Fresh and untouched settings to explore for RPG games

How about a PA/ET crossover, where you and a few thousand other humans are on a mining vessel/penal ship that crash lands on an unknown planet that is habitable, but also full of raider humans, and other species, all vying for power. Being a prisoner/miner, you'd start with basically nothing, and scavenge what you can.
 
BReal said:
Ausdoerrt said:
1. A RPG set in a new world, where humanity has evolved into two species, regular humans and "evolved" humans. The humans have tried to upgrade themselves to become stronger than the evolved and have created so called "proto-humans".
There's two types of these protos, Proto Mark I, a failed experiment. The subjects became crazy. The Proto Mark II is a humanoid with massive torso and hands, while it still has normal legs, making it a slow and clumsy creature without the usage of an exoskeleton and other improvements and Gene-O-Chips (chips that modify cells and improve the user for a while).
Some Proto II's wanted to rule the world and kill the humans, leading into "The Human War". Nuclear weapons were used, which triggered a new ice age. While the planet is covered in ice, humanity has survived and it's fighting for space against the Protos and Evolved.
Click to expand...

Sounds a lot like the setup for most of the Gundam animation series. In the primary idea, if not some specific details. Can be OK, but IMO humans vs evolved humans is a tad of a clumsy setting. It also sounds like sth that would fit more to RTS than RPG gameplay.
Click to expand...
Checked it out on Wikipedia, it does indeed sounds similar.

I'm not good writing down my ideas, but like I said, I've been working on the story in my head for a while now. It started as an idea for a RPG on earth and it slowly evolved into sci-fi, but I'm again slowly getting back to earth. I'll try to write it all down later.

It'd also be nice to see sci-fi games built less on the "rule of cool" and more on extrapolation from real scientific discoveries. Kind of a more realistic space age w/o laser beams and spaceship battles.
Click to expand...
Totally agree with this.
Click to expand...

Sounded more like Exo Squad, to me. They even had "Neosapiens". (P.S. "Proto" means "first", so I can't see augmented humans being called "first humans")

The Dutch Ghost said:
GeneralissimoFurioso and me thought it would be cool to have a Western-Horror RPG with slight steampunk elements

(don't think steam powered robots and giant spiders, but rather weapon types or modifications that expand the arsenal of the time).

The time period I had in mind would have been set after the American Civil War aqnd that would also have influences on the storyline.
A lot would have been drawn from myths and legends of the time, native or brought along by settlers.

There would be a form of 'magic', but these would be Native American based, Religion (people who could really commune with the divine and draw strength from it), and was voodoo already known at the time?

Weapons and munition could also be 'magically' enhanced.

The player could choose various backgrounds for his or her character; native American, liberated slave, former Union or Confederate soldier, and so on.

Locations would include pioneer settlements, forts, ghost towns and so on.


Edit:

And I would love seeing something like 'Meantime', the player trying to stop history manipulating time travellers and recruiting historic figures like Werner von Braun, Amelia Earheart, and Cyrano de Bergerac.
Click to expand...

First part sort of reminds me of Brisco County, Junior (show). If you enjoy Bruce Campbell with your cheese, you may want to take a look.


Personally, I want a modern DnD with the Dark Sun setting. It's very different from the usual Fantasy (Dwarves are BALD and there's FEMALE dwarves. Elves live SHORTER lives than humans) and dark. Although the two Dos games that are out have compelling stories, there is not the opportunity to have an impact on the game world. I'd like to see that showcased in any RPG setting, really.

Most of the time, when your character interacts with an area to "make it better" there's no real change. If it's a sidequest, that NPC now says something different, but saving a town that didn't matter to the overall story won't have the citizenry build a statue of you. If the NPCs DO, it's because this village DID matter to the overall story and some aspect of following the story has triggered that event. I'd like to see things more dynamic. There's a few spots in New Vegas that sort of did this, but not at the level I'd like to see.

Anyway, since this is about settings I'd like to see:
Fantasy Steampunk (like Arcanum but more player accessible. The interface of Arcanum alienated me)
Dark Sun
Colonization/Exploration- Historical based (Shogun) or Future/Space (Old Man's War)
Ancient techno-societies (Atlantis, Babylon, etc.)
 
I like the Cthulu mythos idea. Ifeel if they can make DnD games they can do a CoC game pretty well. Set it up like KOTOR or NWN, have a sanity meter, but maybe put less emphasis on combat (not soo much less that it's a stealth game, but to make it feel more scary).
 
Well my idea for a RPG would be based on the book I am currently writing (Eden), it is about a PMC based on Jupiter's moon, Europa. Don't worry aliens, uber weapons, and over colonisation haven't shitstained my book. It's set when humanity is just getting it's bearings on space colonisation, as only the Moon, Mars and Europa are fully colonised, with Io in the first phase of colonisation. The PMC named Crow's Legion is based in the capital of Europa, imaginatavely called Europa City. The book is doesn't follow the same character all the way through, more like following the same family, the Crow family, who (obviously) command the legion.

