably avoided. Other than that I refuse to participate in an RP that has cannon characters. That means that crossovers, which pretty much exist to have different cannon characters meet or to allow someone to play a cannon character that would normally come from a source to niche to find traction on its own, are fundamentally incompatible with my tastes.

I have seen one mode of it potentially working though, one way in which I could see myself participating in one such RP. In my favorite anime, Re:creators, a bunch of characters from several stories are brought to the real world, and remain in it while trying to stop the villain that brought them there for her machinations. The way Re:creators explores the characters evolving as they are exposed to a very different and much more in-depth reality than the one they are used to, their coming to terms with the fact they are in fact fictional, and the way the show handles the conflicting worldbuilding elements each character carries with them is utterly fascinating, and I feel could solve the gripes I have with the crossover elements, provided I could be reasonably confident that myself and the rest of the players were skilled and coordinated enough for that kind of character exploration.

 

[Crenando]

I myself have thought of Crossovers between different Roleplays, albeit never having seen one before beyond people setting up their own cinematic universes, but that probably doesn't count.

There are easy, convenient ways to do these with tabletop settings and systems. Planescape and Spelljammer for D&D, Infinite Worlds, Time Travel and Alternate Earths for GURPS, and basically the entire setup of what Rifts is for Palladium's games. You can tear out any amount of fluff from these books and use it for whatever setting you want, in theory. Any one of those campaigns on their own will probably get some traction.

To me crossovers do two things that are just not compatible with what I can agree to have in roleplays. First, crossovers by nature will bring two universes, or two characters from different universes, together into a single story. As someone who is passionate about worldbuilding this kind of drives me up a wall as in many cases the rules under which those characters operate are entirely different and at times entirely incompatible. That said, it is not like this issue is always there (sometimes a character can be pulled from a story that does not have any special rules or where the rules are not contraditory) and there are ways of actually fixing it, namely either a statement of how the two or more universe's rules are compatible and interact with one another (different universes may have different ways of using mana, but it could be that the mana is treated as the same for the sake of the crossover) or there is some omnipotent-ish device or entity that is able to generate a sort of "personal reality" that justifies each character functioning as if they were in their home universe. A lot of crossovers though, from what I've seen, just kind of take it as a given, which more than lacking the justification telegraphs to me that the aspects of the setting are being treated as non-relevant.

I feel like this is one aspect of crossovers we have plenty of blueprints to work off of. People have been crossing over different settings in meaningful ways since the idea of settings being separate came about.
You don't even need a multiverse. The 'Wold Newton' method has literary characters coexisting as historical figures. Sherlock Holmes' existence doesn't contradict the world of Tarzan so they can meet and go on an adventure. The Avenger, The Shadow and Doc Savage were all popular around the same time and shared similar tones, so they can meet and go on adventures together. Big comic companies do this sometimes when they think a fun crossover might be bogged down in the universe hopping, so they set their stories in what is lovingly known as 'Crossover Earth' or 'the Crossoververse'. Spider-Man or Daredevil don't need some big universe-jumping explanation to meet Batman when physically going there on a plane or something does the trick.
You can really extend this to any setting that world-hopping might not make sense in, like sitcoms or police procedurals, or any scenario where it might bog down the story.
Alternatively, you could show what a cast of characters might've been like if they developed and existed in another setting with different rules. If magic or technology works differently, how does that effect the cast?

 

[Idea]

I feel like this is one aspect of crossovers we have plenty of blueprints to work off of. People have been crossing over different settings in meaningful ways since the idea of settings being separate came about.
You don't even need a multiverse. The 'Wold Newton' method has literary characters coexisting as historical figures. Sherlock Holmes' existence doesn't contradict the world of Tarzan so they can meet and go on an adventure. The Avenger, The Shadow and Doc Savage were all popular around the same time and shared similar tones, so they can meet and go on adventures together. Big comic companies do this sometimes when they think a fun crossover might be bogged down in the universe hopping, so they set their stories in what is lovingly known as 'Crossover Earth' or 'the Crossoververse'. Spider-Man or Daredevil don't need some big universe-jumping explanation to meet Batman when physically going there on a plane or something does the trick.

That said, it is not like this issue is always there (sometimes a character can be pulled from a story that does not have any special rules or where the rules are not contraditory)

It's not like I'm not aware that crossovers where there isn't an inherent contradiction in setting exist- it's just that in those I came across the issue often does exist (or the potential for it does exist within what's allowed by the RP), and yet is entirely negleted.

Alternatively, you could show what a cast of characters might've been like if they developed and existed in another setting with different rules. If magic or technology works differently, how does that effect the cast?

