RPGnet Columns
12-13-2005, 04:41 PM
Post originally by The McK at 2005-12-13 15:41:43
Converted from Phorums BB System
There's probably a very good reason this hasn't been suggested, but I never let good sense stand in my way before...
So far the heroes of Sanctum have been, by and large, badasses. Armed with kewl powerz and the support of the Sanctum organization, they are the equals of their enemies and far superior to mortal men. They're competent, capable, and sexy as all giddyup. Which is all cool - Nothing wrong with playing who you'd like to be.
But far, far below the world of our desires, there's the world of getting up at noon and getting high before breakfast. It's the world of pseudo-dropouts taking one class at a time to accomodate their graveyard shift at the 24-Hour Video. Pothead artists sketching naked elves at a Starbucks. Pubescent Goths whose self-esteem rises with the height of their boots. Thirty-year-olds who live with their parents and play video games for fifteen-hour stretches. Students, stoners, scenesters and stumblebums. They form a vast pool of undefined ambition and burning desire, just waiting for some demon to wander along and make all their dreams come true for low, low prices. Of course, once you've sold a bit of your soul to get the girl of your dreams, you're going to want to see what else you can get, and price becomes no object. As they lose their souls, the warlocks are taken up by the demon, and the human part grows more and more destructive.
Sanctum, too, would operate on a similarly low-key level. Not a conspiracy of shadowy figures and vast resources raging against the dying of the light, but a single house, possesseded by an otherwordly force of modest power and unknown motive. The Sanctum could provide missions through anonymous instant messages on its inhabitants' computers, or childlike scrawls on the toilet paper. The housemates-cum-agents, drawn from the same pool as their enemies, might perform these missions out of some desire to do good, but boredom, fear of the house-spirit, and even jealousy are all quite possible motivations.
The essential idea here is "Team Xander" - A group of amateurs facing down the unknown with nothing but a Casey Jones sack of sporting goods and their wits, just because it beats watching <i>Three's Company</i> reruns.
Suggested viewing material includes <i>The Big Lebowski</i>, <i>Clerks</i>, <i>The 40-Year-Old Virgin</i>, and <i>The Young Ones</i>. Please note that despite all these sources being comedies (and damned funny ones at that), the game itself doesn't need to be comic. Beating up the guy down the block because your own personal Amityville Horror said he was sacrificing children to Baal can be traumatic. Moreso when the dude sprouts fangs and tries to eat your face. If anyone can suggest a good serious slacker movie/book/etc, I'd love to hear from you.
As a side note, I did the research for this idea while drinking eggnog out of the carton in my bathrobe. At 3 PM. On a Tuesday. With a final tomorrow. Taste the authenticity.
Converted from Phorums BB System
There's probably a very good reason this hasn't been suggested, but I never let good sense stand in my way before...
So far the heroes of Sanctum have been, by and large, badasses. Armed with kewl powerz and the support of the Sanctum organization, they are the equals of their enemies and far superior to mortal men. They're competent, capable, and sexy as all giddyup. Which is all cool - Nothing wrong with playing who you'd like to be.
But far, far below the world of our desires, there's the world of getting up at noon and getting high before breakfast. It's the world of pseudo-dropouts taking one class at a time to accomodate their graveyard shift at the 24-Hour Video. Pothead artists sketching naked elves at a Starbucks. Pubescent Goths whose self-esteem rises with the height of their boots. Thirty-year-olds who live with their parents and play video games for fifteen-hour stretches. Students, stoners, scenesters and stumblebums. They form a vast pool of undefined ambition and burning desire, just waiting for some demon to wander along and make all their dreams come true for low, low prices. Of course, once you've sold a bit of your soul to get the girl of your dreams, you're going to want to see what else you can get, and price becomes no object. As they lose their souls, the warlocks are taken up by the demon, and the human part grows more and more destructive.
Sanctum, too, would operate on a similarly low-key level. Not a conspiracy of shadowy figures and vast resources raging against the dying of the light, but a single house, possesseded by an otherwordly force of modest power and unknown motive. The Sanctum could provide missions through anonymous instant messages on its inhabitants' computers, or childlike scrawls on the toilet paper. The housemates-cum-agents, drawn from the same pool as their enemies, might perform these missions out of some desire to do good, but boredom, fear of the house-spirit, and even jealousy are all quite possible motivations.
The essential idea here is "Team Xander" - A group of amateurs facing down the unknown with nothing but a Casey Jones sack of sporting goods and their wits, just because it beats watching <i>Three's Company</i> reruns.
Suggested viewing material includes <i>The Big Lebowski</i>, <i>Clerks</i>, <i>The 40-Year-Old Virgin</i>, and <i>The Young Ones</i>. Please note that despite all these sources being comedies (and damned funny ones at that), the game itself doesn't need to be comic. Beating up the guy down the block because your own personal Amityville Horror said he was sacrificing children to Baal can be traumatic. Moreso when the dude sprouts fangs and tries to eat your face. If anyone can suggest a good serious slacker movie/book/etc, I'd love to hear from you.
As a side note, I did the research for this idea while drinking eggnog out of the carton in my bathrobe. At 3 PM. On a Tuesday. With a final tomorrow. Taste the authenticity.