It won't have any uber battles, with over-glorified heroes. In fact the protagonists in my book can often be seen as corrupted in one way or an other, with an exception of one (who is too immature to do anything about it). It's just about how the Crow family went about commanding the Legion and how the Legion affected Europan history, because of this I was hoping of doing the books in volumes or something along the lines of that.

And that is why I think my book would be a great RPG. Please tell me if it is too sci-fi.
 
UncannyGarlic said:
I wouldn't mind seeing a dark fantasy RPG. That's dark fantasy as in American McGee's Alice or Pan's Labyrinth, not as in Dragon Age Origins marketing lingo.
Click to expand...
Exactly. The problem with RPGs beeing most of the time "Fantasy" with Elves and Dragons and such isnt really that they use"fantasy" but that they feel so similar in the presentation. Take Bethesdas newest Elder Scrolls game. Is it really a surprise that we hear now that the "evil" dragons have to be slayed ? I am sure there is a whole bunch of them around ...

I am not saying The Witcher is doing everything alright or that its the perfect RPG (It isnt), but it definetly had a slightly different approach to the fantasy setting and thats what I liked about it.

Another game (which I personaly dissliked though ...) was Divinity 2, as the idea to actually play a Dragon (or at least a human which can transform in a dragon) was great. Just not that well done in my eyes.
 
Mr Krepe said:
Well my idea for a RPG would be based on the book I am currently righting (Eden), it is about a PMC based on Jupiter's moon, Europa. Don't worry aliens, uber weapons, and over colonisation haven't shitstained my book. It's set when humanity is just getting it's bearings on space colonisation, as only the Moon, Mars and Europa are fully colonised, with Io in the first phase of colonisation. The PMC named Crow's Legion is based in the capital of Europa, imaginatavely called Europa City. The book is doesn't follow the same character all the way through, more like following the same family, the Crow family, who (obviously) command the legion.

It won't have any uber battles, with over-glorified heroes. In fact the protagonists in my book can often be seen as corrupted in one way or an other, with an exception of one (who is too immature to do anything about it). It's just about how the Crow family went about commanding the Legion and how the Legion affected Europan history, because of this I was hoping of doing the books in volumes or something along the lines of that.

And that is why I think my book would be a great RPG. Please tell me if it is too sci-fi.
Click to expand...

Some righter you are! ZING!
 
Sorry, i'm very tired, I just got from school, I went to bed last night at 1 in the morn so excuse me if i'm a bit retarded at the moment.
 
I'll have to edit the book first before I have fully finished it, but (i'm not one for blowing my own horn) it is quite good, and if i'm honest if fallout 3 was a book, mine would probably be better (well it isn't that hard), most likely better than New Vegas' writing.
 
Jade Empire had a great idea by using a universe based on China, but the game was a big let down in a lot of ways for me.

Dune RPG. Multiple quest lines with Spacing guild, Tleilaxu, Atreides, Harkonnen, Fremen, Bene Geserit, etc.

Something would have to be done to break up the monotony of the desert and that might be interstellar travel, after all, it is instantaneous.
 
well the way how intestelar travel works in Dune is pretty interesting to say that as you need some kind of guide who is using spice to "foresee" the path infront of you. I am not that used with the Dune history (the books cover a few thousand years I think ...) but at some point they used Super AIs for the traveling, but after one (or many?) decided to start a revolution they removed them or most of them at least. I think the Dune world would make a great RPG if done correctly. It offers many interesting characters, different and I mean REALLY different houses (harkonen is nothing like Atreides or Emperor). The technology in Dune is quite well explained as well and would contain a lot of possibilities for characters, either using the "magic" and "spice" or simply weapons and shields and all that.

I guess the only problem a developer would have to face is the same issue like wit ha D&D setting. The licence. I think Bioware had a lot of trouble with it at some point as well the D&D people actually want to check a lot and you have to ask them always if you want to do some changes for the PC.
 
For a Steampunk setting isntead of needlessly adding magic to it, you could make more a Crafting system, you build better machines and discover various ways to use them to represent the skills you are able to get. You could decide to either look for productive ways to expand upon the Steam industrie, and you coudl either just go for mroe power and don't care about enviormental and social issues it may cause or you could try and find a greener approach, or just be a Steam-based jetpack using, top hat and victorian trenchcoat wearing adventurer, or anythign you want.
For the Gangsters rpg (set in 1930 Chicago, I like that idea) it would inslude a sort of squad combat, in the Mafia is not a single person that goes up the ranks, they mostly operate in groups, like corporations, you would build your group of associates each oen having their own agendas and methods, maybe one of them is a mole, a covert police officer, or just a coward that could sell you off anytime, you woudl need to build their trhust to you, and you could double play two groups, shit I should be a game designer.

