PlayThings -- 'machiavellian Toy Story'

[jeff8448]

Hey everyone. I've been lurking around here for a couple days, since Jared Sorensen told me about this site. Anyway, in my RPG, you get to play a toy. (The phrase 'machiavellian Toy Story' was coined by a playtester at GenCon; it's not the official subtitle or anything, but it sums up the concept of the game better than any other three word phrase.)

Toys first come to life from a power called the animatrix. When a child plays with a toy, the toy is usually part of some sort of story. When toys are put neatly away in a toy chest or other storage, the story is ended. But when the toy is left out, the story is left unfinished. The animatrix brings the toy to life so the toy can finish the story. Toys will become instantly deanimated if they fall into the line of sight of a human. Unknown to humans, toys have formed societies in attics, beds, closets, couches, and basements all over the world.

Most attic societies are somewhat the same, since they have a central government that presides over all attics. Here, government is by a highly corrupted bureaucracy, with politicians constantly jockeying for position. There also seems to be a slight concentration of animatric energy here, since a lot of toy here create monsters out of toy parts and other junk. (like the neighbor in Toy Story)

Each bed society is very unique. This is because the bed societies worship the child that sleeps in the bed, and do everything they can to protect the child (like going to school and changing grades). What each society is like is all dependent on what the child is like. Alliances between beds are based on friendships betweeb the children, and wars based on enemies of the children. Most beds think they are fighting for the force of good.

Closets were once neutral because of their isolated locations, but now almost all of them have turned into open markets. You can find stuff there at low prices, but you'll also find some enemies, since this is where people from all different societies meet.

Couches are the Wall Street of the toy world. They've become very rich from all the loose chance slipping through the curtains, and very materialistic as well. The utmost priority of any couch potato (toy residing in the couch) is money. This doesn't make them all evil by default, though. The couch keeps its reputation neutral, in an effort to do business with everyone.

Basements are where criminals are thrown, and hence, they have turned into societies of criminals. To prove yourself in basement society, you must defeat someone in a one on one duel. The king here rules by force. Basements have the most military power, but don't go venturing around the house. If a toy is crazy enough to venture into the basement, it rarely returns. There are legends of toys returning from basements, but to most toys these are only stories, far from reality.

Well, that's the jist of our concept. Questions? Comments? Fire away.[/i]

[Demonspahn]

I think this is an _awesome_ premise for a game, especially with the breakdown of the different factions (closet, couch, bed, etc.)  but what exactly would the characters do from night to night?

Is this going to be a "traditional" RPG using stats, dice, etc.?  Do you have any adventure seed scenarios outlined or are adventures going to be more player driven, defined by character motivation and goals?  And exactly what kind of goals would toy characters have other than the obvious (collecting wealth, protecting children, etc.)?

I can see conflicts between toys of siblings (Barbie and Ken vs. He-man).  I can see attic governments communicating with other attics via carrier birds.  I can see couch toys picking the pockets of those who fall asleep on the couch.  I can see the usual dangers of pets (do dogs and cats react differently to different toys---seems a loyal dog and bed toys would get along well).   What happens when a toy is stolen or traded to someone else?  Similarly, how do the native toys react when say a bed toy is stuffed away into the basement?  Is he/she readily accepted, hazed, attacked?

One facet I would really like to see in something like this are custom rules for using a real toy to represent your character (stats if any, etc.)---my plastic Godzilla stomping your stormtrooper flat.    :)

Damn, I really want to know more about this game.  How far along in development is it?

Pete

[soundwave]

This does sound cool. Kinda similar to Toybox Tribes, but with similar elements to Belfry Games' upcoming 'Viaduct', particularly the coming alive when no-one's around.

On that note, how does time work in this setting? Is it like 'Viaduct', with time passing slower for the toys than for humans?

[mahoux]

I was thinking it looks like a more developed version of Plastic People, a game I came across several months ago, and for the life of me, I can't remember the link.

Plastic People was essentially all the boy toys vs. the Bettys(Barbies), with an emphasis on the GI Joes and Transformers toys.  Each toy had specific powers– the Bettys were like the Borg, and had a kind of mind power going on.

But I digress.  This sounds cool.  It has more development to it, and the possibility for more conflict and stories.  I like it.  Keep us posted on the progress.

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[Le Joueur]

Kudos on an excellent idea!  I really like it.  I'd like to echo Demonspahn's suggestion for 'use my own toys as props' optional rules (and take it a little farther, if you will, to 'play with your kids' optional rules too).

