Soul Dynasty

Community Game ideas
#1

Hi Guys,
Im looking at writing a game along the lines of Cloud atlas / Assassins creed and would like feedback/ a show of interest in the game

Soul dynasty is a campaign style game, where players will play the descendants of the character they played in the previous game(s). Each character is the reincarnation of the same soul, in a different body.
Decisions made by a player, will change not just the outcome of the current characters life, but potentially the life of their descendant characters too.
This should make players think twice about risking stealing a pirates treasure for the curse might persist after death!
I was thinking of a game progression that follows the different time periods

Stone age (cavemen)
Medieval (knights and wizards)
Darkages (Warewolves and vampires)
Renaissance (Pirates and Spanish armada)
Victorian (Steampunk)
Modern (current day)
Futuristic (space travel)
Post apocalyptic (fallout)

Some skills and abilities will only be available to acquire during certain games. Learning lightning bolt in medieval times, grants the ability to your victorian descendant.
If you were a vampire in the darkages, the modern you might be one too (even if the victorian one wasnt).

It might end up that your futuristic character is a spaceship captain, who is part warewolf, and can shoot lighting while firing a steampowered laser rifle.

So yeah, comments please! Even if its just a “like” comment. too often I see a game idea land here get 200+ views but only 2 comments, which is why I think most games go here to die. Its hard to judge levels of enthusiasm.

#2

Sounds like a really interesting concept for a game, Dan :slight_smile:

#3

It sounds really interesting, I’d be keen to play this

#4

I agree, that is a very interesting idea. I’m not sure how easy it will be to implement, but it seems like something a bit different and a cool premise, I can definitely imagine it being a very enjoyable campaign. Keep up the good thinking Dan! :slight_smile:

I think you have Dark Ages and Medieval eras in the wrong order in your list though :stuck_out_tongue:

#5

I’m in :mrgreen:

#6

Cool concept. What are the characters doing in the games - different things in each era or a continuous thread? Would you see it as more an action game with stuff to fight, intrigue-based between the PCs or something else?

There’s a pretty big gap in tone and content between Cloud Atlas, which is literary, character-driven and carries a stark theme about the human condition and Assassin’s Creed, which is quite gamey, linear and as action-packed as a fairground ride. You’d probably want to nail your own atmosphere and gear it towards characters and activities that suit the kind of larp you want to run.

The way you’re mixing magic and history sounds kinda pulpy or even metal. Like a fantastical historical/futuristic rock opera. Maybe an over-the top pulpy feel would go with that?

#7

[quote=“Ryan Paddy”]Cool concept. What are the characters doing in the games - different things in each era or a continuous thread? Would you see it as more an action game with stuff to fight, intrigue-based between the PCs or something else?

There’s a pretty big gap in tone and content between Cloud Atlas, which is literary, character-driven and carries a stark theme about the human condition and Assassin’s Creed, which is quite gamey, linear and as action-packed as a fairground ride. You’d probably want to nail your own atmosphere and gear it towards characters and activities that suit the kind of larp you want to run.

The way you’re mixing magic and history sounds kinda pulpy or even metal. Like a fantastical historical/futuristic rock opera. Maybe an over-the top pulpy feel would go with that?[/quote]

The assassins creed influence is mostly the concept that in Assassins Creed, you take control of one of your ancestors, slowly regain some of their memories and in some cases learn the skills they learnt in your current body.

The Cloud atlas influence is mostly the concept that the character, what they do, who they know, how they behave, in their current life, not only affects those around them but also future generations. I need to watch cloud atlas, which I will do tonight, as Im going entirely off the wikipedia page at the moment. But basically I wanted to introduce the concept that whatever the players do, will affect everyone in the day game and then their future generations. It means that every npc that comes the way of the players will have a preprogrammed future and the players interactions with that character will have an impact on the outcome of the game. If you help the current NPC become king, your future selves will have lived under his family rule, rather than the current, and potentially you will be rewarded appropriately

I have a few things to iron out at the moment, but thats my current thinking

#8

Posting here to register my interest again, Dan.

Keen to play or even help run/write this if you are wanting.

