More Dancing On The Edge
Jan. 2nd, 2019 03:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gridloreIn preparation for possibly running a hybrid D&D/Earthdawn game, I've been immersing myself in all the background material for the Barsaive setting, and I've discovered the thing that put me off Earthdawn in the first place.
It's all too settled. Advertised as a game of exploring a brave new world after the siege of the Horrors had lifted, what we get are well-established empires and kingdoms, regular trade, and in essence, a mature multi-state civilization. Which totally sucks, as far as I'm concerned.
I've often gone on about the concept of the Edge. The Edge is where adventures happen. The edge of civilization, the edge of the law, the edge of sanity . . . anyplace that is away from the comforts of civilization. Because a good adventure, either in gaming or fiction, has to take place in a setting where phoning the cops or running the local imperial garrison for help isn't an option. It needs to be a place where the heroes are forced to take action.
The funny thing is that historically speaking, Edges appear and vanish rather quickly. Take the classic Old West so beloved by dime novels and Hollywood. That panorama of bank robbers, sheriffs leading posses and showdowns at high noon did exist. For about twenty years at the most. The classic "Wild West" period is usually thought of lasting from about 1870 to 1890. That when you had thousands of Civil War vets moving west, railroads extending the reach of civilization, and the precipitous decline of the Native American nations due to war and disease opening up new territories for settlers.
This era brought with it men who had survived the horrors of the War Between the States and knew how to use guns. It brought fights over water rights, county seats, grazing rights, and of course, all that gold and silver coming out of California and Nevada just waiting to be taken. It was a heady, chaotic time. For about ten minutes in most places. Because humans are social animals and we crave safety. Towns screamed for the right to elect a sheriff or to have a US Marshal assigned to them. Vigilante groups sprung up across the Southwest, sometimes no better than the rustlers they were chasing. And very quickly, law and order took control.
Remember the famous gunfight at the OK Corral? Did you ever hear what set it off? Town Marshal Virgil Earp, his brothers Wyatt and Morgan Earp, and Doc Holliday were investigating that the "Cowboys" were in violation of a Tombstone town law requiring all firearms be checking at the Marshal's office. After the shootout, townspeople were so enraged that they put the Earps and Doc Holliday on trial for murder! (The charges were dismissed when no one could determine who fired first.)
That was in 1881. By 1890, the idea of gunslinging lawmen was nearly dead, as were most of the bandits. Things had become settled. The Edge was dulled.
Which is why setting the theme is so important in creating your Edge. Anything that upsets the world of your characters can do it. Yes, an invasion of orcs into the Kingdom of Competent Leadership and Low Tax Rates can create an edge. But so can discovering that a race of evil snake people live in the sewers, and have corrupt the entire court. Whit Wolf's World of Darkness games played with the latter sort of Edge; having all sorts of supernatural and magical creatures existing just below the surface of our mundane world.
So yeah, I'm rolling back the Earthdawn setting to a point where the Kaers (the fortified cities that withstood the assault of the Horrors. Mostly) are just opening, and the map is centuries out of date. Where history has become myth, and brave young adventurers are needed to reach out and learn about this new world, make contact with other opened Kaers, and boldly go where no man has gone . . .
Sorry. Couldn't help myself. But you see my point. This is one thing that has driven me nuts about Traveller's Third Imperium setting for years; there is no frontier to explore! Give me mysteries and unexplored places, strange new worlds and lost cities that have really been lost. Give me the Edge, take me out of the comfortable middle and make me think. That's what I ask of authors and game writers, and it is what I try to give as a Game Master. Hopefully, I will make a good job of it and entertain some players sometime soon.
It's all too settled. Advertised as a game of exploring a brave new world after the siege of the Horrors had lifted, what we get are well-established empires and kingdoms, regular trade, and in essence, a mature multi-state civilization. Which totally sucks, as far as I'm concerned.
I've often gone on about the concept of the Edge. The Edge is where adventures happen. The edge of civilization, the edge of the law, the edge of sanity . . . anyplace that is away from the comforts of civilization. Because a good adventure, either in gaming or fiction, has to take place in a setting where phoning the cops or running the local imperial garrison for help isn't an option. It needs to be a place where the heroes are forced to take action.
The funny thing is that historically speaking, Edges appear and vanish rather quickly. Take the classic Old West so beloved by dime novels and Hollywood. That panorama of bank robbers, sheriffs leading posses and showdowns at high noon did exist. For about twenty years at the most. The classic "Wild West" period is usually thought of lasting from about 1870 to 1890. That when you had thousands of Civil War vets moving west, railroads extending the reach of civilization, and the precipitous decline of the Native American nations due to war and disease opening up new territories for settlers.
This era brought with it men who had survived the horrors of the War Between the States and knew how to use guns. It brought fights over water rights, county seats, grazing rights, and of course, all that gold and silver coming out of California and Nevada just waiting to be taken. It was a heady, chaotic time. For about ten minutes in most places. Because humans are social animals and we crave safety. Towns screamed for the right to elect a sheriff or to have a US Marshal assigned to them. Vigilante groups sprung up across the Southwest, sometimes no better than the rustlers they were chasing. And very quickly, law and order took control.
Remember the famous gunfight at the OK Corral? Did you ever hear what set it off? Town Marshal Virgil Earp, his brothers Wyatt and Morgan Earp, and Doc Holliday were investigating that the "Cowboys" were in violation of a Tombstone town law requiring all firearms be checking at the Marshal's office. After the shootout, townspeople were so enraged that they put the Earps and Doc Holliday on trial for murder! (The charges were dismissed when no one could determine who fired first.)
That was in 1881. By 1890, the idea of gunslinging lawmen was nearly dead, as were most of the bandits. Things had become settled. The Edge was dulled.
Which is why setting the theme is so important in creating your Edge. Anything that upsets the world of your characters can do it. Yes, an invasion of orcs into the Kingdom of Competent Leadership and Low Tax Rates can create an edge. But so can discovering that a race of evil snake people live in the sewers, and have corrupt the entire court. Whit Wolf's World of Darkness games played with the latter sort of Edge; having all sorts of supernatural and magical creatures existing just below the surface of our mundane world.
So yeah, I'm rolling back the Earthdawn setting to a point where the Kaers (the fortified cities that withstood the assault of the Horrors. Mostly) are just opening, and the map is centuries out of date. Where history has become myth, and brave young adventurers are needed to reach out and learn about this new world, make contact with other opened Kaers, and boldly go where no man has gone . . .
Sorry. Couldn't help myself. But you see my point. This is one thing that has driven me nuts about Traveller's Third Imperium setting for years; there is no frontier to explore! Give me mysteries and unexplored places, strange new worlds and lost cities that have really been lost. Give me the Edge, take me out of the comfortable middle and make me think. That's what I ask of authors and game writers, and it is what I try to give as a Game Master. Hopefully, I will make a good job of it and entertain some players sometime soon.