Edit: also even when it owudl use a squad based combat you would't need to take all of your tema to the firefights, or even participate in any firefights at all, you could go doing burocratic hits and stuff.
 
Roman Empire

This is a rich environment but it only seems to be popular in war games. AoD has Roman elements and Spiderweb made Nethergate, which is a fantasy RPG set in Roman Britain during the reign of Claudius. I'd like a (mostly) straight-up historical Roman setting. So much unused potential here.
 
Really anything that isn't traditional fantasy/scifi fits well into this thread.
let's play Pick a Time Period you Like!
Ancient Egypt/Sumeria/whatever
Roman Conquest of Britain
Age of Exploration/Colonization (imagine playing an aztec informant for the spanish, etc.)
WWI/WWII/Vietnam

really all of these time periods are fresh for RPGs. Heck, you could make a pirate RPG with warring factions in the Caribbean (think, Pirates!)
 
Hassknecht said:
I’d like a new Shadowrun RPG.
Or a RPG baſed on Neuromancer.
Click to expand...

I would love that as well, already waiting for it since the shadowruner game from SNES :D
 
I think that going pure period piece would be boring for everyone who wasn't a pseudo-history buff. I don't think that going history is the right route, I think that inspiration from a time period or a mythology is a better route. That's me though.

Another setting I'd love to see is something in the vein (stylistically and originality-wise) of Earthworm Jim. Something really fresh and original rather than being based on history or a specific mythology. Unfortunately that isn't going to happen.
 
Idiotfool said:
Sounded more like Exo Squad, to me. They even had "Neosapiens". (P.S. "Proto" means "first", so I can't see augmented humans being called "first humans")
Click to expand...
Sounds actually a lot like what I have been thinking (even the comparison of Neosapiens leader to Hitler). Well, I never said my idea would be that original.
Also I know the meaning of Proto, I just had some stupid idea that those would had been like "we are pure humans" and they would call themselves "Protos", although it really doesnt make any sense :P

Well anyway, to put it short, my idea is that part of humanity has relocated into a new planet. Here some people started experimenting with human genes which lead to the birth of two new species, one through natural changes after small experiment and one which was fully human built. The naturally evolved are "nice" and mostly harmless while the human builts are genius, but very angry and they are the starters of Humanoid War.

Mix the war with natural disaster and you've got a nice post-apoc game IMO (basically it'd be a war between species in a ruined world, kinda like Supermutants vs. Humans). The only reason why it's in new planet is that this gives you so much more freedom when building cities and towns and landscapes.

Like I said, I wouldn't include laser weapons and such, but I'd put some crashed airships in the world and 4 legged battlewalkers (not so sci-fi, there are "spider-forest machines" in Sweden so I cannot see why it couldn't be changed into a killing machine). Also if I'd make it an FPS-RPG, I'd propably do the shooting mechanics like this:
-Gun control is affected by gun skill and strength. The stronger you are the bigger weapons you can use and smaller weapons don't shake that much. Higher gun skill also reduces the shaking and the recoil. Kinda like ArmA with skills affecting only your gun handling skills, not your weapon spread or accuracy. Actually I think FNV does it exactly like this, but aiming in this game is so awful that being a sniper is almost useless unless you play with small sensitivity.

Also I'd make the cities around the spaceships of the original settlers. These ships would be underground and they'd have some tech inside them which makes them a desirable for scavengers and treasure hunters. The fact that they're underground makes them hard to locate without any info found from some old databases.

I think it's a very "normal" sci-fi setting, but I'd like it. Just as long it isn't super-high-tech mixed with superpowers and levitating houses :p

Well, hope you understand what I'm saying, it's hard to put pictures into words and I can't even draw for shit :D I'd love to make some illustrations to show you the style I'm thinking of and how the world would look.

But like many here have said, I'd also love to see historical setting. Also the 1920's gangster setting and Ancient techno-societies sound like nice ideas.
 
I would like to see a RPG in a Arabian Nights kind of setting. Something similar to the Prince of Persia settings, but with different towns and locations.
 
Hmm using Shadowrun or any other 'old' 'mainstream' RPG or better said their settings is allways a double-edged sword.
You can use a rich world with quite some interesting ideas in them. Get help from authors who developed the world for years. Not to forget all the fans these games allready got and that a lot of game brands are also known outside of the PnP-world and therefore can spark interesting in them.
But than you also got worlds which are quite old, to which a lot of different authors contributed. Often contradicting each other and adding stupid ideas which shattered the fan base so that you can't ever please all of them. Especially the old hardcore fans can start to complain about how you try to please new guys to the whole world (or better said other gamers). And on top of that you also have to deal with the guys owning the licence and wanting to keep the power over the setting but don't even know themselves what their fans want (which White Wolf and WoC showed quite well the last years). Not to forget that you'll upset quite a few people if you don't add enough background lore or even get some lore wrong (which the authors also do quite sometimes).

But well, than again i think some real Warhammer Fantasy RPG could be interesting...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top