OOC: Calvinball Signups!
Okay, at long last, Calvin-mun brings you: Calvinball! The Open RP!
*cough*
Well, she will in a day or so, anyway. Here's the thing: playing Calvinball? Is almost entirely about making up the rules as you go along. But it's that "almost entirely" that's been stumping me for a while, since there are common elements (the flags, the masks, the croquet mallets, the Calvinball) in all the games shown. I didn't want to just say, "Okay, kids, go to it!" especially since plenty of the chars who'd be great players would really need more explanation than that. Which, of course, Calvin isn't good at doing coherently.
Therefore, at long last, Calvin-mun brings you: Introduction to Calvinball!
They've gotta have rules and they've gotta keep score!
Calvinball is better by far!
It's never the same! It's always bizarre!
You don't need a team or a referee!
You know that it's great, 'cause it's named after me!
If you wanna...! Um...feel free to harmonize with Hobbes on the 'rumma tum tums'...'>
Here's how it will work:
Calvin and Hobbes will have gone out to the South Lawn, equipment in hand, intending to play together. Other characters, seeing these proceedings, should pop up and ask what they're doing and decide whether or not to join in. Calvin, flattered, will offer them a black, Lone Ranger Style mask (yes, you have to wear the mask. No one's allowed to question the mask!) and a flag, and attempt to explain how to play.
Hide your flag somewhere...probably in treetops or on a turret of the castle, since we're playing on broomsticks. (If your character doesn't have a broom of their own, they can get one from the school's supply. And if they can't fly at all, they can play on the ground.) Once the flag's hidden, you can't move it; if someone else captures your flag, you're out. No godmodding of the "and then Mary Sue flew around and collected everybody else's flags in two minutes flat, while everyone was distracted playing against each other!" type; you don't need permission to capture another character's flag, but you do need to indicate to them (by means of replying to one of their comments, so they get the notification) that that's what you're trying to do. I know this is a change from the way it's played in canon. Work with me, here - I had to have a reason for people to be flying around. This is what Calvin's meant when he says he's "made up new rules" so it can be played on broomsticks.
There will also be croquet mallets, with which to thwack badminton birdies at the goals (various trees), thereby accumulating points, and wickets stuck up all around which can...basically be whatever you decide they are.
Now. All of that's just the framework. The point of Calvinball, which Calvin won't explain and your character will have to figure out on their own, is to try to come up with ways to counter the other player(s), by spontaneously coming up with "rules" to slow them down or distract them from going after your flag or scoring points.
Come up with a grandiose name and a convincing explanation for why they have to do something ridiculous, and they'll have to do it. Move in slow motion? Fly while hanging by their knees from a broomstick? Recite a poem inviting someone else to dump a bucket of water on their head? This is where the fun lies, so be creative.
You can also counter someone else's ploy by, for example, declaring an Opposite Zone (causing them to have to do whatever it is, instead of you) or a Corollary Area (amending the rule and tacking on your own conditions if you complete it). The only thing you can't do is repeat rules.
Randomly bursting into song, or requiring other characters to do so, is encouraged.
So what's the Calvinball? Well, in this game, it's going to be a quaffle (aka that one leather Quidditch ball that doesn't zip around on its own). And whoever's holding it is, basically, the game's mod. You can't use it to declare you've won the game, of course, but if another player is stuck, say, pretending to be a statue, you can tap them with the Calvinball and declare them De-Medusified. However, while you hold the ball, you can't capture anyone else's flag, (and it's kind of hard to swing a mallet with a large ball under one arm, though I'm sure many characters can pull it off) so you'll have to work together if you're trying to play to win. You can get the ball if it's passed to you, dropped, or fumbled; you cannot tackle someone else to get the ball, or to stop them getting to your flag. That's what the making-up is about. The mallets are not for beating your opponents to a bloody pulp. If that's what your char would do, IC, Calvin's going to be yelling "Hey!" very loudly at you, and most of the other players will converge on you to take you out of the game. You can make up a rule that requires another player to smack themselves around, if you like, just as you can cause them to do something embarrassing or otherwise uncomfortable, but they have to have the chance to come up with a rule to counter the penalty, or, if utterly stumped, give up and declare themselves out of the game.
We'll assume that the main game is taking place inside of the No Kill Zone, so if you want to create that kind of drama, you'll have to specifically head off away. I'll turn off comment notification, so feel free to have your characters get into as many silly tangential rivalries as you can...in fact, I'm really hoping you will. Game ends when either all the flags have been captured (unlikely) or we all drop from exhaustion (much more likely). An exhausted Calvin will then determine the score (which will almost certainly make no damn sense at all) and announce the winner(s), if any.
