[Fastlane] Sample Settings

[Lxndr]

I have decided, for better or for worse, to include a number of sample settings in Fastlane.  Each setting should take up no more than a few pages, just a simple basic idea on what the setting should be, and any rules notes or chages or suggestions that might enhance the game.

My reasons for doing this are twofold, but simple:

1.  I like creating game settings, and this is a good excuse to sort of "roll up" a bunch, in a sketchy outline form.

2.  A number of individuals who I've spoken to about Fastlane have, either consciously or subconsciously, noted that the existence of the roulette wheel is a rather... strong influencer, leading them to think strongly about gambling themes, especially modern-day games set in Vegas or Atlantic City or Monte Carlo.  

While I'm not against that, I'm finding the flip side to that influencer is that it eclipses other possible setting ideas, where the gambling and dissipation aspect is more of a metaphor than an actual, physical prop.  So I'm willing to include page space to a number of different and varied setting ideas.  After Fastlane is published, if others care, I'm also going to follow in the footsteps of Sorcerer and allow mini-supplements, where individual settings/situations/concepts/ideas are further developed.

In any case, I have a tentative list of eight setting-type sketches, all of which I'm wanting to put into the final Fastlane draft (and exclude from the "free version").  I'm wondering:  is this enough?  too much?  a right mixture?  Along with any other input y'all might have.

[*]Dungeoneers - This is a Fantasy Fastlane setting, involving, briefly, the idea of Fastlane from the POV of the inhabitants of a massive dungeon, dealing with each other and forming alliances to protect their home from the incursions of vile "adventurers" from above.
[*]Tin Gods - My name for a more generic outlay of "Fastlane: Demigods" and the other Fastlane Fantasy setting. As I think the "create your own god" angle is vastly important to this setting, I'm going to offer quite a list of sample gods, and then several examples of pantheonic combinations.
[*]Snow Blind - Basically a hollywoodized version of modern Aspen, this is the setting used in the very first Fastlane playtest, and is also the setting used in the various examples of play.
[*]Bar Time - A "psychics on the town" modern day game, every character is a minor precognitive who can't see more than ten or fifteen minutes into the future.  So they wind up playing the horses, the stock market, and yes, gambling.  I want to set this in an American town where there is a popular horsetrack and riverboat casinos, just 'cause I like them.  Any ideas?
[*]Untitled #1 - A cyberpunk setting of some sort.  Anonymouse said he'd help me with this, and I'm willing to credit him.
[*]Sin System - A spacefaring sort of gambling setting, based loosely on the "Ezra" campaign I'm running right now.
[*]Last Call - A pre-apocalyptic setting, where the world has discovered that an asteroid is close to impacting the Earth, and there's no way to stop it.  I figure it looms large in the sky, circling over and over, resisting all attempts to stop it or move it away... screwing with tides, and toying with the people on Earth on when its last orbit will be.  The rock will fall at the same moment as the first protagonist burns out.
[*]Untitled #2 - A zombie horror Fastlane game of some sort.  I honestly have ideas on this already.
[/list:u]

Beyond those eight, I already have plans for the first Fastlane mini-supplement, which will be called "Identity Crisis" and feature the players as bodysnatchers.  But that's for later - these eight sketchy-settings are what I'd like input on now.

[Mike Holmes]

I feel like a broken record. What kind of input would you like?

Further, I expected to see genres, not settings. That is, I think the "ski movie" genre of Snow Blind works, but where's the spy genre notes? What is it about Sin System that makes it about Fastlane play? I mean, one could use any setting, it seems to me. What we need are genre notes, IMO.

Mike

[Lxndr]

Yeah, Fastlane can quite easily be used in nearly any setting; that's one of the two big reasons on why I'm including the sample settings - so many individuals have, upon my mentioning the game to them, immediately went down the "aha! las vegas!" route, often to the EXCLUSION of other settings.  Therefore, I'm wanting a group of sample settings as right-out-of-the-box "hey, look, you can do more than just casino stuff!"

(The out-of-the-box angle is also important to me - notes on genres are well and good in theory, but I want people to be able to grab the basic book, open to page XX, and immediately begin pre-play preparation for Sin System, or Last Call, or Bar Time, or whatever; discussion on genre in a broader sense isn't as immediately applicable)

That said, I'm wanting my setting sketches to, in one way or another, capture as many different genres as possible.  Sin System is meant to be a "space travel" Fastlane setting, whose focus is a "Las Vegas" sort of planetary system.

