After some thinking, and several attempts to start writing something substantive, I've decided that the format of this blog will be to talk about specific movies or characters and how I'll fit them into the setting. This might result in a digression about some facet of the setting or another. Sometimes I'll post game statistics for a character.
First, let's talk about the history of the WW4C. If you looked at the modern WW4C, it would look a lot like our own, except for some extra bits. The history books are mostly the same, too, except that a visitor from our world (or from another world like our own, of which there are several) might be surprised to see that characters believed to be fictional in our world are matters of historical fact in the WW4C. A textbook on British history would almost certainly include a chapter on King Arthur, though probably not detailing how time travelers from the 20th Century saved Camelot on two different occasions, and would probably mention Robin Hood as well.
Other fictional characters from our own world might be less likely to turn up in a history book but are no less a part of the WW4C. Swashbucklers like the Three Musketeers and Zorro existed. Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn had adventures in the 1840s in Missouri and up and down the Mississippi River. (Although it's not clear what happened to the boys after they grew up; they could very well have been famous personages in their own right). After the American Civil War, Captain Nemo tried to use his atomic submarine the Nautilus to end war around the world.
However, this is not as extreme as Alan Moore's "League of Extraordinary Gentlemen," where every fictional character exists. Only the ones about whom Disney has made movies (and possibly TV shows).
Roleplaying Game Ideas
So, what does all this mean for games set in the WW4C? Here are some possibilities:
First, let's talk about the history of the WW4C. If you looked at the modern WW4C, it would look a lot like our own, except for some extra bits. The history books are mostly the same, too, except that a visitor from our world (or from another world like our own, of which there are several) might be surprised to see that characters believed to be fictional in our world are matters of historical fact in the WW4C. A textbook on British history would almost certainly include a chapter on King Arthur, though probably not detailing how time travelers from the 20th Century saved Camelot on two different occasions, and would probably mention Robin Hood as well.
Other fictional characters from our own world might be less likely to turn up in a history book but are no less a part of the WW4C. Swashbucklers like the Three Musketeers and Zorro existed. Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn had adventures in the 1840s in Missouri and up and down the Mississippi River. (Although it's not clear what happened to the boys after they grew up; they could very well have been famous personages in their own right). After the American Civil War, Captain Nemo tried to use his atomic submarine the Nautilus to end war around the world.
However, this is not as extreme as Alan Moore's "League of Extraordinary Gentlemen," where every fictional character exists. Only the ones about whom Disney has made movies (and possibly TV shows).
Roleplaying Game Ideas
So, what does all this mean for games set in the WW4C? Here are some possibilities:
- A hero could be the heir, either spiritual or literal, to a hero of the past. One of the characters I intend to create is La Zorra, the female descendant of El Zorro.
- Morgan le Fay may be a villain (and in at least one movie, Merlin is a villain).
- Time travelers could meet Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn.
- A villain could seek to salvage the Nautilus for use in his own schemes.
I was wondering if you had ever taken a look at PDQ's "Truth & Justice," which might be an interesting approach to statting these characters.
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