My only suggestion is something I felt when watching the original Toy Story.  It seemed like the personalities of the toys came indirectly from the roles they played in the child's play.  In fact, the toys seemed to believe that what they were used for had actually happened.  ("Thanks for saving my flock, Sherriff.")  I think this would be an important way to connect the 'toy world' to its real world counterpart.  (Otherwise, why wouldn't the toys rise up, horror movie style, against their captors?)

Good luck and I hope to see this one soon.  (The kids'll love it and I already have some ideas on how to teach them politics and economics with it.)

Fang Langford

[jeff8448]

I think this is an _awesome_ premise for a game, especially with the breakdown of the different factions (closet, couch, bed, etc.) but what exactly would the characters do from night to night?..... Do you have any adventure seed scenarios outlined or are adventures going to be more player driven, defined by character motivation and goals? And exactly what kind of goals would toy characters have other than the obvious (collecting wealth, protecting children, etc.)?

First off, it's not really 'night to night'. Most toys are long forgotten, and not animated and deanimated on a daily basis. This is not to say that deanimation and reanimation isn't a fact of life for all toys. It just doesn't happen on a regular basis. The toys that are deanimated and reanimated on a daily basis have developed a technique to remain conscious to what's going on around them. This was first mastered by a group of informants. Very few toys are able to do this, though. Anyway, what characters try to do is dependent on their society, and how the child played with them. If you want, you can create a character where the child was playing with the toy, and the toy was on some sort of mission or had some sort of goal. Then your character would probably still be trying to accomplish that goal.

I also forgot to include something in my previous post. In some societies, animal toys (known as fuzzies) are traded as slaves. The main pro slave societies are the attic and the basement. The couch allows attic and basement toys to trade slaves in their marketplace, but denies any slave trade to the very anti slave bed societies. Bed societies are very anti slave, because most are lead by a fuzzy, most commonly the child's teddy bear. Finally, closets don't allow slave trade because they wouldn't want to lose business with bed societies.

Closet and couch societies are actually in competition, since both are big marketplaces. Generally, the closet has lower prices, but also lower security -- if you go there, be prepared to get in a minor tussle. The couch has higher prices, but even higher security. If you don't look like you're rich enough to afford the couch's prices, the guards won't let you in. All couches are protected by a heavily funded group of soldiers known as the International Couch Security Agency.

My only suggestion is something I felt when watching the original Toy Story. It seemed like the personalities of the toys came indirectly from the roles they played in the child's play. In fact, the toys seemed to believe that what they were used for had actually happened. ("Thanks for saving my flock, Sherriff.") I think this would be an important way to connect the 'toy world' to its real world counterpart. (Otherwise, why wouldn't the toys rise up, horror movie style, against their captors?)

This was already an idea in our concept... except in most cases a toy doesn't know what happened to them while they are inaniamate.

I can see conflicts between toys of siblings (Barbie and Ken vs. He-man). I can see attic governments communicating with other attics via carrier birds. I can see couch toys picking the pockets of those who fall asleep on the couch. I can see the usual dangers of pets (do dogs and cats react differently to different toys---seems a loyal dog and bed toys would get along well). What happens when a toy is stolen or traded to someone else? Similarly, how do the native toys react when say a bed toy is stuffed away into the basement? Is he/she readily accepted, hazed, attacked?

There aren't just conflicts between toys of siblings; toys are able to go outside and wage war on beds in other houses. While a bully is picking on a child in school, the toys from the two beds are fighting an epic battle. Most attics would actually consider carrier birds obselete, since they're all chock full of the latest technology in the toy world. Well, it's more like a fusion of magic and technology that the atticans use to create all their bizarre inventions... the most notable being their monsters created from remains of fallen toys and other household junk.

Each pet is different... there are some toys that have actually learned to handle animals, or at least keep them out of their way. (Like in Toy Story where Woody is able to ride Andy's dog). Most societies will have at least one toy that knows somewhat how to handle pets, and will usually try to get the pet to protect their society. This, however, is no easy task at all.

When toys are traded or stolen, what happens is dependent on the society the end up in and what society they came from. A couch society will welcome anyone, so long as they look respectable. Similarly, a toy from a couch society will usually be treated decently in most bed societies. A toy from a bed society that ends up in a bed society allied with its own bed will be treated even better, while a toy that ends up in an enemy bed society may be executed, held prisoner, etc. No toy appears out of place in a closet society, and closet toys are usually treated decently in bed societies. Attic and basement toys are the longest forgotten toys, and are very rarely traded or stolen.

