What I call the "8."

[permacultureguerilla]

This is probably more appropriate for this section than my last topic. Here goes . . .

I'm hoping you don't mind me just posting this text. If it's too long I'll make it a pdf and post it somewhere.

My games are being posted strictly as theory right now. Later, I'll start posting actual material. But here is an idea that I haven't found a better title for other than "8." I was thinking something latin along Octo.

Basically there are 8 creatures you choose from. 5 of them "belong" to a universe.

These 5 universes cannot really be conceived of as separate universes. They all TEND to be a certain way. But there's no point where one ends and the other begins. It's just that those who've explored them decided to make 5 categories. No one knows how it all really works for sure.  But they all kind of interact together.

The clearest thing is that there are basically 8 "races." But one cannot really call them a race. More like aspects of the whole multiverse. I'll list them in no particular order. And I don't have actual names for them as of yet. I'd like to use etymology in order to do so.

Realize because I'm just throwing names and using common words, it will probably sound a lot more tacky. But I'm almost positive that with the right naming, introduction, and system; it will be very very cool.  ( . . . I could still be wrong).

Really, this is intended as the "be-all and do-all" game. And I know it's been criticized in the past that people really shouldn't try it. Oh well, too late.

1) Technologicans.

These are creatures whom one would think are from the "future." Their world is like an endless space station . . . but there's no space. Everything is technology. There's no "outside." The "station" has become so large, that even if there is a complete electronic map of it somewheres, you'll never really finish it.

There are all sorts of laboratories and manufacturers. There's also things going berserk, malfunctions that can spread. Even wars being fought inside. There are indeed places that create vortexes, where dimension changes and you could enter a "space" world for whatever reason. But it's not considered "outside."

The inhabitants, of course, range anywhere between biological and technological. The basic theory goes that infinite universes can be created or explored, but only some are both reachable by their universe, and "real." Those "real" ones are 2 of the other "5" realms.

While all the inhabitants have a wide range of goals, they tend to become oriented a certain way in certain realms.

In the "night" realm, these creatures have been met with opposition. Their access into the realm was not restricted by how much damage they're willing to do, but of how much "use" they are to those ruling it.

Only the ones that want to exploit and make unethical deals seem to make their way easily in here.

The other realm gives them a rather free range. But they are careful not to stir too much attention to themselves.

2) The "night" realm is a bit like dark city. A huge conspiracy seems to be happening that everyone goes amongst like cattle. No one really understands the physics, and there's no way of knowing "what" they are in exactly. Irregardless, it is never day.

You've probably already guessed my goal here is a gothic-punk world. There's more detail to it that makes it unique, but I'll leave it here for now.

In it there are ways of getting into other realms. Sometimes it's capitalized on through artifacts, machines, enchantments. Sometimes it's stumbled on through even death or play.

One access is the "hell" realm. Mostly, things come out more then they go in. And things going in don't exactly come out.

Another access is the "fantasy" realm. I won't make it as obvious as "fantasy." But those beings tend to enter the "night" realm more than vice-versa. There's some history behind it.


3) The "muse" realm is much like our society (the other one the technologicans can enter).

Reality is much the same, but politics are not quite as drastic. Life has its comings and goings. But to many humans, art means power. Sometimes a person is so good at their arts, they actually cause things to happen with them. Those who do attain some power will learn about the true connections the realm has with other places. They live both a life of simplicity toward their aspirations and also band together. There is a great deal of occult, strange creatures, and ugly aspects to the world. But it has an . . . "innocent" feel to it.

4) Hell.

Not exactly Dante's Inferno. But there seems to be one creature that actually likes the realm. Some believe they come from a mix of the banished and the insane. These creatures gain more power by creatively causing pain and savagery upon themselves and others. They aren't necessarily nefarious invaders, but can do a lot of damage. The realm itself, however, is pretty much nefarious invaders seeking to reign . . . hell . . . everywhere.

5) The "fantasy" realm is of course a millieu. But it's not one set of continents, one world. Like I said, the universes are not actually "separate." There may be a point in space that leads to a vortex from this planet which leads into other realms. Or some on the planet itself. Evil things crawl around it. But they do seem to be the ones most cut off from other realms.

6) One creature is a shapeshifter and does not really belong anywhere. It has an extreme ability for turning into beasts, and tends to live and behave like them. Each one has a natural form that could be a combination of all sorts of animals.

