Incarnate: Premise (dipping my toe in the RPG design waters)

[deadpanbob]

All,

For the ridicule and entertainment of all, I shamefully present what I think of as the Premise of my in-progress RPG.  Comments, questions, and critiques are requested - scorn, derision, ulgification and doubt are expected.

We can escape the commonplace only by manipulating it, controlling it, thrusting it into our dreams or surrendering it to the free play of our subjectivity

               Incarnate, more than anything, is a game about belief.  Not the pedestrian belief that we all might claim to cling to - but about the power of strong faith that the world works by a certain set of rules.

               The life of an Incarnate begins with the realization that our minds are advanced delusion generators designed to allow all of us to relate to one another within a consensual framework - known as the consensual hallucination.  The power of an Incarnate begins with the acceptance of the consensual hallucination - and the desire to change it in radical ways that better conform to their own personal delusions about reality.

               The Incarnate, as they term themselves, are people who lived through a transcendent moment - and in that moment realized that everything around them was no more than dream fabric.  For many, this moment breaks them body, mind and soul - leaving only a long spiral down into the madness oblivion.  For a select few driven individuals, this moments marks the point at which they set out to build a new reality - a reality of their own desires - a reality at once both personal paradigm and psychotic delusion.

               The physical, natural laws of the Universe as understood within the consensual hallucination no longer strictly apply to the Incarnate.  They carry their reality - their paradigm - with them wherever they go.  The rules of these internal, highly personal delusions are the Incarnate's only limits.

               While limited in number, their diverse beliefs and their often diametrically opposed desires for the ultimate structure of reality keep the Incarnate at each others throats.  That's good for the rest of us, because throughout the ages, They have controlled much - they are the progenitors and originators of the known conspiracies and the secret masters behind the powers of our world, our history authored by their machination and a byproduct of their long standing, very un-civil war.

               The Incarnate tend to form small cabals of like minded individuals for mutual protection against their brethren.  They are bound by two axioms: their personal paradigms may allow them great power over the sleeping masses, but in conflicts against one another these personal delusions are useless; the consensual hallucination, either by accident or subconsciously by choice, has Sanctified certain places where the Incarnate may not harm by act or omission any other sentient being.

               The focus of the game is two-fold: the personal struggle of each Incarnate to force the consensual hallucination toward their own paradigm - and the madness that can be induced by the resulting friction; and the conflict among the Incarnate over the future of the consensual hallucination - a conflict they call parallaxis.

Thanks for your time.

Cheers,

Jason

[William Lemmon]

How does this concept differ from Mage: The Ascension?

Admittedly, I don't own M:tA, but I fail to see anything that sets your idea apart from what I know of it. Obviously, I could be wrong, and feel free to flame the living shit out of me if I am.

William

[Ben Morgan]

This actually sounds a lot like what White Wolf might have been trying to aim for with Mage, but never really achieved. It would be unfortunate to label this as "Mage done right", however.

All I'm going to say is that I really really really like the concept, and I'm excited about seeing a system that wil actively support this.

[deadpanbob]

How does this concept differ from Mage: The Ascension?

Ahh, well, it doesn't differ materially in premise yet.  Once I get to posting the system, it may become clear how the game as a whole differs from M:tA.

I will say that the focus in most of the table top games of M:tA that I've run was on the Magic(k) (k is optional depending on which edition one uses) and what could be done with it was to alter reality under very specific circumstances for a very limited amount of time.  Static reality is extremely plastic in M:tA.  The characters in M:tA are struggling against reality.  

In my conception of the premise for Incarnate, which admittedly didn't come across too well, is that the characters would be struggling - warring in fact - over long term, fundamental structural changes to the consensual hallucination.  They will struggle among themselves mostly - and with themselves to a lesser degree.

Obviously, I could be wrong, and feel free to flame the living shit out of me if I am.

No, you're not wrong.  I'm not going to flame you because frankly this is just the type of feedback I need in order to tighten and focus the design of the game as much as possible.

Cheers,

Jason

[deadpanbob]

"Mage done right",

I'm definitely not aiming for "X done right" whatever X is.  I'm aiming for my own system that fits my own idosyncratic needs.

All I'm going to say is that I really really really like the concept, and I'm excited about seeing a system that wil actively support this.

Me too.  Got any ideas?  ;-)

Seriously, however, I'm on version 8 of my game at this point.  I'm waiting on the good folks here at the Forge to get back to me about hosting a website for me - and once that's resolved, I'll have a place to put more in-depth coverage of the systems/background/setting/color/theme etc.

Thanks for the feedback.  Much appreicated.

Cheers,

Jason