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AMA - Nijineko Prismaticpsion, world-builder for 30 years
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<blockquote data-quote="nijineko" data-source="post: 6695799" data-attributes="member: 52240"><p>Starting with a side-note, I find that I use the real world quite often as inspiration for my games and writing. News headlines past and present refactored into plots, tidbits, and background for fantasy, sci-fi, and alternate history formats work out quite nicely and believably. Lends that added oomph of verisimilitude. </p><p></p><p>Modern settings can be a tricky balance. Almost all of them add a touch of the fantastical in some fashion, be it fairly realistic like cloak and dagger spies or Illuminati conspiracies; semi-realistic such as a minor alternate history with a recent or simple change, low-powered supernatural elements, secret histories which may go so far as to include aliens past or present; or outright departures from the perceived modern reality such as a major alternate history, a major alternate present/near future (z-pocolypse seems popular these days), alien contact or conquest of Earth, and so forth. </p><p></p><p>I think these all tend to fall in one of two broad camps: alternate history, and alternate present/near future. One takes what we think we knew and adds, subtracts, or changes some element. In this scenario players may be "in-the-know" and able to pick characters from these alternate elements, or they may be taking the route of discovery with attendant consequences, and thus starting out as 'norms'. The other route starts off with life pretty much as it is, or as it will likely be, and then more-or-less promptly throws it all under the bus. Survival of the fittest. </p><p></p><p>I am reminded of one interesting novel I read where it started out as life-as-usual... then the aliens showed up and kicked humanity's rears. Almost all of the rest of the novel was the struggle as we lost, lost again, and then lost some more - it was pretty depressing! But then, right towards the end of the book, a chance encounter, and the plot took a sudden turn out of nowhere that I never saw coming. I had to reread it more than once before belief really set in - yes, the author really did just do that. I was in shock, I went back and searched through the book to see if there was any foreshadowing that I had missed, but no, there wasn't. Eventually, after it had set in, I was delighted that I had been surprised! I've read a lot of books in my time, I do not exaggerate when I say a couple of thousand, easy, probably more. But rarely am I so surprised and caught off guard. Rarely does an author pull off such a stunt so believably and without giving hints, or even giving it away early. </p><p></p><p>***</p><p></p><p>My digression has a point. That point being, what, exactly, do you want out of your story? And what, exactly, do your players want out of their game? Every player has a play style that they feel happiest when they can enact, and every player has something they want. The variants and details of that are outside the scope of your current question, so I'll forebear details. While an author has only to please themselves, and can still be successful; a game master is in the odd and unique situation of having to please most of the people, most of the time - AND has to try to make sure everyone gets their turn at it, no less. </p><p></p><p>I always consult with my players before starting a campaign arc, short or long. I try to find out what they want as players, what they want for their characters - and I incorporate that into my plotting. In my case, what usually happens is this: when I am making an alternate history campaign, I do a bit of research - headlines, tech innovations, famous figures, major changes in and to countries, explorations and trade routes - etc, maybe a few days worth of time at most. Then I take my juncture point, and try to cobble a rough outline and idea of how my juncture-change may or may not affect the series of important events I outlined. This leads me into the "real world sample turned into my own analogue" area as you mentioned above. </p><p></p><p>However, when I go the alternate present/near future toss-em-under-the-bus route, I almost always find myself in the Modern-as-is territory you also mentioned. Not that it usually stays 'as-is' for long under my influence. ^^ I would like to add one caveat to that: not everyone's modern starts at the same point in time. One could do a perfectly valid "modern" campaign with the Renaissance as starting point, and then go all BUS on them from there. It can even be quite fun to do exactly something like that, and then switch to the present time, but with the effects of all the changes they made in place for their new characters. (That also has the makings of a great plot for a time travel game, by the way, especially if they should want to keep the same characters.)</p><p></p><p>***</p><p></p><p>If I may make so bold, it seems to me that you were also asking, 'how can I stop myself from always copy-pasting the existing present into my modern games'? I can think of two possible methods off the top of my head. I'm sure there are more methods I'm not thinking of.