Advice/Help Wanting to run a board game on RPN as a roleplay

[GinkyGotBack]

Roleplay Overview​

So what I'm hoping to do is play as host and Game Master to a group of roleplayers (2-5) people to play a board game called Nemesis via RPNation while also having the players roleplay their character's actions and their thoughts. The actual gameplay will take place on Tabletop Simulator where I will move all the characters, roll dice, trigger events, control the aliens, and basically performing the player's actions for them. The actual roleplaying will be done here on RPN in a forum. As the host and GM, aside from playing the aliens, I will also be playing the role of the ship's (mostly useless) AI, ALDIN (Artificial Logic Database and Intelligence Network), who will provide the crew with information such as the locations of the other characters (because like most board games players will always know where the other characters are), as well as answer any questions the crew may have. If a player wants to ask a question in secret they can send me a PM. It is in these PMs where I will also have a picture of the player's hand and objectives. Any injuries, conditions, and any items that the character is carrying with them are available for all players to know, however.

Since the game is turn-based and I have a pretty set schedule for when I'm available due to work, not to mention the potential for differing timezones and schedules, I expect the game to move a bit slowly. That's honestly fine, I think since it will allow for more opportunities to roleplay while also giving other players time to think about their next move and ask questions. Not to mention, most play-by-post D&D games move fairly slowly too, so I think this won't be much different. It might even be better since the game has a more or less set time at which it ends, depending on the player's actions, so it's not like it will drag on forever.

While characters don't particularly need a fleshed-out backstory and personality, they would need things like a name, general description, and some other things that could at least give a brief description of them. I'll likely make a basic character sheet for players to fill out.

I've done something similar to this with D&D as likely most DMs on this site have done, but unlike D&D, Nemesis isn't necessarily a roleplaying game by nature. Before I start asking for advice right off the bat, I think I should describe how the game works in summary. If you don't really care to read about the gameplay then that's fine, it's more to just paint a picture of how the game works.

Gameplay Overview​

Spoiler: Lotta Text

The game takes place on the titular spaceship Nemesis where the players take the role of the ship's crew, choosing from one of six available classes to play (the Captain, the Pilot, the Scientist, the Soldier, the Scout, and the Mechanic). Each class has different starting weapons, unique items that they can unlock, and a list of four different items that are available for them to craft. Each class also has three unique cards in their decks that play to their class' strengths; the Soldier's unique cards help them excel in combat, the Mechanic can fix (or destroy) the ship much easier than other classes, the Scout is able to quickly move through the ship and avoid Intruders (aliens), etc.

Each player is given two objectives at the start of the game. The player must complete one of these objectives (when the first Intruder appears all characters are forced to discard one of their objectives and stick with the other) that they must complete before escaping to Earth to win. These can vary from sending a signal to Earth, escaping the ship with an egg, ensuring that the ship gets destroyed after your escape (either via escape pod or hibernation pod), killing another player, as well as many other objectives.

At the start of every player's phase (not turn), they will draw up to a maximum of five cards from their deck. In exchange for discarding one card from their hand, players can perform one of six Basic Actions (Move, Shoot, Melee, Pick Up, Trade, and Craft. A player also has the option to discard 2 cards to Move Carefully, allowing them to move to a different room without the risk of drawing an Intruder's attention. Most of a character's cards cost nothing to play, but some require that you discard a number of cards (normally 1 or 2 depending on the card) to play. Using a room's ability also normally requires that you discard cards in exchange. A player can perform up to 2 actions before moving on to the next player's turn. However, so long as a player still has cards in their hand and hasn't Passed, a player can start a new turn and may perform up to 2 additional actions or Pass.

To accomplish these objectives, players must explore the Nemesis room-by-room, with each room having a different ability available to any characters within said room. Players may also search the rooms for items with some items also acting as crafting ingredients. While exploring the ship, the players will eventually meet the Intruders who will attempt to hunt down and kill the players. After 15 turns, if the characters haven't all escaped or died, the ship will automatically make its jump to whatever coordinates have been set, and depending on the condition of the ship it will either make the journey or be destroyed in the process and the game will end.

TLDR. You explore a ship and perform your secret objectives, fighting or avoiding aliens, working with or against other players, and ultimately trying to survive.

Give Me Your Advice (Please)!​

So now that you guys know what I'm going for and maybe how the game is played I'm hoping you can help me out! If you've done something like roleplay a board game on RPN before and have any advice or examples on how it played out for you I'd really like to know! If you have any more questions about the roleplay or the game I'd be happy to answer them at my earliest convenience.

