I’m looking for some amoral monsters
A few weeks ago, I noticed an ad for a roleplaying game on one of the communities I’m a part of. These ads are astonishingly common, and I typically just ignore them. I couldn’t tell you why I gave this particular one any special attention. Indeed, the game is of a sort that I normally abhor; a “pan-fandom” game, in which people, rather than creating their own characters, simply take existing characters from established canons. Movies, TV shows, novels, comic books... anything that isn’t a cartoon or anime, it seems, and only characters who are human or humanoid (presumably to keep the ever-present furry threat at bay).
For some reason, though, the premise intrigued me. The game takes place in this hotel which is located somewhere outside of time and space, where all of these characters from different universes are abducted against their will to, thrown together, and from which they can never leave. Something about that sounded just far enough off the beaten path, I suppose, and just intriguing enough for me to check it out further.
I had a look at the characters being played in the game, and found that - with only one exception - they were all attractive young protagonists and heroes from their respective canons. The drama was in most respects, from what I could see at first glance, limited mostly to relationship drama and sometimes bizarre sexual fantasies. In a moment of pure, giggly perversity, I decided to apply to play in this game as a character who would be utterly and completely out of place in this setting, among these characters, and in this game:
Darth Vader.
And to my astonishment, I was accepted. So, what the heck, I figured. Let’s give this a go. I haven’t played in one of these in some years. I decided to play this utterly straight; playing this murderous cyborg lunatic from a galaxy far, far away in this location where everyone else is a bunch of young, happy heroes. The reaction has been kind of delightful to me.
I’ve always said that the key to a good story is good conflict. And while I totally understand why everyone wants to play the hero, a game with no antagonists - except for the mysterious and in large part unknown force which abducts the characters to this location - does seem to lack a certain amount of conflict. I am totally fine with playing the bad guy here.
It’s a little tricky, though; playing the ONLY bad guy in a hotel of self-confident good guys who refuse even to speak to you without a certain amount of (perfectly justified!) loathing does limit the opportunities for roleplaying a little bit.
And so I’m wondering: Does anyone care to join me in this mad little romp? Pick out a character who is an amoral monster and throw them in there? Form a prison gang in this extradimensional space and terrorize the local population a bit? If they’re saying yes to a murderous psychopath like Vader, I can’t help but think that there’s a lot of lesser monsters, on the order of, say, Hannibal Lecter, Lex Luthor, Gollum or The Terminator which you could get away with (and which have that same perversity value which bringing Darth Vader into a game like this has).
Anyone interested?
For some reason, though, the premise intrigued me. The game takes place in this hotel which is located somewhere outside of time and space, where all of these characters from different universes are abducted against their will to, thrown together, and from which they can never leave. Something about that sounded just far enough off the beaten path, I suppose, and just intriguing enough for me to check it out further.
I had a look at the characters being played in the game, and found that - with only one exception - they were all attractive young protagonists and heroes from their respective canons. The drama was in most respects, from what I could see at first glance, limited mostly to relationship drama and sometimes bizarre sexual fantasies. In a moment of pure, giggly perversity, I decided to apply to play in this game as a character who would be utterly and completely out of place in this setting, among these characters, and in this game:
Darth Vader.
And to my astonishment, I was accepted. So, what the heck, I figured. Let’s give this a go. I haven’t played in one of these in some years. I decided to play this utterly straight; playing this murderous cyborg lunatic from a galaxy far, far away in this location where everyone else is a bunch of young, happy heroes. The reaction has been kind of delightful to me.
I’ve always said that the key to a good story is good conflict. And while I totally understand why everyone wants to play the hero, a game with no antagonists - except for the mysterious and in large part unknown force which abducts the characters to this location - does seem to lack a certain amount of conflict. I am totally fine with playing the bad guy here.
It’s a little tricky, though; playing the ONLY bad guy in a hotel of self-confident good guys who refuse even to speak to you without a certain amount of (perfectly justified!) loathing does limit the opportunities for roleplaying a little bit.
And so I’m wondering: Does anyone care to join me in this mad little romp? Pick out a character who is an amoral monster and throw them in there? Form a prison gang in this extradimensional space and terrorize the local population a bit? If they’re saying yes to a murderous psychopath like Vader, I can’t help but think that there’s a lot of lesser monsters, on the order of, say, Hannibal Lecter, Lex Luthor, Gollum or The Terminator which you could get away with (and which have that same perversity value which bringing Darth Vader into a game like this has).
Anyone interested?