On the flip side, as you pointed out, I managed to overlook the "spy movie" genre somehow (you know, I really need to watch a James Bond movie one of these days - where's a good place to start?).  I've got my worries on whether I'm the man to address it, especially since I've not seen the seminal Spy Genre flicks.

[Mike Holmes]

What I'm saying in general terms is that you might want to not include any setting details, but (as Fang would call them) Genre Expectations. That is, don't call it "Sin System" and give details of the system, just call it "Sci-Fi Fastlane" (or something more sexy, if you want), and tell us what this should typically involve. Sample characters, sample action, etc. That way people can take whatever setting they like, and see how it can be used with the system. Using Sci-Fi Fastlane, I could use it with all my Traveller stuff, for instance. "Sin System" I don't think would help me there.

See what I'm getting at?

On the flip side, as you pointed out, I managed to overlook the "spy movie" genre somehow (you know, I really need to watch a James Bond movie one of these days - where's a good place to start?).  I've got my worries on whether I'm the man to address it, especially since I've not seen the seminal Spy Genre flicks.

Lx and I have this running thing going, where he keeps informing me about movies that he's supposedly not seen. He claims to be earnest, but I sense it's all a hoax of some sort.

Anyhow, if you really have never seen a Bond film, then I'd start at the start, with "Dr. No". Not the best, not the worst, but first to be produced. the films are really too mythic to be chronological, so order isn't important at all in that way (though I'd recommend In Her Majesty's Secret Service be seen early in the series for a throwaway explanation for why Bond treats his relationships the way he does).

Some notes: Again, Bond has to be approached, IMHO, as mythic. That is, the films are highly non-sensical in many ways, representing an archetype rather than a well developed character. Bond can be described entirely in just a sentence or two. The films are beyond formulaic. They are the same exact story told over and over, with the only differences being the color and the few cases where there is some "exception" to one of the rules. For example, in almost every Bond film, you'll see:

[*]The Main Villain - usually not visible until well into the film, he strikes from afar, and only later does Bond discover who he is, and what he's up to. Always killed in the third to last scene (which is followed by the escape scene, and the end scene of Bond making out with one of the Girls).
[*]The Lair - from which the MV conducts his evil plot.
[*]The Other Lair - the one earlier in the movie which is far, far from The Lair. Means Bond gets to travel a lot and stay in ritzy hotels.
[*]The Thug - the MV's henchman who does most of the dirty work. Very colorful, and usually dispatched by Bond somewhere in the middle to end of the film. The exception is Jaws who is indestructable, and recurs in more than one film.
[*]The Bad Girl - works for the Main Villain, and is usually a main stumbling block for Bond, in that he'll fall into bed with her at some inopportune moment. Works out for Bond in some way in the end, however, sometimes with the Bad Girl becoming another Good Girl.
[*]The Good Girl - often works for the CIA, Bond thinks she's a Bad Girl until he finds out who she works for. Occasionally killed, which makes Bond very angry.
[*]The Technician - the guy who makes the plan possible. Occasionally vacant, occasionally under duress, and often killed by the MV directly in order to display how evil he is.
[*]The CIA guy - often Felix Liter, but sometimes another character. Always there a moment too late to save Bond who has to get himself out of jeopardy.
[*]The "Regulars" -

[*]"M", AKA Sir Miles Messervey in most of the films and now played by Judi Densch (who's character's name also starts with an M, of course; she  doesn't play a guy). Leader of Military Intelligence 6 (MI-6). Note that the "military" part is why Bond is technically Commander Bond in the Roayl Navy.
[*]"Q" - Played for eons by Desmond Lewellyn, until he got so old that they had to replace him with John Cleese (who is a perfect fit, IMO).  He's the guy in charge of Q section, which is where Bond gets all his nifty gadgets.
[*]Miss Moneypenny, MI-6's only typist, does all the admin work and flirts with Bond (though they're not allowed to actually consumate anything ever). [/list:u][/list:u]
Scenes you'll see (sometimes in this order):

