Quote:
Originally Posted by whswhs
An idea I have played with for some years is the utopian campaign: A campaign set in a world where there is general agreement on an ethical code, where all but a few people actually live by that code, and where the result is an increase in happiness and a decrease in conflict. Of course conflict is the basis of narrative and thus of gaming! I think a utopian campaign could certainly have Man vs. Nature; it could have Society vs. Society, if it's threatened with attack from outside; it's possible it could have Man vs. Man or Man vs. Self, though both of those would be much reduced in a lot of utopias. In some worlds it might have Man vs. God/Fate; Olaf Stapledon sort of went there in his cosmic history books, though I don't think they could easily be turned into rpgs.
|
We're getting dangerously close to a tangent here, but I'll note that your opening description has the seeds for the conflict the characters would need to deal with - the few who
don't play by the rules. Such could be the villains, the heroes (although this will lean toward anti-hero), or both. A decent example, although I'm not certain I'd go so far as to state the society in question is a true utopia (but it at least comes close), would be the superhero webcomic
Star Power. The conflict there involves criminals who refuse* to play by the rules and belligerents from outside of the Millennium Federation. I could easily see a campaign built around a Galactic Defense (or even Void Angel, one of the criminal groups) squad.
*Many of whom, admittedly, sort of got involved in crime by accident. If you opt to read the comic, make special note of the histories of Grex and Burke.