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Author Topic: [Technoir] Making Transmissions at the table?  (Read 4630 times)

Tensen01

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[Technoir] Making Transmissions at the table?
« on: January 10, 2013, 06:48:02 PM »
Howdy all, I just got my hard copy of Technoir and I had an idea for when I run it.

I figured, when we all sit down as a group, before character creation, we could make the Transmission right there at the table. That way everyone can have a say about what kind of thing they'd like to have possibly come up during the game. But, of course, Technoir being Technoir they won't know HOW the element will come into play.

Having built a couple transmission on my own I can't see this being to long or terrible of a process and I have a sheet made up to use to keep track of everything and build the Connected/Unconnected lists.

The group will be Myself and 5 players(A bit large I know) so I figure basically we would each contribute one of each Plot Node category.

I was just wondering if anyone else has tried this and if so how it went. And if you haven't, but have an idea for how to make it also let me know.
« Last Edit: January 16, 2013, 06:19:52 AM by Tensen01 »

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[Technoir] Making Transmissions at the table?
« Reply #1 on: January 12, 2013, 12:56:12 PM »
What the hell is technoir and what the fuck is a transmission?

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Tensen01

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[Technoir] Making Transmissions at the table?
« Reply #2 on: January 12, 2013, 04:32:00 PM »
Quote from: RPGPundit;617270
What the hell is technoir and what the fuck is a transmission?

RPGPundit

Wow, thank you for making such a meaningful contribution. I'm so glad to see that Admins care so much about new members and learning about new game.

Technoir is an RPG and a Transmission is a Setting/Adventure for said game.

The Traveller

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[Technoir] Making Transmissions at the table?
« Reply #3 on: January 12, 2013, 04:36:51 PM »
Quote from: Tensen01;617338
Wow, thank you for making such a meaningful contribution. I'm so glad to see that Admins care so much about new members and learning about new game.

Technoir is an RPG and a Transmission is a Setting/Adventure for said game.

Welcome to theRPGsite Tensen, I'll have to admit I haven't heard of it either, can you fill us in on a few more details from your experiences? Shared setting creation from my own perspective is fine in limited quantities, usually being most valuable during character creation.
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K Peterson

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[Technoir] Making Transmissions at the table?
« Reply #4 on: January 12, 2013, 04:41:49 PM »
Quote from: Tensen01;617338
Wow, thank you for making such a meaningful contribution.

No need to get butthurt about it. Your post "sat" for ~2 days without comments, probably because no one was familiar with that RPG, or had a clue about the gamespeak you were talking about.

If you want some feedback, maybe provide some more detail about the system and method of play.

Tensen01

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[Technoir] Making Transmissions at the table?
« Reply #5 on: January 12, 2013, 04:45:31 PM »
Quote from: The Traveller;617340
Welcome to theRPGsite Tensen, I'll have to admit I haven't heard of it either, can you fill us in on a few more details from your experiences? Shared setting creation from my own perspective is fine in limited quantities, usually being most valuable during character creation.

I agree about Shared Setting creation being fine in limited quatities. Having actually used 'Dawn of Worlds" to make a game setting... and having the game fail for that reason.

Technoir is a Cyberpunk/Noir game that could, by some people, be considered a Story Game, though only in the GMs role really. There is a mechanic/system and characters have skills and stats and the whole Nine yards.

The Transmission is basically the setting. It is a large list of 36 "plot nodes" spread evenly between 6 Categories: Contacts, Events, Factions, Locations, Objects and Threats. At the beginning of the game the GM randomly picks Three of them and sees how they can be connected, this creates the main hook and as more plot nodes get pulled in the story gets bigger and more connected.

Since the GM can't really plan any story beforehand having the Transmission made prior to the game isn't really a requirement. So I thought, as a way to get the players more involved we would make the transmission at the table. Each player contributing one Plot Node in each category. This way they can have a say in what they'd like to see. But, the way the game works they wouldn't know HOW they're going to see it or even if they will at all.

