mad rpg theory

drivingblind made a little post about Easter Eggs in S7S... on Easter, natch.

Those of you familiar with my writing style know that I do drop such things in -- and with S7S being one of the largest things I've ever written in the game industry, there are a bunch.

What I consider an "easter egg" (in my work, at least) includes allusions, references, remixes, mash-ups, reinterpretations, anagrammic games, and pseudo-tuckerizations.

Some of them are obvious (see the example in the comments on Fred's post), some are obscure enough that you'd have to have been there (like the pseudo-tuckerizations of some of the S7S playtesters). Some of them are so deeply arcane that probably only I get them -- mostly because

ratmmjess is too busy, and probably too uninterested, to hunt them down.

If you are one of the folks that's already got your PDF, and you think that you've located one of these eggs, head on over to Fred's post and join in the game!

http://drivingblind.livejournal.com/438026.html

And let me give you a starting hint: except for two of them (Crail and Sha Ka Ruq), there's something "eggy" about each of the Major Islands' names...

[s7s] Sigur & Livia

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Two characters who were important in the Alpha playtest of S7S: Sigur Stormeye and Livia Petro.

(I can only hope people link this on Monday; weekends usually have low readership, and holiday weekends even moreso.)

Let me give some context -- I ran two separate alpha playtests: "the Musketeers" and "the Pirates." The Musketeers ended up being a group of Crail Falons (involved in politics and finance), and the Pirates... well, they were piratical (involved with revenge and adventure).

I had grandiose plans: two halves of an over-arching story that would let me bring both local alpha groups together.

This never happened: both groups stalled (due to LIFE ISSUES) penultimately.

Dammit.

The Musketeers met up with Sigur, and saw the terror a Warmaster Griffin could wreak.

The Pirates met up with Livia, who had changed from NPC to PC (because a new player joined that game). Quickly, the PCs figured out that Livia Petro and "Imre Molnar" (

sharrukin) had actually been each other's intended.

She fled, and he was enslaved, because of politics related to their arranged marriage.

Rock on.

Here's the thing: Sigur and Livia were designed NPCs. I more or less knew how they'd react in a situation.

Handing Livia over to Melanie CHANGED that.

In a GOOD way.

In the penultimate sessions of each group, the "Pirates" were establishing a new, complex Barathi Noble House. The "Musketeers" ended up on a skyship headed for Barathi, ready for mayhem and skullduggery.

We never ran the big double-group session. ALAS!

You wanna hear a secret?

Sigur and Livia are my S7S interpretations of Popeye and Olive Oyl.

Look. See. Comment.

Filed Under: Atomic Sock Monkey, evilhat, game design, gaming, mad rpg theory, pdq, s7s, work journal, writing Tagged With: Atomic Sock Monkey, authors, Chad Underkoffler, evilhat, game design, gaming, mad rpg theory, pdq, s7s, work journal, writing

[t&j] Gedankenexperiment

brianrogers has posted an interesting idea in his LJ: Supers Thought Experiment - Does System Matter?.

Unfortunately, I'm pressed for time at the moment (working on three projects -- Spirit of the Season upgrade, The Dresden Files RPG, and Swashbucklers of the 7 Skies), but I should be able to comment on someone else's version.

Check it out!

Filed Under: Atomic Sock Monkey, evilhat, game design, gaming, mad rpg theory, pdq, s7s, work journal, writing Tagged With: Atomic Sock Monkey, authors, Chad Underkoffler, dresden, evilhat, game design, gaming, mad rpg theory, pdq, s7s, spirit of the season, truth-and-justice, work journal, writing

[s7s] EGGY HINT

[s7s] Easter Eggs in S7S

[s7s] Sigur & Livia

[t&j] Gedankenexperiment

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