The Big Pointy One

An agile-looking elven woman steps into the room, gracefully stepping over the unconscious Stick with a disappointed glance. "Ah, well, since my comrade appears to be... unable to continue on in his sales duties, I shall be taking his place. My name is Roxxia, and I am pleased to introduce..." she produces a square object covered in a delicate cloth "...this. I dare not lift the veil that covers it, for you see, I personally retrieved this artefact from the tomb of a long-destroyed lich. It was one of his most prized possessions, the legendary Death Art Beware! All those who gaze upon the grizzly visage beneath this protective sheet are surely doomed! I have not seen its effects in person, but from my understanding, anyone who looks at the picture immediately drops dead, their soul seemingly drained out of them, but their vital organs (and fluids) still intact. I wouldn't offer such an item to just any vampire though, oh no! I offer this to you, because I know you are responsible, and surely would in no way find any method of which to abuse such an item."OOC: Sorry for the delay guys :S

Alrighty, and Katz is up as a Vampire, ladies and gentlemen, start your pitches.

The drunken Stick stares blankly at the three salespeople in front of them and then looks like he is about to speak but abruptly falls over. As he does, he points to Katzaniel, seemingly implying that he wishes to purchases the Excuse Team. OOC: I loved all the pitches guys, but I'm giving it Katz on this one. I'll PM y'all your new cards; Katz will have the option of being the new customer this round. Let me know if you plan on discarding any extra cards.

Hahaha, I like it. Although if it were me, the last line would be "the ten's a *none*" ...because there'd be nobody there ;p

OOC: Run with it! I'll follow suit.

OOC: I'm deliberating; I'll give the thread a few more days... say until Friday, then I'll make my decision and move the game forward. Random passers-by still have a chance to get in on this round, otherwise, feel free to join in at a later time!

I second this notion.

No wait, Legendary isn't a thing, I was thinking the Marvel RPG. The way you described it seemed to fit the way it works. Anyways. The odd time when I'm running tabletop games, I tend to think of an over-reaching story arc, and major events within that arc. There are usually places I'd like my players to do, but ultimately it ends up being more about making a world and let them run around in it. As such, I've found that it doesn't work really well if you try and force their hand, so you have to be prepared to adapt to what they want to do. Unfortunately, I think I've fallen victim to the "day-by-day" narrative style though. Although I do enjoy the randomness of consulting a chart and saying "okay, now this happens". It may not always be that relevant to a story, but I think that's kinda like life in that we're not really following a set story, and as such sometimes random stuff just happens. The next time I GM something, I'll also be keeping these notes in mind.

OOC: Heh, you didn't have to share yours, I just did it since I got to see everyone else's. No harm in it though Snypiuer: Your cards have been sent! Good luck/skills!IC: Stick stumbles around, looking dumbfounded then grasps at the disc clumsily "Spaysh mushic huh? Wait, like Mush *hic* Muse? I love dem guysh... *hic!* Interesting... what elsh we got on the ol' chaaaawppin' block tonight? Woop woop!" Stick turns around to find the next salesperson.

I think I get the idea here, I like what you two are saying. I wonder if that part about "zooming in" is from Legendary? In any case, this is stuff I don't really think about haha. I tend to just kinda... write, without putting much thought into it. I should really try and take this advice to heart; there's lots of good points here.

OOC: I also forgot to mention, in case it wasn't implied, after the pitches have been made and the customer has made the decision, everyone "discards" the two cards they've used, and any other ones they don't want and "draws" new cards until they are back up to six total. That way, you're not stuck with the same six words all game.

OOC: Alright, I'm sending out everyone's cards via PM, since I'm not familiar with how to set up private spoilers. I rolled a die between the 3 of us, since that's enough to start us off, and have determined that I will be the first customer. Since Alaeha wants to try and bring some RP to it, I will try and put in some effort as well It looks like the card I have drawn for myself is: "Frat Boy". Fun stuff. Once we get going, anyone else is still completely welcome to join in. Just declare your intention to join, and I will message you with your cards! Since I'm running the game, in the interest if transparency, I shall display MY cards. No one else is required to do this. I received:Cannon Foot DeathArtPosterWindow IC:Stick stumbles into the room, clearly inebriated, a bottle of Mr.Bunny brand carrot cake-flavoured vodka in one hand. He's wearing a black sweatervest with the greek letters "Lambda Lambda Lambda" over a makeshift toga made out of a bedsheet. He seems completely unaware of the various marker drawings adorning his face at the moment."Woo! Where's the part-hic-party at? Where'd everybody go? Hellooooo?"

