Uncliched settings for a low/no-combat cRPG

[gluon]

• An enclosed and isolated environment.
• A small "cast" of "specialists," where there are no bit parts.
• Impending doom.

I think the combination of those elements would lend themselves very well to your ideas. Rather than being an environment where you as a player just solve problems for NPCs, the game is more about the discussion of hypothetical solutions to the collective problems facing the cast of characters, and consideration of effects.

As such, nearly every solution should have drawbacks, some minor, some critical, some foreseen, some not. Maybe the player can implement fixes of their own volition, but the bulk of the game should be about working as a team.

The only concern I have about this approach to a setting is its (in many cases) incongruency with character creation and development (personality- and aptitude-wise). Maybe I just have the wrong ideas about how to implement these into a game of this nature, as I'm sure that with a little thought and creativity it could be done.

Of course, neither character creation nor 'levelling' are necessary for an RPG (I've been keeping up with the 'levelless RPG' thread--and kept up with its predecessor). However, if both of these features are removed, I'm afraid the finished product will end up feeling more like an adventure game than a text-centric RPG.

As to the methods I could use to let the player define his or her character in a non-intrusive fashion--would character creation via dialogue near the beginning of the game be an option? Or would it simply be better to start with a tabula rasa and define his/her strengths/weaknesses based on the actions that the player chooses for them throughout the game?

 

[gluon]

@ DenialofSelf:

Yes, I'd definitely like to implement factions of some sort in my game (as long as their existence would make sense within the setting), though I'd rather them be based more on outlook rather than on specific favored skills (e.g. PS:T vs. Morrowind).

In Nomine sounds like an interesting concept based on this idea. I'll have to look it up and see if there's any material I might be able to graft into one of the fictional settings in the works of my brain (after all, originality is just cleverly disguising your sources ).

 

[DenialofSelf]

The set up of In Nomine is really good, and with a decent grasp of it's setting it can effectively run itself, because the players are working and playing off of each other much more than the NPC's. No one can really trust anyone else even if they are all angels. All the faction choices have good check and balances, and clever implications left up to the readers interperations.
Saddly the rule system itself, sucks long and hard.

 

[Section8]

The only concern I have about this approach to a setting is its (in many cases) incongruency with character creation and development (personality- and aptitude-wise). Maybe I just have the wrong ideas about how to implement these into a game of this nature, as I'm sure that with a little thought and creativity it could be done.

Well, I think personality development should be a cinch. "People under pressure" is a pretty sure fire way to see some true colours, and as cliched as it is, the thought of impending doom leads to confiding of some deep, dark secrets.

As for developing aptitudes, I think the same can apply. You're in a situation where you may have to do something you've never tried, and would never do otherwise, and the onus is to learn how to do it, or perish. I think there's also a chance for the player to learn from the other characters trapped with them.

For traditional RPG development, you can still award experience for achieving goals. And to further differentiate from a text adventure, which admittedly, the idea does tend toward, it should be as non-linear as possible.

 

[Darkseid]

I think a high school RPG might be somewhat unique, and lend itself fairly well to both traditional and non- traditional RPG nomenclature

Stats could define your character - strength might be a primary attribute for a bully, intelligence for a nerd or charisma for the guy who takes the prom queen home. You could pretty much mix and match them in a classless system to come up with a ton of character variations. Combat wouldn't be completely unheard of, and of course, that'd depend on your character type as well. Instead of guilds we'd see cliques, I'm not entirely sure what sort of story you could build around it, but by default you'd have to eschew the typical save the world from the evil dragon story.

 

[TheGreatGodPan]

That sounds like one of those retarded japanese dating sims. I'd go with U-Boat.

 

[Drakron]

You just saying that because you can not even get a ending in a hentai game and I mean those "press button to continue" ones were you cannot possible not get laid at some point.