7) The most basic, but likely to make the game most interesting! These creatures gain power by creating enigma. Each individual, again, has a very solid nature to how these are made. But all of them gain power and life by challenging others. They seem to have their own motives, not "good or evil." They are, essentially, the Game Masters. The ones that wreak "havoc" by making an interesting challenge. But that in no way makes them more powerful than any of the other 8.

8) The "melders."

They meld with nature in all sorts of ways. They become things, alter them, turn other things to them. An example may be like a water-fire melder. A creature that becomes one or the other at will. There are likely all sorts of abilities and restrictions that make each one unique.

9) I lied. There's one other thing. Right now I just call "the Scourge."

The REAL villain. The Demons aren't the real villain, nor are the "enigmas." The scourge in the book is identified most readily by the technologicans. They believe a kind of "worm" moves through reality, manipulting it to its own ends, and it has even communicated very clearly that it is ANGRY. It WANTS the multiverse to itself and is doing anything possible to corrupt all the realms into shutting down. Many disbelieve it, and it's left up to the reader to decide.



---------------------------------

If it really sucks, I'm still going to be a little stubborn and say it just needs more work. But that doesn't mean I am absolutely happy to get extreme criticism.

[permacultureguerilla]

Egads! Errata: That doesn't mean I don't want extreme criticism.

[Jared A. Sorensen]

Thar be a game called 8, fella.
http://memento-mori.com/eight/

[permacultureguerilla]

Sorry, James! All the names I have are careless temporary tags anyhow.

Thank-you for the link to your site, though. I now have a lot to think about . . .

[Jack Spencer Jr]

Sorry, James!

Jared, but why split hairs?

Just don't call him "Hattie"

[Shreyas Sampat]

So here's the burning question: What sort of game design (and by this I mean rules design, not setting/color design) questions do you have that you feel we could help you to address?  This cosmology of your game is all well and good, but it isn't really important to the design of the game unless you make a conscious choice to make it part of the mechanics.

I'm not trying to impugn your creative process here, but realize that unless we know what you're attempting to do with your game and we see what you have done with it so far, there is very little that we can offer to you, except the occasional thought-provoking link.

[permacultureguerilla]

Oops. Thanks Jack and Shreyas.

Shreyas: I've just posted a responce in the sticky about submitting indie game design. It addresses some of your responce, in saying I kind of like throwing something in without carefully arranging it. Perhaps that's irresponsible. If so, then I guess I'll have to do some longer work before coming back.

I'm sorry if so, but would "roleplaying theory" actually be more appropriate for my posts? They didn't seem to fit there either.

To address your question, I'll put a few questions to do with this crazy "8" scheme (which I'll obviously call something else. Perhaps 9, lol!) . . .

1) So the name wasn't original, but what about the concept?

2) Is there someone out there that believes a "be-all do-all" game is possible? (at least for modern-day concepts) as well as in applying this strategy? Not to say that only ONE such game is meant to be ultimate, but that many could exist, of varying recognition.

3) Do you think it covered the "genres" that we all know? Are there some that it has missed, or overlapped too much?

4) The seventh creature that acts as the "game master." That's kind of a concept in itself. I think that you could generally make a game in which part of playing the game is actually obeying rules in creating the game. In this way, you're kind of perpetuating a continuous game where the real Game Master just kind of has to sit back and referree (some Game Masters might hate that idea, but I'd love to try that).

Do you think this intended be-all do-all would be a great way to apply that idea in this "seventh" race?

Think of them sort of like the Q continuum. Not omnipotent though, but just powerful enough to do amazing schemes, and motivated only to make them puzzling, not to "command and conquer." I believe I could do this.

5) Straight question. Do you like the worm? Heehee. Is the worm too much like the "wyrm" of werewolf?

Basically, the worm  is like an "astro-quantum physics" discovery. Nothing visual, but a purely mathematical observation that has been translated into something we can see as a "monster."

6) Is it okay that I'm just blabbering ideas and not personal notes?

It seems overzealous because I have like three games always running in my head. I can't focus on one.

I'm posting without personal notes because that's the main reason I came to the forge. My personal notes are jumbled. You can't make sense of hardly anything. I'm starting to realize I need to listen to others and focus before I can start mixing this into one or two . . . or three actual games.

[permacultureguerilla]

Oops, more to say . . . Re: Item #4, the "Game Master."

I'm sure that a great deal of Simulationist games have had players pretty much running amuck, and doing well on their own. But I want a model that's almost purely gamist in framework. You cannot bend rules, but you can flesh them out. And one type of player seems to "make" rules within a frame. But the advantages for that player are just as good as all the other ones.