The market of dreams

[morsla]

It's lunchtime again. That means sanctioned procrastination time ;)

The Plan: to run (and play in) a regular series of one-shot and short run games. Basically, a "campaign" (fortnightly, most likely) with ever-changing storytellers and players. No need to commit to a long-run game - if life gets busy, duck out for a few stories and come back when you can. Most likely, there will be a core of people who come to all of them, though - that's the way it seems to work.

I won't be starting anything of the sort for at least three weeks, but I'm giving warning now - I have an idea for a game, and I'm after more inspiration :)

System: Exalted - God-blooded and Thaumaturges

Setting: The grand city of Gem, nestled amongst towering volcanoes in the southeast. Marketplaces sell raw gemstones gathered from the burning sands to the south; gods and elementals serve in the city Guard. Thousands of people live in the mud-brick houses of a shanty town that circles the city. The distribution of wealth is appalling - fat merchants and nobility adorn themselves with a king's ransom in jewellery, while slaves work to drive the commerce that provides Gem its lifeblood.

Characters: Inhabitants of the poorer districts; touched with uncommon powers. Half-castes, God-blooded, Changelings, scavenger lords and mystics. If you have a copy of the Player's Guide, these are covered in chapter 2 and 3. For a change from the world-shattering prowess of the Chosen, the characters will be starting at Moderate power (p.112). Make no mistake - this is their story, and they are the heroes - but their story is of a smaller scope than the Exalts.

Inspirations: Think Aladdin, Sinbad, and all the other wonders in the Arabian Nights stories. This is ancient Persia, with all the magic and wonder that the folktales mention. Layered onto this are the archetypes from Exalted - powerful figures walk creation, but they can't be everywhere. There are a few Dragon-blooded nobles in the city, and likely some hidden Chosen, but this story is about matters they would never see.

If anyone has ideas, bits of background colour, etc, throw them together here. What would you expect to find in this kind of story?

Right, back to the thesis.

Comments

[mousebane.livejournal.com]

Mmmmmm, Arabian Nights style game....

[morsla.livejournal.com]

There's so much background to draw on :)

I need to find a new copy of the Arabian Nights, though - mine is very, very abridged. It's been ten years or more since I read it, but plenty of parts stuck in the "miscellaneous" drawer in my mind... flying carpets, gem-encrusted ebony statues of horses that can fly, valleys full of diamonds, Djinn-curses after killing their child with a carelessly thrown date pip, alchemy and astrology, hidden tombs in the desert...

[mousebane.livejournal.com]

I have a book, either 1001 Arabian Nights or just Arabian Nights, from the Classic series....memory vague, but it's kinda small. Something that's just as good (since it's based on Arabian Nights) is Child of An Ancient City by Tad Williams and Nina Hoffman which I also have. It's a small book and it's about stories within a story, much like Arabian Nights really.

[bishi-wannabe.livejournal.com]

Hmm. I might try making sense of the Thaumaturge chapter :)

[(Anonymous)]

Sounds neat.

I reckon there would be a lot of dealing with lesser gods and elementals. The characters sit at that level just below such otherworldly beings, with much to offer (in the form of a human perspective and aid that is not divinely traced back to the god in question) and much to receive.

In terms of other things that will enhance the feel, perhaps the characters will be known because unlike most other people, they can survive the desert without being in a large caravan. Granted, in most Exalted games the challenge from a desert is that there are all sorts of creatures out there that want to eat you, here the challenge would be the lack of food, water and shelter. Of course, that is only really relevant when they leave the volcano.

I just hope that you don't plan on running it as a 'Stop Gem from being destroyed' game because while the stories of Godbloods are important, I think that there is just too much of an expectation of Gem's inevitable destruction.

Of course, if you need extra players, I am always up for good Exalted games. Or at this stage, any good games that do not demand a large time commitment after exams are finished (which is about the same time as when your thesis is due).

Matt

[morsla.livejournal.com]

It's pretty badly organised, but there's some nice stuff in there. For god-bloods wanting to use thaumaturgy, I might limit them further than the power level suggests (it puts a ceiling on combined Inheritance/Experience/Knowledge backgrounds, and a maximum on Backgrounds) - the half-bloods already get plenty of perks.

I really like the suggestions for running the game in a number of different styles - whether the characters should find the Exalted to be terrifying figures of immense power, or just significant rivals. The main rulebook really needs something like that in the storytelling section, to let new GMs know what their players will be capable of. Otherwise, the solars get "too big" for the story, etc.

There's also sound mechanical sense for limiting those powers :) With all three of those backgrounds at five, a starting Thaumaturge gets 98 bonus points (and the possibility of taking an extra 60 points of flaws...).

[morsla.livejournal.com]

I'm not planning to destroy Gem. I think I may be the only Exalted GM who doesn't want it reduced to rubble :)

There will be threats... (and in the Grand Bazaar session, the city is sandwiched between the Fae and the First and Forsaken Lion...) but this isn't an empire building/saving/destroying game.

Lesser gods and elementals are a must. The characters are intermediaries, somewhere between mortal and spirit. Some of them will be widely known, others might be remarkably unknown - almost as though matters were arranged for them to stay hidden ;) Street urchins, beggars and thieves are all valid parts of this theme.

I'm keeping the scope fairly narrow (in the city and its immediate surrounds) as it's a one-shot game. It will probably become more of a "local" legend than a creation-spanning epic, but it's no less important in the eyes of the people of Gem.

[futurelegend.livejournal.com]

I like it when your game ideas match my leanings.. If you can make it understandable to the ignorant-of-Exalted-one, I would love to play!!!

I will begin courting inspiration..

[vorex.livejournal.com]

You know I've had this impulse to play one of the Fae-born ever since I first real the God-Blooded chapter ... their stuff is so different to any of the other character types.

(Of course that'll no doubt change when E:FF hits our shelves, but it's still an enticing idea.)

[bishi-wannabe.livejournal.com]

Well, I think I'll go a strictly mortal thaumaturge. He may have the goal of gaining an Endowment and becoming a God, though :)

[morsla.livejournal.com]

I'm thinking about limiting the types of half-breed for this game, actually - I have ideas for other games to slot them into...

There won't be any Ghost-bloods as PCs in this game, for example - they'll be fitting into a different game, probably the next one that I run.

If you have an idea for a Fae-blooded, though, hold onto it - I'll keep you in mind when I put the other game together.

[kashiichan.livejournal.com]

Sounds like hella fun... Wish I was in Melbourne. *cries*

[sols-light.livejournal.com]

There will be delivery later today of my Copy of the Arabian Nights to use as inspiration.

I sat down and blobbed in front of the Eighth Voyage of Sinbad on TV in 50s Technicolour and was astonished by the richness inherent in the story. From the scene in the Bazaar where Sinbad gains, loses, gains, loses and finally regains his ship in a massive bidding war and aassociated tricks to the idea of the Island where Alexander the Great left his treasure as a final destination, where everyone is convinced everyone else knows how to get there.

I'd like to finally play in something where there's complex layering in the characters and no one gets to know about whatthe other characters are capable of.

Basically, something with so many layers of secrets and intrigue, much of which should be individually player-generated, that it's only the plot and adventure that keep the characters from turning each other over to the authorities.

As for the type of character, I'd like to finally play some sort of Artisan in the Exalted world, it just hasn't happened to work out yet.

I'd like to see the charatcers being some slightly non-traditional archetypes, but I know it won't completely work out.

Nicolai