Newsies

[lighthouse]

I am considering writing a game on newsies, my idea is to use an hypothetical city inspired on 1890s  NYC, London and Paris (and maybe Venice). Character should be young people from (10 to 15) maybe living more or less on their own (need not to be orphans).

And, this is the big idea...

The game is about becoming a saint... ehem, while you are surviving the streets and stuff. A tall order, I know.

Any suggestions?

[tex]

If you need a system to go with your (very interesting) story and setting idea, you can use mine, Orp.  It's intended to be general-purpose and highly adaptable to the needs of setting authors and GMs.  It's pretty rules-light by default.

I'm in the curious position of having a pretty complete game system, but no setting and campaign info, which is necessary for playtesting.  You'd be doing me a favor by being my first source material author.

Even if you don't go with Orp I'm looking forward to hearing more.  Good luck!  : ]

http://zuggers.org/orp.pdf

-Tom

[Ben Lehman]

This is a neat project!

What do you think is cool about being a newsie? When you picture people playing the game, what the people doing? What are the characters doing?

[J. Scott Timmerman]

Hello, Lighthouse.

What types of things do you see the characters getting involved in that might lead to sainthood?  Will they actually perform miracles as is required for the title in some religions?  If so, how do you see them building up to the performance of miracles - I.E., through mundane acts that lead to miraculous results?

Otherwise, even if you don't intend to use miracles, saints have to do something pretty cool, right?  I admittedly don't know much about saints, in any religion.

-Jason Timmerman

[Bossy]

Not a native English speaker wonders what are "newsies" and has a friend named Google. The first hundred hits are all dedicated to a cult Disney musical from the early nineties.

Is that really what you had in mind?

[Jason Morningstar]

I like your idea a lot.  Can you expand on what you mean when you say the goal is to become a saint?  I'm assuming you mean the struggle to stay good when surrounded by evil and temptation will be central.  How will you have this manifest in play?

[tex]

Not a native English speaker wonders what are "newsies" and has a friend named Google. The first hundred hits are all dedicated to a cult Disney musical from the early nineties.

Is that really what you had in mind?

I think this is the inspiration for the film: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newsboys_Strike_of_1899

It's probably as good a place to start as any for background reading.

[lighthouse]

I think this is the inspiration for the film: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newsboys_Strike_of_1899

It's probably as good a place to start as any for background reading.

Yes, the strike is part of the inspiration, yet my "soft spot" for newsies comes from much earlier and deeper in my life.

[lighthouse]

Hello, Lighthouse.

What types of things do you see the characters getting involved in that might lead to sainthood?  Will they actually perform miracles as is required for the title in some religions?  If so, how do you see them building up to the performance of miracles - I.E., through mundane acts that lead to miraculous results?

Otherwise, even if you don't intend to use miracles, saints have to do something pretty cool, right?  I admittedly don't know much about saints, in any religion.

-Jason Timmerman

In my religion (Catholic) to be a saint you don't need to perform a miracle. Miracles are handy if you want to be canonized (to be 'officialy' recognized as a saint) but most of the saints are unknown and some of the miracles would be unusable in a roleplaying setting (like Don Bosco's multiplication of the chestnuts )

I don't plan to make any rules for miracles as that would kill the mystery, leaving it up to the game master.

[lighthouse]

If you need a system to go with your (very interesting) story and setting idea, you can use mine, Orp.  It's intended to be general-purpose and highly adaptable to the needs of setting authors and GMs.  It's pretty rules-light by default.

I'm in the curious position of having a pretty complete game system, but no setting and campaign info, which is necessary for playtesting.  You'd be doing me a favor by being my first source material author.

Even if you don't go with Orp I'm looking forward to hearing more.  Good luck!  : ]

http://zuggers.org/orp.pdf

-Tom

Thanks Tom!

I have just given a look to ORP and it looks like it can serves my purposes well enough.

(do I sound like an evil mastermind? )

However I plan to use the game as a minute fundraiser, publishing it with lulu or whatever (I'm pretty new to all this). So if that's OK you have probably saved me quite a load of time and trouble.

[lighthouse]

More ideas and stuff.

While I have never watched Newsies, its background story is one of the sources of inspiration; but also Dickens and Victor Hugo.

Sainthood as powers: No... but.. Sainthood is, I believe, a common vocation for the whole of humankind and it is something you should love for itself.

Can sainthood be secular? No, unless the Game Master wants it so... While the game will center on Christian sainthood as this little catholic of yours understands it, I plan to include some ideas so the concept can be adapted to a more secular game probably building on the ideas of Kant, yet I probably say nothing about non-Christian religions except for leaving it up to the GM, for the simple reason that I am sticking to what I know.

Sainthood would be more like the ultimate objective, so you can have any sort of adventure -within the scope of the game, mind you-. Sainthood would provide a constant motivator for the characters and, as in real life, it would not always be easy to know what to do.

