I’m working on a story set in a world of heroes and villains, and the MC will have the choice to set their origin/archetype, one of which is super-powered. I’d like to include some that are not commonly used but would still be fun and even possibly over-powered. I also want to avoid some that have been used in current WIPs and previous games. I also need to limit it to three choices for practical reasons.
That said, I think reactive adaptation would be cool, and possibly difficulty manipulation (making things harder for others or easier for yourself). I’m thinking a third possibility could be some form of super-powered propulsion from the MC’s feet (don’t worry, you wouldn’t have to be barefoot), which might be fun to use in combat. I saw chaos vision mentioned on one list of obscure powers, but there lies one of the issues: combat will be part of the game, so I want the powers to have some utility for fighting.
I think things like vibration/friction powers are used infrequently because a lot of authors don’t know what to do with them. But if you give them to someone with enough imagination, they can do anything from start a small spark to light a cigarette, to break up and sink an entire tectonic plate, or to start a nuclear cluster explosion. I’ve always kind of wondered if they just saw it as telekinesis of very small things and figured it wouldn’t be exciting, but…I think they just don’t know what to do with it. It’d allow you to manipulate pretty much any and everything, it doesn’t get much more OP than that until you get into Scarlet Witch type territory. And I like the idea of it being something that could be seen as very small and inconsequential; after all, what kind of telekinetic can’t even pick up a card or bend a spoon? Well in this case…the same kind that can move 17 atoms and crack the planet in half.
Ok, wow! I looked into vibrations and didn’t see how I could make it more unique than other physics-based powers, but friction control? The minute I looked it up, I started writing scenes in my head for how it would work! Thank you, again. That power is a lock!
@suyin I really like the sound of this. It sounds kind of picturesque, a wee B&B in a new town, new people, with a murder mystery and ghosts thrown in. It sounds fun and very interesting. Definitely my cuppa tea.
I have an idea I’ve been working on for the past 2-3 days, and wanted to see if there would be any interest in it.
Obsidian & Ivory: Chronicles of Sin
Play as a new crime boss, leaving your former life behind, and moving to a new city. You can choose how you run your enterprise, pay off the cops, send out crew members for jobs, and most importantly, grow your underworld empire. Can you take over the city? Can you do it all without getting caught?
I’m open to ideas* and any comments/questions anyone has.
*Please send your ideas to me privately, comments/questions can be asked here, but I’d like to keep the ideas private to avoid possible spoilers for anyone who accidentally stumbles upon this.
Enterprise Options (May Change!!!)
Biker Gang
Drug Cartel
Black Market Traders
ROs (May Change!!!)
Second in Command
Secretary
Two Rival Gang Bosses
Police Captain
Edit: Changed the title a bit as I realised it was very similar to a WIP that came out a few days ago.
Would there be a “good” option? Some games can get away without, but most allow players to take a somewhat virtuous path (e.g., a vampire who at least feels bad about killing).
Off the top of my head, player could opt to be something like Falcone (sp?) in Gotham, who IIRC actually argues that he’s helping the city by bringing some degree of order. Or there’s characters like Mr Freeze who just wants to save his wife.
I’m still workshopping the exact motives, but yes you will be able to do some selfless/“good” things. As of rn the motives range from “wrong place at the wrong time” to straight up evil.
The idea for this came to me as a trilogy, but I wanna write this book first and then see how it goes, might write all three or just two, maybe even one.
Idea for the trilogy: Play the first game as a crime boss, second as a cop who makes a name for himself taking down a large operation, and the third is their meeting. Both the first and second will hold up as stand alone games in case I never get around to the third.
Hi! I’m really just a lurker here and I know squat about how threads work. However, I’ve been closely following Interactive Fiction since 2015 and I think it’s nigh time for me to break my silence. Even if this account has little to no engagement.
Would anyone be interested in an interactive fiction in a college setting centered around campus journalism? I know the college setting is overused, but I’ve found a neat little niche I could possibly insert a story into. It’s still a startup of an idea, but it’s called Pressed!. I’m not American myself, but for the sake of keeping the RO’s variety, I could probably tweak it so that it’ll be set somewhere inspired by a tourist trap town in Pennsylvania. However, the competition and writing system will be based from the Philippines’ School Press Conferences.
The protagonist’s gender and sexuality is not locked, and there’ll be choices of whether they were always into journalism or not. There’s also full character customization of the MC’s skillset, such as whether they’re a writer, a broadcaster, or an artist (which also has it’s sub-customizations); or if they prefer sitting and reading fact sheets or if they’d rather be out doing fieldwork. Considering how there’s a timeframe for starting and press conferences, there will be a calendar of which the MC can choose to laze around or data gather as much as they possibly can. The calendar also gives out events which could be approached differently depending on the category of the MC, and the needs of their accompanying parties.
