Comments on: World Powers and Big-Picture Plotlines

By: The Care and Feeding of Evil Overlords - Treasure Tables

The Care and Feeding of Evil Overlords - Treasure Tables — Tue, 05 Dec 2006 23:38:13 +0000

[...] Like any right-minded person, I read Treasure Tables daily. So it was that about a month ago, I came upon Martin’s post for World Powers and Big-Picture Plotlines. [...]

By: Gerald Cameron

Gerald Cameron — Thu, 09 Nov 2006 17:14:10 +0000

Another game that might work for the major powers play is Legends of Alyria. For those of you not so jazzed about a game in blog form, it should be available for sale in a more standard printed form pretty soon.

By: Martin

Martin — Wed, 08 Nov 2006 17:01:06 +0000

At least until the end of November, there is now an Evil Overlord Recruitment Bureau forum on the TT boards. I’m hoping that folks who’re interested in this concept will look for faction players there, and help refine the basic idea through discussion.

By: Martin

Martin — Wed, 08 Nov 2006 15:31:29 +0000

Stephan: Absolutely! I love your games, and I really miss gaming with you. Sign me up.

By: stephan

stephan — Wed, 08 Nov 2006 13:23:26 +0000

wow martin that sounds really cool. I am inspired to use this concept in the next campaing I run, interested in being a power?

By: Martin

Martin — Mon, 06 Nov 2006 15:34:26 +0000

Doing this as a pregame activity is a very cool idea — I like your thinking, StingRay!

If you try it out, let us know how it goes.

By: StingRay

StingRay — Sat, 04 Nov 2006 22:46:17 +0000

Martin: Interesting. (Twenty minutes real time later.) Ah ha! I think I’ve managed to wrap my head around this. I was stuck on the idea that this is a one-email-a-week deal, wherein, after the game, the GM tells the powers what happened, the powers write back and then no more contact for the rest of that week. That, I don’t think I’d like. I saw no big picture reactions to the other powers actions, and couldn’t understand the point.

I think, though, that if you don’t want to do a full on game (which would be really cool) then something where you’re sending messages back and forth on a more regular basis would work. In fact, I might try and set something like this up in preparation for my next game. A month or two ahead of time, figure out the powers of the world, find some people to run them, and let them act and react for a little bit.

I would imagine plots would spring up with little to no need for impetus from me. The moment a power says, “I enlist the help of the PCs,” stop the metagame and begin the game.

Hmmmmm…. Cool!

By: Rick the Wonder Algae

Rick the Wonder Algae — Fri, 03 Nov 2006 20:19:42 +0000

Since we’re discussing Birthright, if you’re interested, DON’T pick up the Birthright based Sierra on-line video game of the late 90s, The Gorgon’s Alliance. While Birthright may be awesome, the execution was bad, the engine difficult to use, and the whole work was buggy. Better to hunt down an old box set for your first taste of birthright than the video game even if it IS 1/5th the price.

By: Martin

Martin — Fri, 03 Nov 2006 16:28:59 +0000

This is a pretty mutable idea, StingRay, so others might come up with different approaches.

Based on the one I originally had in mind, though, the answers to your questions are:

- The powers know what the GM tells them they know.
- Wars between factions could largely be handwaved — the GM chooses the most interesting result.
- The powers wouldn’t collude behind the scenes, except through the GM.

You could very easily go with Abulia’s suggestion, though, and run a full-fledged meta-game between the powers, using actual rules (like Birthright). Or you could allow the powers to scheeme with each other behind the scenes, rather than filtering their scheming through the GM. There are lots of ways this could go.

By: StingRay

StingRay — Thu, 02 Nov 2006 22:57:03 +0000

I’ll admit to being a little confused by the specifics of this. I think it’s a great concept, but how do you handle the details? How do the powers know that the PCs planted a mole? How would you handle wars between factions? Are the powers that be kept seperate from each other, so their actions are worked together by the GM or do they all contact each other and do their own backstabbing and whatnot while the GM eavesdrops?

By: Martin

Martin — Thu, 02 Nov 2006 21:31:35 +0000

Gospog: Ooooh, that is one better! Thank you for the offer. Shoot me an email and let’s figure this out.

(martin(at)treasuretables(dot)org)

By: Gospog

Gospog — Thu, 02 Nov 2006 17:07:58 +0000

I’ll do you one better: if I decide to go with this…do you want to run one of the factions?

I have at least five factions and one volunteer, so far.

I imagine you’re as busy as we are, but we only play monthly and may not start until after the holidays. Let me know and I can send you some notes on the world.