[FATE] Guardian Chronicles: A Superhero Campaign Concept

[ValhallaGH]

One of the things that makes me wary about modern roleplaying is that I haven't seen very many famous locales. I worry that I won't be able to make such locations seem VIVID. Pictures and descriptions of such places don't always tell the full story.

And you've experienced the Queen Mary, Titanic, or Orient Express?

It's as easy to make real, modern places feel vivid as it is to make totally fictional, or historic, places feel vivid. Not actually easy, but entirely doable.
The only oddity I've run into is when one of my players has been to a place that the characters are at and I haven't. Even then, it's just a matter of describing the place in a way that feels real; graffiti, garbage, accents, smells, lighting, and all the other tricks used to bring fantasy locations to life work just as well for real locations. I've had players tell me afterward that they really enjoyed the session and thought I had been to the location, even though I messed up some details.

Good luck.

 

[Knightfall]

And you've experienced the Queen Mary, Titanic, or Orient Express?

I'll never tell.

It's as easy to make real, modern places feel vivid as it is to make totally fictional, or historic, places feel vivid. Not actually easy, but entirely doable.
The only oddity I've run into is when one of my players has been to a place that the characters are at and I haven't. Even then, it's just a matter of describing the place in a way that feels real; graffiti, garbage, accents, smells, lighting, and all the other tricks used to bring fantasy locations to life work just as well for real locations. I've had players tell me afterward that they really enjoyed the session and thought I had been to the location, even though I messed up some details.

Good luck.

Well, that's one of my failings, I guess. I have an easier time describing locations in a fantasy world than locations in the real world. I'd worry that I'm doing the real location an injustice. I probably wouldn't have to worry about having players who'd visited such places, but I'm still a bit of a perfectionist.

Dealing with future locations would be easier since I could simply say the world has changed. And in the "universe" of the Guardian Chronicles there will definitely be changes as the 3rd C progresses forward.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

One way to help you envision- and thus subsequently describe to your players- some of these locales is to find period fiction in which they were featured.

Several of the ones I mentioned are featured in classic mystery novels for which there may be Cliff's Notes or the like. The Titanic (or any similar luxury ship) can be adequately described after fast forwarding through a particular movie...

And the Orient Express is not only featured in classic fiction, but since it was the most luxurious train of its era, you could easily think of it as the Titanic on rails...sans iceberg, of course.

 

[ValhallaGH]

And the Orient Express is not only featured in classic fiction, but since it was the most luxurious train of its era, you could easily think of it as the Titanic on rails...sans iceberg, of course.

I don't know, that sounds like a pretty sweet adventure hook to me.

Orient Express + iceberg = Adventure!

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

*having sudden image of Hercule Poirot eying penguins suspiciously*

 

[Knightfall]

One way to help you envision- and thus subsequently describe to your players- some of these locales is to find period fiction in which they were featured.

Several of the ones I mentioned are featured in classic mystery novels for which there may be Cliff's Notes or the like. The Titanic (or any similar luxury ship) can be adequately described after fast forwarding through a particular movie...

And the Orient Express is not only featured in classic fiction, but since it was the most luxurious train of its era, you could easily think of it as the Titanic on rails...sans iceberg, of course.

Do you have any specific suggestions? Anything that you've read that you can recommend?

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

For the Orient Express, I can't imagine a better one than Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express- a good story well told. As a bonus, there is the classic 1974 movie based on it that according to IMDb was popular with the author:

An 84-year-old Agatha Christie attended the movie premiere in November of 1974. It was the only film adaptation in her lifetime that she was completely satisfied with. In particular, she felt that Albert Finney's performance came closest to her idea of Poirot.

The movie should give you an excellent idea of the period and the visuals involved.

In addition, the David Suchet depictions of Poirot in the TV series are quite excellent and the cinematography is pretty good.

The recent blockbuster telling of the story of the Titanic should also be viewed, if only for the visuals- I think we all know the story.

 

[Knightfall]

For the Orient Express, I can't imagine a better one than Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express- a good story well told. As a bonus, there is the classic 1974 movie based on it that according to IMDb was popular with the author:

The movie should give you an excellent idea of the period and the visuals involved.

Thanks for that.

I also did a Metacrawler search for Orient Express and came up with these images...

The recent blockbuster telling of the story of the Titanic should also be viewed, if only for the visuals- I think we all know the story.

I've seen that movie. It does have spectacular visuals. The story is painful to watch, however.

 

[Set]

You've mentioned using League of Extraordinary Gentleman, etc. for inspiration on the pulp era section of the campaign. I'd also recommend the Adventure! game by White Wolf, which I found really, really inspiring.

 

[Knightwind1972]

You've mentioned using League of Extraordinary Gentleman, etc. for inspiration on the pulp era section of the campaign. I'd also recommend the Adventure! game by White Wolf, which I found really, really inspiring.

I played one game of Adventure! D20. I hated it. The mechanics really put me off. I prefer Modern 20.