That could be an interesting idea, though I still don't think I would do it.

 

[Crenando]

It's not like I'm not aware that crossovers where there isn't an inherent contradiction in setting exist- it's just that in those I came across the issue often does exist (or the potential for it does exist within what's allowed by the RP), and yet is entirely negleted.

I'd like to hear a bit about your experiences where you came across contradictory crossovers so we can be on the same page, with an example if you don't mind.
I've helped with a lot of crossover RPs and I'd like to hear more about what specifically turned people off the premise. I'll be upfront and say it's a magnet for young or inexperienced writers and sometimes even just whiny people who want things their way, so I'll at least see where you're coming from, probably.

 

[rae2nerdy]

Most of the crossovers I have done or seen where very much in the vein of - these characters have always existed in the same universe just in different locations. So the crossovers are more like Character A goes to Fandom City B for plot reasons and meets Character B and company.

 

[Idea]

I'd like to hear a bit about your experiences where you came across contradictory crossovers so we can be on the same page, with an example if you don't mind.
I've helped with a lot of crossover RPs and I'd like to hear more about what specifically turned people off the premise. I'll be upfront and say it's a magnet for young or inexperienced writers and sometimes even just whiny people who want things their way, so I'll at least see where you're coming from, probably.

I’ve been in three crossover RPs to my memory, albeit they were a really long time ago, so said memory is rather fuzzy about the whole affair (note: I am only counting RPN RP when I say this. I did do other crossover roleplays prior, but I don’t think it’s fair to assess any of RPN’s roleplaying community by the faults of a place like deviantart, where the roleplaying community is considerably worse).

The first was I think a bar RP, typical “characters just meet in a bar and do stuff” kind of RP. I brought a fantasy OC of mine there, not realizing at first that it was a crossover RP until I started seeing players bringing in characters I recognized. I remember being bored and put off, but the specifics of what happened I no longer recall.

The second RP was, if memory serves me right, a hyperdimenision Neptunia roleplay, which in fairness is a setting where world/dimension - hopping is a thing (though only within worlds of its own continuity, so the system is effectively the same across them). It was also one of the few exceptions to my “no cannon characters” rule. It was a pretty bland RP to me, though I do think that the lack of detail was a big contribution to that feeling, as was the fact nobody really had a good direction to take the action in.

The third RP was a combat tournament RP that allowed cannon characters and overpowered characters. It became much more memorable to me because I ended up joining for a really stupid reason, to make a completely invincible character to “show why it is a bad idea”. As I worked on the character though, I ended up going more in-depth in the concept and fleshing them out into a non-troll character. The RP died while everyone was still making characters though.

Beyond that my contact with crossover RPs has been through interest checks and through people whose RPs I helped in the initial development, before being told they were going to allow cannon characters.

The thing to note here though, all of these had no restrictions on what characters could come in. Where there is no restriction every single possible contradiction is present at once, since all of them are possibilities. At least, that’s how I see it.

 

[rae2nerdy]

Sounds like the problem isn’t crossovers Idea its lack of organization. That will kill any roleplay regardless of the hook.

So as a counter I’ll describe some of the crossovers I have done in the past.

In groups most of the ones I have done are superhero crossovers. So a Marvel/DC crossover where characters from both franchises could join to fight some kind of big bad. This has been done IRL by the companies themselves and since they are essentially the same premise it’s not that difficult. If memory serves the biggest point in the roleplays was explaining how meta humans and mutants are different.

A second one I did that was a little more strange was a My Little Pony/Bleach crossover. I don’t remember properly how the ponies got into the soul realm (some kind of magical mishap I believe) but it worked pretty well. It helps that they shared a magical premise. The tones of the two shows are obviously different but you can play off that in fun ways. Personality wise there are a lot of bombastic characters in both series so it made things entertaining.

Now in 1x1s I have mostly done (or at least tried to start) Harry Potter crossovers. Usually Harry Potter crossovers with DC superhero shows. Although I do have an idea that crossed Harry Potter over with the Magic Circle series (and I’m working out crossovers between Harry Potter and one of its parody series. But I won’t count that since the other series is meant to just be essentially the same story anyway)

Now Harry Potter and superheroes (Marvel or DC specifically) is actually super easy and fits really well. Both superhero worlds have magic being present (admittedly different systems) and more importantly the Wizarding World is totally isolated. So you can easy explain away why no heroes interfered with the plot by saying they just didn’t know about it. Or whoever monitors Britain has an agreement with the Magic World to leave them to themselves.

In addition I help keep things structured but having Harry Potter characters team up with specific Superheroes. Usually because they happen to be long lost relatives but sometimes it’s just right place wrong time kinda thing.