[*]Opening Gambit - folows the intro credit, but preceeds the full credits (something preetty unique and cool about Bond films, IMO). The Gambit sets the stage in small ways, but is mostly just action meant to get your blood pumping.
[*]Briefing - Bond talks to M to get the lowdown on what they know, and then gets stuff from Q. Sometimes departs on mission w/o proper authority (making it "personal")
[*]Bond Gambles - many of the scenes are in places with cassinos or race tracks, etc, and the Villain or henchmen are encountered there playing some game of chance.
[*]Bond Falls into Bed - with one of the two Girl Characters. He'll have slept with both by the end of the film, meaning this scene almost invariably happens twice. Sometimes the second is the last scene of the film, though as often that's the third time he scores (often in this case, they're "interrupted" by the authorities looking to congratulate Bond who summarily ignores them).
[*]Gadget Combat - Bond kills the henchman or somebody using one of his gadgets, often a car.
[*]Gadget Escape - faced with incarceration, Bond uses a gadget to get out.
[*]Vehicluar Combat - a combination of chase and fight scene with any sort of vehicle from snowmobiles to trains.
[*]Infiltration - Bond sneaks into one of the lairs.
[*]Final Showdown - Bond defeats the MV who is busy chewing scenery.
[*]The Earth Menaced - at some point Bond has to stop some mechanism that's part of the MV's plot from destroying the Earth or all civilization, etc.
[*]Witty Quips - required to be delivered upon killing the MV, Thug, or defeating (possibly killing) the Bad Girl, or upon narrowly avoiding disaster. Averages 3.7 a film.
[*]Lair Destroyed - the villains palatial Lair is blown up, sunk, crashes, or has some other catastrophe. Caused by Bond in most cases, and causes the need for the Escape Scene. [/list:u]
Anyhow, these are the Genre Expectations of a Bond Film (and now you never have to watch one if you don't want to). It's these sorts of things that we'd need to know about to run that sort of game, not a map of Monte Carlo (like the old Top Secret module Operation Whateverthehelleuropeanname).

Mike

[Lxndr]

I am completely earnest.  Never seen a Bond film, or if I have it was so lacking in memorable moments as to not even register in my consciousness, which I don't think is very likely.  Sorry.  :(

I believe I see what you're getting at, but I'm not convinced that "A Treatise On Using Fastlane In The Scifi Milieu" is more useful out-of-the-box than "Sin System" might be, though, regardless of how "sexy" I might make the name.

Not that any of these setting-sketches are going to be incredibly detailed, though - I'm not going to be including maps or anything like that, more of a "here's a brief overview of the situation" and so on, and hopefully through the /example/ that I put forth in Sin System (including sample characters, sample action, etc.) would inspire those who want to use other settings.

[Lxndr]

I've been mulling this over in my head over the past few days, and I'm still not sure whether or not I should keep with my original plan ("show, not tell") or go with Mike's alternative ("tell, not show"). Maybe I'm missing a vital part of what Mike's suggesting, but that seems to be the difference between my proposed plan, and Mike's proposed alternative.

I'm also not sure I understand any genre in such a way as to be able to do what Mike did for James Bond - namely, break it down into an outline of bite-sized chunks. What are the "Genre Expectations" of science fiction? Hell if I know. I need to take the limitations of the designer (me) into account when making this decision.

I'm interested in what others have to say on this matter.  Are "sample setting sketches" where I can display a single instance of a genre, including sample characters, etc., the way I should go, or is a more general "genre expectations" section (displaying roughly the same things) the way to go?  What pros or cons of either side have I missed?

[Rob MacDougall]

Hi!

I'm interested in what others have to say on this matter. Are "sample setting sketches" where I can display a single instance of a genre, including sample characters, etc., the way I should go, or is a more general "genre expectations" section (displaying roughly the same things) the way to go?

I don't think you can really answer this without going back to your reason for putting these settings/sketches in. Some people like specific, some people like general, and it's just a personal taste chocolate/vanilla distinction until you ask yourself: what purpose are these sketches supposed to serve?

Going back to the top of this thread, you wrote:

My reasons for doing this are twofold, but simple:

1. I like creating game settings, and this is a good excuse to sort of "roll up" a bunch, in a sketchy outline form.

2. A number of individuals who I've spoken to about Fastlane have, either consciously or subconsciously, noted that the existence of the roulette wheel is a rather... strong influencer, leading them to think strongly about gambling themes, especially modern-day games set in Vegas or Atlantic City or Monte Carlo.