Any questions?
*cough*
Well, she will in a day or so, anyway. Here's the thing: playing Calvinball? Is almost entirely about making up the rules as you go along. But it's that "almost entirely" that's been stumping me for a while, since there are common elements (the flags, the masks, the croquet mallets, the Calvinball) in all the games shown. I didn't want to just say, "Okay, kids, go to it!" especially since plenty of the chars who'd be great players would really need more explanation than that. Which, of course, Calvin isn't good at doing coherently.
Therefore, at long last, Calvin-mun brings you: Introduction to Calvinball!
They've gotta have rules and they've gotta keep score!
Calvinball is better by far!
It's never the same! It's always bizarre!
You don't need a team or a referee!
You know that it's great, 'cause it's named after me!
If you wanna...! Um...feel free to harmonize with Hobbes on the 'rumma tum tums'...'>
Here's how it will work:
Calvin and Hobbes will have gone out to the South Lawn, equipment in hand, intending to play together. Other characters, seeing these proceedings, should pop up and ask what they're doing and decide whether or not to join in. Calvin, flattered, will offer them a black, Lone Ranger Style mask (yes, you have to wear the mask. No one's allowed to question the mask!) and a flag, and attempt to explain how to play.
Hide your flag somewhere...probably in treetops or on a turret of the castle, since we're playing on broomsticks. (If your character doesn't have a broom of their own, they can get one from the school's supply. And if they can't fly at all, they can play on the ground.) Once the flag's hidden, you can't move it; if someone else captures your flag, you're out. No godmodding of the "and then Mary Sue flew around and collected everybody else's flags in two minutes flat, while everyone was distracted playing against each other!" type; you don't need permission to capture another character's flag, but you do need to indicate to them (by means of replying to one of their comments, so they get the notification) that that's what you're trying to do. I know this is a change from the way it's played in canon. Work with me, here - I had to have a reason for people to be flying around. This is what Calvin's meant when he says he's "made up new rules" so it can be played on broomsticks.
There will also be croquet mallets, with which to thwack badminton birdies at the goals (various trees), thereby accumulating points, and wickets stuck up all around which can...basically be whatever you decide they are.
Now. All of that's just the framework. The point of Calvinball, which Calvin won't explain and your character will have to figure out on their own, is to try to come up with ways to counter the other player(s), by spontaneously coming up with "rules" to slow them down or distract them from going after your flag or scoring points.
Come up with a grandiose name and a convincing explanation for why they have to do something ridiculous, and they'll have to do it. Move in slow motion? Fly while hanging by their knees from a broomstick? Recite a poem inviting someone else to dump a bucket of water on their head? This is where the fun lies, so be creative.
You can also counter someone else's ploy by, for example, declaring an Opposite Zone (causing them to have to do whatever it is, instead of you) or a Corollary Area (amending the rule and tacking on your own conditions if you complete it). The only thing you can't do is repeat rules.
Randomly bursting into song, or requiring other characters to do so, is encouraged.
So what's the Calvinball? Well, in this game, it's going to be a quaffle (aka that one leather Quidditch ball that doesn't zip around on its own). And whoever's holding it is, basically, the game's mod. You can't use it to declare you've won the game, of course, but if another player is stuck, say, pretending to be a statue, you can tap them with the Calvinball and declare them De-Medusified. However, while you hold the ball, you can't capture anyone else's flag, (and it's kind of hard to swing a mallet with a large ball under one arm, though I'm sure many characters can pull it off) so you'll have to work together if you're trying to play to win. You can get the ball if it's passed to you, dropped, or fumbled; you cannot tackle someone else to get the ball, or to stop them getting to your flag. That's what the making-up is about. The mallets are not for beating your opponents to a bloody pulp. If that's what your char would do, IC, Calvin's going to be yelling "Hey!" very loudly at you, and most of the other players will converge on you to take you out of the game. You can make up a rule that requires another player to smack themselves around, if you like, just as you can cause them to do something embarrassing or otherwise uncomfortable, but they have to have the chance to come up with a rule to counter the penalty, or, if utterly stumped, give up and declare themselves out of the game.
We'll assume that the main game is taking place inside of the No Kill Zone, so if you want to create that kind of drama, you'll have to specifically head off away. I'll turn off comment notification, so feel free to have your characters get into as many silly tangential rivalries as you can...in fact, I'm really hoping you will. Game ends when either all the flags have been captured (unlikely) or we all drop from exhaustion (much more likely). An exhausted Calvin will then determine the score (which will almost certainly make no damn sense at all) and announce the winner(s), if any.
Any questions?