One of the major differences between Blood Games and OHMAS is that in Blood Games, the PCs are enthusiastic amateurs, without any support or organization beyond what they bring themselves. In OHMAS, contrastingly, the PCs are members of a government agency - they have funding, pay, orders and missions, and responsibilities. They are professionals. This is cool - I've written numerous military games, so I can handle organizations - but this means I'm going to go with a different structure for OHMAS.

First, I'm going with an informal troupe style of play. Unlike the IHW series of games, there won't be a set structure of the troupe. The players will just be encouraged to create more than one character. From these, the leader will pick a suitable team for the mission - Mission Impossible (TV series) style. There will have to be a mission leader. I think a variant of the IHW Notice system will work fine. What do you guys think?

Second, I need to create the organization itself - the structure which supports the operatives (PCs). I can do this one of two ways - detail it myself, or create a mechanism for the players to create it. My personal preference is to do the latter - I always prefer the players to invest in these processes, and besides, I like creating tools - but I know others will prefer the former. What would you say to both? I can create a tool to create structure, and also supply a default Agency which can be used out of the box. Comments?

-clash

Keeping the era in which the game is set in mind, I would say the organization would be informal (to say the least). It would also be exclusive. Only nobility (and their most trusted servants) could be members. There would be no formal ranking system; instead, the social ranking system would come into play. Think the Scarlet Pimpernel - but set in a different century (the 16th as opposed to the 18th). It could even be a very loose organization, more like a Club or League, where the members participate voluntarily out of a sense of honor, duty, chivalry, what-have-you. Maybe only the highest officers of the club have access to the Queen (or her Ministers - hint, hint). Maybe HM knows of the club, does not officially sanction it, but tolerates it for the good it does for the realm. That's my take on it, anyway.

Keeping it informal, will allow the players some leniency and creativity. It will eliminate the unnecessary boundaries created by a formal agency. Perhaps, you can outline some sign up processes, initiation rites, etc. The club could be very secretive and hard to join.  In character generation one of the questions a player must ask is, How does my character know about the club (through patronage, chance, friends, glorious deeds attracting the club's attention, etc). Maybe, a PC can be a foreign agent posing as an Englishman. That certainly ups the intrigue level of the game - and I presume this game is about intrigue. Perhaps, the first games of play could revolve around becoming full-fledged members of the club, rather than initiates - or Players can skip that and leave the fate of their first years in the club up to the dice (chancing being dubbed as dubious or a buffoon).

Quote from: JohnnyWannabe;307860Keeping the era in which the game is set in mind, I would say the organization would be informal (to say the least). It would also be exclusive. Only nobility (and their most trusted servants) could be members. There would be no formal ranking system; instead, the social ranking system would come into play. Think the Scarlet Pimpernel - but set in a different century (the 16th as opposed to the 18th). It could even be a very loose organization, more like a Club or League, where the members participate voluntarily out of a sense of honor, duty, chivalry, what-have-you. Maybe only the highest officers of the club have access to the Queen (or her Ministers - hint, hint). Maybe HM knows of the club, does not officially sanction it, but tolerates it for the good it does for the realm. That's my take on it, anyway.

Keeping it informal, will allow the players some leniency and creativity. It will eliminate the unnecessary boundaries created by a formal agency. Perhaps, you can outline some sign up processes, initiation rites, etc. The club could be very secretive and hard to join.  In character generation one of the questions a player must ask is, How does my character know about the club (through patronage, chance, friends, glorious deeds attracting the club's attention, etc). Maybe, a PC can be a foreign agent posing as an Englishman. That certainly ups the intrigue level of the game - and I presume this game is about intrigue. Perhaps, the first games of play could revolve around becoming full-fledged members of the club, rather than initiates - or Players can skip that and leave the fate of their first years in the club up to the dice (chancing being dubbed as dubious or a buffoon).

I like that idea, Rich! What I was thinking about with the modified Notice idea isn't to apportion rank, but more like judging access to HM and Dr. Dee. Earning the Queen's trust. Instead of turning accumulated points in for increases in rank, you could turn them in in smaller lots for favors.That would work with your club idea very well. PCs could even trade favors amongst themselves. Favor points sounds like a good name!

My first guess is that membership in the club would be by invitation only. Those who weren't plankowners - invited in at the start - would probably have a probationary period where they would have to prove themselves. I like that idea too! Maybe they start out with a debit in their favor points and have to earn their way into membership. That would be neat!

Awesome ideas, Rich!

-clash

Another thing I'd like to include would be a random/choice-driven mission designer. A thing to spur creativity for the GM. Its use would, of course, be totally optional, but I would personally love such a thing.

-clash

That could easily be done, and I think it's a good idea. Have 10 basic mission templates, 10 basic twists, and a stable of mooks to draw from.

Quote from: JohnnyWannabe;307898That could easily be done, and I think it's a good idea. Have 10 basic mission templates, 10 basic twists, and a stable of mooks to draw from.

Cool! I've got some ideas on it.

Say, Rich! Why didn't you ever mention you had a blog? I tripped over it today, and spent some fun time reading through it. Should be in your sig or something! I can't post a reply unless I sign up for one myself, and I don't want to do that.

