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ein1017
07-11-2007, 01:20 PM
My dad actually came up with this RPG when he was a teenager with his friends and family. I would like to see if at the very least what you think of it.

The basic background is a futuristic huge domed city on the east coast. Outside of the dome is a waste land full of radiation, death and mutations. The city, called New York Megalopolis.

The city is split into different section vertically. “A” is on top; “B” is below “A” and so on and so forth until you hit “R” level. The closer to the top, the more prestigious and important you are and the more privileges you have. Officially “R” is the lowest level in city but beyond “R” level is called the “Periphery.” The “Periphery” is not mapped and no citizen would have a reason to go down there. The “periphery” extends all the way to the bottom. But most citizens never seen the bottom and those that do usually are never seen again.

It is also very hard for a citizen to get a lethal weapon. The most common weapon is called a stunner and basicly is a stun gun that knocks a person unconcious. It has a power setting from 1-5 (5 being the highest) and a wide and a narrow beam setting (narrow of course goes farther) the stunner is almost quiet and does not actually fires a solid object but instead it shoots an electronic pulse to scramble the neurons in the body.

Here is some basic info a character should know.
Things a Character Knows

Traffic Control is responsible for the safety and flow of traffic in the numerous traffic corridors of New York Megalopolis. Completely computerized, TC knows the exact coordinates, speed, course heading, departure point, destination, dimensions and condition of each rotor through the transponder. TC will guide you through the quickest, safest route to where you want to go and have a reserved parking slot waiting!

Less traveled corridors do not require Traffic Control assistance, but in heavily traveled sections, TC assistance is mandatory. This allows the Citizen to relax, sleep, or even get an early start on their work-day.

EVAC or Emergency Vehicle Access Corridor are reserved strictly for emergency vehicles, such as Fire, Security and Emergency Medical Technicians, granting them faster, more efficient access to the distressed Citizen without interrupting normal flow of traffic. Emergency vehicles are equipped with special transponders giving them access to the EVACs.

Rotors are the most common and practical form of private conveyance. The original rotor was based on a simplified version of the helicopter. Still seen today, though rare, most surviving examples are in the hands of eccentric collectors. The rotor today is more efficient, allowing four adults to ride comfortably.

Instead of relying on a large rotary wing for lift and propulsion, the modern rotor uses four tilting turbo fans driven by highly efficient and durable super conductor electric motors powered by the latest fuel cell technology. Fast, comfortable, easy to operate and economical, it's no wonder every Citizen can hardly wait to have their Rotor Privilege approved!

Social Services provide invaluable resources to help the troubled Citizen. Unfortunately, many are so lost with their problems; they become unaware as their behavior grows more and more anti-social. It is the duty of each and every Citizen to watch out for each other and to lend a hand in time of need. When a friend, neighbor, cohabitant or co-worker begin exhibiting inappropriate behavior, it's best to call the trained professionals at the SS to intervene before the situation grows serious. Remember, with mental as with physical health, it's easier to treat an affliction if caught early.

The SS also has programs for those who are blessed with the insight to recognize their illness on their own.

Labor Unit, or lu as they are more commonly called, is the monetary unit of New York Megalopolis. It represents the blood, sweat and tears of the common man who has always sacrificed so much to make this great Society a reality. When the Founding Protectors first enclosed our fair City, the lu was first issued as hard currency- that is, it was physically manifested by coins and bills. Necessary at the time, hard lu was soon supplanted by the simpler, more efficient electronic system used today.

Hard lu has been recalled by the Financial Planning and Treasury and it's the duty of every Citizen to cooperate by reporting and returning any they may encounter.

