Write a story about a civilian in a fort under siege from a vast army that outnumbers them to the point that they stand no chance of winning (though they could perhaps had delusions to the contrary). The army waits outside and has decided to starve the city out.
The civillian is not involved in any way with the military, but can affect the ending of the story in various other ways (I wouldn't actually tell you what ways because if you decide to do this then you should be the one writing out the storylines).
I don't think I 'd want to play that game, never mind make it. Too depressing. But thanks for the thought.
It doesn't have to end badly!
That's what fantasy is for, after all. (Hell, the army invading could be liberators, the people controlling the city could be evil tyrants!)
If you really want it to be depressing, make it so only the invading army has magical people or magic doesn't exist at all in the world. :P
Massive invading army with magic and dragons that likes to have torture parties VS the poor townfolk who have a rare pitchfork to fight with sometimes?
Oh yeah, the endless amount of happy fun-time in that scenario is unquantifiable.
A story based a very long time ago in an old village about an old man telling a group of children a story about the future (the present for us) based on how he expects it to be. The goal is to leave the children feeling miserable because they know they won't be alive to experience the world in 200 years or so.
Alright, I got some good feedback from my friend on Paladin, so I miiiight go back to that. I'm going to end up cutting about half of what I've written, and completely changing what the (unwritten) midgame is about, but... well, it's going to be better. ^_^
No, I'm writing it in Twine... just brainstorming here. Although I suppose a mod could tell me to stop using the Writing Workshop for an off-site game, if they were so inclined. :P
Hm? I'm going with Paladin. The premise is now considerably different, but I think it's also better. ^_^
Science fiction: Pantheism is true. The protagonist is the universe, has a tangiable consciousness and can manipulate everything from planet tempatures, to creating or destroying entire planets, and the player can choose to be benevolent or malevolent, or a mix in between.
Hmm, I suppose. I figure the bulk of the game would be observing humanity and other alien species problems (which can be as simple as thievery to as complex as war, and you can choose to halt these events or incite them further. Maybe, eventually, some people realize the universe is sentient and begin to worship you. You could try to stop it, or encourage them.
Bump for waffling and backing off on Paladin again. :P
I was thinking about doing something with Ghostmaker (bloodthirsty ensouled sword) but it's not a story that seems to lend itself well to a lot of choices, so... no.
Then there's Winter's Daughter, which is kinda a stat-raising / court intrigue / romance game. That's probably what I'm going to default to if I'm not suddenly struck by inspiration and/or suggestions...
I recall there was a storygame on this site that concerned the player waking up to find that s/he is some guest in a dangerous place of honor...
...I can't figure out where I'm going with my current idea. If anywhere. Ugh. Why is plotting so hard?
An infertile woman went to a witch, who promised her a child, in exchange for him or her eventually becoming the witch's apprentice. You play that child, starting from the point where the witch shows up again.
And hey, at least you've gotten started! I suspect I'm poised to abandon yet another beginning...
You got a premise, now all you need is a challenge.
Maybe the witch needs to the child to do something for them? Overthrow a kingdom, or retrieve something for them? Of course, both of these would require the player be a witch/wizard.
Or maybe they just stumble upon an issue. Maybe while traveling with the witch (after years together) they're attacked by an organization that seeks to kill all witches, which leads the main character to fight against these foes.
Maybe the witch corrupts the player, and they turn straight up evil. They have to do something akin to Necormancer where they slowly take over the world.
Maybe the player hates the witch all this time, and the story revolves around betraying and undermining her whenever you get the chance, ending in a duel between the two.
I like the second and last of these, depending on the player's choices. I was already planning a 'try to escape from the witch' route, but betraying her to the witch-hunters could work well...
Thanks!
Crossposted from a writer's forum:
So, my current WIP involves a young person who becomes an apprentice to a witch, who's loosely based on Baba Yaga. It's interactive fiction, so there's going to be a number of ways this can play out. But I'm thinking that the MC's father is not pleased to have his child lured or kidnapped to serve this witch, and sends some sort of witch-hunter(s) after them. I'm trying to figure out exactly who these witch-hunters are. The obvious angle would be to make them be from some religious order, but... perhaps too obvious. Mercenaries? A rival witch? I'm just trying to figure out what would be the most interesting choice, given that you can choose to either side with them or help the witch fend them off. Any thoughts would be appreciated. :)
Probably... and I probably will. But since I'm not super keen on any of the possibilities I've thought of so far, I'm hoping maybe someone will throw out an idea that I'll be inspired to run with.
Depends what kind of world you want this to be. Are witches the only magical-ish creatures? Do demons/angels exist (if so they're a possible antagonist). Are witches common knowledge? Do they treat witches the same way we did (burn them), or differently?
Once you figure out things like that, the reasoning behind it should just naturally fall into place.
Get a co author.
It helps so so much.
Its like.
ASking random people isn't really helpful, because they aren't going to sit down and really help you. They just say "Oh this will be cool" and are done.
If you have a co author and you both storm ideas, you both write down what you want, can edit it, and bam. The idea is delivered, no ones feelings are hurt, its your/their story.
"I think X would be cool" is as much input as I'm looking for at this point. And I have no body of work to demonstrate my abilities to a potential co-author. I wouldn't co-author with me; why should anyone else?
I feel like
"Hey dragons would be cool"
and then someone does something with dragons that the other person didn't like what so ever, while you were just being unique.
And they get all butt hurt.
Its like, a worse case scenario thing, but eh.
Wellll, I kinda set that one aside, in favor of something where I had a clearer sense of the plot. I'm sure I'll come back to witches and magic at some point, though! ^_^
What's wrong with space pirates? XD
But no. It's fantasy. Not saying anything else because spoilers. ;P
Space pirates are overused, and don't make for good plot material.
I shall await the development of your intriguing new storygame.
In comparison to the vast stores of high fantasy, zombie survival, and espionage pieces, I'd say space pirates are underused. I think that space-faring supersoldiers in super-powered suits are overused by a longer margin.
And what makes a sea-faring pirate any more better than a space-pirate, and vice versa? They do the same thing, just riding a different boat.
Mm, there's something about good old fashioned raiding and looting in the far off galaxy in the age of computer programing that's a real turnoff. When you start to add a tech-team and technologically proficient crew it really starts to deviate from the original pirates, who were just common criminals and thieves who didn't know how to read. In other words, you can't put pillaging and plundering pirates who can't count to three in a technologically advanced world. That's why modern day pirates are hackers and the 'real' pirates are off around the coast of Africa (albeit with modern weaponry). I think technologically proficient pirates could be interesting, though.
How very pecuilar indeed, performing Yoga via the internet, I must learn of this fascinating procedure.
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