Setting Challenge Submission Thread

[Frank T]

Dear participants of the 1st Transatlantic Setting Design Challenge!

This is the official submission thread. Please post your entry here before 2007, with a download link, mention of the game system used, and a little teaser to the setting. I will then distribute the entries for the first scoring round. For reasons of clarity, please do not post anything else in this thread. If you want to comment on one of the entries, that will be worth a thread of its own. If you cannot host your entry yourself or through a friend, the Connections forum is probably the place to ask for help. If you think we need to know why you are not submitting an entry, you may use the "1st Transatlantic Setting Design Challenge starting NOW" thread to do so.

Fröhliche Weichnachten aus Deutschland!

Peace,
Frank

[Frank T]

Damn, don't even know how to spell my own mother tongue. That's fröhliche Weihnachten, dammit. Merry Christmas. There you are.

Frank

[Anna Kreider]

Thou Art But A Warrior

Though the great Caliphate has been dissolved and the unity of Iberia's Muslims lost, their power has not failed entirely. The cities have their armies, and at the heart of those armies are the noble orders of Muslim Knights. These Knights swear solemn oaths to revere Allah and his Prophet, to fight for the defense of the innocent, and to honor a strict code of ethics and morals in order to bring about peace and justice for their society. They are warriors and poets, and they are the last best hope of a people who do not see their doom before them.

Their inevitable failure is a thing to be mourned most deeply.

The system

Thou Art But A Warrior is a setting based on the Polaris system, by Ben Lehman.

The link

http://www.browserbeware.com/dump/crusades.pdf


~Anna Kreider

[Steven Stewart]

I won't make the deadline nor the word count so I will have to bow out for now. Frank, is it going to be possible to post post deadline settings anyway just for those who are curious? I think the holidays hit some of us, and we didn't get a chance to finish.

Cheers,

Steve

[Graham W]

Darker, based on the Shab al-Hiri Roach.

It's the Roach based in an Oxford college in Victorian England.

Graham

[Malcolm Craig]

Revolutionaries, based on 'Contenders' by Joe J Prince.

Instead of playing boxers, you play political activitists and revolutionaries in a tumultuous, slightly fantasy-esque city-state.

Cheers
Malcolm

[Eero Tuovinen]

Hah hah hah hah haa, you all thought I'd be hiding this one out. Let me disillusion you: not only am I participating, I'm'a also thrash-talking and setting-writing you all DOWN, starting right now. I've got such heavy artillery for this thing that it's ridiculous, even I think so.

Atlas: the epic of Digital Revolution

There comes a time in the affairs of man when the looters and purveyors of hand-me-down wealth are shaken to their roots by the endless capacity of the human mind. Belief in the accomplishments of man had reached a new low in the flagging twilight years of the industrial revolution, when the children were taught that thought is crime, sacrifice is virtue and political necessity justifies the violation of any principles. The new generation proved them wrong.

Really, read it to believe it. I started with the mild idea of doing this optimistic switcheroo for Polaris and ended up with the above monster. I'm sorry that it's three and a half megs in size, but what's man to do? I don't even like this competition, I think that doing a setting without doing system work is lame. Fig if I understand what's going on. This thing is so huge that it's even difficult to believe that it comes under 10,000 words. I had to do most arduous checking, in fact. After discounting covers, introduction, the table of contents and other such conveniences (on the premise that I could as well present the actual text without these things, if it made somebody happy) I'm counting 9944 words, easily under the limit.

Thusly and veriously I say, bring it on, suckers. This time I'm going to take home a title and nothing is standing in my way. If the jury can be bought with eye-candy, I've got it made. I'm tempted to write a complete EOG statement right here and now, detailing my advance upon this Challenge, but that would perhaps be pressing it. Better save it for a separate thread.

[Mikael]

Having seen the previous submissions, I bow my head in shame before the layouting and graphics prowess of my fellow challengers.

Nevertheless, here is the third and last Polaris setting, The Engine.

This is officially the first RPG-related original piece of work I have managed to complete, and for that I thank Frank T, Ben and my fellow Polaris-setting-enthusiasts.

MOMENTS IN TRANSIT

There is a place beyond the normal vision of mankind. A place where a curious group of people face the great question. We cannot see them, we cannot hear them, we might never have known them, but we can understand their struggle, even if all we have are the moments snatched away on the slipstream, or tumbled by the currents of the sea.

Observe...

THE TRAIN ploughs through the sea, huge and swift, both ends vanishing beyond opposite horizons.

A BOY AND A GIRL sit on top of a spire, enjoying the scenery and the wind, red-cheeked and happy to be alive. Boy claims to be able to smell the smoke from the Engine. Girl laughs and teases him, saying that it is just his mother's cooking.

A GUIDE leads her charge through the underwater cavern of metal. She smiles grimly as she fights the constant current and the silvery things it carries.

BROWN BACKS bend over the wheat field. Sun is merciless, the soil-protectors denying even the relief of the eternal wind. Above, a group of pale gentlemen make a sport of shooting the birds attracted by the crops, while sneering at the absurd labour of those below.

