Of Legends and Legacies

[dmkdesigns]

Here's a revised game description that's more than describing the system. What do you think?

During the great Cataclysm the Denizens cried out for salvation and mercy to a place beyond reason and faith... They sacrificed their hopes and dreams on the altar of desperation in order to summon you... From beyond gods and despair, wrapped in silver and fog, known by the few remaining elders as the Void. It is from the Void that you, a living Legend is born, made real with the bones, flesh and blood needs of the Denizens of a world called Mythos. You are their Avatar until the end of time, until none remember your deeds or name. When your purpose is spent and you fade away, returning to the Void, until Mythos calls you back again for glory and salvation.


Whereas the system for Of Legends and Legacies is something like...

Play living Legends called by Denizens from the Void to pursue Legacies in the world of Mythos. Players and GM collaboratively design the world, its inhabitants and the cataclysm that requires the PCs to exist.

-David-

[Simon C]

What do the characters do?

[dmkdesigns]

What do the characters do?

     That is defined by the game group when things are created: Legends, Legacies, Denizens, Cataclysm and the Mythos world. With this current description the Legends are summoned by the people to help them with the cataclysm. It's more specific and focused than what I had previously. This is what I think might work for the default setting for the game to help me with the writing and development and to explain it to people new to the system. This provides a reason for the PCs to enter the stage, characters to interact with and goals to establish. It could allow for a team of Legends to be summoned at once, or Legends of contradictory natures to be called by different elders from the Void. The Cataclysm need not be a natural disaster but that's an easy one to define as the Cataclysm becomes an actor in the game for this version.

     Otherwise the game system itself is very open and requires a lot of explanation. The game can be very open-ended in focus and scope, which still has merits for some groups, but I've found that at least initially a strong focus helps. So previously the game group all gets together and decides everything in one session such as if this is a game about swashbucklers or sci-fi horror or supers, etc. Then who the PCs will be. They are living Legends in whatever setting that is called Mythos.

     NPCs are treated as Arcana. Only the PCs are treated as fully fleshed out with complex stats.

     Everyone at the table generates story-based Arcana and assigns them to different categories. The Players make a goal-oriented adventure based upon their own, other Legends and the GM's Arcana. These are called Legacies. The Arcana can be invoked or compelled similarly to Aspects in FATE and other games so long as it is done through some kind of narration to make is plausible. Trading of Legend Points that Players earn can make things easier or more intense during scenes.

     But the Players and GM decide what it is they want to do with the game collaboratively and by making goals an integral part of the characters and setting though reincorporated and acted out through narratives.

     So if you decide that one of your Arcana is a Cursed Sword you have to develop a story around it and it becomes part of one of your Legacies or part of another's, such as another Player's Legend or the game world for the GM.

-David-

[Mike Sugarbaker]

David, what do you personally care about the most in this game?

[dmkdesigns]

David, what do you personally care about the most in this game?

The way creating the world and characters can generate investment in the game along with shared narrative capabilities. Having the PCs be legendary figures from the get-go with goals in a world where they belong.

-David-