[lighthouse]

Newsies, a roleplaying game.

Foreword: a different kind of game.

I tend to think that one of the best reasons to write a new roleplaying game is fun or, in more refined terms: ars gratia artis; the art for the art alone. However I have to confess that such a motivation has never led me quite far away for I can always find a good excuse: it has already been done. I could, of course, replied to myself that I could try to write a better fantasy or sci/fi or whatever game, better than any of the existing games; as it is the more common and fruitful trend.
Yet such an approach does not satisfy my poor soul, which needed to express his love for God. Yes, I have said the G word. And so, after some nights of poor sleep, the idea of this game came out and as much as I tried to repress as ridicolous, it kept coming once and again till I have no choice but writing a roleplaying game about holiness.
Yes, I said holiness.
There was also my childhood fondness for Dickens, Verne, Victor Hugo and Tolstoy, my volunteer work in holiday camps for children in care, my paid work as a houseparent, my life as a former seminarian and my brief volunteer experiences with homeless children in Romania.
Last, but not least, prayer. This is a game that has been born between prayers. Does it mean I am claiming divine inspiration? Don't be silly :-) Does it mean is a secret tool to convert you? Neither (though if it works, tell me! :-) )
And out of that earth this game has been born.

Chapter 1. Story creation.

The first step is for the players to meet (either face to face or through other means)    and determine the basics of the story they are going to play and who should be the master. To that means they should answer themselves questions like:
How many game sessions should this game take? You can answer either a number, like 4 game sessions in a month, go for an approximate number (more realistic) or decide to play till you get bored.My advice, however, is that you go for the approximate number.
What is the theme and tone of the game? Humor? Adventure? Horror? Mistery? Epic? Detective? Drama? Fantasy? Realistic? Yes, they are all possible within a Newsies game as long as you adapt the story to the characters. Let's imagine an Epic story with some Horror for a good mix: you could say that some vampire is working for the evil goverment and in the midst of a revolution he terrorizes the rebel at night. So what can a bunch of kids do about it? Nothing ...but maybe going through secret corridors too narrow for an adult to pass to get some antique artifact... or...
A "standard" game, and by standard I mean the one I had in mind when I first created the game mixes Drama with an Epic tone, much alike Victor Hugo's "Les Miserables" or the beloved "Oliver Twist". In no way should this limit your imagination, though.
What is the main challenge of the story? You can be as specific as you like, the more you are the easier for the master to create the story
What do you want (or not) to see in the story? If some of your players are children you must be specially careful. Realistically newsies did harmful things to themselves and others, from some form of petty crime (like cheating with the change) to anything it could be included in a newspaper. Similarly there is no need to include whatever you think it would be boring.

Characters

A typical character in Newsies is a newsie, a boy or less common a girl who buys newspapers by the hundreds and then sell them on the streets for a profit. They could have a family or orphans but, for most of the time they are on their own from a variety of reasons. Family in prison or hospital or into the hiding or...

Your character star:
a) Hidden Prince: Always a favorite. You are the heir of some crown somewhere in the world. (Maybe even in the game world), maybe your character knows it or not.
b)

=========================================================================

OK, I know it is very contradictory and confusing right now, I just wanted to share a bit of what's going on in my mind.

Btw, so that everybody knows where I am coming from

I'm Miguel (Hi world ), a former seminarian and former Salesian postullant (that's a year when you are considering joining the Salesian branch of the Catholic priests (if there's another Catholic in the house don't kill me, I'm trying to put it plainly to everybody). I have taught  Religion and Ethics at a Catholic school, worked as a houseparent, been a volunteer a thousand times (it's fun ), even in Romania for a short while.

[Jason Morningstar]

Thanks for the additional information.  Now I'm really interested! 

Tell us more.  Describe your vision of play, perhaps - what will a session look and feel like?  What will happen?  How will the characters interact, grow, and change?

[lighthouse]

Thanks for the additional information.  Now I'm really interested! 

Tell us more.  Describe your vision of play, perhaps - what will a session look and feel like?  What will happen?  How will the characters interact, grow, and change?

I'd like to, but to be honest I have not thought about that...

Thanks!

[tex]

Thanks Tom!

I have just given a look to ORP and it looks like it can serves my purposes well enough.

(do I sound like an evil mastermind? )

However I plan to use the game as a minute fundraiser, publishing it with lulu or whatever (I'm pretty new to all this). So if that's OK you have probably saved me quite a load of time and trouble.

That shouldn't be a problem.  I hold the copyright to Orp, but I've published it (where published just means I put it on my website) under a license that means, technically, I can't actually stop you from copying it, modifying it, republishing it, and using it to raise funds (for a charity I take it?) if you want to.  Not that I'd want to stop you.  : ]

For more details, see the Section 1.1, page 7, "Orp's Copyright," and especially:

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5/