An Interest Thread: Toastburner B Rides Again!

[Toastburner B]

Good evening/morning/afternoon/whateveritiswhenyoureadthis ladies and gentlemen!

It has been some time (almost a year!) since I've tried my hand at this GMing business. My last few attempts I will freely admit were failures purely because of me. In all honesty I really wasn't the in the best state of mind the last time I tried GMing (as evidenced by the fact I tried to run the BBWL/Evil's Return crossover RP) due to real life troubles. Now those problems are now well behind me, and I find the urge to try GMing returning. This seems to be a good time to try it as there appears to be some life in the old RPing forums again.

I don't really have any "new" ideas. All this stuff is stuff I have pitched at one time or another, but I do have ideas of how to change things up on RPs that have already run.

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Evil's Return (redux)

The Mother of Hell.

The Chosen.

Destined to be the mother of the savior or destroyer of the world: for her first born has the power to either open the Gates of Hell, or to seal them forever.

Her life is often short and violent. If she isn't being hunted by cultists or demons to want to grantee that her firstborn opens the Gates of Hell, then she's being stalked by people who want to kill her before she has children; take one life to preserve the life of billions.

There are always, however, a scant few that fight to keep her alive. Those who believe that the chance of sealing the Gates forever is reason enough, and the even fewer that believe that she deserves the chance to live her life as long as possible.

They are known as the Protectors.


Evil's Return is loosely based off the manga of the same name. The players play as the Protectors, who are out to keep the Mother of Hell alive and safe for any number of reasons. I have a couple of ideas of how to run this differently (unless people want the same combination of "high school slice of life" and "OMG DEMONS!" the other ones have been), but I'll wait to see if there is any interest in this before I throw those ideas out there.

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F.A.R.S.:

Fast Action Response Ship...it doesn't really being to cover it, does it?

F.A.R.S. are so much more than just the first ship to arrive, even though we are that. We have to be prepared to handle any situation, anywhere. One day, we'llplay the part of an old American west marshal and pick up a vicious criminal from an outlying world and drop him off at the nearest jump-station, the next day, we're neck deep in aliens who haven't evolved past the stone age, but happen to outnumber some colonist 10,000 to 1.

Normally, this would be the job a dedicated fleet, but for the time being, we don't have that option. Not only are we still trying to recover our strength from the last war, we have to convince our erstwhile allies that we aren't going to become the Thigians part two, and that means patrolling our borders with a handful of ships until they decide they can trust us enough to park fleets on their boarders. Basically, that means that a F.A.R.S. has to be able to hold the line by itself until one of the few fleets mankind has on hand can be assembled and deployed; a process that can take anywhere from a week to six months.

Yeah...it's fun to in a F.A.R.S. crew.

Obviously, in this RP, the characters will be the crew of one of mankind's Fast Action Response Ships: charged with keeping the outlying planets free of pirates, hostile aliens, and all that fun stuff that haunts the borderlands. This will mostly be a sci-fi RP, but I reserve the right to introduce elements from other genres as I see fit (after all, space is big).

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Paradox(redux):

One second, you were just a normal human being. The second after that, you felt more pain than you thought you could ever experience. What happened after that changed your life forever...because you changed.

Into a monster.

Once you changed, you were overcome by a horrible hunger...and one way or another, you satisfied that hunger.

You've entered into a world where you know there are things that haunt the dark: you know because you are one of those things. Why have you started to change now? Is there a way to prevent the change? To control it?

Actually, the questions should be: can you learn to control soon enough to survive the coming storm.

While the basics and setting will be roughly the same, the plot will be new. No more 'Curse'...just the mystery of what the Paradoxes are, why they are popping up now.

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The Return:

For ages, the Tanar'ri Armada has been the terror of the galaxy. They appear without warning, crushing lower civilizations and conquering their worlds to support an ever expanding Empire. Think of them as Rome on a galactic scale. The races they encounter are either enslaved or decimated...there is no middle ground.

