WAGDIE Virtual Tabletop RPG

New Proposal Discussion WIP Drafts
1

CONCEPT

Occult Occurrences is a virtual tabletop role-playing game set in the Forsaken Lands, a world where We Are All Going to Die. This will be an interactive adventure that builds upon the entertainment experience presented by the @wagdie_eth twitter account, with the addition of dice-rolling mechanics and other aspects inspired by classic RPG rule systems.

SPECIFICS

This proposal will fund the creation of the following content:

  • A twitter account that hosts at least two recorded audio storytelling segments in the style of @wagdie_eth

  • No less than eight visual components; including a map, journal, and environmental scenes

  • A Discord server hosting β€œplay-by-post” style interactive text narratives for token holders to participate in

  • Live audio narration and dice-rolling to resolve some climactic sequences of major story points

  • A new Token of Concord

  • A digital compilation of game rules, mechanics, lore and art

This proposal also establishes, through partial or temporary funding:

  • An original soundtrack

  • Website design with limited blockchain functionality

  • Premium Midjourney subscription

  • Discord Nitro subscription

TIMELINE

The adventure is anticipated to start approximately a month after the passage of the proposal and is estimated to run for 6 weeks. The pace of updates to the Discord server and Twitter account will vary, but participants can expect multiple developments to the story each week. The author maintains communication with the project developers for lore guidance and this may impact the rate of game activity.

OVERALL COST

Art - 1.1 ETH
Website - 0.55 ETH
Music - 0.15 ETH
Subscriptions, fees, misc. - 0.2 ETH

The 2 ETH from the treasury will be sent to the proposal author’s address for further distribution:
occultoccurrences.eth
0x0ec23186f8b9e62db49eb3c46ef76130d1821e0d

===== Below is the Original Draft of the Proposal ======

A dark fantasy roleplaying game set in a world where We Are All Going to Die.

WHAT IS THIS ABOUT?

This initiative is designed to offer a new entertainment experience in the Forsaken Lands. A different form of immersion that draws inspiration from classic tabletop roleplaying games to present an interactive adventure (β€œcampaign”) set outside of the main narrative.

SPECIFICS

Building upon the β€œdungeon” expeditions and other events seen in this project:

  • A new perspective on a familiar story from a past Cycle, spanning four chapters of sandbox-style exploration and intrigue.

  • Over a dozen Non-Player Characters with a variety of allegiances and motivations to entangle with.

  • Vote on many different decision points as the story progresses.

  • Engage in a combat system featuring more mechanical depth than previously seen in the project.

  • Ability to earn an official Token of Concord, among other rewards.

  • A Discord server will function similar to a β€œplay-by-post” or β€œchoose your own adventure” style approach to classic tabletop roleplaying. Narrative threads will present choices to the players and call on them to make dice rolls. There will be occasional Twitter Spaces performed in the style of the official account, as well as Live Action Roleplay sequences over Discord and a browser-based virtual tabletop.

  • Once the Discord server is prepared, guidelines for Player Characters will be released along with an open application process. Even if your character is not featured in a segment or β€œchapter” of the story, you will still be able to participate in the β€œdungeon” sequence occurring afterward!

  • Participating characters can be eliminated from the adventure, but the actual token will not be forfeit, allowing holders the opportunity to roleplay a beloved character without the risk of permanent loss.

  • Story outline already approved by the Two.

TIMELINE

Potential artists will be contacted after the proposal passes. Production of visual material is likely to take weeks before completion, but the nature of the experience being proposed does not require every image to be ready upon the launch of the campaign.

The campaign is anticipated to start within a month of the proposal passing. It begins with a slow roll-out of teaser material and game mechanics posted to x(twitter).com, an account which will go on to highlight key moments of the campaign as they occur and summarize other events of interest.

Weekly updates on campaign matters is an ambitious target, and the pace of storytelling will likely settle on par with the @wagdie_eth account. The author maintains communication with the project developers for lore guidance and this may impact the rate of game activity.

OVERALL COST

The initial ask is 2 ETH from the community treasury. This ought to cover:

  • Multiple landscape / environmental scenes

  • Several character depictions

  • Temporary Midjourney subscription

  • Temporary Discord Nitro subscription

  • Domain name registration and website design

  • Design and implementation of blockchain β€œburn” mechanic

SUMMARY

Have you enjoyed the world and atmosphere of We Are All Going to Die, and wished there were more opportunities to involve your character? Do you like the dice rolling mechanics and player agency of popular tabletop roleplaying games? Fund this proposal to usher in the next evolution of adventuring in the Forsaken Lands.

2 Likes
2

An interactive storyline from the mind of OccultOccurrences? Yes please.