I’m also planning to implement legal journalistic dilemmas, and maybe even add some political drama (if you’re an opinion writer!) or scandals (if you’re a feature writer!), or maybe even dalliances with rivals from different schools. Some of these would also be based [but not verbatim] from my experiences as a journalist, like having coffee with a member of the International Communist Party disguised as a photographer. Or something.
The drafts for ROs for now consist of the following:
The Impassioned Editor-in-Chief [gender-selectable] singlehandedly trying to pitch campus journalism as part of the university’s future. They’re always knocking door-to-door looking for recruits.
The Chief’s Silent Protege [female] trudging along behind the chief, scheming at the back of her mind. If it were up to her, she’d be somewhere else.
The Punk Virtuoso [non-binary] who’s always M.I.A. in the publication office, but can cook up the most moving cartoons and action shots (much to their chagrin).
The Nerdy Media Darling [male] that’s always smiling for the camera. He’s always looking for new scientific endeavors and explosions to cover on TV.
The Rival [gender-selectable], who isn’t even enrolled in the University that you’re in, but stays overtime anyway to check up on the juniors—helping the competition to be formidable.
The Superstar [male], which you can meet during a sport’s event, or while interviewing the president, or even atop a celebrity floater during a festival.
Depending on the degree of investment you have to the cause, you’d either find yourself in jail or maybe just enjoying the quintessential slice-of-life college experience. You can either stress out interviewing people and rubbing shoulders with the greats, or you can just take the clout for being part of the press.
I’m very stoked to hear that! There’ll definitely be radically left options. I’d say depending on how left you steer, you can either get an award or be heckled by the Establishment. Porque no los dos?
Either way, it’ll be a treat to write the political routes. In fact, I think I may just incorporate right-wing routes for the potential sake of the MC being a laughingstock among the office.
For those also wondering about anything apolitical, yes. There’s no punishment or reward by the game. However, I feel as if some NPCs or potential interviewees would care about the MC’s views. It really depends.
It sounds fun! Just be careful with the political stuff. If you do go for it, you should try to not demonize one party. Of course the characters will have opinions, and it’s totally fine to explore those differences. But the narrative itself shouldn’t have an opinion, because that would put off potential readers
I agree! I specifically said the publication office and not the characters as a whole. It’s to be expected that a good chunk (not all) of the editorial board would be fire-brand leftists; and some of them annoyingly so, might I add. I’m also not here to dish out moral contrivances, which is why there’s also still the option for the players to do whatever they feel like. Flanderizing an ideology is what kills nuance.
Thank you! I did dabble around ChoiceScript and Twine during the pandemic. Ah, but I might have to relearn half of it from my noggin. I’m wholly aware this could be a very bloated project, but I’m willing to work on it.
IMO it’s overused because it’s such a fun setting.
I’d be interested in a journalism story if I felt it was honest and realistic. Journalists have the potential to be the scuzziest kinds of people or the bravest. I think most people underestimate how much of our society is influenced by journalists, and often ones that really have no interest in truth or objectivity but in money, status, self-preservation, or their own personal ideologies.
It could be super interesting to see a behind the scenes peek at some of the pressures journalists feel, and why so many of them turn out so self-serving and disconnected from society when their profession demands the opposite. I want to see the shady side of journalism, with the option to bend truth or flat out lie for the sake of my own goals and the goals of the elite.
Realistic is what I’m going for! Not necessarily gritty, but it’ll be nice to write something genuine. Part of the reason why I considered the story is because I wanted to get it out of my system (in a good way). Press freedom is precarious, and there’s always the frustration of trying to get past red tape. It’s not a job that pays well either.
There will be plenty of opportunities to ignore the truth. Such incidences are more often than not, unintentional too. There’s also the possibility to shun it entirely. Likewise, there’s consequences to everything published.
Awesome how close to real world politics are you thinking? If I was writing this, I personally would go for creating my own world so that I could explore political nuances with less backlash. e.g., Sordland does a really interesting job of this where there’s obvious ties to real life, but it’s easier for them to address issues like, say, racism without it being about a particular real life group.
It could also be super interesting to use real world politics and figures, I personally would be super nervous though
Considering that I’m already taking creative liberties with the setting, I’m probably going to go the Disco Elysium / Suzerain route of creating adjacent political ideologies. As much as I’d enjoy rambling about dialectics with full name-dropping, I still remember my ethics. Like there’s different people, but the historical context which lead to events remain the same. Not the same history, mind you. Just similar context. Like how Kras Mazov isn’t Karl Marx.
how close to real world politics are you thinking? If I was writing this, I personally would go for creating my own world so that I could explore political nuances with less backlash. e.g., Sordland does a really interesting job of this where there’s obvious ties to real life, but it’s easier for them to address issues like, say, racism without it being about a particular real life group.