Fantasy Doesn't Always Mean Escape

From time to time, I use this blog as a sounding board for things that I am designing. I find that it can help to get my ideas out there and into some sort of tangible form to help me figure out what I want to do with a particular idea that I may have.

An idea that has been rolling around in my brain for a while now, something that I have talked about to gaming friends and mentioned on places like RPGnet has been a game setting that I have called Gutterpunk.

There has been a bit of resistance in the minds of some "typical" gamers when I talk about Gutterpunk because it doesn't have any of the standard trappings that you would find in an RPG. The characters are very normal people. There are no "kewl powerz" of any sort, no magic or anything. The game is about people who manage to find themselves in fairly crappy situations and have to deal with these situations as best as they can. The resolutions to their situations aren't always all that good either. Like I said, not your standard RPG fare, but it was something that I went into realizing that whis wasn't going to be the next D&D. I know that this game will have a fairly limited appeal, but I don't want to let that stop me from doing it.

Mind you, this isn't some "art for art's sake" game either. I can't stand when people do that with any sort of endeavor that they undertake.

The characters in Gutterpunk are, as I said above, normal. They are squatters, dropouts, homeless people, and the working poor who are just trying to get by in their lives and keep things from falling apart. It is a game about people outside of the normal social structures of American society, whether by choice or circumstance, who just want to live their lives as best as they can. I'm sure that this sounds pretty boring, huh?

But I think that I have finally found a system that would support what I want to do with Gutterpunk. That would be Chad Underkoffler's Prose Descriptive (PDQ) System. Follow that link to Chad's company site (Atomic Sock Monkey Press) for more information about the system. You can even find a free stripped down version of the game in the Freebies section.

What I like about Chad's system is that it can allow you to make normal people who can do something without having to have a lot of special powers in order to be unique and to be able to accomplish something. Yes, it does at time perhaps flirt with those "narrative" labels that I really don't like but for a game like Gutterpunk I think that it would be a good system choice. Yet again, it gives a way for "normal" characters to be able to stand out and do something without having to have a laundry list of powers, spells or special abilities.

I want to be able to tell other types of stories with the players during a game session, and play other types of games. "Escape" isn't something that is only one option which is fulfilled the exact same way for everyone at the gaming table (or in the gaming hobby). So, if I want a game to fill that On The Road meets Fight Club niche that I am looking for from time to time, Gutterpunk will be able to do that for me. That's why I called this post Fantasy Doesn't Always Mean Escape, because there can be more to an RPG than just pure escapism, just like there can be for any other form of entertainment. I'm pretty sure that there are a few people out there who have some similar ideas to mine on this topic.

Part of the reason why I posted these very early "design notes" here instead of someplace like RPGnet is because I wanted to pull some of the concepts that have been swirling around in my subconscious without the typical responses of "That doesn't sound like fun" or "That isn't escape." Who knows, I might cross-post this elsewhere but for now I want to see what, if anything, comes up from the people who read this blog (regularly or irregularly).

Post a comment and let me know what you think. Let me know what you would do with a game like this.

A Princeton Lab on ESP Plans to Close Its Doors - New York Times

The end of a strange era at Princeton:

Over almost three decades, a small laboratory at Princeton University managed to embarrass university administrators, outrage Nobel laureates, entice the support of philanthropists and make headlines around the world with its efforts to prove that thoughts can alter the course of events.

But at the end of the month, the Princeton Engineering Anomalies Research laboratory, or PEAR, will close, not because of controversy but because, its founder says, it is time.

The laboratory has conducted studies on extrasensory perception and telekinesis from its cramped quarters in the basement of the university’s engineering building since 1979. Its equipment is aging, its finances dwindling.

“For 28 years, we’ve done what we wanted to do, and there’s no reason to stay and generate more of the same data,” said the laboratory’s founder, Robert G. Jahn, 76, former dean of Princeton’s engineering school and an emeritus professor. “If people don’t believe us after all the results we’ve produced, then they never will.”

Princeton made no official comment.

The gaming potential alone for this occurrence is pretty phenomenal. Where do all of these researchers and the accumulated knowledge go to? I am sure that there are corporations and shadowy organizations and individuals who would want to get a hold of the knowledge and researchers.