Of course, there are cases where a portion of a species escapes the grip of the Armada. While the reach of the Tanar'ri is long, they cannot be anywhere. However, these remnants have been too much of a concern. After all, they are but a bare fragment of their race...surely no threat could come from them.

However, what would happen if those remnants banded together with the single purpose of retaking that which was theirs: to come out of the night and take revenge on their oppressors. Surely such a coalition of races couldn't come to pass; surely their differences would tear them apart before they could become powerful enough to challenge the might of the Armada.

At least, that's what the Tanar'ri though before the appearance of the Return: a massive Terran refugee ship rebuilt as one of the largest warships in history...along with fleets of ships belonging to other Remnant races.

The War of the Return begins.


The Return would be a little more free-based than my other RPs...mostly because there are so many ways to go with it, which would be up to the players. Would you each control your own capital ship? Would you be the crew of the Return itself? Would be a squadron of fighter pilots? That would be up to you guys to decided, but the plot would be about the same regardless. You could be human, or make up your own alien race...within reason, of course.

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Supernatural Investigations Division

Once upon a time, the Supernatural Investigations Division was an law enforcement agency on par with that of the FBI.

That time is long gone.

Now, the SID is headquartered in an unfinished basement of an office building It is a secret government organization, but it doesn't fit the stereotypical secret organization from the movies: the SID is underfunded, undermanned, under-appreciated, and overworked. The SID is a rag tag combination of wash-outs and screw ups from other organizations (such as the FBI, the NSA, the CIA, etc) and 'good' agents that where transferred because they ran into supernatural elements on the course of their jobs.

The Supernatural Investigations Division is called in when local police or other federal agencies run into something they can't explain. Of course, this means that by the time they are called in, things are already about to boil over. More often than not, the SID's job is to identify what is causing the trouble, figure out its weaknesses, and neutralize it.

In the RP, unsurprisingly enough, the characters would be Agents in the SID. This would be a more light-hearted RP...after all, the SID is mostly made out of misfits and such.

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So there they are. Anyone interested in any of these, or should I slink back into GMing obscurity for another year?

[Teal Mage]

I'm not uninterested, but I'm going to be a little busy until April the 4th (latest), so I may not have time to throw up a character for whatever you pick until then.

Though, for the record, there will be blood if you abandon this one.

As usual, my interest is in the two more esoteric Supernatural ones, Paradox the thing I'd sooner look at, but Evil's Return is your pet one. Either works for me. I will at least take a second look at anything you throw up though.

Oh, and Steel Shadow said he wants to do Evil's Return, but is afraid to post expressing interest himself. I've no idea why! So, I'm doing it for him. He can contradict me if he likes.

[Astral Harmony]

F.A.R.S. sounds good to me.

Strangely enough, if we somehow end up doing Evil's Return again, I would be inclined to NOT be the Mother of Hell this time.

Though I could assume that role easily again, I kinda wonder if me having that role is why all the previous ones failed.

[Aerozord]

had a question about paradox, when you say hunger you mean specific type or something we choose, and if we choose are their guidelines or can I hunger for like company, or contemporary jazz?

[Teal Mage]

Originally Posted by Aerozord

had a question about paradox, when you say hunger you mean specific type or something we choose, and if we choose are their guidelines or can I hunger for like company, or contemporary jazz?

In the event that you aren't joking.

Originally Posted by Toastburner B

What happened after that changed your life forever...because you changed.

Into a monster.

Once you changed, you were overcome by a horrible hunger...and one way or another, you satisfied that hunger.

Now, maybe Toastburner's willing to let us think outside the box here, but I think when he says we turned into monsters with a horrible hunger, he means we ate people. Monsters generally don't care about modern jazz when they're hungry (unless they like, devour sound - which seems a little lame)! It likely needs to be something suitably monsterous - if not eating the person, raping them or maybe eating their emotions/dreams/giving them horrible, mind damaging, nightmares.

The initial change won't be pretty. If the last game was any indication, he wants it to scar our characters.*

I'd also like to clarify what I said before - I'm most interested in Paradox, but will try anything you make, assuming a slightly late sign-up is okay. If not, you can weight my vote lightly.

