Recently, I emailed my players with the following question:
"What is one thing--one element, one feature, one theme, one *whatever*--you absolutely want to see in my campaign?"
Two answers ...
... out of 5 players--*AHEM*! ...
... and my commentary, follow.
"Lots of anthropomorphic aliens, AIs (but not necessarily sentient robots), beam klaives (light sabers), xenoarchaeology. (Well, I couldn't pick just one, so any of these would work.)"
This response tells me that the player wants the trope of ancient alien civilizations and technology to be a part of this game, and more, that he wants this element to play an active part of the campaign, as opposed to just being setting color. Thus, I may need a rules system that scales easily for dealing with objects of great power.
I'll also need rules for constructing a variety of alien races (preferably, quickly and easily). If I'm dealing with AIs, I'll not only need rules for them, but setting-wise I should also start to consider why THEY haven't taken over ... or, if they have, what the ramifications are.
And hey, who wouldn't want laser swords?!
"Space suits, space ships, and other ways to breathe in the great beyond."
(Well, I think we can accomodate you here. Otherwise, it's likely to be a very short campaign. :-)
I found this response interesting because it implies that, yes, she expects the characters to be going someplace. This is important, because "space opera" is a pretty broad subgenre, and some examples of space opera don't actually show people in space, flitting about from planet to planet. Then again, some nitpicky types (like me) would consider planet-bound stuff as more space fantasy / sword and planet / planetary romance, so there you go. It also tells me that I will likely need: a vehicle system; a system for vehicle combat; and fiddly bits for dealing with little details, like "what happens to a character whose suit is leaking oxygen?"
Showing posts with label Settings. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Settings. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
SF Campaign, cont.: Humbling Advice
I've been rereading Robin's Laws of Good Game Mastering by (duh) Robin D. Laws, a book that I consider a good refresher on the important basics of Game Mastering, and I was reminded of something very important:
"There is no shame in using an established setting." (13)
To which I will add:
"... especially if several of your players have requested that setting by name."
Fading Suns it is.
(Hey, I've already expressed my admiration of the creators' work on that world, so what the hell--I'm going to have a blast with it. Never let it be said that I'm too stubborn to listen to others.)
"There is no shame in using an established setting." (13)
To which I will add:
"... especially if several of your players have requested that setting by name."
Fading Suns it is.
(Hey, I've already expressed my admiration of the creators' work on that world, so what the hell--I'm going to have a blast with it. Never let it be said that I'm too stubborn to listen to others.)
Friday, August 10, 2007
So ... Many ... IDEAS!
1. Junk
An entire planet used by a galaxy for waste disposal, and it even seconds as a prison colony! The inhabitants are all twisted and warped and mutated from the radiation and chemical wastes. Huge piles of machinery, everything from toasters to junked spaceliners miles long. Everything scavenged and rebuilt. Science professions, particularly those with training in biology and engineering, are very useful. Indeed, several scientists and anthropologists do (illegal) research here. Kind of like Battle Angel Alita meets Jeremiah meets Gamma World and that futuristic Lone Wolf 2100 series.
2. Through a Glass Darkly
My fantasy / alternate history Elizabethan-Victorian campaign idea, with the thematics of Alice in Wonderland. The Red Queen is Elizabeth, also venerated as the Virgin Queen, still alive after 350 years of rule. Though she's modest about it, her veneration rivals that of the virgin Mary. Obviously, the Catholic Church opposes this bastard queen, still calls her a whore, still accuses her of conspiring with demons, and still wants Elizabeth's reign, which they still refuse to recognize, to end. Irish and Catholic priests have infiltrated England, and are regularly rounded up as spies. Her latest "favorite" (and possible paramour), Sir Richard Francis Burton, is missing.
Elizabeth is also rumored to be a vampire, though of the Dracula type or the Elizabeth Bathory type nobody's sure--rumors vary on this point.
