Alright, fellow late-comers. I’m giving it my shot.
NOTE: I will be editing and focusing this over time, so consider this a living document.
Haven
A hundred Armageddons buried the ancients, but we have broken the cycle, and we have built Haven on their bones: A cocktail of the universe’s finest spirits, we stand lush and defiant against the cruelties of the Stars.
Setting pitch
- 20th century techno-fantasy: Shotguns and witchcraft, shapeshifters, electric jank, ancient AIs, ghouls and hive-minds. Whether you are from the city, the underworld or from beyond the stars, anything goes. Play that character that you’ve always wanted to play.
- The Mythos: We know that the sun is gone, the city bites into what seems like an infinitely deep underworld, and the Glitch-Saint speaks to those willing to listen, as her thread is tangled into every living thing. What we discover to be true as we play, stays true.
- Every session is an experiment. I tend to run a rules-light, ever-changing system for this setting generally, and players are welcome to suggest their own additions or alterations to the mechanics. Most of my players are new to RPGs and they leave with a good impression of them. Some stick around.
- The Societies: From small crews and bands to omnipresent factions, folks band together. The studious scientist-mages of the Ziggurat, the hedonistic denizens of Red-Town, and the Nekromekaniks to name a few. The Favour of any factions or individuals is worth more than coin in Haven.
- The Hyper-real: Living things are linked, and some of the stuff of thought and intelligence is woven into everything. New species become enlightened, hive-minds proliferate, and magic of mind and space is some of the most powerful.
- End of the End: Finally free from a cycle of destruction and rebirth, the world is ripe for exploration. To the East, vast, moonlit, unchartable deserts. Below, an underworld haunted by the remains of previous civilisations in techno-ruins, strange life-forms and psionic currents. Above, black sky lit in irregular patterns and always with a different number of moons.
Inspiration:
- Electric Bastionland. So much flavour and attitude packed and illustrated expertly by a true artist. I struggle to focus this setting, the tone, and even the mechanics. I return to EB for guidance every time. And the Spark Tables just work for me way too well.
- Transistor by Supergiant (and their other works). Emotional, powerful worldbuilding that leaves a lot of gaps and is all the better for it. A world that stands on the knife’s edge between real and simulated.
- Dishonored. The atmosphere, the genre, and yet again the worldbuilding. The “crisp black tea” of the ingredients I’m stirring in this pot. I return to Dishonored for when things get too fluffy and fantasy-like. I like it magical and hilarious, but I try to keep it bloody, menacing and full of secrets too.
- Numenera and Caves of Qud: My favourite “the world has ended, now let’s have a blast in it” settings. Masterclasses in mixing a ton of ingredients together while still staying cohesive. How the hell do they do it.
- Amsterdam. My favourite place on Earth. Love ripping it off and using it to ground the setting. To an extent, overgrown Chernobyl too.
- Welcome to Nightvale. Weird but evocative. If some of that dream-logic could be harnessed by an RPG, especially a large one, I’d love to. I’ve always wanted to play with more nonsensical or abstract themes in RPGs.
Minor inspiration
- My actual dreams often inspire some part of Haven. I’m fascinated by the way dreams make internal sense, and I often describe a good RPG session as a sort of shared dream.
- Hyper Light Drifter. Oldtech, neon stuff, you know the drill.
- Ultraviolet Grasslands. I just don’t know enough about it but oh man does its creator seem absolutely confident when they write about this purposefully-undefined world.
- Shadowrun. It just does *punk so well.
I struggle with, and would happily receive feedback on
- Focus, I think. Since my sessions are built around what the players want, it’s hard for me to define anything, and even harder to define what isn’t there, or what the main thing is. Like Dishonored has its whales for oil and runes. Electric Bastionland with its debt and oddities, and well-defined entities and places while still being as flexible as it can get. (seriously how does EB do it?)
- Impact and confidence. What my setting is “about”. I struggle to envision Haven as strongly as I can envision EB, Dishonored or even Numenera. I’m not sure why. I would like to be able to, but I don’t know why I can’t.
- Concretely putting material down on paper. Since anything goes and anything is possible, when and how do I define what IS actually there. How could I possibly make a random encounter table or map when I might come up with something better later?
Mood board
EDIT: cut “anticanon”. I think I misunderstood that concept. Also redefined the main theme.