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Have we lost the dungeon?
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<blockquote data-quote="John Morrow" data-source="post: 2258976" data-attributes="member: 27012"><p>That's not the context of the article, though. One of the anecdotes, for example, has a PC falling in love with an NPC, the NPC getting killed, and the PC going on a spontaneous quest to find some way to bring her back to life. That has nothing to do with aquiring allies and minions nor seeking power within the game. The article also talks about giving sub-optimal characters a chance with the anecdote of a person playing a cougaroid with epilepsy who needed to rely on other characters when his disability kicked in. Again, not about seeking power. I'm sure some groups did. Plenty of groups didn't.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>The big "quest" of Metamorphosis Alpha was to save the ship from disaster (as per the 1973 Canadian series <u>The Star Lost</u> -- see <a href="http://www.dvshop.ca/dvcafe/madscreen/starlost.htm" target="_blank">http://www.dvshop.ca/dvcafe/madscreen/starlost.htm</a> for details), not a quest for personal and/or group power. The ship was huge (Bill Armintrout addresses players taking elevators to unmapped and unconsidered decks before the GM is ready for them in the article) and certainly no more "confined" than a city or small country once the players learned how to get around. As for hideous dangers, individuals willing to commit theft and violence, and exploration, we are back to describing more than just a dungeon and well into a few of S. John Ross' five elements of a commercially successful role-playing setting (Anarchy and Violence).</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Space: 1999 included an enigmatic confined environment (Moonbase Alpha and, more broadly, whatever was in the range of the Eagles) of unkown topography (they couldn't steer the moon and had railroaded "encounters" as they passed through unknown space) filled with hideous dangers and the crew was willing to commit theft and violence to survive the encounter. I think it has a great deal in common with many traditional dungeon role-playing scenarios. Particular episodes had even more in common and included such plots as exploring derelict spaceships, asteroids, and caves on the moon and defeating the opponents found there.</p><p></p><p>As for Logan's Run, consider the movie from the fight at the New You shop to seeing the sun for the first time. We've got dangers, tests, puzzles, traps, and even a hideous danger to be defeated at the end of the tunnel before they can leave. There is also the hunt through Arcade for the runner and the encounter with the cubs at Cathedral which are very dungeon-like. And let's not forget that the domed city is an environment no less confined than Starship Warden was nor that Washington, DC was empty of people except for the one key encounter for the PCs. </p><p></p><p>Yes, these two stories were a lot like other stories, but they were <em>also</em> a lot like dungeons (at least in part). One does not preclude the other.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="John Morrow, post: 2258976, member: 27012"] That's not the context of the article, though. One of the anecdotes, for example, has a PC falling in love with an NPC, the NPC getting killed, and the PC going on a spontaneous quest to find some way to bring her back to life. That has nothing to do with aquiring allies and minions nor seeking power within the game. The article also talks about giving sub-optimal characters a chance with the anecdote of a person playing a cougaroid with epilepsy who needed to rely on other characters when his disability kicked in. Again, not about seeking power. I'm sure some groups did. Plenty of groups didn't. The big "quest" of Metamorphosis Alpha was to save the ship from disaster (as per the 1973 Canadian series [u]The Star Lost[/u] -- see [url]http://www.dvshop.ca/dvcafe/madscreen/starlost.htm[/url] for details), not a quest for personal and/or group power. The ship was huge (Bill Armintrout addresses players taking elevators to unmapped and unconsidered decks before the GM is ready for them in the article) and certainly no more "confined" than a city or small country once the players learned how to get around. As for hideous dangers, individuals willing to commit theft and violence, and exploration, we are back to describing more than just a dungeon and well into a few of S. John Ross' five elements of a commercially successful role-playing setting (Anarchy and Violence). Space: 1999 included an enigmatic confined environment (Moonbase Alpha and, more broadly, whatever was in the range of the Eagles) of unkown topography (they couldn't steer the moon and had railroaded "encounters" as they passed through unknown space) filled with hideous dangers and the crew was willing to commit theft and violence to survive the encounter. I think it has a great deal in common with many traditional dungeon role-playing scenarios. Particular episodes had even more in common and included such plots as exploring derelict spaceships, asteroids, and caves on the moon and defeating the opponents found there. As for Logan's Run, consider the movie from the fight at the New You shop to seeing the sun for the first time. We've got dangers, tests, puzzles, traps, and even a hideous danger to be defeated at the end of the tunnel before they can leave. There is also the hunt through Arcade for the runner and the encounter with the cubs at Cathedral which are very dungeon-like. And let's not forget that the domed city is an environment no less confined than Starship Warden was nor that Washington, DC was empty of people except for the one key encounter for the PCs. Yes, these two stories were a lot like other stories, but they were [i]also[/i] a lot like dungeons (at least in part). One does not preclude the other. [/QUOTE]
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