DTA- Domestic Tranquility Act. This document was carefully forged by the Protectors nearly 200 years ago to provide us with the guidance needed to fully enjoy the security and privileges of a well-designed society. It ensures that each Citizen has a useful place in Society and that Society provides a place for each Citizen. Citizens no longer need to fear being useless. It also clearly outlines privileges each Citizen is qualified to apply for. It also identifies the anti-social behaviors that lead to the utter chaos of the Pre-Closures that the Founding Protectors saved Society from. Without strict adherence to the DTA, Society would soon fall into the cycle of war, disease, famine and pollution of the destructive Chaos Times of the Pre-Closure Era. Remember: The Citizen provides for Society that Society may provide for the Citizen

Arcology- An arcology is a "city within 'City", the triumphant merging of architecture and social engineering, a self contained living space. The Citizens can work, shop, recreate and meet all their societal obligations and needs without ever leaving the comfort of their home arcology. A Citizen could be born, raised, educated, develop a life career, and retire all within a secure and familiar environment, just as was envisioned by the Founding Protectors.

Privilege Rating- Each living area has a privilege rating with A Level being the highest. This reflects the privileges each Citizen has earned through selfless dedication and sacrifice for the betterment of Society. Lower levels may apply to be raised as the Citizens continue their hard work. A Citizen should not be envious of those assigned to a higher level- with great privileges comes the burden of greater responsibility to Society and their fellow Citizens.

PC- The Personal Companion (or PC) is the all in one communications and data management device that everyone from the youngest child to the oldest adult carries around with them at all times. It has a VOC (Voice Operated Command), 2D and 3D interactive holographic screen and wireless interface with a variety of peripheral devices, such as HUDs, Comdots, Waldo controllers, Vid screens and numberless other devices. Each person is issued an ID at birth and an official copy of the personal files of the Citizen is carried on their personal PC. PCs are constantly connected to the net and are used to send and receive data files, vid calls, video/trideo streaming from such sources as City Network News, Video Zoo, The Reality Channel, Soap Opera Prime and others. The PC also keeps track of your coordinates at all times and can navigate you to any coordinate. It's truly the most important urban survival tool for any Citizen.

Domestic Cohabitant- There almost always comes a time in the life of a Citizen when they feel it would be to their advantage to merge Living Privileges with another. To do so, they must follow the formality of applying with the Fair Housing Commission and Privilege Review to apply for a Domestic Cohabitation Contract, which can run from one to seven years. If the Co-habs decide to have children, they can apply for a Child Bearing Privilege at the Family Planning Center.

Recycling Chutes are used to dispose of unwanted items, waste and debris. The chutes carry anything placed in them to the recycling centers where they are automatically separated then broken down into their base components and turned into raw materials for manufacturing, or into nutrients for the hydroponics and growing houses.

Slidewalk is the most common form of transportation consisting of constantly moving pedestrian beltways. Part of the slidewalk system uses actual belts, but newer upgraded sections employ gravatics. A series of slides run parallel to each other- one set heading one direction, the other in the opposite- at varying speeds. The inside belts move the fastest, the outer the slowest. This lets the traveler board the slides, yet allows travel of upwards of 100 kph safely. Slide intersections consist of traffic circles that allow the Citizen to change from one to another. Travel by slidewalk is safe and secure.

Running the Slides- There are those rare few who engage in this anti-social behavior- usually children- endangering the safety and lives of those Citizens traveling by slidewalk. It consists of one person being "it" and the other chasing him. The idea is for the person who is it to use dangerous maneuvers to evade the pursuers, such as jumping more than one transition slide, dodging between innocent riders and even jumping from one slide to another heading in the opposite direction! Fortunately, this anti social activity is rare because accidents resulting from running the slides have been very terrible indeed

Basic Living Allowance consists of a one room flat with simple furnishings, a closet, vid-wall and grants access to the community facilities and dining. Rotor privileges may also be applied for by any with a BLA.

As a Citizen increases their contributions to Society in both value and importance, so do their Living Privileges. Increases could include private facilities, larger living space or a wider choice of locations.

Lu Card or Lu Stick- A wallet sized card or narrow stick used to for the storage of lu. Electronic lu is also called E-lu.

Persona Non Grata- Non Person. It refers to anyone who isn't registered with Society. Anyone without an ID is Persona Non Grata! They are not a person and a potential carrier of disease! All PNGs must be reported to the INS!

