thread: 2005-05-06 : Brainstorming from the Core
On 2005-05-10, Emily Care wrote:
A) You don't have to have a theme up front. You have to have an issue up front. The issue has to have at least a couple of credible sides to it... If a reasonable person couldn't defend the other side, it's not really an issue. You need an issue.
Let's pick Belonging as the issue for argument's sake. It would match the Atlantis shangri la, which is the mythical place where they fit in. Each of the institutions pose a question about this issue.
From the rich: "Is belonging worth being enslaved for?" From the poor: "Is belonging worth suffering for?" From the military: "Is belonging worth killing for?" From the rebels and the church: "Is belonging worth dying for?"
Mechanically, this is represented by the relationships Eric proposed (sheltered by etc.) Each interaction needs to set up a way in which the protagonist would be challenged & prodded by the inherent contradictions of their trying to belong in each group, or how is radically rejected them.
B) You need a character with a stake in the issue.
Check.
C) You need a situation. In fact you need a dynamic situation. The character needs to be in it, of course, and it has to be dynamic across the issue.
This is #5 all over. And what V. says about that above. I'd favor a kicker-like situation framing device to begin play. It could even be that when this resolves, Christian's transition takes place. That would mean to me that the kicker has to be resolved mechanically. Like a "second act" indicator, like the "endgame" cues in MLwM and so on.
Next:
There's opposition and positioning. Reward: we really, really want the changelings to act against the institutions. We need to decide how to recognize that when it happens, and then how to reward it.
I also want really solid situation rules. The relationships of the PC changelings with the people around them should be mechanically significant, substantially so.
Furthermore, we need some IIEE wicked bad. Here's a starting question: you say "I tip you out of the helicopter so you fall; you're beaten to death by the mob below." We compare numbers and I win. What am I allowed to say? Here's another: are you allowed to say that in the first place, and if not, what are you allowed to say?