#9

Totally interested in either helping to make this happen , or even just playing it… Awesome concept my man

#10

[quote=“Jarak”]
I think you have Dark Ages and Medieval eras in the wrong order in your list though :stuck_out_tongue:[/quote]

I will need to do a little history reading =P

#11

Yes!

#12

It sounds interesting. I am not going to say whether I will play it or not because of financial concerns (Transport, costumes (which would be multiple because of how the game works) and game costs themselves) I am a rather poor person after all =P.

But ignoring the financial concerns, I would most likely join a LARP like this.

#13

Level of costuming is expected to be minor, we are not expecting crucible level costumes for each character. Also some props which you use will become heirlooms and will be passed on to your future characters.
I also will try and run games in locations which do not require large hiring fees to help reduce costs as I am well aware that the cost of larping is hard on the old wallet. Also as many of the games happen in “medieval” to “modern” times you should have costuming already from other games.

#14

I’m just saying it’s a problem for me personally, because I literally only have 4 dollars to my name, and two costumes (One for Teonn, one for Crucible, the Crucible one being rather… specific for that character) and then the normal, daily clothing that I own (which isn’t anything fitting for anything other than present day).
I’m not saying this is a flaw with your idea, it’s just a reason why I personally probably wouldn’t be able to play in this campaign.

#15

It’s a fair point and one that the game’s organisers will consider as a factor, Sander. That’s what Dan’s saying.

#16

i like this concept, i’m keen to play :smiley:

#17

the concept sounds amazing an it could be cool watching characters being played in different settings and watching them adapt to different styles of game.

#18

This is an awesome concept.

I like the concept of Cloud Atlas, though I personally feel that supernatural elements (magic and vampires) will muddy the karmic wheel concept. I liked how some of the characters in Cloud Atlas always stayed in a similar space, others were villains who slowly had to claw their way back, and taking it further you could have heroes who fall.

Do you imagine this game as a series of evening games or a series of weekend games?

Would each era take place over one session or more? Would you like more character story to play out before the world moved on?

Can the decisions of the characters influence how the future worlds are built?
For example post apocalyptic might not happen, or it could happen much earlier in the peace. A post apocalyptic world is created on the remnants of a steampunk society. The PA world manages to coalesce into a more powerful dystopian or utopian society that leads to a space travel era. You could even have clockpunk instead of steampunk because the world evolved differently.

With Cloud Atlas (and even Assassins Creed) as a reference I definitely feel that science rather than magic is something to explore. But then perhaps throughout the ages there is an ongoing war between science and magic.

One of the things I’ve always speculated on is the technology drift in the 20th century. If the internet wasn’t created, become a huge economic engine that drove the computer industry, then perhaps the focus of the future would have been space travel and now instead of global communications networks we would have interstellar travel. It’s a simplistic fictional what if, but I think it is things like these that could drive each era that you move too. Perhaps leading on from the Steampunk age you get Warp Zeppelins that can cross the vast distance of space and encounter new life.

Yeah anyway awesome idea.

#19

And I just want to be very clear in what I mean =).

Anyway, back on topic: How similar are the descendants of the original caveman to said caveman? In other words: Will a player practically be playing a single character (Just one who is born over and over again) Or will only the abilities go on from generation to generation? (or with gaps)

What I see in this game, is that this could actually be a campaign game where death is not scary, because you know you will be back to the same spot all the other players are at for the next game, which might make people play their roles a lot more zealously, possibly creating a very interesting roleplay

#20

[quote=“Kamica”]

What I see in this game, is that this could actually be a campaign game where death is not scary, because you know you will be back to the same spot all the other players are at for the next game, which might make people play their roles a lot more zealously, possibly creating a very interesting roleplay[/quote]

I was already really excited about this idea (Love ‘Cloud Atlas.’ LOVE.) without having thought of this, but now that Sander’s pointed it out I’m even more interested- A campaign with this format offers a lot of novelty. Obviously we’re all aware that death is always a possibility for our characters, though unless a player feels, for whatever reason, that they’ve wrapped up their character’s story arc in a way they’re satisfied with it’s often not a welcome one. If I knew, however, that this was my ONLY chance to play a character I’d created but that their legacy would live on in future sessions I’d probably play with less risk-aversion, or I’d play characters that I’d find interesting to explore but wouldn’t necessarily find satisfying for the standard duration of a campaign.