*Promises to do a better job there, this time.

[Wizardcat]

I'd be interested in Paradox (redux). I remember the first one, but found the sign-ups too late.

[Overcast]

I feel like being a monster so Paradox for me, but also interested in everything that isn't a redux just for the sake of getting you to play elsewhere. Would say Evil's Return, but I would die to watch that die again.

[PyrosNine]

I'd be interested in The Return if the Tanar'ri are Tanar'ri. Specifically if they're all Succubi.

[Toastburner B]

Originally Posted by Teal Mage

Though, for the record, there will be blood if you abandon this one.

A totally understandable sentiment. Really, the only reassurance I can give is that I am in a much better place mentally than I was last time. As it turns out, the stress of school is almost delightful as compared to the stress of living with someone you actively dislike but try to put up with because they are family.

Anyways, I'll put you down as a vote for Paradox.

Originally Posted by Teal Mage

Oh, and Steel Shadow said he wants to do Evil's Return, but is afraid to post expressing interest himself. I've no idea why! So, I'm doing it for him. He can contradict me if he likes.

What can I say? I'm scary like that. Not to mention I think the last interaction I had with him was popping into the NPF Steam group chat and saying along the line of "Anyone want drugs?"

...Really, you had to be there the day before to get the joke.

Anyways, Steel votes for Evil's Return.

Paradox: 1
Evil's Return: 1

Originally Posted by Armored Bishoujo

F.A.R.S. sounds good to me.

AB votes for F.A.R.S.

Paradox: 1
Evil's Return: 1
F.A.R.S.: 1

Originally Posted by AB

Strangely enough, if we somehow end up doing Evil's Return again, I would be inclined to NOT be the Mother of Hell this time.

Though I could assume that role easily again, I kinda wonder if me having that role is why all the previous ones failed.

I would say "no" to your wonderings. The first Evil's Return came within a hair of actually finishing the story (still a pretty rare feat around around here), and I think it's safe to say the other two died mostly because of me. And don't feel like you are obligated to play the MoH in Evil's Return. In fact, it removes one of my worries for one of my ideas should ER win.

Originally Posted by Aerozord

had a question about paradox, when you say hunger you mean specific type or something we choose, and if we choose are their guidelines or can I hunger for like company, or contemporary jazz?

Well, to be fair, I didn't notice that in this newer write up I forgot to mention that the intro of Digital Devil Saga was one of the inspirations of Paradox. Really, I think that answers the question if Teal's post didn't. If it was joke then "Ha ha ha."

Originally Posted by Wizardcat

I'd be interested in Paradox (redux). I remember the first one, but found the sign-ups too late.

Another for Paradox.

Paradox: 2
Evil's Return: 1
F.A.R.S.: 1

Originally Posted by Overcast

I feel like being a monster so Paradox for me, but also interested in everything that isn't a redux just for the sake of getting you to play elsewhere.

Everything is a redux because I don't have an original bone in my body.

Originally Posted by Overcast

Would say Evil's Return, but I would die to watch that die again.

Your faith in me is overwhelming...not to mention completely justified.

So, we'll call that a vote for Paradox.

Paradox: 3
Evil's Return: 1
F.A.R.S.: 1

Originally Posted by PyrosNine

I'd be interested in The Return if the Tanar'ri are Tanar'ri. Specifically if they're all Succubi.

Honestly, I think I picked up the name Tanar'ri from one of my friends who delved into the Forbidden Realms stuff about a decade or two back. I don't know why I remembered the name or how I associated it with The Return...but really, I don't know anything about the FR/D&D Tanar'ri. So I am afraid that the Tanar'ri of The Return would not be a bunch of sexy space demons.

[Krylo]

Originally Posted by Toastburner B

Everything is a redux because I don't have an original bone in my body.

Would you like one?



Also: Evil's Return or SID, preferably. Assuming I can pull myself out of this slump I've gotten into the last couple of weeks enough to post in anything at all.