Her court magician, Dr. John Dee, is still alive as well. He is the most powerful alchemist in the realm, and can actually perform sorcery without the need for alchemical potions, powders, and the various other necessities and foci.
Her spymaster, Walsingham, is also reported to be alive and well, though nobody's actually seen him in centuries.
Elizabeth has done a lot of good for England, embracing the Renaissance and the new sciences, and England is more advanced than any other country in Europe.
The Caterpillar is a Chinese opium-dealing crimelord in the Limehouse district. He's actually here to kill the "foreign devil" weretiger / rakshasa known as Cheshire, who has set up his own criminal empire in London.
And the native resistance movement is still awaiting the return of Arthur ...
3. Worlds Enough and Time
A la Luther Arkwright. A multidimensional blend. Basically, the characters work for an agency that monitors the various splintered timelines and alternate Earths that exist, and help keep them running smoothly. They take care to keep the worlds' timelines and events running in directions that are beneficial (at least, beneficial to the Agency). The characters are from a variety of alternate Earths, where the Aztecs or Africa or Islam or China or Aliens or what have you might be in charge rather than what we're used to. Missions might range from observational / factfinding, to diplomatic, to assassination and unconventional warfare. A little bit of Sliders, Quantum Leap, and Stargate, with Moorcockian overtones.
4. Saving Captain Rogers
Conceived of by my friend Tony.
Private Ryan style WW2, mixed with a healthy dose of OSS style espionage. Have you ever read The Spy Who Came In From The Cold by John Le Carre? Great ref. for all things Spy. Imagine if the US government had been able to keep modifying andtesting the Super Soldier formula they used on Steve Rogers [Captain America]. With each addition of a new compound, new (and completely unexpected) results manifest in each test subject. Perhaps a Dirty Dozen style team of death row soldiers, led by modified MPs who in turn answer to a willing officer test subject, a la Cap? Because of this mutating Super Soldier formula, the Americans are developing Humans of Mass Destruction for the war effort.
The Germans were always technically advanced, so they're beefing upthat aspect of their military might to answer the threat of theAmericans. Walking tanks, individual Man of Steel suits, rocketpacks, etc. Through their experiments on Jews, they're also beginning to fuse man and machine into terrifying new things.
The Russians are mystics, gypsies and warlocks [to which I would add vampires, werewolves, etc.] ... kind of like the hordes of Chaos from 40k, with possessed hellfire bullets that hunt you down no matter where you are, devouring your soul before exploding your skull like a ripe melon . ..riding massive Arctic wolves into battle like Princess Mononoke, raising the dead as infantry, spirits as scouts, etc.
5. Tribute
A world where gods exact tribute in goods and servants / slaves / sacrifices from all the tribes and peoples on the planet. The characters meet each other, themselves part of the tribute, in a long train of goods that is also a pilgrimage of worshippers. There's the Wyrms, a desert serpentlike folk with Islamic overtones, and the Cataract Pirates (there's a giant eyeball creature that looks like an 8-ball in there somewhere--yes, the pun is intentional), and eventually the decision comes whether to submit or rebel.
6. Heroes Cast in Bronze
Not our planet, but a recognizable Bronze Age, or a very early Iron Age, in which low-level supers exist.
A system whereas those with powers beyond mortal ken, which usually showed themselves around puberty, identified their possessors as Children of the Gods. These children were then taken from their parents and raised in temples, where they have all the benefits of education, martial training, and philosophical / religious / ascetic study. These children are raised to understand that their proper role in society is to serve their fellows. Kind of like a kung-fu master retreat for supers, a Xavier School in ancient times, led by monk instructors who were, themselves, retired supers.
Imagine the advantage such a society would have over its competitors. In other countries, supers would be lording it over their people, setting themselves up as gods and warlords, and fighting each other for that position.
