Can shared experiences in an RPG spark meaningful conversations about the world we live in?
That’s the driving question behind an Underworld I am working on. Right now, it’s just a bunch of ideas taking shape in my head. None of this is final, they’re the muttering of half-mad man sitting quietly in a corner hammering at his rage, trying to reconcile himself with the world.
Premise
Delvers are ignorant of the reality below. They enter with a job and (maybe) a quest. There is no presumption of alignment and there are opportunities to participate in resistance or enforcement. It is up to players to decide how to handle situations that arise through play.
The world contains enforcers and resistors. These can range from radical zealots pushing extreme measures to someone who hides their identity for safety.
Situations could range from murderous plots to simply “lending a hand”. PCs decide how to respond. A faction could be planning a catastrophic attack, players can choose to stay out, or choose a side. The situation at a food distribution program is rapidly degrading. People are desperate and the praetorian guard is losing control. How PCs respond is up to them. They could work to diffuse the situation, aid the guard or “liberate” the food.
No matter their actions, there are consequences. Maybe helping the guard ensured more people are fed. Maybe the event was a ploy to enforce inhumane measures on an area. Alternatively, this was the first stop and other areas did not get food when this supply was “liberated.”
Conceptual Challenges:
- I want situations to be difficult choices with no clear positive return.
- Any hard stances players make must be tested (Within the limits of table norms. I have limits on what I want to explore too!)
- I need to be prepared for players to make choices I may not like and be willing to play them out — within the framing of what we’ve collectively agreed on.
Design Challenges
This is an urban dungeon crawl. The world is teeming with populations and barely known urban sprawls. While much of the game could be played by staying on known routes, depth is found by exploring the neighborhoods and interacting with people living there.
Enter the sprawl
- These are the areas where daily life happens. Families reside, children play.
- Backstreets are obscure and uncharted.
- Dwellers keep them secret for protection.
- Being an outsider can be dangerous.
- Mapping these large samey areas is time consuming and not worth the ROI.
To address the sprawls I am using Flux Spaces described by Nick LS Wheelan. In this mechanic players enter a flux space and roll an event die, which includes discovering a point of interest (POI). When players encounter the same POI a second time an important feature (deep POI to use Nick’s language) of that space is discovered. Resolving that feature allows delvers to leave with an understanding of the area and can now travel through the sprawl, or to any POI discovered, quickly. So there’s an opportunity to make allies with citizens of the sprawl.
POI lists should be flavored to the sprawl and reusable. Things like: Children go quiet and feet scatter across a courtyard as soon as strangers approach. Or, upon entering a fountain garden a door quietly closes.
Encounters can be friendly; a curious resident starts asking probing questions while others peek through window curtains. Why are they asking so may questions?
Events can include citizen guards confronting the strangers. Or, people pulling the delvers off the street just before the city guard makes its rounds. Maybe they are asked to deliver a message in another sprawl. Maybe the message triggers a riot.
System
I am enamored with His Majesty the Worm “focus on the mundanities and small moments of daily life inside the dungeon.” And, since I’d like to promote a similar focus on the “mundanities and small moments of daily life” in a city it’s strikes me as a good place to start.
for my use, each region will have it’s own meatgrinder (list of shallow POIs) and deep features (deep POIs). I haven’t decided yet, but I could design specific deep features for each region. Anyhow, food for thought as I move these ideas along.
