Session Brainstorming: Dark New World

Hey all,

Thought I'd share some brainstorming I've been going through for what might be my next tabletop excursion as a GM. Some of you might know that at the moment I'm going through a Fallout inspired game in the GURPS system, and I'm looking at where to go after that. I've thought a lot of this through already, but I'll try to retell it in the stream of consciousness from my initial planning, just to give some insight into the campaign planning process.

For starters, inspiration on this one comes a lot from the music of Alestorm. Metal album covers have been inspiring fantasy roleplaying since the earliest days of the hobby, and there's no reason for modern times to be an exception to that. So, we start with intense metal that drives home the chaos and uncertainty of the seafaring lifestyle: what next?

Well, just for the sake of being ready for player assumptions, it seems like a good idea to be prepared for a Pirates of the Caribbean influence, at least in character design and player expectations. That's fine, the cover of Black Sails at Midnight was taking us toward dark fantasy elements anyway.

So, what else helps with this tone? Personally, I think the setting is well rounded out by the Cthulhu mythos, which, combined with the other elements we've already drawn from, creates a great dark retelling of European journals of the new world. If everything Cortez reported was true, and had it's origins in the mythos, that's a fun setting to play in.

Naturally, we've got to go with World of Darkness or Call of Cthulhu or something like that for the rules. Dread might work for short format, but I'm feeling something a little longer.

I want to introduce the unknown early, and establish a mystery that, true to Lovecraft, never really resolves. The goal is not full understanding, and, in fact furthering understanding of the threats of the new world is the enemy of sanity. We'll need to keep things mysterious and desperate, with only a fool's hope to go on.

So, let's establish early that a sister expedition is being sent a hundred miles north, and will leave about a month after arrival. From there, we can shipwreck our players at the hands of some Eldritch horror of the sea, and leave them no recourse but to strike across the untamed jungles: braving the cyclopean ruins, the cultish natives, and the strange and monstrous wildlife in a desperate race to reach the last ship home to Spain. Yeah, that'll be a fun little romp.  ;)



What are some of your favorite settings for good rpg games? Let's chat that in the comments below. Happy gaming, all.