In the country I envision, the supers would be working cooperatively in a system similar to the strictly structured life of Ancient China. Super brains would serve as advisors to the royal family. Imagine super intelligences working on advanced economics, legal systems, and agricultural advances, as well as military and industrial advances, tactics, and strategies. Imagine an army led by super generals who could command the elements, fly, become invisible, were super strong, impervious to harm (from the weapons of *their* age, anyway), could run at 75 mph, etc. Then there'd be those with super persuasive abilities to preach and teach, to rally the people, the troops, or simply to keep the social system functioning.
Powers I would not allow PCs to have: Mind Control, abilities having to do with Time, etc.
And while there would always be aberrants who would want power for themselves, they would be kept in check (and likely executed or banished) by the vast number of supers who believe in the rightness of their system.
7. Exodus
Very much like a Battlestar Galactica setting, in which the PC's world has been invaded or destroyed, and the PCs are guardians of a convoy / exodus of a race looking for a new world.
Very sketchy idea right now, but I envision it more comic book style than hard SF, reminiscent of the works of Moebius and Heavy Metal magazine. I see individual rocket bikes, blaster pistols, high tech versions of individual melee weapons like maces and swords, the whole works.
As far as themes, I see prejudice from other planetary governments and races who don't the PC's races living among them. I see the (few) races that were native to the dead / overridden planet having problems with *each other*, bringing their own prejudices and stresses into space with them.
Basically, high action, space battles, and character-driven melodrama.
I'm almost afraid to use the term "space gypsies."
8. Apocalypse Chi
Inspired by the Far West game in production, mentioned earlier in this blog.
Post-apocalypse. Synching with "magic as precious resource" idea, scientists learned how to measure, manipulate, and use chi. Major resource drain which environmentalists went nuts about, too many people tried to make money off of, and lots of flak when they even tried to weaponize it. Then somebody went and set off a doomsday weapon at a major ley line (dragon line) juncture, and much of the planet's chi was released in a horrific and cataclysmic burst. Tectonic upheavals, redrawing the map, civilization destroyed, billions dead, the works. Because the chi levels are so depleted, the Earth is dying. Twisted chi pollutes our world, warping humans with its hideous mutating effects. That major dragon line juncture? An unstable portal to hell, with demons and the souls of the dead returning, the former forcing their attentions on human women and producing hybrids, the latter sometimes managing to form "bodies" out of chi in order to continue on our plane if their will is strong, or taking over dead bodies if it isn't. (Yup! ZOMBIES!) Yet, 100 years later, people still struggle on after suffering the Wrath of the Dragon, as the event is called. There are wuxia warriors and Kurosawa-style swordsmen, there are gunslingers (a la Stephen King's), there are people trying to rebuild small outposts of civilization. There are sorcerers who are guardians of the last vestiges of the world's chi. There are half-demon children, and wild tribes of creatures and people twisted by the poisoned chi. There are guardians of surviving towns and outposts and roads and trade routes. And somewhere out there, there are rumors of a person, a wise man, a Sage who knows how to put the world right again.
I'd likely use the Feng Shui system for this one. Yeah, that was an obvious choice, huh?
*****
So many RPG ideas, but so little time to run any of them ... *SIGH*
I suppose I should just write them up, stat them up using a few of my favorite systems, then post them on my own webpage for all to see.
An entire planet used by a galaxy for waste disposal, and it even seconds as a prison colony! The inhabitants are all twisted and warped and mutated from the radiation and chemical wastes. Huge piles of machinery, everything from toasters to junked spaceliners miles long. Everything scavenged and rebuilt. Science professions, particularly those with training in biology and engineering, are very useful. Indeed, several scientists and anthropologists do (illegal) research here. Kind of like Battle Angel Alita meets Jeremiah meets Gamma World and that futuristic Lone Wolf 2100 series.