The Magic Circle series is a full on fantasy series taking place in its own made up world. So that is the one where you basically have to use the alternate reality method. Either the Circle characters move to our world or Harry Potter has to move to their world. The good news is Magic Circle is a series about magical children too. And in universe they have different kind of magic schools. So there is no reason a Hogwarts couldn’t exist in that world with very minimal changes (mostly no Hogwarts train really).

The two series have similar themes too which helps. They both follow young magical children finding themselves through friendship and completing mysteries each book.

So in this case I usually have just Harry join their world OR the Magic Circle kids go to Hogwarts for some reason.

But the one thing you’ll notice is that all of these have very specific rules and focus. They weren’t just “Make a character and join the story” type roleplays which I think was the issue you were having. Those kind of roleplays by their nature are very unorganized and require a very specific mentality to enjoy. I think you and I both thrive when we have a good deal more structure to deal with.

 

[Idea]

But the one thing you’ll notice is that all of these have very specific rules and focus. They weren’t just “Make a character and join the story” type roleplays which I think was the issue you were having. Those kind of roleplays by their nature are very unorganized and require a very specific mentality to enjoy. I think you and I both thrive when we have a good deal more structure to deal with.

No, my examples were just cases in which I participated in crossover roleplays, but my issue with crossover roleplays are the ones I described in my first post in this thread:
A) Inconsistent or even contraditory rule systems, where the means by which they are made compatible is not really adressed
B) Cannon characters

A might be solvable with the increased organization that you brought up (provided whoever is making it gives the matter some thought of course) but the second issue isn't.

You are correct in your assessment that I do indeed appreciate and work better with more structure and organization, but in this specific case the lack of structure and organization isn't my issue with crossovers, at least not my primary one.

 

[rae2nerdy]

Idea you don’t have to use canon characters. I mean most do but the nature of crossovers don’t require that you use them. You could use OCs from the different universes in the exact same way.

My point is that a good crossover makes the worlds blend together under a specific story. There is no rule that says that story can’t revolve around original characters as easily as it does canons.

 

[Idea]

Idea you don’t have to use canon characters. I mean most do but the nature of crossovers don’t require that you use them. You could use OCs from the different universes in the exact same way.

My point is that a good crossover makes the worlds blend together under a specific story. There is no rule that says that story can’t revolve around original characters as easily as it does canons.

Well, yes, I know that I don't have to use cannon characters, but my issue with cannon characters is in any use of them whatsoever, with exception of cases where it is unavoidable (for instance, using Kyubey is in a Madoka Magika RP would be ok in my eyes because Kyubey is required for the magical girls to become magical girls in that setting, with no other entity being capable of doing so), not just whether or not I have to use them myself.

Now, it is true that in theory a crossover could be between two OCs from two different cannon universes employing the rule systems of those universes independently with some mechanism brought in to allow those systems to be compatible. However, for one I feel that at that point one might as well just make an original setting using those sorts of elements, and for two it goes against the point of a crossover as I understand it: The crossover is done because people are want to play those cannon characters, either out of simple passion for the character itself or because they want to see how they would interact with other settings or characters from other settings. It can be a pseudo-versus character comparison or highligting similarities between characters, and other matters of that sort, but ultimately whether they represent the whole RP or just part of it, cannon characters are a building block of crossovers, and at the same time a big part of what turns me away from them.

 

[Crenando]

Idea you don’t have to use canon characters. I mean most do but the nature of crossovers don’t require that you use them. You could use OCs from the different universes in the exact same way.

My point is that a good crossover makes the worlds blend together under a specific story. There is no rule that says that story can’t revolve around original characters as easily as it does canons.

Is there really an OC unique enough to justify not playing a similar character from another piece of media in a multifandom RP? On average, in my experience, most fan characters aren't that distinct.

 

[rae2nerdy]

Is there really an OC unique enough to justify not playing a similar character from another piece of media in a multifandom RP? On average, in my experience, most fan characters aren't that distinct.

Well it usually depends on the story more than the uniqueness of the character.

An exampleI was in a roleplay taking place in a crossover world (DC/Marvel) where the plot was all the canon characters had been wiped out by the big bad. So you had to make an OC to join a team to bring them back/defeat the villain. Admittedly a lot of Such and Such is related to Canon X but some creative new ideas too.


Plus not all canons are as well known or fleshed out as others. For years I played an X-men canon who had like one storyline before she was effectively killed off by obscurity. She didn’t die but she wasn’t important enough to be in any main stories.

She was fun to play because basically all you had to go on was her basic backstory and her power set. Her personality could be whatever and her backstory wasn’t so important you couldn’t change it.