Experiences What are some RP ideas you've always wanted to try?

[Jannah]

The title is self-explanatory. What are some RP ideas you've always wanted to try that simply have not worked out, for whatever reason?

For me it's definitely mutant type stuff in a WW II setting. I got inspired to try the idea years ago due to Magneto's backstory as a Holocaust survivor. I got to thinking "what if mutants existed and had been utilized as weapons?", "what if said mutants were subjected to the same persecution that other groups were?", and loads of other questions. I guess the idea kind of never took off due to being more niche. Plus most people interested in these types of RP's tend to stick to either school settings or the Marvel universe and canons.

 

[Onmyoji]

Murder mystery or any similar type of complex plot which involves a lot of scheming and setups.
Planning it with another person makes it, well, not a mystery. And us as players knowing the thing makes it harder to rp even when the characters don't know.
I still hope I can manage this one day but so far no luck.

 

[nerdy tangents]

Ooh I second the murder mystery. I love cozy mysteries but I learned pretty quick they are a nightmare to plan out in a roleplay. The best compromise I ever came up with was me knowing everything and sort of revealing clues as the story went forward. But even then it rarely lasts for long enough to start posting.

Also civilians saving superheroes. It’s based on a book plot that I adored. I love the idea of turning the hero trope on its head but I learned very quickly that most people interested in superhero stories want the “Bam Smack Pow” kinda fights. Which obviously doesn’t happen with non-powered people.

Lastly Tamora Pierce’s Emelan series. It’s a surprisingly obscure fandom apparently which always makes me a little sad. I love HP but Tammy is leagues better in just about every metric and it makes me sad people don’t play in her sandbox near as much.

 

[SP3CT3R]

I have so many ideas for an urban fantasy-type roleplay where the characters are all various monsters and supernatural beings who try to use their abilities to fight crime superhero-style.

And also some kind of slice-of-lifey soft sci-fi (possibly bordering on sci-fantasy) setting. I've come up with a bunch of half-baked concepts but really just want a sci-fi roleplay that isn't gritty and has aliens.

 

[Owlbear]

A Percy Jackson-esque rp based on Judeo-Christian mythology.

 

[Jannah]

A Percy Jackson-esque rp based on Judeo-Christian mythology.

Definitely doable. You would just need to find the right audience, one that isn't uncomfortable with those things being portrayed in such a way.

 

[Owlbear]

Definitely doable. You would just need to find the right audience, one that isn't uncomfortable with those things being portrayed in such a way.

The main issue is that everyone that express interest in that rp tends to only want to take the piss out of Christianity.

 

[Jannah]

The main issue is that everyone that express interest in that rp tends to only want to take the piss out of Christianity.

Ah. Well that's not good then. Atheist edgelords, go elsewhere please.

 

[GojiBean]

Being a big Godzilla fan, I've always wanted to do an RP focusing on Kaiju. But sadly it's an incredibly niche genre and almost nobody has ever shown any interest in it whatsoever on most websites I've visited. Sadface.

I'll get a group for it someday. Lol.

 

[grimmmy]

to god, if i really wanted to write something, i would just write it myself, which i knowww... but there's one character idea i've always thought would be more fun played in a group. on a whim for a low fantasy rp, i thought of a kid assigned male who started presenting female at their new job. i just liked the idea of a character assuming a "new" identity in a new space w/o preconceptions. i guess it could work for a story but i think the rp element would make it more fun, i just... never can work myself up to try it. i wouldn't want people to mistake it for "shock value," especially in anime rp circles.

 

[Azymondias]

Avatar definitely. Before Avatar Genji was a thing on youtube (its a series made in 2020) back in like 2015 I made a plot "what if there was a fake avatar and the real one doesn't know who they are" but then once Genji became a thing i got bullied about copying the idea and it just sits in a corner now along with other plots i thought were cool.

 

[nerdy tangents]

to god, if i really wanted to write something, i would just write it myself, which i knowww... but there's one character idea i've always thought would be more fun played in a group. on a whim for a low fantasy rp, i thought of a kid assigned male who started presenting female at their new job. i just liked the idea of a character assuming a "new" identity in a new space w/o preconceptions. i guess it could work for a story but i think the rp element would make it more fun, i just... never can work myself up to try it. i wouldn't want people to mistake it for "shock value," especially in anime rp circles.