2. Through a Glass Darkly
My fantasy / alternate history Elizabethan-Victorian campaign idea, with the thematics of Alice in Wonderland. The Red Queen is Elizabeth, also venerated as the Virgin Queen, still alive after 350 years of rule. Though she's modest about it, her veneration rivals that of the virgin Mary. Obviously, the Catholic Church opposes this bastard queen, still calls her a whore, still accuses her of conspiring with demons, and still wants Elizabeth's reign, which they still refuse to recognize, to end. Irish and Catholic priests have infiltrated England, and are regularly rounded up as spies. Her latest "favorite" (and possible paramour), Sir Richard Francis Burton, is missing.
Elizabeth is also rumored to be a vampire, though of the Dracula type or the Elizabeth Bathory type nobody's sure--rumors vary on this point.
Her court magician, Dr. John Dee, is still alive as well. He is the most powerful alchemist in the realm, and can actually perform sorcery without the need for alchemical potions, powders, and the various other necessities and foci.
Her spymaster, Walsingham, is also reported to be alive and well, though nobody's actually seen him in centuries.
Elizabeth has done a lot of good for England, embracing the Renaissance and the new sciences, and England is more advanced than any other country in Europe.
The Caterpillar is a Chinese opium-dealing crimelord in the Limehouse district. He's actually here to kill the "foreign devil" weretiger / rakshasa known as Cheshire, who has set up his own criminal empire in London.
And the native resistance movement is still awaiting the return of Arthur ...
3. Worlds Enough and Time
A la Luther Arkwright. A multidimensional blend. Basically, the characters work for an agency that monitors the various splintered timelines and alternate Earths that exist, and help keep them running smoothly. They take care to keep the worlds' timelines and events running in directions that are beneficial (at least, beneficial to the Agency). The characters are from a variety of alternate Earths, where the Aztecs or Africa or Islam or China or Aliens or what have you might be in charge rather than what we're used to. Missions might range from observational / factfinding, to diplomatic, to assassination and unconventional warfare. A little bit of Sliders, Quantum Leap, and Stargate, with Moorcockian overtones.
4. Saving Captain Rogers
Conceived of by my friend Tony.
Private Ryan style WW2, mixed with a healthy dose of OSS style espionage. Have you ever read The Spy Who Came In From The Cold by John Le Carre? Great ref. for all things Spy. Imagine if the US government had been able to keep modifying andtesting the Super Soldier formula they used on Steve Rogers [Captain America]. With each addition of a new compound, new (and completely unexpected) results manifest in each test subject. Perhaps a Dirty Dozen style team of death row soldiers, led by modified MPs who in turn answer to a willing officer test subject, a la Cap? Because of this mutating Super Soldier formula, the Americans are developing Humans of Mass Destruction for the war effort.
The Germans were always technically advanced, so they're beefing upthat aspect of their military might to answer the threat of theAmericans. Walking tanks, individual Man of Steel suits, rocketpacks, etc. Through their experiments on Jews, they're also beginning to fuse man and machine into terrifying new things.
The Russians are mystics, gypsies and warlocks [to which I would add vampires, werewolves, etc.] ... kind of like the hordes of Chaos from 40k, with possessed hellfire bullets that hunt you down no matter where you are, devouring your soul before exploding your skull like a ripe melon . ..riding massive Arctic wolves into battle like Princess Mononoke, raising the dead as infantry, spirits as scouts, etc.
5. Tribute
A world where gods exact tribute in goods and servants / slaves / sacrifices from all the tribes and peoples on the planet. The characters meet each other, themselves part of the tribute, in a long train of goods that is also a pilgrimage of worshippers. There's the Wyrms, a desert serpentlike folk with Islamic overtones, and the Cataract Pirates (there's a giant eyeball creature that looks like an 8-ball in there somewhere--yes, the pun is intentional), and eventually the decision comes whether to submit or rebel.
6. Heroes Cast in Bronze
Not our planet, but a recognizable Bronze Age, or a very early Iron Age, in which low-level supers exist.