LOVERS stand, holding hands. Tears flow freely down his pale cheeks; she begs for his forgiveness but refuses to give up the hope of living again.

PEOPLE are lounging on luxurious chairs, debating the great question with various levels of apparent passion. Many show recent bruises, reminders that words are often not enough.

A TRAIN OF PEOPLE file through twisted corridors, casting furtive glances into the spaces opening here and there. A pair of impossibly thin and long hands stretches from the jumble of pipes in the ceiling. One hand covers the mouth of the man bringing up the rear of the column, another grabs the back of his shirt and lifts him up, into the shadows.

AN OLD MAN watches solemnly, one foot resting on a vanquished foe, as the red-headed woman opens a heavy metal door and lets out the roar, light and heat of the immense furnace within. She looks back, smiles. At his wave of encouragement and farewell, she steps inside.

These are the things you have been given. They are not enough.

[Rich Stokes]

Since the guy who was supposed to be hosting this has let me down, you can find my entry here:

http://www.sharebigfile.com/file/47848/Umlaut.pdf.html

Umläut: Contenders for the Throne of Steel

Vicious Demons.

Mighty Axes.

Flaming Skulls.

These things adorn the covers of hundreds of Heavy Metal albums every year.
Heavy Metal. The very name itself drips with power, testosterone and hair spray. Warriors on the stage of history, wielding their axes and mics they do battle for glory! Trusts are forged and betrayed, mighty empires rise and fall. Ultimately, the only truth worth living for is Metal.
Long of hair and tight of pants, you join the ranks of Metal in your quest for babes, booze and glory. Try to Make It Big and hunt down an elusive record contract.

These are the heroes of an age.

This is their story.

Umläut is a pretty light hearted, affectionate and faintly absurd fun-poke at 80s Hard Rock using the Contenders system.  It's probably the silliest entry so far and weighs in at about 5000 words.

As far as I know it ought to print OK on Letter size paper, but please let me know if you have any problems.  Being another entry from Yurp, I can't get letter size paper to check :^(

[Eero Tuovinen]

Since the guy who was supposed to be hosting this has let me down, you can find my entry here:

Ümlaut Reloaded on a less annoying server.

[Sam!]

Ladies and gentlemen, may I present you Lords & Ladies.

-Sami

[Sam!]

Um, yeah, you had some instructions here.
Lords & Ladies is a setting for Dust Devils, taking it into Romaticism, with passion. Does love conquer all?
(Sorry, I'm a newbie here.)

[Ben Lehman]

Well, I didn't finish the setting that I thought I was going to, but I wrote this one instead.  To show my absolute contempt for the layout and presentation aspects of these sorts of contests, I'm going to post it as pure text in this page.  Even the table, which almost certainly needs mark-up, but I'm sure you'll be able to figure it out for yourselves.

After seeing the other submissions, I'm kind of embarrassed not to be writing a Polaris setting, I have to say.  This is a setting for Under the Bed called Western Journeyers.

Western Journeyers (西游者)

Background

In the third year of the reign of Tai Zong, the second emperor of the Tang Dynasty, the Tripitaka monk received in a dream a mission from the Boddhisattva Guanyin to journey from his war-torn nation to the Thunderclap monastery, where he would receive at the feet of the Buddha himself the purest teaching and the ultimate sutras, to bring them back to the Tang, for the land of the South knows only greed, hedonism, promiscuity, and sin.

But the road to the west was beset by raucous bandits, foul demons, foolish Taoists, tempting harlots, and a thousand other such dangers that would surely end the poor monk's life before he could ever complete his enlightened path.  To this end, the ever-vigilant Guanyin gave to the Tripitaka monk companions for his journey, to ensure his protection on the dharmic road.  These companions were barely above demons themselves -- they were arrogant, greedy, lecherous and disobedient.

But all of them were journeying towards enlightenment.

Introduction

Western Journeyers is a modification of Joshua AC Newman's game Under the Bed that changes the story of the game from children's toys to the companions on the Tripitaka monk on his famous journey to the West to recover the original teachings of the Buddha.  Some of the mechanics have been changed to fit the setting, but the basic spirit of the game remains the same: the characters both stand on their own as companions and guardians and also represent errant aspects of the monk's personality that will nonetheless be harnessed to bring him towards enlightenment.

The Companions

Set up for the game is basically the same as the set-up for Under the Bed.  However, at the option of the players, you may choose to play the canonical companions from the novel rather than inventing new ones.  The traits for the canonical characters are listed below:

Monkey (Sun Wukong): Feisty, Disobedient, Smart
Pigsy (Zhu Bajie): Thick, Cowardly, Stubborn
Sandy (Sha Wujing): Ugly, Passive, Violent
Horse (Xiao Bailong): Determined, Faithful, Fast

You can mix and match canonical characters with non-canonical characters.  Just pick out the canonical characters first, then deal randomly from the remaining traits.  Likewise, if you disagree with my choice of traits for the canonical characters, feel free to use your own.

Each character begins with two points of Valor.  Valor is basically the same as Favorite from Under the Bed.

