Several submissions for this month’s RPG Blog Carnival theme- "Campaigns I Want to Run" have surveyed multiple campaigns- wish lists of a sort. Some have been in established settings or used classic campaigns (The Enemy Within, etc). In
recent years I’ve leaned more and more to building my own settings and campaign frames. I do that in about three-quarters of what I run; Changeling the Lost and
Legend of the Five Rings are two exceptions. But even there, I’ve had control over the material for the most part. In my f2f campaigns for both, players learned about the setting and background mostly from me.
I have a several groups, few of whom feel the need to go out and buy the books
or research the background. That might seem lazy to some, but it’s actually
refreshing and keeps things open-ended. The players get to discover and
experience the setting at the table, coming in with fewer preconceptions. I
have a good sense of what they know beforehand and I can play to that. Some odd
bits have emerged from that as I’ve riffed new things. I have to keep that in
mind when I run the online Changeling the
Lost game which has players who know more of the background.
In any case, I still steer away from published settings-
mostly because I like the idea that I own what I make up. If I come up with an
awesome idea, I don’t like it beholden or dependent on someone else’s IP.
But…but…there are some settings I am really drawn by…that I’d be willing
perhaps to run in. That I really want to run in because I love the ideas at
play. So here are seven published settings I'd like to run in.
I like old Mage: the Ascension. It’s my favorite of the oWoD
games, but one I’ve never gotten a chance to run in its original form. I used
some of the elements as backstory for my Ocean City Interface game. The reality
war and struggle between paradigms appeals to me on the macro-scale, but I also
like the micro-scale implications of having to live one’s life carefully-
trying to affect change while avoiding backlash. I’d enjoy a modern, low-level
game of this.
But I’m more interested in one that deals with some of
Mage’s sources. I really love Ars Magica,
especially the early approaches and material which were more open and
fantastical- and less rigid and historical. I love conceptually that you can
trace a line from that game to the Traditions of MtA, with Mage: The Sorcerers Crusade in the middle. For many years now I’ve
worked on a campaign on and off which would actually tie those together better.
Part of what I had planned got screwed over when someone in the group lifted
elements from my game world to use in his, so I have to go back to the drawing
board on that. The key concept of the campaign would be this. MtSC posits a war
between the Council and the Order of Reason. But that struggle looks very like
the modern one, with the OoR somewhat having the upper hand and a dominant
control on reality. In my version both create significant paradox- with the
rationalist approach just as dangerous as the imaginative one. A war between
the two sides ended in a stalemate, with fallout and backlash. The campaign
would take place during a period of truce between the two sides. There would be
attempts to negotiate and bring together the conflicting sides. It would be a
Chantry-style campaign, with members from both camps in one place. There would
be a greater threat in the air, forcing the two to join together.
I’ve written about this before. I really like the weirdness
of the setting, and the brightness of everything. I’d love to figure out how to
handle air combat in a way that’s both abstract and satisfying. The original
Crimson Skies rules are too detailed; but some hybrid that mixes elements of
the Clix version, Wings of War, and
even Car Wars might work. I want
those air combats to be tactical, but fast. FATE could do it, but it might be
too simple. The other trick is figuring out how to balance play in the aircraft
and play “on the ground.” I actually think I might be able to get this to the
table- if only as a portal for Ocean City Interface.
3. Fading Suns
Another one I’ve written about before. I’ve tried to isolate
what I like about it. Some of it is the atmosphere and imagery. More of it is
the imagined version I have of it in my head versus the actual background as
written. My version isn’t quite as dark- the institutions aren’t quite as
corrupt, and even the ‘bad’ families and factions actually have a role and a
purpose. So, as I suggested before, closer to Legend of the Five Rings. In my
earlier post I mentioned I would do a family building exercise and then
have the players help build some of the history. I’ve done something like that
with my recent L5R campaign with some success. Another option would be to
figure out how to make this even more A
Game of Thrones. Narrow some of the scope and have the players as a
powerful faction attempting to either seize control or prevent others from
doing so.
I don’t know much about this- in fact, I’ve only glanced at
the titles of these books. But bizarrely I keep being drawn back to the idea.
Not necessarily the actual idea of the idea, but the one I’ve developed in my
head. I like the idea of a Musketeers Alt-Earth campaign which has elements of
magic and perhaps even steampunk. I really loved Steven Brust’s Khaavren
Romances which managed
something like this, with all of the levity of Dumas’ novels. I also dig
some of the ideas present in Lace & Steel, but that’s almost too
fantastical for what I want. I think what I’d really like would be a
Swshbuckling game that lifts some of the core concepts from Clockwork & Chivalry and brings them
to a pseudo-historical France. I think my players could more easily buy into
some of those concepts (ritual alchemy and clockwork engineers) in the context
of a genre they know through movies and TV shows. The English Civil War, not so
much. Does that bear any resemblance to Regime
Diabolique? I don’t know. I’m almost nervous to pick the book up now and be
disappointed.
It has been almost two decades since I’ve run Call of Cthulhu. I most often ran with a
modern setting, rather than the default 1920’s. I love the concept of The
Armitage Files. I’ve read some bloggers who have run the campaign and I’m
amazed at how vastly different they are. I see this set up as a challenge-
trying to come up with a compelling and interesting new take on the fly. The
problem I have lies in the groups. I have some players who might enjoy this,
but others who aren’t as interested in horror or historical. I’ve considered
running this online, but I’m not sure how well the tension of CoC (or ToC)
translates to that medium.
6. Iron Dynasty
Steampunk and samurai- how can you not like this? Part of
what’s kept me away from this is that I run a Legend of the Five Rings
campaign. I’m a little worried about too much cross-contamination. I’ve thought
about doing this set in “the future” of Rokugan, but I don’t like the pressure
that puts on the current timeline. I think what I’d rather do is take a look at
this closely and play up the Wuxia and Ninja elements as well. Perhaps I could
throw in some ideas from Wu Xing the
Ninja Crusade. Someone mentioned to me that there’s a set of gearpunk
fiction set with a samurai background. I might have to track that down.
7. Exalted
I’ve run in this setting before, and I’d like to go back
again. I’d like to do another tale of the heroic Dragon-Blooded and their battle
against the forces of anarchy and destruction which threaten the realm. They’re
by far my favorite kind of Exalt- caught between personal power and the need to
work together to be successful. Outstanding PCs exalts recognize the
destructive impulses of the familial in-fighting and can look beyond it. I’d
probably go back and reboot the campaign and campaign city I enjoyed so much.
However I’m not sure what I’d use to run it. Exalted 1e has some serious
problems, even with the more balanced DBs. I dislike the combat in 2e and 3e is
far off and appears to be as crunchy as the others. I really want a system that
rewards the anime feel of the setting, while at the same time has room for all
of the cool Charms and other bits.
I read this as "The problem I have: lies in the groups". Hurrah for punctuation! I'd play it online with you in a shot.
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