ChaosArchon
2014-07-19, 06:52 AM
So yesterday I was thinking about how interesting I found the Fae courts from Kingdoms of Amalur (small tangent but I really wish that game had sold better, I quite enjoyed its lore) and how they had these roles called Ballads and their lifes predetermined by the Great Cycle and knew about these roles. One hero knew he wad destined to save the girl just in time, and in the same vein the "villain" of that story was forced to kidnap the girl, even though she knew it was her fate to lose. I found this extremely interesting, and kind of tragic as well that you knew how your life was destined to go but no matter what you did, you can't fight fate.
Now to my question, I was considering making a campaign world were this is a thing, and each of the players has a Role, which would be vague enough for them to create whatever character they wanted but it would still mean eventually they would race certain obstacles, but each Role always ends in a tragic twist, for instance the Lover Role (WIP) would be a person wholly dedicated to love and its affect on the mortal condition and would fall in love with another. They would create grand works of art in the name of their partner and for a time they would be happy, but eventually their partner would leave them for another. Another Role I came up with was the Leader Role, where a person would decide to lead their people in a glorious revolution which would improve their lives and the person would be loved by all their people. However one of their closest friends will betray him, directly causing their death.
I know that sounds sad but here's how I'm hoping the players react, after learning that they are fated to follow one of the mythic Roles they decide to say, "Screw fate, I'm not going to let this happen!" and have the campaign be about them trying to subvert the tragic ending of their story.
Sound interesting? I wanted to run it by people because while in my head it sounds really interesting, I'm not sure how well it would work as a campaign. I'm worried how knowing they will be successful until that end will affect player agency and remove any tension so I came to the Playground to bounce ideas of you guys.
Now to my question, I was considering making a campaign world were this is a thing, and each of the players has a Role, which would be vague enough for them to create whatever character they wanted but it would still mean eventually they would race certain obstacles, but each Role always ends in a tragic twist, for instance the Lover Role (WIP) would be a person wholly dedicated to love and its affect on the mortal condition and would fall in love with another. They would create grand works of art in the name of their partner and for a time they would be happy, but eventually their partner would leave them for another. Another Role I came up with was the Leader Role, where a person would decide to lead their people in a glorious revolution which would improve their lives and the person would be loved by all their people. However one of their closest friends will betray him, directly causing their death.
I know that sounds sad but here's how I'm hoping the players react, after learning that they are fated to follow one of the mythic Roles they decide to say, "Screw fate, I'm not going to let this happen!" and have the campaign be about them trying to subvert the tragic ending of their story.
Sound interesting? I wanted to run it by people because while in my head it sounds really interesting, I'm not sure how well it would work as a campaign. I'm worried how knowing they will be successful until that end will affect player agency and remove any tension so I came to the Playground to bounce ideas of you guys.