[Article 8]

[RipSteakface]

- too broad
- do I need the arcane/alien in there or would it be better to cut that out and work on the historical/present day
- system/mechanic
- influences:

[RipSteakface]

Whoops - I screwed that up right out of the box.  Hit the post button while I was still bullet-pointing.  Sorry.

At any rate, I'm working on something that is mostly setting right now.  The premise is that there was a secret 8th Article to the U.S. Constitution that created an organization charged with protecting the republic by any means necessary.  The overview is posted here:

http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dc4d6qwf_211hds228

Some of my influences will be readily apparent:
- Section 31 from Deep Space Nine
- National Treasure
- I'm also fairly sure this is generally where the short-lived Traveler series on ABC was headed
- general espionage/conspiracy theory

My questions right now are as follows:
1)  as purely setting at this point, is it too broad?  Do I need the whole alien/arcane angle, or should I focus more on the historical/present day?  I can see the setting being interesting by looking at the organization's involvement at different points in history.
2)  I'm not overly concerned with system/mechanic at this point, but I would be interested in hearing anyone's opinion on what might work well for this type of setting.
3)  Any other feedback as you see fit

Thanks in advance, this site is truly a treasure of a resource.

[ODDin]

Well, a secret organisation in the US isn't a really original thing, but that doesn't mean it can't work very well. The question that remains unanswered is whether you're involving the para-normal / alien races etc.
Personally, I think you should avoid unnatural things, simply because systems that deal with such issues exist in abundance (Delta Green, Unknown Armies).  If you have a really cool and novel idea regarding the issue, go ahead, but since this doesn't seem to be issue, my suggestion is to avoid.
As for the mechanic - the setting is too general to be speaking of something like this at the moment. I can only say that if you want the PCs to be members of this secret organisation, you should probably go easy on the realism, but that's not necessary either. The question is, what feel do you want to get? The GNS is also a good thing to ponder about, while you're at it.

[RipSteakface]

The question that remains unanswered is whether you're involving the para-normal / alien races etc.
Personally, I think you should avoid unnatural things, simply because systems that deal with such issues exist in abundance (Delta Green, Unknown Armies).

Thanks for the feedback ODDin.  I've been working it and I think I am going to dispense with the paranormal/alien and focus more on the historical possibilities of the game.  If I can get the details of the organization in place, I think it would be interesting to explore how it has interacted with American history.

[Vulpinoid]

RipSteakFace,

Ignoring the supernatural is certainly a viable option, but a lot of players will be looking at this sort of game for an element of mystery and suspense. If you aren't going to add elements of the supernatural, you have to seriously consider other options for where these elements will come from.

One of the tried and true methods for this is to develop a series of conflicting factions who have their own agendas and who may have been manipulating society through these agendas for centuries. Love it or hate it, you could look at a TV series like "Alias" as a touchstone for ideas.

Another option could be to describe the types of groups the secret organisation has faced in the past: Religious Groups, the Nazis, the KGB, the Columbian drug cartel. Through developing the tactics and structure of the enemies, you can develop the way this secret organisation has had to evolve in order to overcome these threats.

Perhaps a balance between these internal and external perspectives.

I'm sure there's also other ways to help develop the concept but these were just the first two to come to mind.

V

[Trevis Martin]

Hi RipSteakFace,

I think merely as "shadowy organization working through history" it seems fine, though not overly exciting.  I think what would be interesting in a game with this sort of setting would be to include a series of big events in  history  in the book and then making a game that let me, as a player with others, telling the story of what REALLY happened.  In other words I'd like the focus to be heavily tied to real historical events.  At least that's what excites me about the idea.

-Trevis

[ODDin]

I agree with Trevis, although there is a small issue here: when working "in the field", the group might do something that contradicts what really happened. Suppose the group was there to kill Lincoln and then something went wrong and the group didn't manage to kill him on time. What happens then? It might be quite frustrating to be working in the frame of known history, or if your GM allows that, we go into alternative history, and the whole reality after that event gets distorted.

Actually, this brings me to an idea. What about an actual game about alternative history? I don't remember seeing anything about that. Not secret history and not paranormal involvement, but actual *alternative* history, with commonly known events being different.