That oughta get me on some good lists.
FOR THE THIRD GAME OF XMAS, TWENTY-TWENTY-FIVE,
THREE BIRDS WITH TITTIES,
TWO CORVID COURTS
AND CAIRN BUT NOT THE FUZZY ONE WHICH IS FUNNY CONSIDERING!
The Game: The Island of Dr. Moreau
The Publisher: usducktape
Degree of Familiarity: None
Books Required: Just the RPG, and very explicitly not a copy of the novel
I want to be very clear about a couple of things before we start. First of all, I am not a furry and I find the whole thing very weird. Second, I am 100% fine with other people getting into being anthropomorphic animals or whatever (I say "whatever" not in a dismissive way but just to indicate that I know there's a lexicon that I do not share and so I'm not going to use the right words and I acknowledge that). This game has a right to exist, and it actually does some very interesting things, and has some play structure that I would be into with different subject matter.
With that said.
The Island of Dr. Moreau is a novel by H. G. Wells in which a dude is shipwrecked and winds up on the titular island. There are Beast Men on said island, created by Dr. Moreau, who is not trying to create animal-human hybrids, but is trying to turn animals into humans via vivisection. There's no serum that causes the transformation, and become animalistic is the opposite of what Moreau is trying to do (also, he's fuckin' nuts). I can see a horror game set within that framework, and set within Victorian times which is where it makes the most sense, being really cool. Actually, if one were to use the same framing as James Wallis' Alas Vegas, and having the characters slowly remember their lives as beasts as they revert back to their primal instincts, that would be cool. But that's not what this is.
 |
| This is what this is |
This game is inspired by the early-internet forum roleplaying, infused with a healthy dose of furry art. There are a shitload of characters, which players are meant to use (the GM controls Dr. Moreau), and interaction between characters and the encroaching oppression and obsessions of Dr. Moreau (the great-great-grandson of the one from the novel, as this game is set in the modern day) and their eventual escape (maybe) is the central conflict. Every character has a card (Tarot or standard; the game says that it prefers Tarot but I don't really see much difference practically) and when a character's card comes up in play, you're meant to include them in the scene.
I think that's pretty cool, and with a group that wanted to learn all of the characters and really got into the interpersonal side of things (there's a shipping chart because of course there is), I can see this being really satisfying. I do not have such a group, and the furry sensibility would be a turn-off anyway. Again, I'm not judging or poo-pooing anyone's preferences. It's just not for me, and if I had realized, I probably wouldn't have backed the Kickstarter.
(It wasn't hidden in the Kickstarter, by the way, it's just that I tend to back RPGs and then only peripherally pay attention during the creation process, which is my own fault.)
Oh, and a couple of little annoyances: No character sheet and the PDF isn't bookmarked. Grabumble.
Anyway, chargen is a really quick process and I don't even get to pick what kind of animal I get to turn into, how sad. I do, however, have a song to inspire me.
That's "Sally, When the Wine Runs Out" by ROLE MODEL (the official video where he's dancing in a mall is well worth your time, too). The song is about meeting a girl and having a connection, but having that connection kind of dry up when said girl sobers up (that's my interpretation, anyway). I think I'm going to use the titular Sally as my inspiration (much like I did when I made a character from "Frankie & Johnny", actually).
So I'm meant to start by giving my character a name, pronouns, and assigning a Face Card. That's easy enough. His name is Salvatore "Sally" Gilardi (he/him, maybe he/they). If I get to pick Sally's card, I think it needs to be The Lovers - Reversed (there's some talk about having the upright cards be islanders and the reversed cards be staff or outsiders, but looking at the characters in the book that doesn't seem to be particularly rigid. Also they use "islander" to mean "someone on the island under false pretenses to get animal-serum'd," not "native of the island", which is weird).
Next we give Sally a little backstory. So let's say Sally is from a New York Italian family, but he moved in with his aunt Maria (kind of the black sheep of the family) when he was 12. His parents like to say that's because Maria's place was closer to the school he was going to and she had money and was willing to take care of him, but the truth of the matter is: Sally came out to his parents, and his dad in particular felt really uncomfortable having him around.
Maria was much more tolerant, but Sally still kind of took it hard, and started drinking when he was 14. He was pretty much drinking all through high school, dropped out at 17, got his GED, and has tried a couple of times to get himself together. But part of Sally's problem is that he's really enthusiastic about whatever's happening right now, especially if there's wine involved (he's never like hard liquor, which he thinks makes him not an alcoholic), and then when he sobers up or the situation changes he just kind of cools. He's lost boyfriends, friends, teachers, sponsors, jobs, because of that flightiness.
Cool, sounds good. Now we give Sally up to six hobbies and/or skills. Well, let's say "partying" is one. Heck, we'll go further and say "dancing." Sally is also a good cook (Maria taught him), and he actually considered trying to be a sommelier, but he really doesn't have the patience. Kinda want Sally to be good at something artistic. Let's say whittling; it's easy to do on the go (provided he can carry his knife). And, finally, we'll say Sally gives great massages. Maybe he could be merged with an octopus or something.
Right, now we pick a card to represent someone that Sally has a history with; that is, one of the many established characters on the island. Let's randomly pull a card (there are a bunch of random Tarot card generators online, what a time to be alive). I get...The Hierophant, which is Professor Greg Walters. He was an English prof who had an affair with a grad student and got kind of ruined. Not my first thought for someone who would have crossed paths with Sally, but we could make it work. I don't have to figure out how they met, since that would be solidified in play.
Finally, we describe how Sally got here. Well, I think Sally probably met someone from Feral Labs (yes, really), had some drinks, and they described this beautiful island paradise where Sally could go and learn about wines and maybe start up a vineyard? I mean, you never know, that might be awesome! And Sally signed the paper agreeing to the medical testing (he barely remembers being told about that), and next thing he knows...here he is.
I think Sally is in his mid-20s at this point. Black hair, brown eyes, always been slim but starting to pudge out a bit now as the wine catches up with him. But hey, here on the island, he can swim and take it right off. Starting tomorrow.
Salvatore "Sally" Gilardi
Card: The Lovers - Reversed
Occupation: None
Role: Islander
Sexuality: Mostly gay, but buy me a drink
Age: 24
Pronouns: He/him/they
Hobbes & Skills: Partying, dancing, whittling, massage, cooking
No comments:
Post a Comment