In my experience roleplayers are usually really open minded as long as you explain your reasoning.

For instance one of my big deal breakers is real world mental illness. But if someone where to send me a description of a character where said mental illness was integrated respectfully then I am usually fine allowing it.

A lot of times the things people are wary off (the “Shock Value”) is extremely easy to differentiate from an honest effort at diversity.

I know it’s scary stepping out of your comfort zone (I have a tendency to over conceptualize things myself). But in my experience from both ends of the argument it’s never as big of a deal as you make it out to be in your head.

In my experience the people who are the loudest against any kind of diversity are

1. trolls just wanting to stir up arguments
2. people with some kinda trauma attached to the subject.

And chances are you wouldn’t want to roleplay with those specific people anyway. The vast majority of people have a “well pitch it anyway and I will see if I can add it into my story.”

 

[Big Brother Jack]

A Percy Jackson-esque rp based on Judeo-Christian mythology.

that sounds awesome.

 

[Big Brother Jack]

I always wanted to do a Harry Potter rp where we all Death Eaters who turned rouge against Voldemort and trying to survive and help the order out with protecting Harry and stuff.

 

[nerdy tangents]

Big Brother Jack that actually sounds really interesting. I think JKR wrote a lot of (unintentional) commentary about radicalization into her books. It would be kinda fun to look at a group of people who realized they were in a cult / supremacy group and decided to escape.

 

[Corrosion]

Literally just a meme RP that has actual effort and worldbuilding put into it that isn't just total shitposting.

 

[xayah.]

i'm awful at running threads, and i get really demotivated from making them because of the possibility that they die out, but some of the ideas i really wanted to run are:
1. realistic rp where soulmates exist & rpers can choose whether their characters go with the idea or try to actively rebel against it and find their own destiny
2. modern-day gods & goddesses taking residence in las vegas due to them losing their powers over time as a result of less human belief in their existence. the gods rely on one another to survive and try to cause humanity to believe in them again, so that they don't die out. i actually participated in a thread like this and it had such a huge amount of potential but died out within less than a week of the rp thread being created :// that was a huge bummer
3. tarot cards - characters represent one of the 22 major arcana and need to fight back against the devil (the literal devil card) to prevent their world from being taken over. it was a quest-ish group thing, but it was too difficult to run (because i'm not smart enough) and i didn't get enough interest in it v.v
4. superheros vs villains but the villains and heroes are dating one another. whether their secret identities are known by their partners is up to the rper, but they all attend the same boarding school and are roommates.

 

[Jannah]

Roleplays with historical elements rarely work out for me (with exceptions). Not because I don't like them but simply because I usually choose not to dedicate the amount of time it takes to do a proper research for something that I consider a hobby (and without it it's difficult to create the right ambiance). Research for personal writing projects? That's a different story.

Almost all my RP's are historical in nature so can't relate. In fact, I don't often have interest in RPing things outside of that anymore. That being said I don't care too much about complete accuracy as long as common sense is being used. Like, you're not going to have characters wearing blue jeans (especially women) or using modern tech in a Medieval setting.

 

[StrawberryAvalanche]

This might sound really silly but here it goes. So my friends always have these roleplays that seem like they would be group ones, but it is really them and their partner. And they all just have this like big family/friends/ open world roleplay or a roleplay about some adventure with many different characters and different scenes and such . And like there isn't really a plot. But gosh, I would absolutely LOVE to do one, but I don't even know how to phrase it. And I would ask my friends but they're super busy with their lives and even with their "rp time" they have to only focus on like their ocs and their partner's ocs.

 

[Pilgrim59]

A tale of Hero vs. Dark Lord, set in an urban fantasy business world. The heroic cast must bankrupt the villains' corporation in order to save the world.
The lifeblood of both side is money. A magic system that determines their powers via sophisticated investments in their enterprises and building up their strengths via successful bids and influencing the market. Nations become trading districts. Cultivation of powers masked by justified business models. The world is one big stock exchange. A mythical game of business battles between the Hero and the Dark Lord under the guise of stock market ventures. All conducted in suits and ties, of course. The whole "world of elegance" type of thing.