Obviously this information, like any other, can be used for either good or ill.

The Flying Lizards - Money

A musical interlude.

Doctor Who and the French Dalek

Imagine a mash-up of Doctor Who and Monty Python. Of course, if you click on this link you don't need to imagine it.

The Grand Gaming Library

This are photos of my gaming collection, posted here and to Flickr. Every now and then you have to take stock of your habits.

Dave's Funky Setting Generator, v 0.1

Here's an interesting one-line campaign concept generator written by an RPGnetter. If you like the strange and unusual, and I know you do, this is for you.

Dave's Funky Setting Generator, v 0.1

Here's what I got when I clicked on the link:

Premise: Rebellious transhumanists uncover a shocking conspiracy in the furthest reaches of the Astral Plane.
Genre: Crime/Pulp

The Binary Death of Robert Anton Wilson

You will be missed. I hope the pancakes are as good on the other side.

RAW Data: RAW Essence

Robert Anton Wilson Defies Medical Experts and leaves his body @4:50 AM on binary date 01/11.

All Hail Eris!

The Stars Are Right Again!!

Great news for fans of Call of Cthulhu! Hopefully they will be able to maintain the high standards of quality that Pagan started with their magazine. It seems that a lot of support is building for Call of Cthulhu out there in the gaming world, which is a great thing.

Hopefully this will give Chaosium a much needed push in the market.

[TMP] Unspeakable Oath Reanimating for 2007

Skirmisher Publishing LLC is excited to announce that it is partnering with Pagan Publishing to resurrect The Unspeakable Oath, a leading periodical devoted to various manifestations of Lovecraftian horror in games, books, and films.

The Unspeakable Oath was last published in 2001, and the partnership will resurrect it in summer 2007 as an annual digest, containing top-notch articles, scenarios, and support material for Chaosium's Call of Cthulhu, Pagan's Delta Green campaign setting, Skirmisher's Cthulhu Live, and more.

BBC moves to file-sharing sites

Geeks around the world rejoice! It will be interesting to see how many other networks around the world embrace this sort of move. American networks already offer streaming video of many programs via their websites but I think that this is the first time that any media outlet has embraced file sharing.

Time will tell the impact that this decision has.

BBC moves to file-sharing sites

Hundreds of episodes of BBC programmes will be made available on a file-sharing network for the first time, the corporation has announced.

The move follows a deal between the commercial arm of the organisation, BBC Worldwide, and technology firm Azureus.

The agreement means that users of Azureus' Zudeo software in the US can download titles such as Little Britain.

Until now, most BBC programmes found on peer-to-peer file-sharing networks have been illegal copies.

Beth Clearfield, vice president of program management and digital media at BBC Worldwide, said that the agreement was part of a drive to reach the largest audience possible.

'We are very excited to partner with Azureus and make our content available through this revolutionary distribution model,' she said.

Dorkland Participates: The Carl Sagan-Blog-A-Thon

If you're a blogger, this is one that you should spread around. From the Cornell University Chronicle Online:

Fans and bloggers are planning a worldwide blog-a-thon to commemorate the life and legacy of Carl Sagan -- consummate scientist, communicator and educator -- on Dec. 20, the 10th anniversary of his death. Sagan was Cornell's David Duncan Professor of Astronomy and Space Sciences.

Ten years ago bone marrow disease took one of the great popularizers of science from the world. Cosmos was an incredible television series that had a great impact on me in my youth.

"We are poised at the edge of forever." -- Dr. Carl Sagan

Today, on the anniversary of his death the blogosphere is saluting Dr. Sagan with the Carl Sagan Blog-A-Thon. Perhaps a chain of billions and billions of blogs will honor his memory.

Finding a copy of Cosmos on DVD is well worth the effort of tracking it down. The book is great too. My copy of the book has seen great use and wear throughout the years.

Dr. Sagan, I hope that your travels through the Cosmos are still as enlightening now as they were when you were here with us on Earth.

You can find the blog of Nick Sagan, Dr. Sagan's son, here.

On Google Video you can also find a NASA video of a 1972 panel on extraterrestrial life that features Sagan.