I created The World, the Flesh, and the Devil...

[Paul Czege]

Hey lumpley,

suggestion for a setting: Before The Flood

Not bad at all! It recognizes the hint of Biblical influence in the game, but doesn't go overboard. I particularly like the zeitgeist of impending doom.

One of the things I hate about historical settings is the implied obligation to historical accuracy. As a GM, I just don't want the pressure of historical accuracy hanging over me, and this also neatly avoids that.

You've definitely got me thinking. I'd like to keep the hint of Biblical influence, and the zeitgeist of impending doom, but narrow the setting down to something less intimidating in scale, and still pretty much avoid the obligation to historical accuracy? How do you feel about Sodom and Gomorrah?

Paul

[lumpley]

Too loaded.

But you have Noah living in the hills outside some city, right?  Make it be that city.  I definitely see where you're going with narrowing the scale -- like I said before, I'd root it very concretely in a time and place, a town, a neighborhood.  The priests' quarter in Dursuk Ana, the City of Brass Doors, one year before the rains start.  Something like that.

You could even simply rename Sodom and Gomorrah, if you wanted to.  But Sodom and Gomorrah have been so politicized that using them straight (ahem), you'd have an uphill battle to get past peoples' preconceptions.  My preconceptions, anyway.

I can get way into playing a game about being wicked before the flood.  A game about being wicked in Sodom and Gomorrah, though -- my agenda would show.  Whichever it might be.

-lumpley

(Hm, well, better be clear, irrelevent though it is, just on the off chance.  I think people should have however much sex with however many people of whichever sorts they want.)



[ This Message was edited by: lumpley on 2001-09-28 22:27 ]

[Ron Edwards]

Forgive me, but all I can think of is the old Bill Cosby routine, when Noah's neighbor asks him for a hint about the big boat he's building in the driveway, and Noah says, "How long can you tread water?" Then later, Noah back-talks God and God responds (cavernous voice), "How long can you tread water?"

Anyway.

Best,
Ron

[Paul Czege]

Forgive me, but all I can think of is the old Bill Cosby routine...

Good point. The presence of that kind of side humor during a game session always drives me nuts. I should probably go with the Sodom and Gomorrah setting.

Paul

[James V. West]

Paul Sayeth Unto The Forge:
"Good point. The presence of that kind of side humor during a game session always drives me nuts. I should probably go with the Sodom and Gomorrah setting"

Unless your gaming groups are drastically different from all the ones I've encountered, it must hell for you to run a game. Try running an anthropomorphic game that isn't intended to be funny sometime...talk about being awash in side-jokes.

James V. West

P.S. the pre-flood idea is pretty cool. if you kept it in a mythical sense and not a religious sense I think it would kick some ass.

[Paul Czege]

Hey James,

Unless your gaming groups are drastically different from all the ones I've encountered...talk about being awash in side-jokes.

Sorry I failed to telegraph that I was joking with an appropriate smiley. Noah-inspired humor could never achieve the kind of saturation level in a game that Sodom humor certainly would.

You do bring up an interesting point though, and maybe I should clarify that I think there are two kinds of game session humor, one of which is awesome, and the other I dislike. There is humor that arises from the game and the synergy of being involved in a collaborative creative endeavor. That's great humor. And then there's humor that's a distraction to and impairment of player and GM involvement in the game. And I hate it. Joking about the combat failures of other players, or about putting the shaft to other players, falls into this category. So does a series of Monty Python quotes, followed by, "Wait, wait...I missed it...what happened?"

Paul

[lumpley]

Paul,

Fair enough.

I had completely forgotten that old Cosby bit.  I've just been imagining Eddie Izzard galumping around on stage pretending to be an Evil Giraffe.

-lumpley

[Bankuei]

  I just  got a look at the rules for this and am very impressed.  I haven't seen too many game ideas that have been innovative or inspiring lately.  I've been beating my head against a wall, trying to figure out how to design a system that links characters together, in a logical fashion, and also gives players incentive to be part of the narration, both of which you have handled very simply.

  While I agree that games should come with background, or are at least genre specific enough to fit a style of story, I think instead of necessarily making a singular story for this system, you might want to explore either genres, or make a few backgrounds and see how the game flows for different story types.

[Paul Czege]

Hey Bankuei,

I just got a look at the rules for this and am very impressed.

Thank you.

I agree that games should come with background, or are at least genre specific...you might want to explore either genres, or make a few backgrounds and see how the game flows...

I've been thinking about it, but I'm trying not to think about it too hard. My best inspirations happen when I avoid obsessing.

I did recently get an email from a Forgite who said he's going to run a PBEM using The World, the Flesh, and the Devil. He says he thinks the resolution system would be perfect for play-by-email. The setting is Middle Earth during the fall of Numenor, which sounds great to me. I'm pretty excited to hear how it goes.

Paul

[Bankuei]

  I wouldn't stress the background just yet.  I'm intrigued enough to try it out with a couple of settings I have in mind.  Right now I've written up a couple of ideas which might just have to sit around for a few months before I can get the group together to run them, but I can see it being used for really anything.
 One question:  Should the initial trial be resolved, and you wish to carry on the campaign, would you write a second trial with the characters altered accordingly?  Perhaps some of the previous reasons the characters were involved, or their own actions could result in a new trial...
 I think, the biggest issue is going to be convincing my group to have more player authorship to the story. :razz:

Bankuei