[Scott]

I am considering opening the story in Arkham with a lunatic escaped from the local asylum who must be rounded up.  I intend to "shut down" the town --meaning other quests, tasks and typically public buildings will be unavailable-- and disallow travel out of town for the very short amount of time it will take to find him and turn him in.

Here are my reasons:
> gives the player something straightforward which he can do immediately that's not killing rats
> illustrates the many ways one can solve a task in Cyclopean, and that it's not going to be a typical rat-killing fantasy RPG
> main reason:  gives the player some name recognition.  You get your name in the paper and (at least to some people) are no longer just a wandering vagabond who drifted into town.

The intent is to offer a small intro to the world for the non-Hardcore™ player without a tedious tutorial that repeat players will dread every time they start the game.  Keep in mind, you're not going to be running around for the first five hours, pulling out your hair wishing you were killing rats instead.  It's easy to find him and entertaining to talk to him.

Thinks?

[Gondolin]

It's pretty original and should be fine with good dialogue. I've killed rats before and I'm ready now for something different. 

[Wrath of Dagon]

It's important to open the game with a dramatic episode, to pull the player in.

[Hector]

Perhaps the escaped lunatic could utter a warning about flying prolyps (sp?)?

[Scott]

Polyps?

[Hector]

Quite possibly.  I think those are the flying fungi anyway...

[D.A.]

This is a fine idea.  I always enjoy some sort of "prelude" that sets the tone of the game and allows the player to get used to the interface and controls.

[DangerousDan]

I like this idea very much. A thought- if you could tie it into the main plot somewhat, that would be fantastic. Not in a way that says "X has happened, and will lead you to Y", but more in the regard that it ties down to some metaplot that may effect the player and character later on in the game.

[almondblight]

"> main reason:  gives the player some name recognition.  You get your name in the paper and (at least to some people) are no longer just a wandering vagabond who drifted into town."

But doesn't that kind of defeat the whole point of being a wandering vagabond, drifter, serial killer, etc.?  If you become the toast of the town, things are a bit different.  Name recognition seems to be going against some of the elements at play here.  Just my 2 cents.  I do like the idea of the escaped lunatic, though.

[Palmer Eldritch]

There should be a way to do it without becoming known (considering what amondblight said). I like the idea a lot, though.

[Gondolin]

"> main reason:  gives the player some name recognition.  You get your name in the paper and (at least to some people) are no longer just a wandering vagabond who drifted into town."

But doesn't that kind of defeat the whole point of being a wandering vagabond, drifter, serial killer, etc.?  If you become the toast of the town, things are a bit different.  Name recognition seems to be going against some of the elements at play here.  Just my 2 cents.  I do like the idea of the escaped lunatic, though.

Becoming toast of the town is something RPG players are used to. Wandering vagabonds, drifters and serial killers. less so. It might appeal to an actual drifter.

[Scott]

But doesn't that kind of defeat the whole point of being a wandering vagabond, drifter, serial killer, etc.?  If you become the toast of the town, things are a bit different.  Name recognition seems to be going against some of the elements at play here.  Just my 2 cents.  I do like the idea of the escaped lunatic, though.

"Toast of the town" is taking it a bit far.  He's just a nut who needs to be corralled.  Not quite the same as the end of the Dunwich Horror, where you just saved the world from a thousand shoggoths.

There are definitely players who would rather not be noticed, but I want to put them in that position.  Speaking of notoriety, the serial killer won't be able to get away with 40 murders in one town just because no one was in the room at the time.  When it comes to committing a murder in an RPG, two things are generally assumed:

1) if there is no eyewitness, you can't be convicted of a crime;
2) if there is no one on the screen at the time, there are no eyewitnesses.

If you just happened to arrive in a small town and a week later five unconnected people have been murdered, the cops are going to come down on you, evidence or not.  Not having an alibi for those five murders and not having a job or any friends would be enough for a conviction in the real world.  And just because you didn't see anyone when you knifed that old lady doesn't mean there wasn't a witness.  A neighbour across the street could have seen you go into the building and come out 10 minutes later, at 3:00am, coincidentally right around the time she was murdered.

I don't have any hard numbers regarding what one can get away with, but I'm definitely going to make it difficult for indiscriminate killers.  I imagine it will engender some whining for the two reasons I gave above but, you know, Hardcore™.

---new topic---
I'm surprised everyone likes the idea so much.  I thought there would be backlash against putting the player on rails, even for a short time.

[peakperformance]

It's a good idea, but yeah, if it's on too obvious or stupid rails it could be a bit annoying. If done right it could be better than most other RPG openings which is great. Make sure to give the PC a real reason to catch the lunatic whatever background they could have, which will be the hardest part to get right I would wager. Offer at least a handful of ways the assignment can end in, not just ways to solve the quest, and make sure whatever is done is mentioned in the paper and referred to quite a few times in the next hour or so of the game.

In short, make it good, which is what counts in the end. Yeah, I'm a master of the obvious.

[Hector]

If it's early in the game, and there are plenty of possible resolutions to that area, or even simply plenty of paths to only one or two resolutions, I can't see there being any real problem.  So long as the rails aren't obvious, most people never notice them.

[almondblight]

There are definitely players who would rather not be noticed, but I want to put them in that position. Speaking of notoriety, the serial killer won't be able to get away with 40 murders in one town just because no one was in the room at the time. 

I didn't mean it going against that as "it stops me from slaughtering the population".  I meant more that it goes against the backgrounds that seem to imply anonymous loner.  A drifter or serial killer who people greet with, "Hey, you're that guy that caught the lunatic" is a bit different from an unknown drifter or serial killer lurching into town at midnight, with people wondering "hey...who is that guy?"

It could change the mood a bit.  That's all.