Known Setting

[Grog]

Ok this may be a painfully obvious fact...

But, I was wondering if any of you have used a known setting and run with it? Like The Belgariad, or Lord of the Rinmgs perhaps?

I cant seem to find mention of it anywhere on these boards, and I was wondering if that idea would work in Universalis. Personally I cant see why not, but then again, Ive just read the book and I havent played a session yet

[CPXB]

I think that to have a game that focused on one setting that you'd probably be best talking about it beforehand and having it be part of the social contract.  So when everyone sits down at the table they know that its already a tenet that you're operating in that world, have it established as fact and thus any tenet that changes a fact about the world will be easier to challenge.

Anyway, that's the way I'd do it.

[Valamir]

Some threads you might find interesting

http://www.indie-rpgs.com/viewtopic.php?t=9538

http://www.indie-rpgs.com/viewtopic.php?t=9358

http://www.indie-rpgs.com/viewtopic.php?t=8862

[hawklord2112]

I think that to have a game that focused on one setting that you'd probably be best talking about it beforehand and having it be part of the social contract.  So when everyone sits down at the table they know that its already a tenet that you're operating in that world, have it established as fact and thus any tenet that changes a fact about the world will be easier to challenge.

ookay - forgive my newness to Universalis and all.. I dont have my rulebook yet (should have been here this morning)

does this mean that you can have some tenets decided upon *before* play begins?

I've got the unenviable but muchly anticipated task of introducing a bunch of ADnD / d20 ers to something better. We've played Donjon, and i fully intend to spring Universalis to them

*but* what i'm worried about is the possible *total* lack of direction that woudl probably happen if i set no Initial Tenets.

is this cool?

[Valamir]

Tenets can be set at any time.

The most common time is at the beginning of the first play session when the nature of the story to be played is being established.  They can also be set at any point during play and, in the case of an ongoing serial, tenets from previous stories can be rolled into the next story set in the same setting (as appropriate).

You can also start with Tenets established before the game begins.  This is typical if you're going to be playing in an existing campaign world.  I know, for instance, that one group has used Uni to create meta conflicts for their ongoing D&D campaign by running sessions of Uni set in their campaign to establish what the various major NPCs are up to and what new global conflicts are coming.


Also if one was going to set the game in a familiar setting like from a book or movie Tenets can be created in advance.  This can be as basic as a single tenet saying "we're playing in the world of Harry Potter" to an very elaborate set up where all of the key characters and locations are created and stated up in Uni terms, possibly with various Rules Gimmicks as appropriate (Like "All magic spells require the use of a wand and a two word phrase of pseudo latin" as a Harry Potter Tenet).


On the other hand I would caution against setting up tenets in advance for other reasons with a new group.  It may SEEM like a good idea to give your more traditionally minded players a little more structure...but in reality...I've found its best to throw them into the deep end of the pool right off the bat.

You want to AVOID becoming the defacto DM because Uni only works if all of the players realize that each of them are simultaneously the DM.  In fact, that may be a good way to convey the mentality they'll need to play the game.  "You are all simultaneously players AND DMs for each other during play".

Bringing too much to the table prepared in advance can set the wrong expectation that you are in charge.  Its also much better to make sure that all of the players are vested in what play is to be by having a hand in creating it themselves.

[hawklord2112]

....You want to AVOID becoming the defacto DM because Uni only works if all of the players realize that each of them are simultaneously the DM.  In fact, that may be a good way to convey the mentality they'll need to play the game.  "You are all simultaneously players AND DMs for each other during play".

Bringing too much to the table prepared in advance can set the wrong expectation that you are in charge.  Its also much better to make sure that all of the players are vested in what play is to be by having a hand in creating it themselves.

They kinda started grasping the concept of this when we played Donjon - all that i'd need to do then, in theory, is to get them to take another step back to realise that they can control the setting as well as the story..

[Mike Holmes]

Grog,

Go for it. A lot of how to do it depends on what the players know about the setting. If it's something that they're all really knowledgable about, then a Tenet like "Everything Tolkien ever wrote is Fact for this game" can work just fine. With less knowledge you may need more Tenets to make sure everyone is online. Basically it can go as far as playing a "normal" worldbuilding from scratch with only Tolkien as a guideline to form things. Which results in the "experts" available making up most of the tenets.

The key thing to remember is to avoid the temptation to try to include everything with individual tenets. Try to do things in batches at least, somewhat similar to the above idea of "Everything Tolkien ever wrote." This is much cheaper and more effective than "There are Balrogs," and "There are elves," etc. For people unfamiliar with the books you might say instead, "There are various sorts of fantasy beings and races."

Mike

[Tobias]

I've done a transition with not just a setting, but with characters from that setting as well.

Basically I introduced a Gimmick that said 'import the whole shebang of previous setting + characters into this game, give each player from that old game 10 bonus coins to flesh out their characters from back then' (although there is no 'this is my character' gimmick in our game).

Works fine. I recommend just trying it and the deep end as well.

Have fun!