A system whereas those with powers beyond mortal ken, which usually showed themselves around puberty, identified their possessors as Children of the Gods. These children were then taken from their parents and raised in temples, where they have all the benefits of education, martial training, and philosophical / religious / ascetic study. These children are raised to understand that their proper role in society is to serve their fellows. Kind of like a kung-fu master retreat for supers, a Xavier School in ancient times, led by monk instructors who were, themselves, retired supers.
Imagine the advantage such a society would have over its competitors. In other countries, supers would be lording it over their people, setting themselves up as gods and warlords, and fighting each other for that position.
In the country I envision, the supers would be working cooperatively in a system similar to the strictly structured life of Ancient China. Super brains would serve as advisors to the royal family. Imagine super intelligences working on advanced economics, legal systems, and agricultural advances, as well as military and industrial advances, tactics, and strategies. Imagine an army led by super generals who could command the elements, fly, become invisible, were super strong, impervious to harm (from the weapons of *their* age, anyway), could run at 75 mph, etc. Then there'd be those with super persuasive abilities to preach and teach, to rally the people, the troops, or simply to keep the social system functioning.
Powers I would not allow PCs to have: Mind Control, abilities having to do with Time, etc.
And while there would always be aberrants who would want power for themselves, they would be kept in check (and likely executed or banished) by the vast number of supers who believe in the rightness of their system.
7. Exodus
Very much like a Battlestar Galactica setting, in which the PC's world has been invaded or destroyed, and the PCs are guardians of a convoy / exodus of a race looking for a new world.
Very sketchy idea right now, but I envision it more comic book style than hard SF, reminiscent of the works of Moebius and Heavy Metal magazine. I see individual rocket bikes, blaster pistols, high tech versions of individual melee weapons like maces and swords, the whole works.
As far as themes, I see prejudice from other planetary governments and races who don't the PC's races living among them. I see the (few) races that were native to the dead / overridden planet having problems with *each other*, bringing their own prejudices and stresses into space with them.
Basically, high action, space battles, and character-driven melodrama.
I'm almost afraid to use the term "space gypsies."
8. Apocalypse Chi
Inspired by the Far West game in production, mentioned earlier in this blog.
Post-apocalypse. Synching with "magic as precious resource" idea, scientists learned how to measure, manipulate, and use chi. Major resource drain which environmentalists went nuts about, too many people tried to make money off of, and lots of flak when they even tried to weaponize it. Then somebody went and set off a doomsday weapon at a major ley line (dragon line) juncture, and much of the planet's chi was released in a horrific and cataclysmic burst. Tectonic upheavals, redrawing the map, civilization destroyed, billions dead, the works. Because the chi levels are so depleted, the Earth is dying. Twisted chi pollutes our world, warping humans with its hideous mutating effects. That major dragon line juncture? An unstable portal to hell, with demons and the souls of the dead returning, the former forcing their attentions on human women and producing hybrids, the latter sometimes managing to form "bodies" out of chi in order to continue on our plane if their will is strong, or taking over dead bodies if it isn't. (Yup! ZOMBIES!) Yet, 100 years later, people still struggle on after suffering the Wrath of the Dragon, as the event is called. There are wuxia warriors and Kurosawa-style swordsmen, there are gunslingers (a la Stephen King's), there are people trying to rebuild small outposts of civilization. There are sorcerers who are guardians of the last vestiges of the world's chi. There are half-demon children, and wild tribes of creatures and people twisted by the poisoned chi. There are guardians of surviving towns and outposts and roads and trade routes. And somewhere out there, there are rumors of a person, a wise man, a Sage who knows how to put the world right again.
I'd likely use the Feng Shui system for this one. Yeah, that was an obvious choice, huh?
*****
So many RPG ideas, but so little time to run any of them ... *SIGH*
I suppose I should just write them up, stat them up using a few of my favorite systems, then post them on my own webpage for all to see.
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