A concept I don't have the time or resources to develop... but which sounds very cool to me.
This is a play-by-e-mail (PBeM) strategy game with roleplaying elements. It uses Carcosa as the basic setting, and adds in the tribe management mechanics from Wolf-Packs & Winter Snow.
Each player controls a "tribe" that lives on the doomed planet of Carcosa. "Tribe" in this case denotes a range of communities, and is used for the sake of convenience. Because an important feature of this game would be the diversity of these communities. Some are small and mobile, others are numerous but settled. Some are technologically advanced, others are in the stone age. Maybe some are space aliens, others are one of the many types of humans of Carcosa. Their resource base, social hierarchy (or the lack of hierarchy), their religion, their traditions are all different. These features are created using a mix of rules, random tables, and free-form descriptions.
Fortunately, there are many resources out there to aid the creation process.
For example, the amazing collections of the Hyadian Schism project are a great starting point. The zero level character generator could be taken as the base for a community/tribe generator.
Another inspiring resource is the blog of Will B., Rogues Repast, with lots of instantly gameable background materials for Carcosa. I love their Carcosan community generator.
Each round (which is probably a week in real-time, and represents a month of game-time), the player describes what the tribe does, using the work and role distribution mechanics from Wolf-Packs & Winter Snow, and also in general terms, interacting with whatever events they face or locations they have around them.
The Game Master describes the outcomes, and describes developments, triggers new events, rolls on random tables, etc. These can relate to the inner workings of the tribe (a new challenger for the role of the leader emerges; somebody commits a terrible crime - how do you judge and punish them?; crops are blighted), developments in nearby locations (the Monolith of the Unnamed Ones two hexes away is reactivated, what do you do?; a new tribe settles next to you) and so on.
Of course, this needs a lot of planning, and a lot of dedication and effort to maintain, even with a small number of players (6?). But the idea itself is alluring.
This is a play-by-e-mail (PBeM) strategy game with roleplaying elements. It uses Carcosa as the basic setting, and adds in the tribe management mechanics from Wolf-Packs & Winter Snow.
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| Fantastic Planet, 1973 |
Each player controls a "tribe" that lives on the doomed planet of Carcosa. "Tribe" in this case denotes a range of communities, and is used for the sake of convenience. Because an important feature of this game would be the diversity of these communities. Some are small and mobile, others are numerous but settled. Some are technologically advanced, others are in the stone age. Maybe some are space aliens, others are one of the many types of humans of Carcosa. Their resource base, social hierarchy (or the lack of hierarchy), their religion, their traditions are all different. These features are created using a mix of rules, random tables, and free-form descriptions.
Fortunately, there are many resources out there to aid the creation process.
For example, the amazing collections of the Hyadian Schism project are a great starting point. The zero level character generator could be taken as the base for a community/tribe generator.
Another inspiring resource is the blog of Will B., Rogues Repast, with lots of instantly gameable background materials for Carcosa. I love their Carcosan community generator.
Each round (which is probably a week in real-time, and represents a month of game-time), the player describes what the tribe does, using the work and role distribution mechanics from Wolf-Packs & Winter Snow, and also in general terms, interacting with whatever events they face or locations they have around them.
The Game Master describes the outcomes, and describes developments, triggers new events, rolls on random tables, etc. These can relate to the inner workings of the tribe (a new challenger for the role of the leader emerges; somebody commits a terrible crime - how do you judge and punish them?; crops are blighted), developments in nearby locations (the Monolith of the Unnamed Ones two hexes away is reactivated, what do you do?; a new tribe settles next to you) and so on.
Of course, this needs a lot of planning, and a lot of dedication and effort to maintain, even with a small number of players (6?). But the idea itself is alluring.
