Lune
28th of March, 2011, 14:51
So have you ever read American Gods? Or for that matter any of Neil Gaiman's work? Basically the idea is having a game based on playing the living embodiment of an ideal, or a personification of a belief, or a living legend. A being who thrives on the beliefs of others and in fact needs it to survive even as a form of sustanance.
Yeah... pretty broad concept for an RPG, I know. I was hoping that there was a good system that exists for a game like this but I must confess that I am not familiar with them. I was thinking perhaps Fate or Exalted? I haven't played either but have heard a bit about them.
While I like the idea of rewards being given to characters based on how much belief they have garnered I don't believe that this concept has to be ingrained in the system. I could sort of ad-hoc leveling up or the gain of power based on this myself.
I was thinking of the types of characters that could be played would be based on what things people in our current world believe in (not just gods, but angels, ideals, beliefs, superstitions, etc.). Maybe even to the extent of modern pop culture figures (Big Brother, Men in Black, Vampires, etc.). But perhaps instead of the character being the thing that people believe in that he is the actual being behind the idea (the real Sherlock Holmes, the real boogie man, the real yak from Yak Shaving Day, whatever).
As an example (actually discussed on this board in a different place): Santa Clause. Different cultures know him by different names across the world, but they could all be refering to the same actual being. That being is actually thriving off all of the energy given by the belief that is given to this idea by all the people in all the cultures around the world that believe in this persona. The more belief he garners, the more power he has.
Or for that matter, perhaps there are actually a few seperate beings who are thriving off the same belief and each represents a different aspect of the same basic ideal or figure. For instance Saint Nicholas could be gaining the belief from the Catholics while Santa Claus is gaining belief from elsewhere.
Anyway, the idea intrigues me. The only issue is that I'm not sure exactly what a party of characters would have in common to the point of working together towards a common goal to make an adventure out of. Has anyone ever ran any kind of campaign like this before? What system did you use?
I was actually thinking of just using the Hero/Champions system as it could feasibly include any type of power that you'd think any being would have. It also could work from a rewards standpoint. It doesn't really have the feel of the game but I suppose that is just a state of mind issue.
Yeah... pretty broad concept for an RPG, I know. I was hoping that there was a good system that exists for a game like this but I must confess that I am not familiar with them. I was thinking perhaps Fate or Exalted? I haven't played either but have heard a bit about them.
While I like the idea of rewards being given to characters based on how much belief they have garnered I don't believe that this concept has to be ingrained in the system. I could sort of ad-hoc leveling up or the gain of power based on this myself.
I was thinking of the types of characters that could be played would be based on what things people in our current world believe in (not just gods, but angels, ideals, beliefs, superstitions, etc.). Maybe even to the extent of modern pop culture figures (Big Brother, Men in Black, Vampires, etc.). But perhaps instead of the character being the thing that people believe in that he is the actual being behind the idea (the real Sherlock Holmes, the real boogie man, the real yak from Yak Shaving Day, whatever).
As an example (actually discussed on this board in a different place): Santa Clause. Different cultures know him by different names across the world, but they could all be refering to the same actual being. That being is actually thriving off all of the energy given by the belief that is given to this idea by all the people in all the cultures around the world that believe in this persona. The more belief he garners, the more power he has.
Or for that matter, perhaps there are actually a few seperate beings who are thriving off the same belief and each represents a different aspect of the same basic ideal or figure. For instance Saint Nicholas could be gaining the belief from the Catholics while Santa Claus is gaining belief from elsewhere.
Anyway, the idea intrigues me. The only issue is that I'm not sure exactly what a party of characters would have in common to the point of working together towards a common goal to make an adventure out of. Has anyone ever ran any kind of campaign like this before? What system did you use?
I was actually thinking of just using the Hero/Champions system as it could feasibly include any type of power that you'd think any being would have. It also could work from a rewards standpoint. It doesn't really have the feel of the game but I suppose that is just a state of mind issue.