#12: Parallax

[RPGnet Columns]

http://www.rpg.net/columns/wushuskidoo/wushuskidoo12.phtml

Summary:

A far future setting of variety and wonder.

Go to the column (http://www.rpg.net/columns/wushuskidoo/wushuskidoo12.phtml) for more information.

[Praetus]

Wonderful. It seems that, every second time or so that I see this column, the material is exactly the sort of thing I wanted to be running for my own group.

I know, Mr. Bayn, for you this is probably just another kitchen sink mix of things you like, thrown together so that the players can do whatever they feel like that night. There's an art to designing a game that way, though, and you've just given us an example of its highest reaches.

How do you have a space fantasy, super-technological setting without having every situation solved simply through technology? By making the technology simultaneously all-pervasive (everybody has it, PCs and the drunk in the alley down the street alike) and unreliable (shouting at the Quicksilver ship to move sums it all up). The PCs have to carry out their goals by doing things better than anybody else.

I can't get over the fact that this is a free article on the web. Honestly, if this article were the first chapter of a hardcover game book at my local gaming store, with Wushu rules adapted for the setting beyond that, I'd be leaving the store with a lighter wallet.

Thanks for the column!

[Praetus]

Okay, so I prayed to the internet lords and burned incense to entice Google to enlighten me. What did I find? This setting wasn't just a rewrite of a recent Dan Bayn construct. The "Stardust" version was on his old site for at least two and a half years.

A setting I'd have loved to run at any time over the past two years of my life, and it was online the whole time.

Seriously. Mr. Bayn? If you're thinking about selling any setting books, this is probably the first one to start on. Just saying.

[indra]

You're not the first to say so and I've certainly considered it. Unfortunately, I have lots of ideas and very little free time. Maybe I should try the ransom model; it'd be a lot easier to take time off from work if I had supplemental cash coming in.

Anyway, this column is all about raising my crazy setting ideas up the flag pole and seeing how many people salute ;) Thanks muchly for the encouragement.

--Dan

[Red Menace]

Anyway, this column is all about raising my crazy setting ideas up the flag pole and seeing how many people salute ;)

--Dan

I salute you sir. I love that there's no aliens, only alien ruins. I love that no one understands the technology, they just know it works. Those two elements right there just feel right to me. And let me add my voice to those who would happily pay money for any incarnation of this setting. Bravo!

[slashnull]

To the people who want to pay ransom money, add my voice. I'd pay for this setting, or for more Spellbound or Tempus! (The Gotham Nights Tempus setting is fantastic).

[Praetus]

Just a couple of practical questions, because I'm seriously thinking about dropping this setting in my players' laps the next game day that we don't have something else planned.

1) You mention the techno-shamans as androids, but also mention attaching feathers and decorations to antennae. Are these androids in the "look like humans all the time" sense, the "look like humans until they pop open panels and raise antennae from their heads/ears" sense, or the "Robby the Robot/Bender Rodriguez" sense? Is there a specific vibe you want to bring to these guys?

2) The one thing I still haven't read any explanation for is the "cowboys with gatling guns" mentioned at the top. Is this something specific you didn't get around to? Is it something you're avoiding mentioning again for fear people might assume you're ripping off Firefly? ('Cause, don't worry, there were cowboys in pulp sci-fi long before Joss Whedon got involved.) I'm really curious about this image, would like to bring it in with my group, but you never explained where that puzzle piece fits in.

Thanks again for . . . well . . . all of it!

[FredH]

Very simply, I want this game.

[Darksmile]

Yeah, this is a neat setting. The Quicksilver ship paragraph is a really fun idea. "I WANT TO GO TO THIS ONE! THIS ONE HERE!"

[indra]

Just a couple of practical questions, because I'm seriously thinking about dropping this setting in my players' laps the next game day that we don't have something else planned.Sweet :D

1) Are these androids in the "look like humans all the time" sense, the "look like humans until they pop open panels and raise antennae from their heads/ears" sense, or the "Robby the Robot/Bender Rodriguez" sense? Personally, I'd make them a lot like the robots from Alex Proyas' "I, Robot," which is to say very humanoid in shape, but obviously mechanical. I think that would really drive home the techno-shaman juxtaposition.

2) The one thing I still haven't read any explanation for is the "cowboys with gatling guns" mentioned at the top. Is this something specific you didn't get around to?Those are the Ferrymen. They have an 1800's, Wild West-y level of technology.

Thanks again for . . . well . . . all of it!My pleasure, as always!

--Dan