Alas, I do not have a firm grasp on business management or basic economics. So that dream's all done and dusted. Lol.

 

[Jannah]

A tale of Hero vs. Dark Lord, set in an urban fantasy business world. The heroic cast must bankrupt the villains' corporation in order to save the world.
The lifeblood of both side is money. A magic system that determines their powers via sophisticated investments in their enterprises and building up their strengths via successful bids and influencing the market. Nations become trading districts. Cultivation of powers masked by justified business models. The world is one big stock exchange. A mythical game of business battles between the Hero and the Dark Lord under the guise of stock market ventures. All conducted in suits and ties, of course. The whole "world of elegance" type of thing.

Alas, I do not have a firm grasp on business management or basic economics. So that dream's all done and dusted. Lol.

This definitely sounds doable, but it would require research. That seems to be your only obstacle here. That and getting interested players, but I feel like it would be more likely to get more interest than my WW II mutant idea. People here love urban fantasy and modern settings. Historical settings and stories about mutants not set in a school or Marvel setting are a much harder sell.

 

[Pilgrim59]

This definitely sounds doable, but it would require research. That seems to be your only obstacle here. That and getting interested players, but I feel like it would be more likely to get more interest than my WW II mutant idea. People here love urban fantasy and modern settings. Historical settings and stories about mutants not set in a school or Marvel setting are a much harder sell.

Depends on the trending interests on RPN, tbh. Your idea might have gained traction about three years back. Boku no Hero Academia seems to always be the go-to fix, though.
I concur, regarding the whole school or Marvel thingy majiggy. It is what it is.
I love historical period pieces, btw. Particularly the 18th to early 20th century. Absolute drip and killer fashion. I tend to draw a lot of inspirations from period pieces to incorporate it into my fantasy setting. Namesakes, locations, historical trivias, societal norms and habits, etc.
We definitely need more period piece RPs.
Make RPN Realistic/Modern Again.

 

[Jannah]

Depends on the trending interests on RPN, tbh. Your idea might have gained traction about three years back. Boku no Hero Academia seems to always be the go-to fix, though.
I concur, regarding the whole school or Marvel thingy majiggy. It is what it is.
I love historical period pieces, btw. Particularly the 18th to early 20th century. Absolute drip and killer fashion. I tend to draw a lot of inspirations from period pieces to incorporate it into my fantasy setting. Namesakes, locations, historical trivias, societal norms and habits, etc.
We definitely need more period piece RPs.
Make RPN Realistic/Modern Again.

It's honestly hard for me to find RP's here sometimes since most people want fandom or high fantasy type stuff. I don't know that many fandoms and when I do RP the ones I know I'm a strictly OCxOC person. I just like to use the fandom universe as a setting for my own stories. Rarely are canons present at all (except as minor NPC's). That's often a dealbreaker for players since they want to write other people's characters. That's a huge nope for me.

 

[Pilgrim59]

It's honestly hard for me to find RP's here sometimes since most people want fandom or high fantasy type stuff. I don't know that many fandoms and when I do RP the ones I know I'm a strictly OCxOC person. I just like to use the fandom universe as a setting for my own stories. Rarely are canons present at all (except as minor NPC's). That's often a dealbreaker for players since they want to write other people's characters. That's a huge nope for me.

I concur. My ability to RP a preestablished and canon character is non-existent. Like you, I firmly believe that a fandom universe should solely be there for the purpose of setting the house rules, but should not impede on one's ability to establish their own concepts. OCs are the bread of writing, imo. After all, who can be you but you - especially when our chars reflect a part of our persona. I believe every OC has a fragment of our very soul embedded in them, and that is what makes them uniquely alive and refreshing to read. Of course, you can't have bread without butter. That is where creativity comes in. It is just as important as being able to create something for yourself and then spicing it up.

 

[einna]

I just want a wholesome MCU camping trip AU where everyone is alive and not dead