The Complete Archive of Game 16: The Screeching

[Unodus]

Hi! I'm not exactly sure how I'm going to present this, so just hear me out.

Most of you here probably know me as a semi-commenter/spectator on the 17th shard, but about two years ago I started an RP with some close friends on the steam forums. The premise was to create a story set after the events after The Screecher (don't ask why), which is a basic jumpscare horror story mod which was made for Don't Starve years ago. Since the story ended on a cliffhanger, it left a lot of room to expand on. I've run very primitive mystery RP games in the past, so I wanted to try something new- specifically, I wanted to test whether it was possible to create genuine fear using a story as a medium when the protagonist had complete control over their circumstances (to some degree). This was around the time sharing Google docs became a thing, so I came up with a new (I think) way to use it- each player got their own doc that only they and I could view/edit, and the actions they took in their document could affect what happened in other peoples documents. The point was to emphasize each players mortality- I tried to make it seem like death was permanent consequence, similar to being "eliminated" in Sanderson Elimination, when in reality when a player was caught by a screecher they would become a screecher themselves. Using Google Docs meant secrets and exploration were a huge focus, and forced the group to act as a team in order to survive.  I started out with a basic Monster Hunt mystery cliche with each player having to trust each other- and it... escalated a lot from there... The game started in 2014 and ended on December 31 2015, 409 pages total between 5 players. Naturally, I want to share the story to anyone who's up for reading it. I There's a lot of inconsistencies and bad writing, especially at the start, but I want to try run a game like this again (with scifi instead of horror)- any suggestions on how the style could be improved would be appreciated. 
Please note before reading...

 

• There are no preplaced stats like "health" or "dexterity", at the start of the game I simply gave the players a list of strengths and weakness's to choose from and just kept those attributes in mind when they made an action. I am planning on changing this next time >:3
• Inventory is very poorly managed. Just.... ignore it.... xOx;
• Not all the mysteries have been solved, maybe someone will be able to solve them- but I don't think I remember all the answers... I'll answer any questions if there are any.
• I stole a lot of cliches. Like, an unhealthy amount. Basically whatever I was reading at the time. Since this is the 17th shard, you might recognize a few. I tried to edit out as many obvious ones as possible, but it's possible some escaped. It's probably just best to assume the game takes place on modern civilization Scadrial.
• There's also a lot of... Disney songs? I guess I thought they were atmospheric and fit the art style? 
• I haven't actually read the documents back to back, could turn out to be really boring- in which case

Anyway, thanks for listening! Here are the docs:

 

Joelius Caesar, The Martyr (also referred to as Grue)

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1DIM67bomBayEOuPzipAPKRPVBDr6lOXZ3FoX9dhofzg/edit?usp=sharing

 

Turquoise, The Monster Incarnate (also referred to as "Fireknight", "Sunknight", and "Breadknight")

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1eyN_fky2sS2IoHyO2U6UhCYt59idJoyrFqjEf3jVmLE/edit?usp=sharing

 

Luxurious195, A Time Thief  (also referred to as Lux)

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1JzjTRTEcKWOzw6mfMdXWPt2BxgAy-aBBxDszkep_pHY/edit?usp=sharing 

 

Order, An Angel of Judgement 
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1uX8eerckNuvyECq1COHd06TIJh316eQ-FVW8RSRnAZA/edit?usp=sharing

 

Pwnclub & MarioAlexsan, The Wildcards (also referred to as "Rio")

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Y_Zsa6BXlwOkANf01PjHQzpW5Q837bo9nygMEhdWrQI/edit?usp=sharing

[To clarify, Pwnclub had to drop out early in the game- so I killed his character off and moved on. Marioalex turned up a few months later, new to the forum, and wanted to join- so I thought it'd be cool if he took over where Pwnclub left off, emphasising the transition between man and screecher]

 

 

 

Let me know if you have a favorite perspective and moments and I'll pass them onto the players ^-^ 

And... If you want to take part in a game like this... I'll put a roster on the 17th shard too if people are interested on joining  

 

Thanks again!

Edited March 13, 2016 by Unodus