(no subject)

I also would sort of like to get away from the "stop ultimate evil" themed campaign as an idea.

I keep coming back to that. When I ran Star Wars I wasn't interested in good Jedi versus evil Sith as much as New Republic intelligence vs. Imperial military; when I ran WtA I was a lot more interested in the Garou themselves, with questing against the Wyrm being a way to gain prestige and leverage in werewolf politics. I like smiting evil as much as the next person who plays a paladin, but now that the characters run their own stronghold I find myself as much interested in the nearest town as a fief, the former ranger order as a military, and the stronghold as a trade crossroads, as much as I'm interested in defeating the looming threat of giant invasion. I would seriously love to be in on something where the players don't defeat epic evil so much as;

• are merchants, so acquisition and trade are as much of their survival as swordplay;
  
• simply explore the world for all the reasons people go exploring;
  
• are involved in the shadowy games of rival thieves' guilds or gangs;
  
• more above ground competion for prestige or resources - characters want to be leaders of men and owners of ships or fiefs, rather than minions of good;
  
• become involved in some sort of conflict which isn't an epic good versus evil thing; for instance a dispute over trade routes between rival towns.

I'm still throwing together thinking. I'd sort of like to pit characters against slave traders - slavery isn't "army of blighted undead sweep the land" epic evil, but it sure feels evil enough to the people caught in its path. Worse, an orc army or power-mad wizard throws an outside source of evil against a society which can be portrayed as wholy good, but for slavery to thrive requires the complicity of a the PCs' society conveniently looking the other way. But would people find that offensive?

I was thinking about the exploration/trade route thing as well as breaking up a thriving slave trade, as something suited to a maritime/Golden Age of Piracy themed game. After all I like the idea of naval combat and seagoing PCs are faced with a range of trials different from just fighting. Thing is, it sure seems like everyone's done the same elements - Golden Age of Piracy pirates meet Skull Island style lost world meets zombies. Even if I did things somewhat different from the stereotypes, would people even still like playing with those themes?

(no subject)

I think I figured out what's going on with the last decade plus. Is it just that all decades wind up having the same BS, but is it like the last 10 1/3 years have been some weird cross of the '70s and '80s?

'70s; the dream of revolution is dead, the Republicans are corrupt, the Democrat president is an outsider who can't make any headway, fuel costs are skyrocketing, and environmentalism exists as a cross between mass-marketed optimism and sincere worry that, if we don't do something to save the earth and soon, there won't be anything to save in a few decades. Thanks to the technical advances of the '60s, there are more technological advances - and more of a "gee whiz!" attitude to all the amazing stuff out there.

'80s; what we're supposed to believe about the USA and her place in the world is that we are desperately threatened at all times and only military dick-waving can save us from the evil enemy tide; we're supposed to be obsessive about the latest new gadgets and movies and trendy celebrities, we're supposed to buy into greed, and by the way, our industrial base apparently has been replaced by a major Asian economic powerhouse and there's a pretty bad recession. If you don't believe what you're supposed to, what you see is instead just more Republicans stuffing the Supreme Court, dismantling the unions, screwing over Queers and minorities, and ensuring more people will die out there on the streets.