Genre WARS!

[yukonhorror]

I just had this amazing idea. Take it and run with it. All I ask in return is a game log in your blog.

There are X number of continents on this world. One continent is filled with creatures and heroes from the fantasy genre, one continent is filled with superheroes, one is a horror continent, one is sci-fi, etc...

They are constantly at war with each other, trying to show their superiority. Even within continents there is warring. The star trek clan is in constant struggle for power with the star wars clan on the continent of sci-fi.

This way, every player could be what they want. You could have it rotate, so a GM is in charge of a different world. One session, you play your horror group, then the next you play your spy group, etc...

[cliff]

It sounds somewhat reminiscent of the Dream Park role-playing game (itself a licensed RPG of the books) from R.Tal. That was a pretty cool game, actually.

[yukonhorror]

have to check that out. After posting this, I can't help but think of the imaginationland episode arc from south park. The episode is a play off some sort of dogma/philosophy/religion/etc... but can't remember what it's called. It's on wikipedia. Because GURPS is open, and every aspect of character creation is point based, you can have a fantasy character who is balanced with a super hero character.

I think it would be fun, just complicated.

[magic-rhyme]

How would you handle the different ratings on the Sliding Scale of Idealism vs Cynicism? (cf http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.ph...VersusCynicism )

For example, Classic Trek and Neon Genesis Evangelion have inordinately different locations on that scale: Classic Trek is fairly idealistic and replete with a sense of destiny, whereas Neon Genesis Evangelion is almost the classic prototype of mindtwist cynicism in a hopeless universe.

For a different example, compare Moorcockian fantasy with Tolkeinian fantasy. Lord of the Rings would feel radically altered if Frodo and Aragorn found themselves in a reality as meaningless and existentially bleak as Melnibone', whereas Elric might go mad with joy if he suddenly found himself in Middle Earth with its definitive universals of Good and Evil.

If each genre world was allowed to keep its native placement on the scales, the idealistic and heroic/romantic universes would continually stomp all over the cynical and gritty/nihilistic universes because reality itself would be favoring the idealists.

Look at both ENCHANTED and LAST ACTION HERO for that sort of genre clash: both of them involve a cinematic figure or three finding themselves in a world "with no happy endings!" (Enchanted) or a world "where the bad guys win!" (Last Action Hero). Both of those had to decide which reality's genre rules would win out over the other when the realities meshed, with one of them favoring the cinematic figures and the other not.

[fmitchell]

I'd prefer different planes of reality over continents, with some fixed gateways from one to the other. In space-traveling genres, for example, one planet is not enough by definition.

Alternate universes also makes shifts between idealism and cynicism more clear: if you're in the Sad Sack universe, even Clint Squarejaw will suffer. On the other hand, perhaps the people of the Action Universe really are tougher than the denizens of the Perpetual Body Horror Universe, so an immigrant from PBHU becomes the faceless extra who dies in the teaser.

An idea that I've been bouncing around for a while is Physics Levels to correspond to Mana Levels. For example, in a Hard Science universe FTL and other speculative technologies don't work. Even worse, in a Low Physics universe gunpowder, combustion engines, electronics, and other advanced technologies don't work, a la S. M. Stirling's Dies The Fire. Thus, a refugee from Trekland must use stone knives and bearskins like the rest of the grunts in Conanworld. (Whether a cyborg, android, or psychic energy being simply dies in such circumstances is up to the GM; perhaps anything you spend character points on works, while equipment simply fails.)

[yukonhorror]

the dimension thing probably works the best. I think it would be fun. The main thing would be, interplay between the genres.

I ain't no experienced GM, so I wouldn't have a clue of how to approach it. I just think it'd be fun to play. I think you would need some sort of "master" GM, to coordinate between the different games/genres.

[Soft Serve]

I do something along those lines in my D&D 3.5. In the Astral Plane there are big yellow gates (a la Arkham Horror) that lead to Eberron, Ghostwalk, Oriental Adventures, Ravenloft, Al Qadim, several realms of ym own design, Forgotten Realms, and I'm sure therexs more I'm justnot feeling the whole "thinking" thing right now.

the Icechucker crossbow from Frostburn was a fun addition to the Oriental Adventures setting though.

[magic-rhyme]

I wouldn't have a clue of how to approach it

Here's an easy method: genre points.

Each player-character has ten genre points per session, and while no one can bank them and save them up, every game session begins with ten full genre points regardless of how many had been spent the previous game session.

Genre points can ONLY be spent to cause the laws of reality to follow subgenre laws instead -- and only if a character is native to that subgenre. So a character with native subgenre Slasher Flick can only spend genre points when in a Slasher Flick dimension or on the Slasher Flick continent.

In his or her native reality, the character could spend points to, say, make the mad slasher miss her because she's a virgin or miss him because the virgin loves him. The character with the Scooby Doo Mystery as native subgenre gets no edge against the mad slasher here! However, in the Scooby Doo Mystery reality, that character can spend genre points to bargain with and co-opt aid from a dog, while the character from the Slasher Flick reality would be hearing only barking.

For a weirder game, allow the character ALWAYS to spend genre points for actions accorded to his or her reality. This means that the Scooby Doo Mystery character can hold conversations with dogs, who suddenly know how to disguise themselves for a scooby snack, in any reality, even the one with mad slashers in it.

If so, don't have the powers of any genre attack the other. Otherwise, Gandalf's semi-deific elf legions would still manage to wipe the floor with Conan's all-too-human Cimmerian league, and Captain Kirk with one ship with a full complement of photon torpedoes could wipe out the entire Empire, Emperor and all, on his own, with time to seduce Leia and Amigdala en route. And then all of them would be overcome by the combined forces of the Justice League and the Avengers (after they finish wiping out Doctor Manhatten and Ozymandias)!

[Soft Serve]

And all the while the Post Apocalyptic genre island, no matter how much more battle scarred it becomes, stays just the same way it always was...

[newsmancharnley]

TORG

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torg

[Omegaman]

Ummm, isn't this the Infinite Worlds concept from the basic GURPS book. You can warp into whatever setting you want from one moment to the next. The only difference is that they are kept separate allowing you to not have to worry about the realities mixing together. All in all, a perfect setup already I think.

[Skunkape]

Two friends and I did something similar, except that there were 3 different dimensions that were connected at this one city. Each of us developed the dimension as we saw fit and each of us created a character that we would play when the other ran the game.

Then we presented it to the rest of the gaming group. We ran the game for about a year before we stopped. It was a fun change of pace.

[Soft Serve]

haha Torg sounds like a good Barbarian name.

Or a generic barbarian name...

I like Generic soda so I guess it's not bad.


You know if you do this you have to watch out for diseases. Make sure your zombie survival game doesn't crossover into your superhero games. Cause zombie Superman....I mean...holy shit zombie Superman...


(Incase nobody brings it up, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marvel_Zombies)

(INCASE nobody brings it up again, WTF THEY GOT THE CAPTAIN!!!)