Author Topic: I need help developing an EASY sci-fi RPG for class ASAP!  (Read 11001 times)

rayner23

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I need help developing an EASY sci-fi RPG for class ASAP!
« on: April 24, 2010, 12:34:08 AM »
OWP Project

Background: When I was in high school, I loved my American History class because we played a tabletop RPG version of Oregon Trail. Essentially, we were put into groups and given skill challenges every week to see how far our group could advance along the trail.

I would like to do a similar thing for an English class, but put it together as a sci-fi game. The rules should be basic enough to pass along to any genre though.

Premise: The class is divided into teams of four. Much like Oregon Trail, players will complete skill challenges to achieve the maximum amount of distance each game. This would be either a semester or a year project and played only every once in awhile. To encourage attendance for my classroom, each team member will be given a job for their particular team. When every team member is there, then their ship will have a greater chance at moving closer to their destination.

Team Member types: I think it would be interesting to have students create very simple characters that would have various skills that could come in handy. Either this or have pre-gen character types that have a variety of skills.

Pre-gen types: Pilot, Medic, Gunner, and Mechanic. Any more types would be very helpful because I think it would be interesting for students to have to pick different jobs that they would think would be best for their crew.

What I need from you, faithful RPPR folks: I need help figuring out the mechanics of skill types, and also scenarios that would be difficult for students to deal with. If you could incorporate writing in some way, that would be really great (since it IS an English class after all). As long as the scenarios are morally difficult, that would be helpful.

Essentially, the map would be divided into different spaces and players would be able to move a maximum amount of spaces (like, 5) and they would have to complete skill challenges to allow them to move all five of those spaces every time we play. I want to have a jump gate that will allow ships to move farther on the board, but only if they are able to fix them or they can take a chance that they won’t be transported somewhere else on the board. Also, flying through an asteroid field will shorten their flight time, but could result in death. Any other ideas for hazards are welcome.

Any other additional help with this project will be much appreciated. I came up with all of this after I left Ross’s tonight, so nothing is finalized, and this post is a little scattered, but I would love any additional help I could get for this. Thanks ahead of time!

By the way, I knew LOTS of ideas before May 1st (next Saturday) so please help me as soon as possible!
I'm from Alaska. About Fifty miles south of Ankorage there's a little fishing town, maybe you've heard of it, it's called fuck your momma.

Vega Baby

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Re: I need help developing an EASY sci-fi RPG for class ASAP!
« Reply #1 on: April 24, 2010, 02:54:31 AM »
Ah, I remember doing something similar in the advanced program thing in Elementary School, though that was set in feudal Japan.  We also did something exactly like that in Middle School, if I'm not mistaken.

The most obvious way I can think of to link the game to schoolwork would be to have some resource they need to get in-game gained through completing their assignments.  If I remember correctly, the resource we got in the feudal Japan game was rice, which was needed to take control of and keep control of captured territories.

Another suggestion would be to provide some rewards for the winners, or who is doing best at a certain time, just to make sure everyone is motivated to participate.  I'm not sure how much free reign you'd have on giving out things to your class, but a small amount of bonus points for grades would probably get everyone invested.

Having the students write in-character journals for weekly assignments or something could be something interesting to add, if you think you can get everyone to get into it.

rayner23

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Re: I need help developing an EASY sci-fi RPG for class ASAP!
« Reply #2 on: April 24, 2010, 09:14:38 AM »
I've come up with a few writing assignments to help me out:

 - Planets that deal with specific themes we've been discussing. For instance, players land on a planet where there are three leaders running for President. One is the smartest, but is laid-back. Another is a great decision maker, but is too aggressive. The last is willing to listen to other to make his best decision. Players are to design a campaign for the leader they choose. This can tie-in thematically to Lord of the Flies, Animal Farm, or Julius Caesar.

- Descriptive writing. Students land on a new planet and must describe their surroundings in as much detail as possible for their homeworld.

As far as stats go, I think I'm going to institute a point buy system featuring the core six D&D stats.

By the way, I love the in-character writing journals! That would be perfect!

Lastly, I would definitely provide bonus points and candy as motivators. Thanks for the reminder on that one.
I'm from Alaska. About Fifty miles south of Ankorage there's a little fishing town, maybe you've heard of it, it's called fuck your momma.

Kroack

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Re: I need help developing an EASY sci-fi RPG for class ASAP!
« Reply #3 on: April 24, 2010, 01:01:51 PM »
I think it would be interesting if, along with their characters , the students could modify their starships through the various exercises. Like, they encounter a derelict alien spaceship, manage to decode the language (by doing something related to what they're learning in class), and improving their engine speed or something along those lines by harnessing the xeno technology.   


Murph

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Re: I need help developing an EASY sci-fi RPG for class ASAP!
« Reply #4 on: April 24, 2010, 02:44:20 PM »
What level of English is this?  If you can't be specific, are we talking middle school, high school, early college, or late college?

FuzzyDan

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Re: I need help developing an EASY sci-fi RPG for class ASAP!
« Reply #5 on: April 24, 2010, 09:10:19 PM »
http://www222.pair.com/sjohn/risus.htm

Easiest RPG I have ever encountered.  And it an be hella fun too.
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rayner23

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Re: I need help developing an EASY sci-fi RPG for class ASAP!
« Reply #6 on: April 25, 2010, 10:43:38 PM »
I think it would be interesting if, along with their characters , the students could modify their starships through the various exercises. Like, they encounter a derelict alien spaceship, manage to decode the language (by doing something related to what they're learning in class), and improving their engine speed or something along those lines by harnessing the xeno technology.   



Ooooooooh. I like it! This would be good for grammar exercises! Nice!


As far as age goes, it's mostly aimed towards high school students. I'm part of the Ozarks Writing Project and I have to come up with a fun lesson plan that incorporates writing and can be used in any classroom for any subject. I'm aiming it towards high school since that is what I am accustomed to teaching, and the elementary teachers will just have to skew the lesson towards their kids.
I'm from Alaska. About Fifty miles south of Ankorage there's a little fishing town, maybe you've heard of it, it's called fuck your momma.

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Re: I need help developing an EASY sci-fi RPG for class ASAP!
« Reply #7 on: April 26, 2010, 01:04:37 AM »
I think the idea of getting points/credits is a great idea as it really ties in with lessons.  Maybe consider drawing things up so actions cost points and so when you get to the end of the week or whatever, they have their encounter then have to figure out what they want to do and how to allocate their points. Perhaps a bit too much math though...

Dogfish

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Re: I need help developing an EASY sci-fi RPG for class ASAP!
« Reply #8 on: April 26, 2010, 02:23:57 AM »
I think the idea of getting points/credits is a great idea as it really ties in with lessons.  Maybe consider drawing things up so actions cost points and so when you get to the end of the week or whatever, they have their encounter then have to figure out what they want to do and how to allocate their points. Perhaps a bit too much math though...

These people are arts students, not mathematicians! Algebra I say, bah!