All persons are issued an ID and number upon birth, which are carried with them at all times. The most common ID is a durable electronic card, using the same level of encryption as a lu card. A back up copy is often loaded to a personal PC.

Everyone has an ID. All PNGs have been taken care of and no Citizen need fear them or the plagues they carried.

INS- During the Time of the Closures, the Intruder Neutralization Service, a forward looking public agency, provided security from the constant danger from diseased, plague bearing undocumented aliens until the Protectors could achieve the goal of sealing the City against the deadly hazards of the Outside. Though the PNGs have been eliminated, the INS still serves- ever watchful, ever faithful- against any threat to our way of life. As the Founding Protectors have taught "Eternal vigilance is the price of security."

Vigilance Committees are Citizen Volunteers donating time and resources to assist the INS in securing the Periphery. Duties mainly consist of maintenance and repairs; however their selfless contributions are important to Society. Join a local Vigilance Committee today, and feel good about yourself!

Subsidies are available to provide the hardworking Citizen the Privileges, building space and other support needed to start their own successful business. In turn, the Subsidized Owner agrees to provide services and goods to be used by Society for the betterment of others. As the small business grows, the Citizen will soon become an Owner. Going Corporate is sure to follow! Don't wait another day to apply for your Subsidy!

Corporations work hand in hand with the City Council to constantly build a better Society. They provide arcologies for Citizens to secure comfortable living privileges, better education, and gainful employment and successfully contribute to Society

EDIT: Schools starts with grade school (age 5-11) then intermediate school (11-15) then either high school or trade school. High school is for wen you want a higher education and go to college. High school (4 years long) trade school (4 years long) College, only if you went to high school (a choice of degrees, longer you stay the higher the degree) Technical school is where you learn the trade of lesser jobs, likes cops. (choice between 1 to 8 years)

One last note, since the city is domed in. there is no natural light and the days are spit into 20 hours, each hour has 100 minutes and each minute has 100 seconds. Dawn begins at 00:00 and dusk is at 10:00. (Dawn and dust is a relative term and used mostly for determining the beginning and ending of a work shift.)

For visual reference, think of:
5th element but domed in and gloomier.
Blade runner
“Caves of Steel” written by Isaac Asimov


So what do you think?

Statalyzer
07-11-2007, 02:27 PM
1. It's dusk, not dust.

2. ~60 mph seems a bit fast for sidewalks even using magic artificial gravity

3. It could be good. What would we do as characters though, outside of pretending we're the Sims or Second Life and meandering through day to day living?

ein1017
07-11-2007, 04:11 PM
1. It's dusk, not dust.

2. ~60 mph seems a bit fast for sidewalks even using magic artificial gravity

3. It could be good. What would we do as characters though, outside of pretending we're the Sims or Second Life and meandering through day to day living?
thanks for catching that spelling error.

And about the characters part, nobody said you had to follow the law. I know this type of RPG is different then pen and paper type but I wanted to see if this idea can work in this fashion. I have played this game without once touching a die for a 6 hour session but whatever.

Any ways I was thinking of something along the line of throwing a problem and see how the players deal with it.

All in all if I can't get this to work, I would at least gain some insight in what other people think of it.

Annihlator :D
07-11-2007, 07:46 PM
Sounds fun. I might try it out.

Serenla
07-11-2007, 08:17 PM
I agree with Stat. It sounds like a nice environment, but you'd have to expand on what characters would do. From the sounds of it, Citizens are fairly limited in what they can do in the city.

To be frank, it sounds like a very sterile environment. It reminds me of the movie Equilibrium, a world where the 'government' has a large degree of control over the city and its inhaibtants. It's an interesting concept, but I don't think it necessarily lends itself to an RPG. Or, at least not the kind of RPGs that this forum has had.

For instance, the most freedom characters would have in this universe would be as criminals. So what is the criminal world like? What drives people to crime? Under the "Basic Living Allowance" it seems like most people are equal, eexcept for certain privileges, and these privileges can't be stolen. So why become a criminal? How successful can crime be? Everyone carries a PC which makes crime against any person even harder because they can use the voice-operated feature to send a distress call.