  • Are you sure 2ETH is enough for all the story/content + a website + burn mechanic + combat system?
  • Is the website going to be used for the combat system?
  • Sounds like you have a campaign/story (maybe a few?) already planned, and then want to keep going at a slower pace after that. How long do you expect the content you currently have planned to last?

I’m excited for this!

3

Thank you for your interest.

Are you sure 2ETH is enough for all the story/content + a website + burn mechanic + combat system?

No. But I believe it will be enough for me to present a proof of concept in a compelling way. In the worst-case scenario, the game falls apart for a tolerable loss and the art that will capture the atmosphere of the Forsaken Lands lives on. In the future the community can always vote to replenish the campaign war chest if I prove to be a good steward.

Is the website going to be used for the combat system?

No. The website will be a mundane gateway to the Forsaken Lands as portrayed in the campaign, without social media or blockchain dependency. It might not end up much more than a blog, backing up important information and, hopefully, passages from Julian’s journal.

The combat system will revolve around the use of a 20-sided die. The rolls will be made by either discord bot commands or the virtual tabletop feature.

Sounds like you have a campaign/story (maybe a few?) already planned, and then want to keep going at a slower pace after that. How long do you expect the content you currently have planned to last?

The narrative will have a clear sense of progression, but non-linear choices. There will be lulls in the server, and twitter spaces will be rare. If people are enjoying the combat encounters, the easiest way for me to manage battles is narrating in a voice channel while using a virtual tabletop website, so we might be able to organize those with some frequency.

After reaching a certain milestone in the adventure, there is an event that could essentially be run indefinitely until the community decided the story needed closure.

1 Like
4

Exciting stuff! Very glad to read this.

How will you address the attrition problem?

Universal across all proposals but uniquely realized in yours, as it would seem the delivery/completion of its final stage is contingent on a high level of active and ongoing participation from community members over a long period of time.

The cost investment all being paid upfront, as opposed to milestone deliveries, exacerbates the issue as well in a way not dissimilar to the working models of most NFT projects where accountability can be low as the financial incentive is already exhausted.

To be clear, it’s not an issue of loyalty or integrity but rather motivation and discipline. Speaking from my own experience doing less, it takes an incredible amount of the latter to power through something as aspirational and collaborative as the proposal envisions.

5

Thanks Josiah.

It is difficult to say how much of a problem attrition could actually be, or even provide a good estimate for how long this experience would last. While the outline of the story is complete, the progression of the adventure itself in real time will be an imperfect science. I don’t intend to have every step of the journey written out in advance because of the reactionary and improvisational nature of it.

In the classic role-playing games that this proposal draws inspiration from, participants take turns sharing the spotlight with their characters in what boils down to the exchanging of information with an impartial referee who understands the set of rules and guides the action scenes (and is also the narrator). One way these games can be played online with respect to global time zones is β€œplay-by-post”, where the narrative is conveyed perhaps a few paragraphs at a time and leads to some prompt for the characters to respond to.

Twitter is a bad platform for that because it is too difficult to follow threads. I have hosted Discord channels in this manner however and this proposal seeks to apply all I have learned. I think it is feasible that we could get into a rhythm where a plot point is developed via text over a week or two, ultimately building up to a major encounter or battle where I can narrate rolls and action in a voice channel. In this sense, perhaps we witness the conclusion I submitted to the Two in a matter of months. People can follow along live and participate in text or voice similar to other events we have had, or just check in when convenient to see how it has further shaped the campaign’s story.

Considering for this first iteration I am just pushing out updates manually from behind the curtain, it will be draining over time and I understand the caution regarding all funding upfront. I suppose it doesn’t have to be that way - as media production takes time I just need to get started on important visual components in advance so that aspect does not hold up story progression.

When it comes to an actual number for funding, after an initial look at typical costs for commissions I think $3400 could be spent quickly on art alone. Yes there will be portrayals of characters I own, but I am very much in favor of expanding upon what relatively little environmental art the project has, bolstering the overall lore and available for others to use. I am willing to work with any of the creators in our own community, but it is realistic the majority of the ETH ends up in the wallets of outside talent.

For the sake of clarity the Conclave would not be making an β€œinvestment” with this proposal, rather the goal at its core is to increase the volume of active (and interactive) content occurring in the Forsaken Lands in an attempt to bring it that much closer to feeling like a persistent, living world. In the end I guess it is up to the whales to decide at what cost they are comfortable with empowering me in this endeavor. We have burned more for less in the past.

For this to be a total grift, I doubt Julian Tryhard would be satisfied with just 5% of the treasury.

6

Thanks for your thorough response!

In that case, I would push for a more segmented delivery timeline to facilitate expectation:

A 1 ETH upfront payment to kickstart this novel venture and a second 1 ETH payment at the conclusion of chapter 2 of the narrative rollout.