I have made Transmissions before and they don't take that long so I think it may be a cool thing to do at the beginning of the first session. I can organize it during Character creation.
« Last Edit: January 12, 2013, 04:49:02 PM by Tensen01 »

Tensen01

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[Technoir] Making Transmissions at the table?
« Reply #6 on: January 12, 2013, 04:47:20 PM »
Quote from: K Peterson;617342
No need to get butthurt about it. Your post "sat" for ~2 days without comments, probably because no one was familiar with that RPG, or had a clue about the gamespeak you were talking about.

If you want some feedback, maybe provide some more detail about the system and method of play.


None of that excuses the language and rudeness used.

The Traveller asked politely and I supplied said information.

The Traveller

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[Technoir] Making Transmissions at the table?
« Reply #7 on: January 12, 2013, 04:52:47 PM »
Quote from: Tensen01;617344
I agree about Shared Setting creation being fine in limited quatities. Having actually used 'Dawn of Worlds" to make a game setting... and having the game fail for that reason.

Yeah you really need a single vision in these games. Whether or not its a good vision is a different question!

Quote from: Tensen01;617344
Technoir is a Cyberpunk/Noir game that could, by some people, be considered a Story Game, though only in the GMs role really. There is a mechanic/system and characters have skills and stats and the whole Nine yards.

Cyberpunk and noir blend very well.

Quote from: Tensen01;617344
Since the GM can't really plan any story beforehand having the Transmission made prior to the game isn't really a requirement. So I thought, as a way to get the players more involved we would make the transmission at the table. Each player contributing one Plot Node in each category. This way they can have a say in what they'd like to see. But, the way the game works they wouldn't know HOW they're going to see it or even if they will at all.

Doesn't sound too horrible, does it feature things like players having narrative control beyond the actions of their characters in play?
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A concise overview of GNS theory.
Quote from: that muppet vince baker on RPGs
If you care about character arcs or any, any, any lit 101 stuff, I'd choose a different game.

Tensen01

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[Technoir] Making Transmissions at the table?
« Reply #8 on: January 12, 2013, 04:58:08 PM »
Quote from: The Traveller;617348
Doesn't sound too horrible, does it feature things like players having narrative control beyond the actions of their characters in play?

I have only played it once, and I'm still working through the book so I'm sadly not as savvy as I'd like. But from what I remember and have read so far... Not especially. No more than any other game that uses Fate/Character/etc Points to reroll or a bonus or such. But the way this one works is, in spending that point you've given it to the GM to then spend on screwing with you. And you don't earn more unless you put your character into danger.

But Narrative control... Not really.

Though in a way they are kind of responsible for new Nodes coming into the story. When they talk to one of their contacts that triggers a roll to see what that contact "Knows" based on whether they are connected or unconnected to the rest of the story and what they know gets added to the story connected to them. So it's not really control, but it's definitely an effect.
« Last Edit: January 12, 2013, 05:13:34 PM by Tensen01 »

K Peterson

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[Technoir] Making Transmissions at the table?
« Reply #9 on: January 12, 2013, 05:36:18 PM »
Quote from: Tensen01;617346
None of that excuses the language and rudeness used.

Far be it from me to excuse the comments of the Pundit. It was never my intention to.

But, let me suggest something: I haven't been a member of this forum for that long, but one thing about the RPGSite is abundantly clear. This isn't a message board for the faint-of-heart, the overly sensitive, and those offended by strong language. Check out enough of the threads around here, and you're going to see some vicious conversations, and rampant "personal attacks". That's the nature of this particular beast. Honestly, I find this one of the better RPG forums that I frequent because communication is not censored, and it's not so heavily moderated that it feels stale and sanitized. There are some good discussions here, but you've got to be ready to handle the heat.

Benoist

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[Technoir] Making Transmissions at the table?
« Reply #10 on: January 12, 2013, 06:13:03 PM »
Quote
Playing it safe isn't working anymore; you're not going to get out of this clean. You have illicit tech and the talent to use it. Time to go shake the city and see what falls out. You'll get hurt, sure, but what kind of pain will you deal out?