 

[Chordling]

It seems like you have a concrete idea about how you would like to run this shop. Was there a specific concern you had that you wanted advice about?

 

[Crow]

You're really going all out with this. What are some cards you might have in mind? Are there seperate decks like how Monopoly has two?

 

[GinkyGotBack]

You're really going all out with this. What are some cards you might have in mind? Are there seperate decks like how Monopoly has two?

I probably should've made this more clear, but Nemesis is an already existing board game lmao

Nemesis Board Game

A semi-cooperative SF horror game where you and other crewmembers desperately fight to survive - and fulfill conflicting objectives.

www.kickstarter.com

 

[GinkyGotBack]

It seems like you have a concrete idea about how you would like to run this shop. Was there a specific concern you had that you wanted advice about?

I think one of my biggest concerns besides would people actually be interested in something like this is how long the player's phase might go on for OOC. A player can perform 2 actions before moving on to the next player's turn, and until all players decide to pass or have no choice but to pass, the player phase will continue. Here's an example of how a Player Phase might go down.

Player 1 Turn 1: performs 2 Actions; 3 cards left
Player 2 Turn 1: performs 2 Actions; 2 cards left
Player 3 Turn 1: performs 1 Action and Passes
Player 1 Turn 2: performs 2 Actions; 1 card left.
Player 1 Turn 2: performs 1 Action and Passes; 1 card left.
Player 1 Turn 3 performs 1 Action; 0 cards left; with no cards left in hand Player 1 is forced to Pass.

As you can see, with only 3 players participating, the Player phase could still drag on for a bit. If there were more players, obviously this might go on for much longer before the Player Phase ends and Player 3 gets to do anything. Now this wouldn't be such a bad situation had Player 3 decided not to Pass so early on during the Player Phase or if Players 1 and 2 had passed on an earlier turn.

One deterrent for making sure the Player Phase doesn't go on for so long is that players use their cards to perform Actions. The cards themselves have abilities and most of them cost nothing to use, so a player might find that they ended up using four of their five drawn cards on their very first turn.

Another is that when an alien appears after you move into a new room, they have the opportunity to make a surprise attack. When an alien is drawn from the bag, on the back of their token is a number. If the player who was ambushed has fewer cards in their hand than the number on the token, the alien gets to make a free attack against them. So, to protect oneself from a surprise attack, a player should try to keep a certain amount of cards in their hand, meaning won't be performing actions.

Luckily, a player who has passed will have the opportunity to roleplay to help pass the time until the next round. I'm thinking the crew will be able to talk with one another from anywhere on the ship, either using an intercom system or some other way of communicating, so characters will be able to speak with one another at any time. I think the real problem might be if someone holds up the game/roleplay with inactivity or just a difference in timezones and everyone has to sort of wait for them to get back. If it's inactivity it might be as simple as kicking them out of the game, but if its something like timezones than another solution would definitely be in order.

 

[Chordling]

I think one of my biggest concerns is how long the player's phase might go on for OOC.

You mentioned earlier that pacing would be somewhat slower. Given the elements that you're mixing, I would give players one week to determine their moves and calibrate the pacing from there.

 

[GinkyGotBack]

You mentioned earlier that pacing would be somewhat slower. Given the elements that you're mixing, I would give players one week to determine their moves and calibrate the pacing from there.

That makes sense. It would actually work really well for me too, since my days off are on weekends. So if players don't make their moves by then, I can give them a reminder and if nothing happens by Sunday I guess that'd be a kick? I guess something like a one post/full turn per week minimum would be the best way to describe it.

 

[Chordling]

Maybe have a three-strike system or something that does not seem as punishing? It could mean that the player is simply skipped over and they gain no benefits but don't lose anything either. Life has a great way of interrupting itself. Of course, GM the way you would like to. I'm a softie so I don't like removing people unless there are a lot of issues.

 

[GinkyGotBack]

Maybe have a three-strike system or something that does not seem as punishing? It could mean that the player is simply skipped over and they gain no benefits but don't lose anything either. Life has a great way of interrupting itself. Of course, GM the way you would like to. I'm a softie so I don't like removing people unless there are a lot of issues.

Yeah, I think maybe three weeks would be an appropriate time to kick. Because even staying in place not doing anything can be a threat, as there's still the chance the Intruders might find you hiding in the room. But that normally takes three turns of staying in place, which is probably equivalent to three weeks at the most. So at that point, your character is likely dead anyway unless you have the means to kill them.