My initial ideas--which ones grab ya?

[Joel P. Shempert]

THese are the rough concepts that popped out on my readthrough of my ingredients. I def don't hav e time to do all of them, so tell me which ones are compelling, as me questions, etc!


lngredients:
Coyote, Lantern, Doctor, Mimic

Dark Ages
http://indie-rpgs.com/archive/index.php?topic=23.0
Capes: Losing with style
http://indie-rpgs.com/archive/index.php?topic=12313.0
[Trials Distilled] Describing Credibility
http://indie-rpgs.com/archive/index.php?topic=15010.0
Starting a game and quite lost
http://indie-rpgs.com/archive/index.php?topic=21666.0

Coyote's Footprints
Coyote + Lantern + Mimic + "Dark Ages"

The age of the gods is ending, and divine beings must learn to become mortal, or be obliterated in the change. All the gods struggle with this, save Coyote, who always knew the trick of being things that he was not, while still being himself. Can you follow in Coyote's footsteps and walk the Winter road into the realm of Mortal Life? Tend carefully the Soul Lantern that contains the essence of your godhood, for it must light the way, or else you will become lost in the darkness or fall prey to Coyote's tricks...

Coyote's Folly
Coyote + "Describing Credibility" + "Starting a Game and Quite Lost" + "Losing With Style"

Coyote lives by his wits and knows how to effortlessly trick slow, stupid people. But Coyote knows the value of folly. Coyote succeeds by failing, and he creates prosperity by first screwing everything up. In Coyote's latest predicament, can he manage to fail forward so spectacularly that everything turns out just right?

The Trials of Doctor Calamitous
Doctor + Mimic + "Trials distilled: Describing Credibility" + "Capes"

The nefarious Doctor Calamitous is a misunderstood genius who seeks to remake the world in her image. But she has a problem: a villain is only as infamous as the heroes who oppose her. And the heroes in her town are pretty weak sauce. They're all a bunch of posers who are too busy showing off and establishing cred and hooking up with groupies to bother thwarting true evil. Can the bad Doctor sift through this parade of losers to find a champion truly worthy of opposing her, thus assuring her rise to the level of world-dominating arch-fiend?


Troperiffic (working title)
Mimic + "Starting a Game and Quite Lost" + "Starting a game and quite lost" + "Capes: Losing with Style"
(terms from Capes thread) Tropes Wonders Conflicts Complications Reversals Drives Frames Powers Debt

OK, so you know that website, TVtropes, right? OK so to play this game, go there. But be careful! This thing will eat you alive. So JUST load up the homepage, don't browse (for the LUVVAGOD don't browse), and find the "Random" button. You're going play by getting a few random trope entries and building a story with them: first playing them straight, then subverting them, then introducing new random Tropes as conflicts and complications, and so on. And PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE close the tabs when you're done playing, I beg you. This is probably an archipelago hack.

The Lady and the Tower
Doctor + Lantern + "Dark Ages" + "Trials Distilled"
"At the top of the castle is a huge tower, with green light coming out of the windows."
"The bishop leaps up onto his horse and rides away."
"Lady Emily feels sad."

The Lady Emily, recently married to the wealthy Duke of Glouchester, finds herself, far from ushered into the Springtime of happiness that she and all her kin had supposed, locked instead in a gilded cage, cut off from all contact with family and trapped in the ancestral keep of her cold and mysterious husband. What is it that keeps him away from the estate all day, and consumes all his energies at night so that their marriage bed remains cold? What secret does he guard atop the castle tower to which he alone has the key? Does he brood over some personal tragedy, or is there, as the servants whisper, some sorcery or gross blasphemy afoot? And can the Lady's dear friend the Bishop of Glouchester, to whom she has sent discreet letters, guard her soul if her ills be born of Hell, or comfort her heart if they be born of Earth? Will he even dare, or ill the Lady be forced, flickering lantern in hand, to brave the night to lay the secret bare herself?

[Troy_Costisick]

I like Troperiffic.  Usimg an outside source is cool-kinda like IAWA-and means you will probably not play the same game twice.

[Joel P. Shempert]

Cool! That one'll probably be the easiest to write--it's almost fully formed as it is. I'm not sure if that means I should work on it first, or last. I genuinely think it'll be fun to play, but it also feels like a bit of a lark. Nothing to really stretch my muscles with.

Any thoughts on the others?

[DevP]

The Lady and the Tower is an interesting premise I think, though it may tend towards a horror direction.

I think that Troperiffic is something that should exist; I know many who swear by the site (also, swear against or at it), and if it's a game you can complete and polish in the time remaining, that's something you shouldn't ignore. If you're looking for more of a hook: consider setting up a default scenario (perhaps: one of the ones you have) that runs off the Troperiffic "engine", rather than trying to build something purely generic. So for example: extrapolate "Lady and the Tower" with some vivid scenes and hooks, such that it's basically a playset to be drifted into whatever direction the random Trope button requires.

[Jason Pitre]

"The Trials of Doctor Calamitous" and "Troperiffic" would both be great ideas to pursue. The latter would probably be a bit closer to theme though.

[JeffR]

I'm in favor of Troperific, if only so that I won't have to write something like it someday.

(However, you appear to have a duplicated ingredient for it.)

[Mathalus]

Joel, Tropperific is what you NEED to do. Also, you should cross it with a list of scenes so that you learn how to do very particular scenes given random tropes.

1. Setting - Where are we?
2. Atmosphere/Mood - What is it like there?
3. Introduction - Who is it we are dealing with here?
4. Exposition - Necessary information. Quick and Clever.
5. Transition - getting from one place to another. Fast.
6. Preparation - What will it take to prepare for the task at hand?
7. Aftermath - How does the character feel about what just happened?
8. Investigation - Gathering information.
9. Revelation - The reader/audience finds out something important.
10. Recognition - The character finds out something important.
11. The Gift - Using a prop with emotional investment and turning it into a weapon, emotional or otherwise.
12. Escape - The character is trying to get away, avoid, or hide.
13. Pursuit - The character is trying to follow, capture, or secure.
14. Seduction - Someone must convince someone else.
15. Opposites - Two characters from seemingly opposite poles are forced together.
16. Reversal of Expectations - A character expects a certain, very clear outcome, but another character surprises him, influencing him to reverse his intention and do something else - practically the opposite of what he planned to do.
17. Unexpected Visitor - Someone unexpected shows up. Problems arise.
18. Flashback – A memory
19. Dream Sequence – Probably hokey.
20. Milk the Dramatic Irony – You know something the characters don't!

[Joel P. Shempert]

Oh hell yeah, I def wanna tie generated tropes into specific components of play/the fiction. Like, everyone generate a trope and attach it to a character! Now a trope for the general situation! Now a trope for the first scene! And so forth.

I love this idea, but I really think that what I've written plus Archipelago is probably 75% of the game, so I'll probably concentrate my contest energies on another entry.