How strong are the police in the Megalopolis? It seems like a very authoritarian place and the confined nature of the city leads me to believe that crime would be very strictly dealt with. Transportation is closely monitored so how do criminals get around? This is especially important because criminals would probably be lower class (near the ground) and trying to rob the higher class (near the top of the city).

Basically, I see no reason why anyone would want to be a normal Citizen unless you want, as Stat suggests, a Simsesque RPG but the criminal world isn't very fleshed out yet. Granted, I'm only judging by what I've seen in this forum and I am by no means an expert but I think it would require more attention before becoming an RPG here.

Statalyzer
07-12-2007, 12:43 AM
Perhaps electronic criminals? I'm sure some brainiacs could find ways into such a large and complicated system as that and perform a few operations. The question is can this be made into a story? What if the government looked all perfect but it was a front and was collapsing from the inside?

It's doable, but not easy. Some more concept of the story is needed beforehand, you have to have action and conflict and the plot has to be able to move forward.

BTW we aren't trying to be difficult, but even good RPGs usually die quickly on this forum so we really want to see something in it that suggests it'll be worth rsking putting thought and time into our characters for naught, at the chance it'll pick up.

It reminds me of the movie Equilibrium

That was the first thing I thought of as well.

SgtRicko
07-12-2007, 08:54 AM
City! sounds like it would be the result if SimCity and Equilibrium were combined and given a goofy, humourous spin. The introduction you gave sounds half-serious and somewhat light-hearted; was this your original intention?

ein1017
07-12-2007, 12:45 PM
City! sounds like it would be the result if SimCity and Equilibrium were combined and given a goofy, humourous spin. The introduction you gave sounds half-serious and somewhat light-hearted; was this your original intention?
Well i was not sure what would be the reaction so I didn't want to get too euthesatic about it and only to have people hate it.

I definitely understand what you are saying statalyzer that is why I wanted to see what you guys thought of it first before jumping right in. Thinking about it, I should have done more research on the types of RPGs playing here. I did look at some of them but not too closely.

One thing I did not mention was that the system is corrupt from the start so even if the average citizen cannot do a lot of the stuff, the Corporations can. Despite the illusion of control, the government actually is very weak and NYM is mostly run by the corpys.

Crime is still rampant but the police do a fair enough job against it as long it is nothing like armed robbery or stuff like that.

Statalyzer
11-07-2007, 02:50 PM
So is this idea dead?

Daishi
11-07-2007, 03:39 PM
I'm very interested.

chaoscontrol512
11-08-2007, 12:35 PM
Sounds interesting. If this ever gets off the ground, I'd like to take part in it.

ein1017
11-08-2007, 12:44 PM
So is this idea dead?

basically sadly. I no longer have the time to really develop this idea also there does not seem to be much interest in this game. Oh well, maybe i can cook up a battletech (mechwarrior) version.

EDIT: Unless you really want to try it out....

Gaucho8788
11-08-2007, 02:55 PM
The idea for this sounds exactly like that from the anime Big-O. A huge domed in city where no-one leaves. Outside the dome is a barren wasteland like desert. It could be interesting, even more so if the idea is expanded on more.

SgtRicko
11-09-2007, 06:22 AM
The idea for this sounds exactly like that from the anime Big-O. A huge domed in city where no-one leaves. Outside the dome is a barren wasteland like desert. It could be interesting, even more so if the idea is expanded on more.

Nah, its more like Judge Dredd, really - overly zealous cops and cheesey humour and all.

Daishi
11-09-2007, 08:03 AM
I was thinking something more like Zalem from Battle Angel Alita or Midgar from Final Fantasy VII, but those sound like workable references too.

SgtRicko
11-09-2007, 08:56 AM
Yeah, I can see Midgar working out too, though it is definately lacking in any white-haired-pretty-boys with REALLY FRACKIN HUGE swords!:p

ein1017
11-09-2007, 09:43 AM
wow i didn't think anyone waned to play since no one seemed to like it. Btw there are secrets in this city that heh I will not reveal but will change your perspective about this place. How about this I want a count on how many peple actually want to play.