Technoir is a roleplaying game. You play protagonists like cyber-tweaked couriers, hard-nosed investigators, and drugged-out hackers making opportunities for themselves in a despairing world. Using a rules-light system with enough intricacies to spark new fires of hardboiled crime novels and cyberpunk science fiction, Technoir lets you coax, hack, fight, prowl, and shoot your way through a dark future. It features Transmissions--city guides brimming with plot nodes to inspire your high-tech adventures--that the GM uses to create tangled and compelling plot webs that expand and evolve as the players' characters engage it.


http://technoirrpg.com/

So... you are talking about players and GM basically creating the setting by collaborating as they play to create some sort of plot hooks, a story-line and such, correct?

Thalaba

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[Technoir] Making Transmissions at the table?
« Reply #11 on: January 12, 2013, 07:18:36 PM »
Quote from: Tensen01;616819
Howdy all, I just got my hard copy of Technoir and I had an idea for when I run it.

I figured, when we all sit down as a group, before character creation, we could make the Transmission right there at the table. That way everyone can have a say about what kind of thing they'd like to have possibly come up during the game. But, of course, Technoir being Technoir they won't know HOW the element will come into play.

Having built a couple transmission on my own I can't see this being to long or terrible of a process and I have a sheet made up to use to keep track of everything and build the Connected/Unconnected lists.

The group will be Myself and 5 players(A bit large I know) so I figure basically we would each contribute one of each Plot Node category.

I was just wondering if anyone else has tried this and if so how it went. And if you haven't, but have an idea for how to make it also let me know.


I played in a game of Technoir this summer and enjoyed it, however I haven't read the book and couldn't begin to answer your questions. Although I enjoyed the game, I don't like Cyberpunk enough to want to run it myself, which is why I never dug deeper into the game.

What prompted you to sign up here (of all places) to discuss this? Technoir and The RPG Site seems a bit like oil and water to me.
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Tensen01

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[Technoir] Making Transmissions at the table?
« Reply #12 on: January 13, 2013, 04:54:44 AM »
Quote from: K Peterson;617357
Far be it from me to excuse the comments of the Pundit. It was never my intention to.

But, let me suggest something: I haven't been a member of this forum for that long, but one thing about the RPGSite is abundantly clear. This isn't a message board for the faint-of-heart, the overly sensitive, and those offended by strong language. Check out enough of the threads around here, and you're going to see some vicious conversations, and rampant "personal attacks". That's the nature of this particular beast. Honestly, I find this one of the better RPG forums that I frequent because communication is not censored, and it's not so heavily moderated that it feels stale and sanitized. There are some good discussions here, but you've got to be ready to handle the heat.


I am an old RPGnetter. I am far from Faint of heart, and I suppose it wasn't the language(as I am a curser myself IRL) but the apparent attitude behind the comment that upset me. Regardless of whether it got the thread going it was uncalled for. a Simple "I don't know the game or terms" would have been just as effective for kickstarting the thread.

Tensen01

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[Technoir] Making Transmissions at the table?
« Reply #13 on: January 13, 2013, 04:56:39 AM »
Quote from: Thalaba;617380
I played in a game of Technoir this summer and enjoyed it, however I haven't read the book and couldn't begin to answer your questions. Although I enjoyed the game, I don't like Cyberpunk enough to want to run it myself, which is why I never dug deeper into the game.

What prompted you to sign up here (of all places) to discuss this? Technoir and The RPG Site seems a bit like oil and water to me.


Well I didn't see any signs saying that this was not the place to talk about RPGs... So I figured I'd give it a shot. As you can probably tell I'm not exactly well versed with the ins and outs of the site.

Tensen01

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[Technoir] Making Transmissions at the table?
« Reply #14 on: January 13, 2013, 04:59:53 AM »
Quote from: Benoist;617368
http://technoirrpg.com/
So... you are talking about players and GM basically creating the setting by collaborating as they play to create some sort of plot hooks, a story-line and such, correct?


Sort of. It's basically building a very simple framework for the setting and then "populating" the setting with possible plot-hooks Prior to actually playing. The players, however, don't really have any saying in how those hooks are used in the story-line, as they are determined randomly when they come up.