Locations as Characters

During Shark Bone 022, we talked about the Locations as Characters concept from Invite Only.

Invite Only says give your important scene (setting, location, whatever) a concept, a few notes, and a virtue/vice combination. Think about it like a character and bring it to life. It all seems a bit ambiguous though.

I had a few thoughts on the show and a few more once we stopped recording. The discussion is over on RPGnet and only time will tell how productive that turns out to be. Until then, though, here's the gist...

Locations as Characters

Details - Each location should need only a few brief elements to really shine.

Name: The name. (Hills Cemetery)
Concept: The few word concept of the place. (Spooky Graveyard)
Theme: The feel of the place, what it stands for or against, etc. (Creepy)
Showcase: An item or person that exemplifies the concept and theme. (The unmarked grave no one goes near.)

That's the basic part, here's where it gets fun.

What if each location also got a Rank? What if that's how many dice it got to further its theme? Of course, a spooky graveyard doesn't actively try to scare people away, but damn if trespassing PCs don't have to resist 3 dice worth of fear just for being there.

At the same time, these dice would aid or hinder any action taken by a PC that supported or resisted the location's theme. Want to get answers out of that mook? Threaten him at the spooky graveyard! Want to seduce that cute girl from the office? The spooky graveyard's probably not the best place to do it. (Though scientifically, it actually would be!)

Even better, what if each location actually got an action. Every once in a while during narrative scenes or at the end of every initiative round. You dive into an open grave for cover, they fire wildly in your direction, then spooky graveyard rolls 3 dice to intimidate you as you realize 'open' does not mean 'empty'.

Location actions could be taken by the location itself, like chill winds and eerie howls, or taken by the inhabitants of the location, like child ghosts or the crazy grounds keeper. The location is never, well rarely ever, an actual participant in the conflict, just an active backdrop.

Picking a fight with the president of a biker gang will probably make every biker in the bar an active participant, but that doesn't stop the bar's owner or some of the strippers from taking action for the bar itself.

What do you think? Are we on to something?

Setting

Setting Out

Dead Running has no inherent setting. The events of the game could just as easily take place next week as the far future or, with a bit a tweaking, the distant past. There are only a few core elements that every game should include. These are as much a reminder to the GM as they are seeds to kick start player imaginations.

1. The Event awakened or gave psychic ability for every one equally. Everyone can now read minds. Whether this resulted from radioactive mutation, evolution, or alien invasion can be decided each time the game is played.
2. Ideas become so easily shared or stolen that there are few secrets left in the world.
3. Powerful or paranoid individuals become reclusive to protect their own thoughts and ideas.
4. The Company formed as the most secure way to deliver an idea, message, concept or plan.
5. Nulls, unable to be read, work as couriers for The Company.
6. Unreadable minds produce psychic static, easily detectable by the rest of the population.
7. Psychics are provided to the Null to act as security during the mission.
8. Anyone is likely to capture the Null since whatever it's carrying must be important.
9. The toughest missions require traveling through dense populations where the Null can be easily detected and thus easily compromised.
10. Dead Running is about those tough missions.

These are the only setting elements that are required for the game. Everything else is set dressing. Police, mutants, gangs, magic, ninjas, lasers, cybernetics, and all the rest can be sprinkled into the story as you wish. If the game still works for you without one of the 'required' elements, that's fine too. The main goal of this game is for everyone to have fun!