</p><p></p><p>The first is more of an exercise in mental flexibility and imagination. As you go about your daily life, shopping, browsing, school, work, home, whatever - randomly stop now and again and play 'what-if'. Look at a store, and try to imagine what sorts of conspiracies might lurk in such a place - how, why, from when. Try to imagine what would happen if it were a different kind of store entirely, who would visit, what would they be looking for. This works with people too: find a comfy spot and people watch. Try to imaging what they are doing, what secrets they might have, what errands they are fulfilling and for whom. </p><p></p><p>A word of caution: don't let yourself talk out loud, or follow interesting people around as you are musing, or let yourself be overheard speculating on the nefarious plots taking place in a given store - you're likely to get stopped by a friendly police officer or interested security guard. That tends to be counter productive, not to mention embarrassing, and possibly could get you in real trouble these days. </p><p></p><p>This sort of mental juggling can assist you in loosing and limbering those creative muscles - just like physical muscles: no exercise, no improvement. </p><p></p><p></p><p>The second is inspiration from real life, only not the real life you've always been using up till now - do a little research on tourist attractions and other shops and establishments of interest around your local region, across the country, or even around the world. Make a little file of interesting and amusing places that strike your fancy. Next time you need a spot, randomly grab one and figure out a way to fit it in - don't worry about justifying it, unless the players find it interesting, and then you can work that into your plot somehow. </p><p></p><p>The idea with this is to take your copy-paste habit a step outside of the comfort zone, deliberately stretch your boundaries and reach out for new stuff. Pick some weird and wacky places, mix it up, and put something in that you wouldn't have thought to do so using your previous methods. The travel channel, the history channel, travel guides, Ripley's belive-it-or-not, Stan Lee's Superhumans, reality tv shows, and even stuff like Scooby Doo can help provide some inspiration in that department. </p><p></p><p>I recall once finding in a library a book about the history of the Minaguchiya Inn, (caught my eye because I speak Japanese) which started out as a samurai's house, and when things went downhill a few generations later, one of the kids converted it to a high-class inn for others of the samurai class (socially, it wasn't acceptable for samurai to stay at places where the lower classes lived). Decades later, it was a well established Inn for all sorts. It was even visited once by an Emperor of Japan - you can still order today from the same menu as was served then (yes, it is still standing and is still an inn, or at least it was when the book was written, iirc). Quite a fascinating read. Change the theme and genre slightly, and you could drop that in as an attraction into a modern game - a motel or hotel that a President or some other Significant stayed at (assuming America as the setting instead of Japan). </p><p></p><p>***</p><p></p><p>There is nothing inherently wrong with copying from existing life, but since you are not happy with how you are doing it, my final advice to you is to step back and look at the big picture. Are your players happy? Are you happy? If the answer is yes/no, then be cautious in what you change, so that you don't lose your player's interest. If the answer is no/no, then throw caution to the winds, jump right in, and try some of these tips out. I have only covered a few possibilities, so keep an open mind, eyes, and ears - there's plenty more to learn and be inspired by out there!</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="nijineko, post: 6695799, member: 52240"] Starting with a side-note, I find that I use the real world quite often as inspiration for my games and writing. News headlines past and present refactored into plots, tidbits, and background for fantasy, sci-fi, and alternate history formats work out quite nicely and believably. Lends that added oomph of verisimilitude. Modern settings can be a tricky balance. Almost all of them add a touch of the fantastical in some fashion, be it fairly realistic like cloak and dagger spies or Illuminati conspiracies; semi-realistic such as a minor alternate history with a recent or simple change, low-powered supernatural elements, secret histories which may go so far as to include aliens past or present; or outright departures from the perceived modern reality such as a major alternate history, a major alternate present/near future (z-pocolypse seems popular these days), alien contact or conquest of Earth, and so forth. I think these all tend to fall in one of two broad camps: alternate history, and alternate present/near future. One takes what we think we knew and adds, subtracts, or changes some element. In this scenario players may be "in-the-know" and able to pick characters from these alternate elements, or they may be taking the route of discovery with attendant consequences, and thus starting out as 'norms'. The other route starts off with life pretty much as it is, or as it will likely be, and then more-or-less promptly throws it all under the bus. Survival of the fittest. I am reminded of one interesting novel I read where it started out as life-as-usual... then the aliens showed up and kicked humanity's rears. Almost all of the rest of the novel was the struggle as we lost, lost again, and then lost some more - it was pretty depressing! But then, right towards the end of the book, a chance encounter, and the plot took a sudden turn out of nowhere that I never saw coming. I had to reread it more than once before belief really set in - yes, the author really did just do that. I was in shock, I went back and searched through the book to see if there was any foreshadowing that I had missed, but no, there wasn't. Eventually, after it had set in, I was delighted that I had been surprised! I've read a lot of books in my time, I do not exaggerate when I say a couple of thousand, easy, probably more. But rarely am I so surprised and caught off guard. Rarely does an author pull off such a stunt so believably and without giving hints, or even giving it away early. *** My digression has a point. That point being, what, exactly, do you want out of your story? And what, exactly, do your players want out of their game? Every player has a play style that they feel happiest when they can enact, and