How much real info in your game?
- Thread starter Crothian
- Start date
Shapermc
First Post
Crothian said:
IF it is based in a time peroid then I will usually use everything that I can veryify as factual as real info. I would recomend this if you have any rule lawyers (for this I mean anyone who likes to question rules at all not just argue them) because you never know what the players know. I actually have a campeign that I worked on that there was a shut down asylum created for the Maine State Mental health Center (well that is what I said). When I was playing the game My Wife actually pointed out that it is not named that. So I did some reasearch and it was called the Maine State center of mental retardation and well being or something to that sort. This is my wife here, so you never know what your player know. Aside from that it was not a big deal, it just brought everyone out of character for about 15 min.
On a side note, unless it is an historical referance, I never use real names for NPC's or mentioned names. Like if I said that Stephen King was the head of research in . . . nope never do it.
gregweller
First Post
I think that in a game like COC, the more real information the better--it helps with the 'suspension of disbelief'. This is one of the reasons that I've been touting the National Geographic on CD as one of the best sources of supplemental information for COC that there is (something like 195,000 pages of info for 29.95).
Here's an example. I live in the Cleveland area and there was an article in the paper this morning about an area of a local community called 'Birdtown' after the names of the streets in the area. The article had to do with 7 churches in the area that were all dealing with demographic problems--they mostly served ethnic eastern-european communites and had seen their populations dwindle over the last century. So I started thinking (always a dangerous thing). What if one of these churches was actually the center of some cult or other worshiping one of the Old Ones. I started looking on line and saw that the local library (and since I work in a library, I always recommend them as major sources of information for local color) had a ton of background information about this subject, and even found a pointer to a collection of over a thousand photos of this area from the 20's through the 50s. Plus there were local maps, a whole community website, etc. So there's all the background I need and it's all based on stuff that local players could actually relate to. Even for people outside of the area, the level of detail would help with the suspension of disbelief. That's one of the advantages of playing in a game like COC, literally the whole world is your sourcebook!
Here's an example. I live in the Cleveland area and there was an article in the paper this morning about an area of a local community called 'Birdtown' after the names of the streets in the area. The article had to do with 7 churches in the area that were all dealing with demographic problems--they mostly served ethnic eastern-european communites and had seen their populations dwindle over the last century. So I started thinking (always a dangerous thing). What if one of these churches was actually the center of some cult or other worshiping one of the Old Ones. I started looking on line and saw that the local library (and since I work in a library, I always recommend them as major sources of information for local color) had a ton of background information about this subject, and even found a pointer to a collection of over a thousand photos of this area from the 20's through the 50s. Plus there were local maps, a whole community website, etc. So there's all the background I need and it's all based on stuff that local players could actually relate to. Even for people outside of the area, the level of detail would help with the suspension of disbelief. That's one of the advantages of playing in a game like COC, literally the whole world is your sourcebook!
trancejeremy
Adventurer
Yeah, the realer the better, I think.
For one, it's actually easier to remember things that way, and there's less suspension of belief. I mean, players will known there is say, not a TV channel called ABS or a news service called "Routers".
Also, there's more horror that way. I mean, it's one thing for the PCs to have to listen to a fictional popstar named Candy Bubblegum (ok, I'm not great at names), but using Britney Spears conveys the true sense of horror and dread.
For one, it's actually easier to remember things that way, and there's less suspension of belief. I mean, players will known there is say, not a TV channel called ABS or a news service called "Routers".
Also, there's more horror that way. I mean, it's one thing for the PCs to have to listen to a fictional popstar named Candy Bubblegum (ok, I'm not great at names), but using Britney Spears conveys the true sense of horror and dread.
Dieter
First Post
I run a PbP game and close to 100% of my in-game material is real. I usually post html links within the message. It not only helps the players get a feel for what something/someone looks like, but also add flavor to the setting.
Just today I used the Henderson Executive Airport just outside of Las Vegas as a reference point.
It's all in the detail...especially in a PbP game.
Just today I used the Henderson Executive Airport just outside of Las Vegas as a reference point.
It's all in the detail...especially in a PbP game.
Desdichado
Hero
I use as much real info as I possibly can. However, I don't prefer to set things in my local area: generally folks know too much about it; more than me for the most part, which just leads to lots of suspension of disbelief when I get things wrong.
Gospog
First Post
I'm ill
While working on a steampunk/Buffy crossbreed, I started researching Charles Babbage and the times he lived in.
Before I knew it, I'd fleshed out the main story arc of the campaign, and tapped real-life source material going back to the (American) Revolutionary War.
I ended up with so much material, that it spun off into another Modern game, this time crossing Steampunk with Mecha Crusade! (this one worked in some period fiction for good measure)
I guess what I'm saying is, I warped history into some pretty cool shapes, but I had to learn history to do it.
And, scared as I am to admit it...it was fun.
OK, Lock me up now.
While working on a steampunk/Buffy crossbreed, I started researching Charles Babbage and the times he lived in.
Before I knew it, I'd fleshed out the main story arc of the campaign, and tapped real-life source material going back to the (American) Revolutionary War.
I ended up with so much material, that it spun off into another Modern game, this time crossing Steampunk with Mecha Crusade! (this one worked in some period fiction for good measure)
I guess what I'm saying is, I warped history into some pretty cool shapes, but I had to learn history to do it.
And, scared as I am to admit it...it was fun.
OK, Lock me up now.
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