Pondering Past Lives in a Game
Dec. 22nd, 2004 10:52 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jeregenestI have a tendency to play with large, convoluted games, probably the reason I’m drawn to games like Ars Magica with its spread of years, Nobilis with its cosmic focus, Age of Paranoia with its attention to geopolitics across the span on decades focus. And the list can go on and on.
It is probably a flaw somewhere but its what I enjoy and right now I don’t see much of a reason to do it any differently.
Now like most gms I know I have several concepts for future games percolating in my brain (even if I did just tell![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
peaseblossom I should probably take a break from running games). One of these I’ve taken to calling tantaene animis caelestibus irae, which is basically my idea of a Promethea inspired Cabal/Nephilim type blend. This is probably the closest to realization but perhaps not the most desirable to run next.
Certain folks have wondered about this, I think my calling it a Nephilim/Cabal blend throws folks off. Its really just short-hand for what I want to do and I think it’s a good idea if I’m serous about this to start laying out some of the building blocks.
One of the fundamental ones I want to play with, and this is where that love of large scale comes out, in incarnation across the eras of history. Because history is gaming’s plaything and it makes a wonderful toy.
I’m considering my opion. The default is sequential incarnation where the players are incarnated in 3000 BC Sumeria, then Alexandrian Greece, than the Roman Empire, etc. One life following the other according to the general flow of history, allowing of course of false history, hollow history and all that other fun stuff.
This is the default in Nephilim, though I think its pretty necessary to have all the players incarnate in all the same eras. One of the problems with Nephilim is you get these immensely aged characters who have no history together hooking up for the first time. No back story, no sense of caring. Things I want to avoid.
Sequential incarnations are comparatively easy to run, especially if done strictly linear. One event follows another throughout history. However, one of the tensions in my gamemastering style is between a love of the large scope and a delight in the small minutiae. Those games successful at the ones that find a good balance between the two. It is important to avoid getting lost in all that minutiae in order to advance forward enough to see the large picture. Otherwise this could easily end up being a game bout whatever era is the first one (age of Paranoia fell a little into this trap).
Another option is an all eras at once approach. This can go a variety of ways with perhaps the most extreme being a simultaneous incarnation in all eras. The character is at the same point of incarnation in ever era. This can lead to a very interesting time travel game. The characters can alter history at these set points based on the needs of the story and alternate history would loom fast, heavy and hard in this style of game.
A more minor approach would be the use of flashbacks. The main narrative happens in the “present”, with flashbacks filling in details, making style/symbol flourishes and all that other narrative stuff.
Really like the idea of simultaneous incarnations, but it probably doesn’t match the style of game I’ve got nestled in the back of my mind. But I do think I’ll return to the idea at some point in the future.
One of the things I want to achieve in this game is heavily intertwined characters who have huge reasons to work together that have back story, that care about each other. This needs to be a primary design consideration.
Right now I’m thinking I do need to run a structured sequential series of past lives but I need to bound it. Say 1 session for each of 6 past lies. That way when we do have flashbacks there’s something to hang them on. And then come up with a way to handle narration of flashbacks that make sense.
If I was really insane I’d run each past life in a different game system. But I don’t think I’m that insane.
It is probably a flaw somewhere but its what I enjoy and right now I don’t see much of a reason to do it any differently.
Now like most gms I know I have several concepts for future games percolating in my brain (even if I did just tell
peaseblossom I should probably take a break from running games). One of these I’ve taken to calling tantaene animis caelestibus irae, which is basically my idea of a Promethea inspired Cabal/Nephilim type blend. This is probably the closest to realization but perhaps not the most desirable to run next.Certain folks have wondered about this, I think my calling it a Nephilim/Cabal blend throws folks off. Its really just short-hand for what I want to do and I think it’s a good idea if I’m serous about this to start laying out some of the building blocks.
One of the fundamental ones I want to play with, and this is where that love of large scale comes out, in incarnation across the eras of history. Because history is gaming’s plaything and it makes a wonderful toy.
I’m considering my opion. The default is sequential incarnation where the players are incarnated in 3000 BC Sumeria, then Alexandrian Greece, than the Roman Empire, etc. One life following the other according to the general flow of history, allowing of course of false history, hollow history and all that other fun stuff.
This is the default in Nephilim, though I think its pretty necessary to have all the players incarnate in all the same eras. One of the problems with Nephilim is you get these immensely aged characters who have no history together hooking up for the first time. No back story, no sense of caring. Things I want to avoid.
Sequential incarnations are comparatively easy to run, especially if done strictly linear. One event follows another throughout history. However, one of the tensions in my gamemastering style is between a love of the large scope and a delight in the small minutiae. Those games successful at the ones that find a good balance between the two. It is important to avoid getting lost in all that minutiae in order to advance forward enough to see the large picture. Otherwise this could easily end up being a game bout whatever era is the first one (age of Paranoia fell a little into this trap).
Another option is an all eras at once approach. This can go a variety of ways with perhaps the most extreme being a simultaneous incarnation in all eras. The character is at the same point of incarnation in ever era. This can lead to a very interesting time travel game. The characters can alter history at these set points based on the needs of the story and alternate history would loom fast, heavy and hard in this style of game.
A more minor approach would be the use of flashbacks. The main narrative happens in the “present”, with flashbacks filling in details, making style/symbol flourishes and all that other narrative stuff.
Really like the idea of simultaneous incarnations, but it probably doesn’t match the style of game I’ve got nestled in the back of my mind. But I do think I’ll return to the idea at some point in the future.
One of the things I want to achieve in this game is heavily intertwined characters who have huge reasons to work together that have back story, that care about each other. This needs to be a primary design consideration.
Right now I’m thinking I do need to run a structured sequential series of past lives but I need to bound it. Say 1 session for each of 6 past lies. That way when we do have flashbacks there’s something to hang them on. And then come up with a way to handle narration of flashbacks that make sense.
If I was really insane I’d run each past life in a different game system. But I don’t think I’m that insane.
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no subject
Date: 2004-12-22 08:47 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-12-22 08:52 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-12-22 09:04 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-12-22 09:02 am (UTC)I kinda like the "Eternal Champion" gig myself. The Jerry Cornelius chronicles spring to mind. In a close-knit situation, I could see the "Eternal Family" kind of thing. I'm envisioning a sort of "Shadows of the Roayal Family of Amber" deal where there's always a strong Gerard and an evil Brand, but they kidna morph and shift around in each incarnation.
Although I'm still holding out for a fantasy "almost like a dungeon-crawl except not" game.
Tom
no subject
Date: 2004-12-22 11:01 am (UTC)Another thing I was thinking of this morning that might apply. A milleu game done in two groups, call them A and B. Groups are arbitrarily chosen in the first game. You run one game for group A and one game for group B. At the end of these first two games, all the players wind up following plot thread 1 or plot thread 2. You then reshuffle the players into new groups, depending on which plot thread they followed. In the second round everyone is playing again, but with a new group mix and so on. You can end with two separate climactic games or with one giant blowout.
It would require some fiendishly clever plot control to avoid railroading. And it would require twice the normal number of sessions to move a plot arc. But if pulled off would result in very complex and rewarding inter-pc relations.
no subject
Date: 2004-12-23 10:54 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-12-24 09:13 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-12-24 09:17 am (UTC)