For a short game, it is recommended that you lay out one card per player in the center of the table at the start of the game.  However, for a longer game, you may add more cards to the center of the table without damaging gameplay at all.  Leave a space that is clearly not the center of the table aside for holding the traits of Guanyin's companions.

Unlike Under the Bed, there is no need to discuss the monk's environment, nor is there a need to set the Story Stakes, which are always the same: The enlightenment of the monk and all his companions.

Playing the Game:

Like Under the Bed, Western Journeyers plays out as a series of conflicts.  Each conflict is played out along the same lines as Under the Bed, but there are the several key differences.

* The world is terrible.  Threats in Western Journeyers are considerably more deadly than those in Under the Bed.  While the Companions still roll d8s, the demons, bandits, and Taoists that oppose them roll d10s.  Companions still win ties.  Likewise, as the game progresses, the threats to the monk become more difficult to face, seen on the table below.

Valor   Trait 1      #2   #3
1   1      --   --
2   1      1   --
3   2      1   --
4   2      2   --
5   2      2   1
6   3      2   1
7   3      2   2
8   3      3   2
9   3      3   3

* Companions cannot die.  You cannot lose your last point of Valor.  If you lose a conflict and only have a single point of valor, you simply remain as you were.  If you lose a conflict at one valor then, at your option, your Companion may have a transformation.  Choose one or more traits of your Companion, discard them, and draw new ones from the deck.  Describe the transformation as appropriate.

* Companions are never certain.  You may have at most six valor tokens in the bag, ever.  Additional tokens, if any, are simply kept in front of the player.

* Enlightenment is inevitable.  Any demon will eventually be overcome.  If one Companion fails to confront a challenge, simply draw again and the indicated Companion tries in his place.

* Guanyin is watching.  If all of the companions have failed at least once against a given challenge, Guanyin intervenes directly.  Guanyin has these traits: Merciful, Forgiving, and Enlightened.  Guanyin rolls d10s and wins ties.
.  If she succeeds, she converts the threat into a companion for herself, taking one of the traits in the center of the table to represent that new companion, who she will bring along if her intervention is required again.

* The Buddha is merciful.  If even Guanyin fails, the Buddha himself will intervene in favor of the monk.  The Buddha does not have traits, nor does he roll dice.  All monsters, demons, and sinners in his presence (with the exception of the monk and the Companions) are instantly enlightened and cease to trouble the Tripitaka's travels.

Ending the Game:

The end of the game is handled slightly differently from ordinary Under the Bed.  When the last trait is taken from the center of the table, the game ends.  The Tripitaka has reached Thunderclap Monastery and received the perfect scriptures.  At the feet of the Buddha he and his companions at last become enlightened.

All that remains is to determine the winner.  The player who has accumulated the most valor has won the game, and will be remembered as a legend throughout time.

Sample Encounters:

Nearly-Immortal Taoists.

Description: They grow trees of heavenly peaches and to eat a single one will expand your life 10,000 years.  But the trees only fruit once every millenium.

Conflicts:
They want you to study esoteric texts
   The texts are interesting
   The texts are rare
   The texts contain knowledge beyond the understanding of ordinary mortals
They want you to each the peaches
   The peaches are tasty
   The peaches are tempting
   The peaches are fragrant
They imprison you
   The prison is deep
   The guards are watchful
   You deserve it

Bandits

Description: Desperate men, products of war, they have turned to savagery, robbery, and rape.

Conflicts:
They demand payment for passage
   They have no regard for your passport
   They have no respect for the religious
   They have very pointy spears
They capture you
   The bonds are tight
   The men are desperate
   The woods surrounding you are dangerous
They execute you by fire
   The fire is large
   The fire is hot

Demons

Description: A powerful and evil demon who wants to eat your flesh to gain your enlightenment.

Conflicts
They lure you
   You are lured with false hospitality
   The demon has many spirits in its army
   The demon offers you buns made from human flesh
They capture you
   The demon has many spirits in its army
   The demon's fortress is like a maze
They eat you
   The demon's sharp claws
   The demon's hungry teeth
   The demon's flashing eyes

The Country of Women

Description: A country inhabited and governed entirely by women, they want a wise man who will become their emperor and lead them into greatness, as well as sire children with them.

Conflicts
You are overcome by lust for flesh
   The women are very beautiful
   There are so many women you could have a different one each night
   The women are all willing
You are overcome by lust for power
   The nation's military is strong
   The nation's wealth is vast
   You are asked to choose a reign name
You are overcome by lust for justice
   There are no courts in the nation
   People are suffering for it

[talysman]

No PDF yet (I'll be doing a PDF of this for the revised and expanded version, later,) but...

The Legion of SuperScience, based on InSpectres, is a Venture Brothers-ish setting of slightly comic science-adventure. Now you, too, can have an exciting career in either SuperScience or costumed villainy! 5,057 words, one image, minimal formatting.

[talysman]

Oops, I forgot the links to the character sheet and the org sheet, which I created with InDesign and posted earlier on Story Games. You could play without them, but the rules make a little more sense if you have them.