-clash

Quote from: flyingmice;307903Say, Rich! Why didn't you ever mention you had a blog? I tripped over it today, and spent some fun time reading through it. Should be in your sig or something! I can't post a reply unless I sign up for one myself, and I don't want to do that.

-clash

Hee hee. It's mostly just my rambling thoughts - a sort of e-journal. There is no real structure to it and I post infrequently.

Quote from: JohnnyWannabe;307921Hee hee. It's mostly just my rambling thoughts - a sort of e-journal. There is no real structure to it and I post infrequently.

Well it's bookmarked now - that's a privilege I extend to very few blogs.

-clash

Quote from: flyingmice;307925Well it's bookmarked now - that's a privilege I extend to very few blogs.

-clash

Thanks man. Now, let's get this thread back on topic. HM demands it!:D

OK! How about this... What kinds of missions do you guys envision? I can think of:

Diplomatic - sent to foreign lands and Fairie to negotiate
Intrigue - something's rotten in London
Espionage - finding out vital information and getting it to HM
Counter-Magic - defending the Realm and HM from foreign and domestic magical assault
Investigatory - What exactly is happening down in Plymouth? Reports seem confused...
Exploratory - mapping the borders of England and Fairie, or maybe the Caribbean
Magical Assault - doing unto others before they do unto you

Any more?

-clash

I'd love rules for organizations, as well as a mission generator.

I'd also enjoy it if it would be more generic, as I'd probably rather go for an culturally and technologically similar area that I can grasp better than Elizabethean England, like Imperial France, or Spanish-Hapsburg around the time of Willem van Oranje, or the West Indies... I think a lot of potential would be lost if you shoot to hard for a special instance from the wild and varied era of the Early Modern Age.

I have also yet that campaign idea of early-renaissance Germany... with the last knights... and plenty of hand cannons... and devil worshippers, monsters with fangs and all the other stuff that's fun to clobber in the time when men were real men, women were real women and huge roaring black-forest mooses were real huge roaring black-forest mooses.

QuoteIntrigue - something's rotten in London

State of Denmark! It's the state of Denmark!
You are irredeemably destroying all the painstakingly built-up genre emulation with this wrong note!

Quote from: Skyrock;307955I'd love rules for organizations, as well as a mission generator.

Cool, Stefan! I'll be putting organizational rules in even if I use Rich's club idea as the default!

QuoteI'd also enjoy it if it would be more generic, as I'd probably rather go for an culturally and technologically similar area that I can grasp better than Elizabethan England, like Imperial France, or Spanish-Hapsburg around the time of Willem van Oranje, or the West Indies... I think a lot of potential would be lost if you shoot to hard for a special instance from the wild and varied era of the Early Modern Age.

The characters, equipment, and rules, and most of the monsters, will be portable. The default setting will be the England of Elizabeth though. I've wanted to do that setting for a long time.

QuoteI have also yet that campaign idea of early-renaissance Germany... with the last knights... and plenty of hand cannons... and devil worshippers, monsters with fangs and all the other stuff that's fun to clobber in the time when men were real men, women were real women and huge roaring black-forest mooses were real huge roaring black-forest mooses.

Do they still have moose in the Black Forest? I thought they only existed in Scandinavia in Europe now. I know Aurochs are almost gone from Germany.

QuoteState of Denmark! It's the state of Denmark!
You are irredeemably destroying all the painstakingly built-up genre emulation with this wrong note!

Hehe! I've always liked Hamlet - he was a Great Dane!

-clash

Strangeness - Something's not right here. As time passes, things go more wrong - Shadows that don't quite match, water that looks like blood or wine out of the corner of your eye, bells being heard miles from town in the middle of a blizzard. This can segue into Horror or Feyness, with the strangeness getting more solid, more real.

Quote from: flyingmice;307933Diplomatic - sent to foreign lands and Fairie to negotiate
Intrigue - something's rotten in London
Espionage - finding out vital information and getting it to HM
Counter-Magic - defending the Realm and HM from foreign and domestic magical assault
Investigatory - What exactly is happening down in Plymouth? Reports seem confused...
Exploratory - mapping the borders of England and Fairie, or maybe the Caribbean
Magical Assault - doing unto others before they do unto you

Any more?

-clash

Courtly intrigue.
Magical rivarly between Nobles Houses
Return of C.A.B.A.L - (Sir Thomas Clifford, Lord Arlington, the Duke of Buckingham, Lord Ashley, and Lord Lauderdale)
The birth of Shakespeare* (It's part of a Fairie prophesy)

Edit: *One could base a campaign on the works of Shakespeare....themes/plots from his work that happens before he was born. A Midsummer Night's Tale, Macbeth - where hero and villain are the same person....hold on, this gives me an idea....the PCs could be the Vic Mackey and Strike Team of the Elizabethan period, with Elizabeth modelled after the Glen Close character (from season 5, I think) and John Dee, modelled after the Acaveda character.... you get The Charter

Regards,
David R

Dragon! I mean, England...St. George...Gotta have a Dragon show up, if the campaign goes long enough.