every player has something they want. The variants and details of that are outside the scope of your current question, so I'll forebear details. While an author has only to please themselves, and can still be successful; a game master is in the odd and unique situation of having to please most of the people, most of the time - AND has to try to make sure everyone gets their turn at it, no less. I always consult with my players before starting a campaign arc, short or long. I try to find out what they want as players, what they want for their characters - and I incorporate that into my plotting. In my case, what usually happens is this: when I am making an alternate history campaign, I do a bit of research - headlines, tech innovations, famous figures, major changes in and to countries, explorations and trade routes - etc, maybe a few days worth of time at most. Then I take my juncture point, and try to cobble a rough outline and idea of how my juncture-change may or may not affect the series of important events I outlined. This leads me into the "real world sample turned into my own analogue" area as you mentioned above. However, when I go the alternate present/near future toss-em-under-the-bus route, I almost always find myself in the Modern-as-is territory you also mentioned. Not that it usually stays 'as-is' for long under my influence. ^^ I would like to add one caveat to that: not everyone's modern starts at the same point in time. One could do a perfectly valid "modern" campaign with the Renaissance as starting point, and then go all BUS on them from there. It can even be quite fun to do exactly something like that, and then switch to the present time, but with the effects of all the changes they made in place for their new characters. (That also has the makings of a great plot for a time travel game, by the way, especially if they should want to keep the same characters.) *** If I may make so bold, it seems to me that you were also asking, 'how can I stop myself from always copy-pasting the existing present into my modern games'? I can think of two possible methods off the top of my head. I'm sure there are more methods I'm not thinking of. The first is more of an exercise in mental flexibility and imagination. As you go about your daily life, shopping, browsing, school, work, home, whatever - randomly stop now and again and play 'what-if'. Look at a store, and try to imagine what sorts of conspiracies might lurk in such a place - how, why, from when. Try to imagine what would happen if it were a different kind of store entirely, who would visit, what would they be looking for. This works with people too: find a comfy spot and people watch. Try to imaging what they are doing, what secrets they might have, what errands they are fulfilling and for whom. A word of caution: don't let yourself talk out loud, or follow interesting people around as you are musing, or let yourself be overheard speculating on the nefarious plots taking place in a given store - you're likely to get stopped by a friendly police officer or interested security guard. That tends to be counter productive, not to mention embarrassing, and possibly could get you in real trouble these days. This sort of mental juggling can assist you in loosing and limbering those creative muscles - just like physical muscles: no exercise, no improvement. The second is inspiration from real life, only not the real life you've always been using up till now - do a little research on tourist attractions and other shops and establishments of interest around your local region, across the country, or even around the world. Make a little file of interesting and amusing places that strike your fancy. Next time you need a spot, randomly grab one and figure out a way to fit it in - don't worry about justifying it, unless the players find it interesting, and then you can work that into your plot somehow. The idea with this is to take your copy-paste habit a step outside of the comfort zone, deliberately stretch your boundaries and reach out for new stuff. Pick some weird and wacky places, mix it up, and put something in that you wouldn't have thought to do so using your previous methods. The travel channel, the history channel, travel guides, Ripley's belive-it-or-not, Stan Lee's Superhumans, reality tv shows, and even stuff like Scooby Doo can help provide some inspiration in that department. I recall once finding in a library a book about the history of the Minaguchiya Inn, (caught my eye because I speak Japanese) which started out as a samurai's house, and when things went downhill a few generations later, one of the kids converted it to a high-class inn for others of the samurai class (socially, it wasn't acceptable for samurai to stay at places where the lower classes lived). Decades later, it was a well established Inn for all sorts. It was even visited once by an Emperor of Japan - you can still order today from the same menu as was served then (yes, it is still standing and is still an inn, or at least it was when the book was written, iirc). Quite a fascinating read. Change the theme and genre slightly, and you could drop that in as an attraction into a modern game - a motel or hotel that a President or some other Significant stayed at (assuming America as the setting instead of Japan). *** There is nothing inherently wrong with copying from existing life, but since you are not happy with how you are doing it, my final advice to you is to step back and look at the big picture. Are your players happy? Are you happy? If the answer is yes/no, then be cautious in what you change, so that you don't lose your player's interest. If the answer is no/no, then throw caution to the winds, jump right in, and try some of these tips out. I have only covered a few possibilities, so keep an open mind, eyes, and ears - there's plenty more to learn and be inspired by out there! [/QUOTE]
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