Lord Chambers
Erudite
- Joined
- Jan 23, 2006
- Messages
- 1,018
What settings would you like an RPG's story to unfold in? Mine is based in history, but fiction is just as good.
I think the result of this setting would be similar to the dynamic between magic and technology in Arcanum, so it's not wildly original, but I would like to see an RPG set during the Meiji Era of Japan, the period where it changed from a feudal society of shoguns, daimyos, and samurai to an industrialized, Western, world power in the matter of a few decades. The wiki is fairly technical and doesn't capture the amazing speed of this revolution Japan underwent. Traditionally revolutions are fought for by the underprivlledged against those that resist them, the power holders. But in Japan, national spirit led many people to give up their comfortable roles as power holders and help bring in an entirely new way of life. Someone who was one day a followers of bushido the next day might be looking for a day in the new society. It's astounding. I'm looking at a piece of wood-block art depicting a train. The caption captures some of the marvel: "The 'iron horse' in Japan: early Meiji wood-block artists were fascinated by the new railways, as most Japanese were intrigued with the artifacts of the modern West that flooded into their country."
This setting is pregnant with possibilities for choice & consequence. Do you follow the old ways, which are probably really cool and involved using a katana, or go forth with the new way, riding trains around and wearing trousers? Even if the setting were taken out of historical context, the concept of people who spent their early adulthood as peasant farmers and by late adult hood were trying to figure out how to ride a train is ripe.
Obivously it'd take a non-traditional plot. It's difficult to imagine a party of adventurers going forth and collecting loot as they save the world from a returning evil in this modern setting. Then again, maybe your band of samurai level up by adopting western customs, allowing them to fit into the political scene with greater ease? Maybe then, when enough power is consolidated, you "beat" the game by steering the country away from a costly military conflict with the West. Sounds like quite the diplomatic game. Maybe no combat at all. Or Maybe the game is more action-oriented, and your goal is to simply overthrow the new modernity-seeking regime like the samurai in The Last Samurai. Maybe the balance between tradition and modernity takes on the role of good and evil in a fantasy setting, and if you become too western in your quest, you start to lose sight of the point. Do you balance or become an expert in one culture? What are the benefits and costs to your character(s)?
Not much can beat samurai and ninjas mixed in with technology. Except maybe pirates mixed with magic.
I think the result of this setting would be similar to the dynamic between magic and technology in Arcanum, so it's not wildly original, but I would like to see an RPG set during the Meiji Era of Japan, the period where it changed from a feudal society of shoguns, daimyos, and samurai to an industrialized, Western, world power in the matter of a few decades. The wiki is fairly technical and doesn't capture the amazing speed of this revolution Japan underwent. Traditionally revolutions are fought for by the underprivlledged against those that resist them, the power holders. But in Japan, national spirit led many people to give up their comfortable roles as power holders and help bring in an entirely new way of life. Someone who was one day a followers of bushido the next day might be looking for a day in the new society. It's astounding. I'm looking at a piece of wood-block art depicting a train. The caption captures some of the marvel: "The 'iron horse' in Japan: early Meiji wood-block artists were fascinated by the new railways, as most Japanese were intrigued with the artifacts of the modern West that flooded into their country."
This setting is pregnant with possibilities for choice & consequence. Do you follow the old ways, which are probably really cool and involved using a katana, or go forth with the new way, riding trains around and wearing trousers? Even if the setting were taken out of historical context, the concept of people who spent their early adulthood as peasant farmers and by late adult hood were trying to figure out how to ride a train is ripe.
Obivously it'd take a non-traditional plot. It's difficult to imagine a party of adventurers going forth and collecting loot as they save the world from a returning evil in this modern setting. Then again, maybe your band of samurai level up by adopting western customs, allowing them to fit into the political scene with greater ease? Maybe then, when enough power is consolidated, you "beat" the game by steering the country away from a costly military conflict with the West. Sounds like quite the diplomatic game. Maybe no combat at all. Or Maybe the game is more action-oriented, and your goal is to simply overthrow the new modernity-seeking regime like the samurai in The Last Samurai. Maybe the balance between tradition and modernity takes on the role of good and evil in a fantasy setting, and if you become too western in your quest, you start to lose sight of the point. Do you balance or become an expert in one culture? What are the benefits and costs to your character(s)?
Not much can beat samurai and ninjas mixed in with technology. Except maybe pirates mixed with magic.