I have an idea about an alternate/speculative history RPG set in a world where the South won the U.S. Civil War and slavery was never abolished. The PCs adventures would revolve around the slave trade in some way, but in my head, I'm visualizing the PCs as people dedicated to freeing slaves. This is what I'm thinking so far:

Setting: Like I said, the South "won" the Civil War ideologically (states rights/autonomy) and therefore the "rebel" states re-joined the union and slavery continued to thrive in the South. Maine seceded from the union, becoming the Free Republic of the Territories of Maine and Metzger Island, and passed a law that guaranteed "patriation and protection" to runaway slaves. The economically-powerful South attempted to fight this and pressured the federal government to station troops on the US- Free Rep. of Maine border 

Ever since the war, abolitionists in the northern states have fought against slavery but their fight has not garnered much support since the slave trade had become such an economically-vital institution, and improved the general standard of living for the entire nation. Also, in this alternate history, the Civil War lasted two more years and in those years, the fighting became even more brutal and bloody than before. Many Northerners began to believe that another war against the South should be avoided at any cost, including the freedom of an oppressed people. The mindset of most northerners in the present day is that slavery is probably morally wrong, but there's not much to be done about it.

Slaves can only be owned in states that sanction slavery which are almost exclusively in the Southeast. There are free Africans in both northern and southern states. There are full citizens who have the same rights as Whites, and partial citizens, who have approx. the same rights as African-Americans did prior to the Civil Rights movement. All African-descendents (A-d's) are required to carry identification which specifies their A-d Status: full-citizens are A-d1, partial citizens are A-d2 and slaves are A-dHP (the HP stands for Human Property, which is what slaves are formally called).

A-d Status is everything in black life. A-d2s are publicly schooled thru 8th grade and then sent to 2 year vocational school. A-dHPs are generally illiterate and uneducated unless their jobs require training. Some A-dHP owners teach their slaves, and many genuinely like or care for their 'property'. Slave-owners are required to care for their slaves and provide them with adequate food, shelter, clothing, medical treatment, and rest, and must have their slaves inspected and licensed by the County government. Slaves can make money in various ways and can basically buy their freedom in certain, complicated ways which I haven't decided on yet.

That being said, some slaves try to escape. Patriation Societies in the north, Maine, and Canada (which has a don't ask don't tell policy on fugitive slaves) attempt to free slaves through various means, including aiding runaways and stealing slaves from their owners. Some Patriation Societies pay professional 'runners' or 'conductors' who act as reverse-bounty-hunters. Other slave-liberators act out of social, moral, or religious obligation or conviction. Some do it for fun. These are who I have in mind as PCs.

Whoops, I hit post before I asked people to give me feedback or other ideas about the historical stuff. I'd appreciate any comments you guys have. I'll be posting more about the game when I think of it. Until then...
Thanks

what kind of game is it?

spy and intrigue?  Pulp action?  Horror and drama?

Hi,

Might sound like a funny question, but given sessions have a begining, something after the begining/middle, and end, what would someone do with your game about setting up the start/middle and end of their session? Will there be any instructions in the game or are people left on their own?

I know there's alot of focus on setting in RPG culture, but really what needs to have the first focus is setting up the start, middle and end of a session - otherwise it's treating the session - ie, actually playing, as a bit of a secondary concern.

Genuine question - why would I want to play this game more than once?  From your description of who the characters are and what they do, its sounds really 'samey'.

Thematically speaking, there is a lot to explore with slavery. Working within your setting, consider the following:

- The PCs find a family whose slaves are treated practically like they are part of the family, lacking only the freedom to leave. Do the PCs take action against the family? Encourage the slaves to flee?

- The PCs find a family whose slaves are overworked and have miserable living conditions, but the family is extremely charitable and generous within the community. Do the PCs help the slaves escape? What will the impact be on the town? Will the people who benefit from the family's largesse resent the PCs' actions?

- The PCs find a family that seems to be participating in the Underground Railroad. But they have an arrangement with local law enforcement: the police look the other way most of the time, but sometimes the family tells them when and where a slave can be found...and they share a bounty with the cops. What do the PCs do?

These scenarios share a certain moral ambiguity, and there are plenty more of course. I like the setting -- it's interesting and offers lots of potential -- but you might broaden your concept of the PCs' roles.

Thomas

This probably isnt what you want to hear, but I would play this setting as a campaign or series using an established ruleset.  To me it seems like a perfect candidate for a TV show using Prime Time Adventures. 

Have you looked at "Steal Away Jordan"?

The thing is I posted this before it was done b/c I was afraid it would be lost when i closed my laptop. I have more thoughts, but when i checked the post the next day, nobody was replying, so i kind of neglected checking back.

The game is actually supposed to be cyberpunk/dystopian alternate history: I've been really thinking about it and i've got some wild ideas; for instance, since labor was cheap, the US didn't need as much automation and they did not get involved in WW2( there was no WW2) , so the development of the transistor was very delayed, so there are steampunk elements to the game. In my head, the cities are like washington dc in Minority Report.

The style of gameplay would be however the players want. If I was playing, i'd want lots of crazy combat and action b/c the games i play with my friend usually end without much dice rolling (more narativist)

You know, as i think more about it, i don't think the whole slavery thing is a necessary part of gameplay. maybe it's just an important part of the alternate history, the place where "the timeline skewed off"... I wish i could change the name of the thread bc now i just want suggestions about how life would be different now if the US still had slavery.

I really like going to game stores and buying the really crappy rulebooks that they're practically giving away, and then taking different elements of each and mashing them together. I really like the schizophrenic strangeness of it all. so if anybody who reads this post has ever had a little stub of an idea about steampunk stuff, cyberpunk stuff, outer space stuff, anything, what i really want to do is mash them all together but find a way to make it all plausible.