The regulars have no doubt seen Nicole commenting on my blog. She's my oldest friend — you know Victor and Elizabeth in Frankenstein? That's us (except without the whole one-of-my-biology-experiments-murdering-her thing). I take credit for introducing her to roleplaying, all because I wanted to hang out with her more.
Well, my second-oldest friend, a bloke by the name of E. M. Lamb, just started a roleplaying blog. He has precisely one post at this time, but I'm going to vouch for him anyway because I know the quality of his ideas. You know The Imperial City I occasionally mention? He co-GMed on that, and wrote some stuff for it.
You know how I keep musing about a sequel? He wrote a potential sequel, like, ten years ago. I even set it up in-game, just in case he ever wanted to run it. (Omega-14 still remains the best idea I never thought of.) I'd also take credit for introducing him to roleplaying, but really, I just got there before he did — he was getting InQuest before I ever started talking about Vampire: the Masquerade (in fact, one of the first games I ran for The Imperial City was a module I swiped from one of his issues).
For that matter, I suppose I can never forgive him, because it's his fault I went to Avalon and still dabble in LARPing. Even worse, back when I was content with Vampire, he got Werewolf: the Apocalypse. It sounded neat, and rather than keep borrowing his copy, I got a copy, prompting the first "well, let's see what the other books in this game line are like..." kick that started a roleplaying collection that threatens to devour me in my sleep.
After all that rambling, let me introduce you to something you can actually use. Read his first post.
Uncaring, decadent gods and cruel, malevolent gods are nothing new. As he says in that post, this type of pantheon is a staple of pulp fiction — the gods either do terrible things because they're filled with ennui, or they do terrible things because you're beneath their notice. Do you weep for all the bacteria your immune system kills daily? Doubtful.
I'd like to draw your attention to the cycle he mentions — the gods grow decadent, the PCs discover this, decide they can do better, and quest to dethrone the gods. But now they're the new gods, and after a few centuries, they're just as corrupt as the old gods.
What if that's the cycle that drives the universe? It's like Unknown Armies, except rather than the ideological struggle that drives existence, it's an ongoing, physical war.
Really, a constant cycle of unrest and revolution could fuel a whole campaign.
Like I said, go give Role-Player Hater a look sometime, would you please?
OUR LOVE IS SO NERDY! And gangster, but mostly nerdy.
ReplyDeleteI will also vouch for Mr. Lamb's head full of thoughts. They're mostly horrific, but in the best way possible.