I'll get to dealing out cards shortly, just using this as a place holder. Please note that you don't have to really be in character; the only actual RP that has to be done would be as a salesperson trying to sell a given product to the customer. The customer could also RP their reactions if they want, but failing that, they can just say "I pick x person's product because y" (y can equal 'because I feel like it')Stay tuned, true believers!

I think given my observed rate of activity, I think two weeks is a solid amount of time. Realistically, it's perfectly fine to just drop in and out, as there is no real objective here except to make a little forum buzz.

Hey guys, so in the better interest of trying to generate a little casual buzz, I've decided to run a play-by-post game of Snake Oil. Essentially, Snake Oil is a game of on-the-fly salesmanship and creative thinking. In the actual card game, the way it works is everyone who's playing is dealt out a hand of six cards, each of which has a single word on it. After that, one person is selected randomly to be the 'customer'. The customer will be dealt a two-sided card with two different occupations/lifestyles/etc. on it. They pick one, and everyone else playing now has about 30 seconds to come up with a sales pitched based on an item made out of two cards from their hands. After everyone has had a turn pitching their product (in the actual game you have about 30 seconds to make your pitch, after which, the customer can just say "Nope, not interested" or something of the like) the customer then has to decide which product they want to buy. This decision can be made based on who's product was the best, which one they liked the most, who gave the best pitch; it's all completely arbitrary, decided on by the customer. They decide by giving their card to the person they chose. After everyone has had a chance at being a customer, the person with the most customer card wins!The way I think I'll do it for the forums is thusly: I will "deal" everyone participating six unique cards either via personal spoilers (if someone can show me how to do this) or via PM. I'll randomly select someone to be the customer after say... four people at least join in. People can drop in at any point, even if a round has gone by. It's a slight disadvantage, but the game is really open like that, and it still works out okay. Anyways, I'll also let the person who's customer know their two options and then they can make it publically known which one they chose via a post. Everyone else now has about a week or two (ample time, right?) to come up with their pitch and post it in the thread. You may choose to either make it public or hide it via spoilers if you don't want the other players to see it until after they've posted. It's not a big deal; often times in the card game players alter their pitch based on the players before them, so it's okay. After the two weeks have gone by, or after everyone who has been 'dealt' cards has posted, then the customer will decide who will get their 'card'. A new customer will be selected out of everyone else, and play will continue. Everyone at this point has the option to 'discard' any number of cards and get replenished back to six.I'll now give an example of play.So, let's myself and my imaginary friends Spiderman and Batman are playing at the moment. Batman is the customer and Spiderman and I are the salesmen. After much consideration, he decides he's going to be the Runaway. I have been dealt the following cards:Horse Seat LockEarGlitterVirus And Spiderman has been dealt: SuitMonkeyDiamondHornTapeCostumeSpiderman, being quick on the draw, sees Monkey and Costume and is good to go. He goes ahead and makes his pitch like so:Alright Batman, so I see you're on the run. I'm not sure who you're running away from, since you don't have parents, but anyways. I bet running around, trying to find shelter, not having parents, all that stuff, it's very depressing. Well sir, I've got something that I think can brighten up your days: it's the Monkey Costume. Slip into this bad boy, and I guarantee that every day will be a barrel of fun! Need I say anymore?Myself, quite upset about all the "you don't have any parents" jabs, decide to go with Glitter and Horse, like-a so:Oh wow, that was pretty harsh. But let's get real here, Mister Batman. Not only is being a runaway sad, but it's also dangerous. You might not have your batmobile with you, or any of your other sweet crime fighting gear, so I've got a little something for you. It's fabulous, it's expedious, it'll keep you warm on those cold nights, my friend, say hello to the Glitterhorse! Not only can you ride it out of a sticky situation, but it'll also bring a little bit of extra sparkle to your day!Batman then thinks for a moment, and although he was upset about the 'no parent' jokes, there's just no way he's being caught dead on some sparkly horse. Monkey suit it is. He gives the card to spiderman, and play proceeds as outlined above.Sound fun?