While I'm not against that, I'm finding the flip side to that influencer is that it eclipses other possible setting ideas, where the gambling and dissipation aspect is more of a metaphor than an actual, physical prop. So I'm willing to include page space to a number of different and varied setting ideas.

Reason #1 doesn't give us much guidance. Reason #2 is key here, I think. You want to show people that Fastlane will work for other settings. Show, not just tell. And you want to give them some ideas to make the most of Fastlane in that setting.

Neither generic notes on the spy genre, nor a spy-influenced Aspen setting will make that case on their own. What I think would be really good for the purpose you describe is discussion of what Fastlane itself brings to these genres and settings, or of the direct interaction between these genres/settings and the specific mechanics/goals/flavor of Fastlane.

The setting material in the various Sorceror books (I'm thinking of what's in Ron's core books more than the mini-supplements, but I've only read a few of the latter) are not really genre expectations nor setting details - they are discussions of what these settings mean to Sorcerer and what Sorcerer means to them (Humanity means this in this context, Demons mean this, etc.). In this way they are integrated directly into the game material, not tacked on afterthoughts. Is there a way you can do the same with Fastlane?

Rob

[C. Edwards]

Hey Lx,

I'm also not sure I understand any genre in such a way as to be able to do what Mike did for James Bond - namely, break it down into an outline of bite-sized chunks. What are the "Genre Expectations" of science fiction? Hell if I know. I need to take the limitations of the designer (me) into account when making this decision.

Sci-fi, as such, really is too large of a categorization for you to break into chunks. It's really a Macro-Genre category. You should consider the Micro-Genre categories that it encompasses, such as Pulp Sci-fi, Space Opera, Hard Sci-fi, etc. Those are manageable and have distinct "Genre Expectations".

BTW, have you done some searches for threads where Fang discusses "Genre Expectations" in Scattershot? I believe that's where the term originated, as far as Forge usage anyway, and it is (was?) an integral part of that game's system.

-Chris

[Lance D. Allen]

I think you'd be better off with a set of "Genre Expectations" for Fastlane. Mention the frenetic pace of life, the dissipation, the devil-may-care attitudes. Once you've got a good list, perhaps even including standard things that all games of Fastlane should include, in such a way that it resembles Mike's Bond example, then discuss how those expectations can work in any of the types of settings you want to talk about.

[Lxndr]

(side note: isn't dissipation a fun word?)

So a sort of "meta-genre" expectations, Lance?  I'm already working on those, and am definitely trying to make the references to them inside the game text, as well as in the examples.  Not to mention my "Croupier's Tips" list, which is expanding... so I'm already down that path.

I do plan on the specific "sample setting sketches" to include discussion on how the Fastlane attitude is supposed to fit, along with the things that Mike suggested (sample characters, sample action, sample rules tweaks and other suggestions).  

There's already enough in the Fastlane document, in my opinion, that a group could pick it up and use it in any setting they like (though as far as  I know, there exists no non-Lxndr Fastlane playtest, and I'd like there to be one).  I'm just wanting to include a few snippets of "here's something you can use RIGHT NOW!"  It's a bonus (and a good one) if the sample settings are also object-lessons.

Chris>  I did a search, I read through some of Fang's threads, and, well, um, wow.  That's a lot of work, breaking down an arbitrarily-identified genre down into its component bits.

[Ron Edwards]

Hi Alexander,

Here's what I want to do with Fastlane:

The out-of-control heist.

Granted, there's a whole game in development based on this (Criminal Element), but Fastlane offers a very different way to play than CE, and I think running this sort of thing will really expose the game's strengths.

One of the things I'm planning to emphasize for the game is that players are not constrained to play members of the criminal gang (or whatever) that's pulling off the heist, but also

For all I know, the leader of the heist will be a player-character or he might be the central NPC. Whatever the players want to do with it.

I'm posting it here because it strikes me as a more immediate and gut-ripping approach to a first-time play experience than most of the more generalized settings in the book - a lot more like your con demo, which I enjoyed immensely and regret not being able to play in a more extended way (e.g. in the evening, with a full two hours or so).

Best,
Ron