If a bed toy is stuffed down the basement, it depends who stuffed the toy there. If it was the child, the toy will lose faith in its former society and try to gain acceptance in the basement. If it was mom, or a sibling, the toy will most likely try to return to its bed society. In these cases, their society will usually be trying to find them. Whenever a toy ends up in the basement, they are either hazed or attacked, depending what mood the basement toys are in, and on the toy. If the toy looks weak, they will usually try to enslave it. But if the toy looks like it can hold its own in combat, they'll force it into a duel of some sort.

On that note, how does time work in this setting? Is it like 'Viaduct', with time passing slower for the toys than for humans?

Never really thought about anything like that... interesting idea though.

Is this going to be a "traditional" RPG using stats, dice, etc.?

Yes, but not like d20 or anything like that. Our system relatively simple -- character creation takes one hour tops for newbies, and most of our playtesters have said that now that they've learned how character creation works, they could probably create a character in 5-10 min.

One facet I would really like to see in something like this are custom rules for using a real toy to represent your character (stats if any, etc.)---my plastic Godzilla stomping your stormtrooper flat. :)

Of course you can use a real toy. We made sure character creation was flexible enough that people could play any toy they wanted, be it an actual toy or some toy they thought up. We've also though about making a wargame that takes place in the same setting... but right now we're concentrating on getting the RPG done.

Damn, I really want to know more about this game. How far along in development is it?

All the concepts are in our heads, and we're about 80% done getting them written. :)

[mahoux]

found the link:

http://www.rpg.net/news+reviews/columns/52pickup24oct01.html

Don't know if any of this would help in any way.  I love the slavery angle.  My only thought is that fuzzies who hadn't been played with for a long time might have reverted to a feral state.

The basement society angle makes me think of Bartertown in Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome.

[jeff8448]

I love the slavery angle. My only thought is that fuzzies who hadn't been played with for a long time might have reverted to a feral state.

Well, some fuzzies do, to a certain extent, revert to a feral state, which is why they are often traded as slaves.

[Christoffer Lernö]

The premise sounds really, really cool. But what does a typical adventure look like? I'm not 100% clear about that.

[jeff8448]

The premise sounds really, really cool. But what does a typical adventure look like? I'm not 100% clear about that.

Well, adventures can be very different, and tailored to players who like lots of combat and those who don't, and anything in between. These are just a couple ideas...

-On the combat end of the spectrum, the players could be sent by one bed (by hire, or out loyalty to their society) on an assassination mission of someone in an enemy bed.

-On the non-combat end of the spectrum, the players might have to try to manipulate the bureaucracy in the attic to cover up crimes, put corrupted leaders out of power, etc.

-In the middle of the spectrum, the players may have to go to the couch to expose a criminal embezzling money (or maybe embezzle it themselves!).

Anyway, we designed the different societies with the intention of making it possible for all kinds of different adventures, and so that players and GMs that like variety can have campaigns with different types of adventures while still having some plot continuity.

[Judd]

The first really whacked game I ever ran was a GURPS game in which all of the players made up toys.

Only two players that night and one played a rusty old tin-man and the other played a 25 cent slime that you can get out of those machines at the super-market.

Redhat Tinman and...can't remember the telekinetic slime's name.  Dammit.

The boy in the house was almost growing out of toys and his younger sister's toys were gaining turf very quickly.  It was Redhat Tinman and his faithful slime companion vs. Barbie and Ken.

Barbie and Ken had pressed many of the weakening boy's toys into their service and as they came up the stairs they were ambushed by a bunch of Super Powers action figures.

Green Arrow took out Redhat Tinman's knee with a trick arrow that went past the telekinetic shield and bounched off a nearby bannister.

Limping, the Tinman made it up the stairs.

Anyway, a fun and cool game.

I am going to really think about what I would do differently.

I was so pissed off when Toy Story came out.  I dug the movie but I felt as though my idea has been stolen out of the ether (yeah, I know it ain't new but so what).

Neil Gaiman's Sandman TPB, A Game of You was a neat parallel to this kind of game too...sorta.

I am going to think about the Toy game for a while.  I've got some neat ideas I want to sit and write for an hour or so and then come back and post.