Modern Horror/Action/Secret Fantasy in Boston - Page 5

Icelander · 01-22-2010, 01:07 PM

During a conversation over beers, the subject somehow wandered to gaming. I expressed a hitherto secret yearning to play in a modern action campaign where everything was like our world on the surface, but a lot of myths turned out to be secretly true and had to be shot in the face with shiny modern guns loaded with incendiary rounds that had been engraved with Nordic runes and blessed by a Catholic priest. A world where the PCs were men of iron will, secret knowledge and acrobatic high jumps made while cutting down vampires on both sides with streams of inhumanly precise bullets from their hieroglyph-covered Glock 18Cs. A world in which the physical laws were those of our world and a highly trained special operator might be in mortal danger from a single teen from a bad neighbourhood out to prove something, but in which learning the right mental pathways to use could allow a select few to transcend such humble limitations.

In short, a world of Delta Green without the cosmic, a world of Anita Blake without substituting sex for plot, a world of Black Ops without the Company and a world which bore uncomfortable similarities to such atrocities of cinema as Blade, Van Helsing and so on.

My players countered with their desire for a more low key approach to urban horror. A mystery investigated using conventional means by mundane characters in which the central theme is the slowly dawning realisation that something is wrong. A campaign where less was definitely more and a single unexplained phenomenon might unsettle a mind for decades.

I informed them that we did this, about eight years ago. It was great, but we had already done it. They countered that eight years ago, one of them hadn't even started gaming with us. And that it was time to do it again.

An uneasy compromise was reached. A prequel adventure in a mundane world, with characters mundane in the way that Hollywood presents mundane people (very capable, actually). They would stumble upon a mystery, investigate and hopefully, kick whatever caused it in its supernatural nadgers with pluck and aplomp. And after the horrifc Thing, the Other, was encountered and defeated, we would leave the door open for sequels with far higher budgets for special effects.

The players described their characters in real world terms, leaving it to me to interpret them in game mechanical terms. This is a new innovation, but one I think will yield positive results.

As a result of the first session of this game being set for 'whenever our lazy GM finishes his prep work (preferably within an hour or two)', I have a few questions:

1) If one studied in either Jerusalem or Tel Aviv and one is an expert on the influences of Zoroastrian mysticism on Judaic, Islamic and Christian mysticism; has written monograms on kabbalah rituals; knows Avestan, Biblical Hebrew, Mishnaic Hebrew, Aramaic, Koine Greek and Classical Arabic; and one is a tenured professor at Harvard; what is one a professor of?

Ancient Middle Eastern Languages? Religious Studies? Something more specific?

And a subquestion, 1a), what precisely should a Hyperspecialisation Perk that has something to do with Zoroastrian influences on Major Monotheistic Religions encompass and be called? How narrow does it need to be?

2) For the above character, what other ancient languages would it be plausible that he would have learned as part of his scholarship? Would it be unreasonably broad to include lore or knowledge of ancient Mesopotamean cultures?

3) A character from Israel needs what Cultural Familitarity? Western? Western doesn't seem to cover Orthodox Jews, at least, whereas someone from Israel who is raised in an Orthodox household would know all forms of shibboleths.

4) Finally, does anyone have any suggestions for a mystery set in Massachusetts in 2010? A monster that would be cool? A conspiracy that might extend there?

This is in New England and a certain writer did write horrific things that happened there just over a century ago, but does much of that even work in the ultra-modern age of cell phones and reliable transportation?

01-22-2010, 01:07 PM	#1
Icelander Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Iceland*	Modern Horror/Action/Secret Fantasy in Boston During a conversation over beers, the subject somehow wandered to gaming. I expressed a hitherto secret yearning to play in a modern action campaign where everything was like our world on the surface, but a lot of myths turned out to be secretly true and had to be shot in the face with shiny modern guns loaded with incendiary rounds that had been engraved with Nordic runes and blessed by a Catholic priest. A world where the PCs were men of iron will, secret knowledge and acrobatic high jumps made while cutting down vampires on both sides with streams of inhumanly precise bullets from their hieroglyph-covered Glock 18Cs. A world in which the physical laws were those of our world and a highly trained special operator might be in mortal danger from a single teen from a bad neighbourhood out to prove something, but in which learning the right mental pathways to use could allow a select few to transcend such humble limitations. In short, a world of Delta Green without the cosmic, a world of Anita Blake without substituting sex for plot, a world of Black Ops without the Company and a world which bore uncomfortable similarities to such atrocities of cinema as Blade, Van Helsing and so on. My players countered with their desire for a more low key approach to urban horror. A mystery investigated using conventional means by mundane characters in which the central theme is the slowly dawning realisation that something is wrong. A campaign where less was definitely more and a single unexplained phenomenon might unsettle a mind for decades. I informed them that we did this, about eight years ago. It was great, but we had already done it. They countered that eight years ago, one of them hadn't even started gaming with us. And that it was time to do it again. An uneasy compromise was reached. A prequel adventure in a mundane world, with characters mundane in the way that Hollywood presents mundane people (very capable, actually). They would stumble upon a mystery, investigate and hopefully, kick whatever caused it in its supernatural nadgers with pluck and aplomp. And after the horrifc Thing, the Other, was encountered and defeated, we would leave the door open for sequels with far higher budgets for special effects. The players described their characters in real world terms, leaving it to me to interpret them in game mechanical terms. This is a new innovation, but one I think will yield positive results. As a result of the first session of this game being set for 'whenever our lazy GM finishes his prep work (preferably within an hour or two)', I have a few questions: 1) If one studied in either Jerusalem or Tel Aviv and one is an expert on the influences of Zoroastrian mysticism on Judaic, Islamic and Christian mysticism; has written monograms on kabbalah rituals; knows Avestan, Biblical Hebrew, Mishnaic Hebrew, Aramaic, Koine Greek and Classical Arabic; and one is a tenured professor at Harvard; what is one a professor of? Ancient Middle Eastern Languages? Religious Studies? Something more specific? And a subquestion, 1a), what precisely should a Hyperspecialisation Perk that has something to do with Zoroastrian influences on Major Monotheistic Religions encompass and be called? How narrow does it need to be? 2) For the above character, what other ancient languages would it be plausible that he would have learned as part of his scholarship? Would it be unreasonably broad to include lore or knowledge of ancient Mesopotamean cultures? 3) A character from Israel needs what Cultural Familitarity? Western? Western doesn't seem to cover Orthodox Jews, at least, whereas someone from Israel who is raised in an Orthodox household would know all forms of shibboleths. 4) Finally, does anyone have any suggestions for a mystery set in Massachusetts in 2010? A monster that would be cool? A conspiracy that might extend there? This is in New England and a certain writer did write horrific things that happened there just over a century ago, but does much of that even work in the ultra-modern age of cell phones and reliable transportation? __________________ Za uspiekh nashevo beznadiozhnovo diela!