" For Soldiers, War is about Victory. For us, it was about getting food."
So one more idea I've been wanting to explore. Basics as follows.
WHAT: A game using the Storyteller System (New World of Darkness / Chronicles of Darkness) to explore the themes of the 11-Bit Studios video game, This War Of Mine, a game about non-combatants trapped in the midst of a conflict with no choice but to try and survive (heavily based on the Siege of Sarajevo during the Bosnian War, 1992-1995).
WHO: 5 Characters from different stripes of life, trying desperately to stay alive until such time as they can escape or, hopefully, the war ends. It is important to keep in mind that these characters, while possibly possessing heroic strengths and virtues, are not heroes: they are mortal human beings, with human flaws and vices, whom can suffer greatly and be killed easily. This is not a story that will be a power-fantasy, but rather a much more slower-paced exploration of character development and psyche. Your characters will face awful circumstances and situations. They will see and perform choices that may be decidedly less-than-moral. They will see the consequences of such decisions, one way or the other.
WHERE: A fictional analog for an Eastern-European nation. Literally going to be honest and possibly set this in the Strangereal Universe of Ace Combat, for those familiar with it, just for ease of not setting this in the real world.
WHEN: The early 1990s. With a setting that is a little behind-the-times and also in a warzone, this means that things like Computers are probably kinda rare, as are cell phones, but you can assume most modern conveniences are at least known, if not present.
WHY: Because I like character drama just as much as I like High Adventure and Sorcery. I realize that this is not exactly a popular idea: we'd literally be exploring the slow death of a group of people who maybe, maybe might make it out of this alive, but I feel that games are good for exploring these things. This is not a story where the PCs will end the war, or save all the people, or do all the good deeds and "win". Winning is survival, winning is bringing home food or finally getting power to the Safehouse you're holed up in. Though I am normally a very lenient and happy DM, I plan on running this one a little more brutally, hence using the Storyteller System: bullets hurt, disease can cripple and kill, starvation and weather are things that will be some of your worst enemies.
While the characters themselves will be rather powerless in the grand scheme of the setting, they will also have the ability to make a difference in small ways. If this is something some people are willing to explore, I am more than ready to launch into this.
So to wrap-up:
- Slower-paced game set more on Character Development than any Quest & Reward system
- Entire Chronicle will be spent trapped inside a city under siege
- You are powerless in the grand-scale but powerful in the smaller scope
- In War, Not Everyone is a Soldier
So one more idea I've been wanting to explore. Basics as follows.
WHAT: A game using the Storyteller System (New World of Darkness / Chronicles of Darkness) to explore the themes of the 11-Bit Studios video game, This War Of Mine, a game about non-combatants trapped in the midst of a conflict with no choice but to try and survive (heavily based on the Siege of Sarajevo during the Bosnian War, 1992-1995).
WHO: 5 Characters from different stripes of life, trying desperately to stay alive until such time as they can escape or, hopefully, the war ends. It is important to keep in mind that these characters, while possibly possessing heroic strengths and virtues, are not heroes: they are mortal human beings, with human flaws and vices, whom can suffer greatly and be killed easily. This is not a story that will be a power-fantasy, but rather a much more slower-paced exploration of character development and psyche. Your characters will face awful circumstances and situations. They will see and perform choices that may be decidedly less-than-moral. They will see the consequences of such decisions, one way or the other.
WHERE: A fictional analog for an Eastern-European nation. Literally going to be honest and possibly set this in the Strangereal Universe of Ace Combat, for those familiar with it, just for ease of not setting this in the real world.
WHEN: The early 1990s. With a setting that is a little behind-the-times and also in a warzone, this means that things like Computers are probably kinda rare, as are cell phones, but you can assume most modern conveniences are at least known, if not present.
WHY: Because I like character drama just as much as I like High Adventure and Sorcery. I realize that this is not exactly a popular idea: we'd literally be exploring the slow death of a group of people who maybe, maybe might make it out of this alive, but I feel that games are good for exploring these things. This is not a story where the PCs will end the war, or save all the people, or do all the good deeds and "win". Winning is survival, winning is bringing home food or finally getting power to the Safehouse you're holed up in. Though I am normally a very lenient and happy DM, I plan on running this one a little more brutally, hence using the Storyteller System: bullets hurt, disease can cripple and kill, starvation and weather are things that will be some of your worst enemies.
While the characters themselves will be rather powerless in the grand scheme of the setting, they will also have the ability to make a difference in small ways. If this is something some people are willing to explore, I am more than ready to launch into this.
So to wrap-up:
- Slower-paced game set more on Character Development than any Quest & Reward system
- Entire Chronicle will be spent trapped inside a city under siege
- You are powerless in the grand-scale but powerful in the smaller scope
- In War, Not Everyone is a Soldier
Last edited: