What would make a good non-magic cRPG setting?

[Comrade Hamster]

Well, before I go further, I must ask: so what exactly did Andhaira do to get banned?

 

[Inziladun]

http://rpgcodex.net/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=23630

 

[RK47]

bladerunner would make a decent RPG.

 

[Zomg]

I'd like to play an anti-revisionist Stalinist RPG, machine-gunning Trostkyist perverts. Pretty much any "hard historical" RPG would be interesting, although it would probably get hung up with propaganda bias.

 

[Annonchinil]

A Film Noir style Soviet Union, preferably something to do with the KGB/NKVD, purges, Siberia (gulags) etc.

Playing a KGB agent in charge of rooting out dissidents would be awesome.

 

[Cimmerian Nights]

bladerunner would make a decent RPG.

Have you ever tried the Blade Runner game?
http://www.mobygames.com/game/windows/blade-runner
I certainly wouldn't call it an RPG, but it has great characterisation and narrative, that noir detective vibe, and probably more role playing elements than most so-called RPGs. Very dialogue intensive, light on the action. Great game.

edit: Really nailed the setting, you can even Voight-Kampf test suspected replicants. Nice.

 

[DefJam101]

All for the pulp comic RPG idea.


Also, feudal japan would be fucking kickass.

 

[Jaime Lannister]

Die Hard. Muthafuckin' Die Hard. But you play as the terrorists and have a limited number of turns to achieve your mission. Yes, turns. Done Silent Storm style. It's got the perfect difficulty curve: first you take over Nakatomi Plaza with little/no effort, then you deal with Bruce Willis while cracking the safe, then you have to escape while the FBI and SWAT teams are breaking in.

And the dialog options would have to be badass, of course.

 

[stony3k]

I like the feudal Japan idea, or Japanese occupied China. It can be quite dark and depressing, but there is a lot of scope for different classes and the quick-witted rose to the top.

 

[kingcomrade]

I don't want to play a game where I have to be Asian.

 

[Dire Roach]

How about an RPG where you start out as a wimpy first-grade kid in a tough inner city public school?

The goal of the game would be to graduate from high school and there would be different endings depending on the reputation you have established, grade point average and honors, chicks banged, etc. However, your character ages at an automatic pace and you must graduate before you reach your 21st birthday, or else you get the "bad" ending where everyone realizes you're a retard and a failure at life.

Gameplay would consist of fighting other kids (to protect your honor, increase your infamy or coerce them to do as you say), leveling up your skills (such as sweet-talking, brawling, and cheating), having sex with the prettiest/most popular girls (while avoiding getting them pregnant), and doing whatever is necessary to succeed academically. You can get money by working at some crappy job, mugging/stealing from other kids, or skillfully convincing your parents to give you an allowance. With it, you can buy things such as weapons, charisma-boosting or intimidating clothing, drugs (from coke to Ritalin), cheating aids, and other items/services to help you in your quest.

By pumping charisma, you can get more kids to ally with you and eventually form your own gang. Higher charisma also means they will remain loyal to you in case your reputation gets knocked down. You can also pay other kids to help you out in certain situations like backing you up in fights (as long as they think they have a chance at winning) or doing your homework; however, you must be careful to find out what's your standing with them before you hire them, or else they might end up betraying you instead of providing the service you asked for.

You can choose to play a "good" character who succeeds through honest work, while trying to avoid violence and screwing girls with their full consent; or you can play an "evil" character who usually takes the shorter and "smarter" paths to success, recognizes the need to use violence as a political tool, and is not above using drugs or "strong arm" tactics to have his way with girls. Of course, you don't want to shift your karma one way or the other too much, lest you risk drawing unwanted attention from the more powerful members of your opposing factions at school.

So there you have a blueprint for a successful RPG, start making it.

Edit: Of course, you should also be able to choose your race at the beginning of the game, and this would have a significant effect on your stats. Black kids would get a bonus to Strength and Endurance but a penalty to Intelligence and Perception, Asians +INT +LUK -CHA -AGI, Latinos +CHA +AGI -INT -LUK, Jews +INT +CHA -STR -END, and of course Whites would be all-rounders without any bonuses or penalties.

 

[Comrade Hamster]

http://rpgcodex.net/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=23630

Just...wow. Speechless.

 

[Jaime Lannister]

I don't want to play a game where I have to be Asian.

In PST and The Witcher you have to be male so now you have to deal with the oppression female gamers face every day.

 

[Ghoulem]

Oh, please. They are just liberated from the oppression of not having a penis in real life.

 

[Texas Red]

The Middle Ages or the Renaissance or some such. Fantasy would be present yet there would be no real monsters. Peasants would tell you about vampires robbing their children and changeling trolls but in reality there are none. It would be an experience where your character/you is perpetually in a state of fear but only the average, boring world exists.

Actually, I don't think a realistic RPG would work. people who are interested in RPGs are looking for fantasy or sci-fi, something that would let them escape the shitty world we live in. The best solution would be alternate history ala Lionheart, or a game where you can you relate to the character you are play.

 

[Crazy Tuvok]

Pulp comic rpg-like see Freedom Force. More tac combat than rpg but it is a good damn game (the backstories/creation stories alone are worth the price of admission).

Second the gangster rpg. Would love to see this. I always the thought the setting of gangsters circa 1930s-1950s would have made a cool setting for Arcanum 2.

 

[JarlFrank]

I like the feudal Japan idea, or Japanese occupied China. It can be quite dark and depressing, but there is a lot of scope for different classes and the quick-witted rose to the top.

Reminds me of an idea I once had: An RPG along the silk road. Play some Chinese guy or gal who's traveling with a merchant group along the silk road. The game would go from China through most of Asia, to finally reach the Holy Land in the west.

Also, Neolithic RPG. Why has nobody made a Neolithic RPG yet? It would be fucking interesting: focused mostly on survival, communication with people from different tribes would be complicated as every tribe would have their own kind of language, the environment would be harsh, and you'd already have some basic mythological elements.

EDIT: Oh, and a "Stranded on an uninhabited island" RPG would be awesome, too. You'd start out with rather good equipment [your clothing, obviously, and some stuff like a pocket knife and other gimmicks], but you'll have to manage to survive and use the natural resources available to you.

 

[DraQ]

I don't want to play a game where I have to be Asian.

I imagine that having tiny penis in game as well would be unbearable to you.

 

[Kavax]

The 19th century, but without magic. In Arcanum, that part of the setting was underused everywhere but in Tarant.

 

[Ammar]

I'd like an RPG in medieval spain, especially the era a few decades before the Cid. I.e. northern Christian Kingdoms and Caliphate of Cordoba.

 

[damaged_drone]

bronze age and post-organic for me. they don't suffer from miniscule potential audiences as a bonus.

 

[MisterStone]

A stone-age game where the quest is to successfully spread your caveman seed among the women of twenty different tribes, thereby making yourself an ancestor of about 90%+ of humanity by our current age.

 

[Spec]

Yugoslavia. Probably would be too disturbing for the gaming mass market though.

 

[MisterStone]

Actually, I would also like to see a game set in Medieval China without all the magical kungfu bullshit. I like the real China, but I just can't stand that bullshit.

 

[Demnogonis Saastuttaja]

Actually, I don't think a realistic RPG would work. people who are interested in RPGs are looking for fantasy or sci-fi, something that would let them escape the shitty world we live in.

What? This is a pretty cool world, lots of war, lots of freaks, guns, murders and stuff.