SgtRicko
11-09-2007, 09:50 AM
I guess I'm in.

Statalyzer
11-09-2007, 10:04 AM
I'm in.

Daishi
11-09-2007, 10:44 PM
I'm in!

Avapodnaught
11-09-2007, 11:09 PM
I'd like to try this out

chaoscontrol512
11-10-2007, 12:15 AM
I'm in.

ein1017
11-11-2007, 11:28 PM
ok cool. When I get a chance I will set up a character thread. And since I don't quiet have my dad's special touch, I won't be strict about characters since it is hard to fully explain this world anyways. Well I can but it would be very long and most people can't and won't read very long on the internet.

Statalyzer
11-12-2007, 12:06 PM
It's the RPG forum, we can read semi-long stuff.

ein1017
11-12-2007, 01:44 PM
It's the RPG forum, we can read semi-long stuff.
alright, just used to other people not wanting to read long articles at school and in general. When I make that thread, (tonight possibly) I will try my best to explain it.

Statalyzer
11-16-2007, 10:19 AM
I'll get around to this soon, my problem is that I can only post from work right now, so I have to either wait to get the internet stuff sorted out at my apt, or else post during my lunch break or stay late at work.

I'd like to have two characters if that's ok, I have an idea for their storylines to (eventually) converge.

ein1017
11-16-2007, 01:57 PM
Np Stat. Actually I was thinking of posting another character myself though I do like to limit the numbers of characters a person should run. So far the characters that have been made are interesting to say the least and have given me an idea about what the plot shold be. :devil:

chaoscontrol512
11-16-2007, 05:55 PM
I'm kinda busy right now, so when I get around to thinking up a character, I'll post it here.

ein1017
11-16-2007, 10:03 PM
I'm kinda busy right now, so when I get around to thinking up a character, I'll post it here.
how about when you get the chance, you post it in the character's thread?

chaoscontrol512
11-17-2007, 11:43 AM
how about when you get the chance, you post it in the character's thread?
Will do. ;)

ein1017
11-28-2007, 11:59 AM
Ok I am setting a date for everyone who wants to play have to create a character. On December 12th I am setting the ball in motion boys and girls. If you want to join in later then December 12th, post your character in the city character section and wait for the ok from me.

Nyerguds
12-05-2007, 02:44 AM
Hmm... the tech level of this looks a bit like A Life Of Shadow, the first RPG we had running here. This seems a lot less 'dark and gritty' though, and more 'controlled to oppressive perfection'.

I kinda doubt I'll be able to participate though, since I really gotta get off my arse and get studying for my exams in January. But I'll be watching this either way. Maybe I'll be able to join in later...

Statalyzer
01-03-2008, 11:57 PM
Most everyone is back from the break now, let's get this thing moving!

ein1017
01-04-2008, 10:49 AM
sounds like a great idea. And i have been thinking, seeing how successful the terrain federation thread is, i wonder if it is alright with everyone if we played city in a similar fashion.

apple23
01-08-2008, 12:01 AM
well, if we are going to get things moving, i just posted my character up. If it's a go then let's go!

Statalyzer
01-08-2008, 11:47 AM
Apple, if it's okay with Ein, you should go ahead and post a story beginning for your character. Hopefully after we each get a couple of posts in, we can think of ways to start having our characters interact some, and PM back and forth accordingly.

ein1017
01-08-2008, 07:48 PM
good idea stat, i will post a story possibly tomorrow.

I do have a general path the story should go but, like most things i do, having trouble starting it.

apple23
01-08-2008, 07:57 PM
so... does this mean I can start posting/my character is OK?

ein1017
01-09-2008, 11:14 AM
It would be nice if you can add a little more detail about your character, mainly background info but other then that, yeah

Statalyzer
01-20-2008, 11:21 PM
It would be nice to have people remember that this stil exists....

ein1017
01-21-2008, 12:14 PM
yeah sorry about my part lacking, seems like every time i try to post i either can't think of anything or something else pops ups.