Random idea: Living Duskwall
What: Some sort of online record of the history of each Faction as it unfolds in play among all groups using the online record. Plus, updated status of each Faction’s Hold, Tier and ongoing endeavor, whenever those things change.
How: The book will give all play groups the same starting info about the same Duskwall Factions. From there, it’s easy enough to check a wiki page for additional info on a Faction you’ve taken an interest in, and then to update that page after play.
Why: In an RPG which challenges you to make your mark on the setting, giving your mark an audience and sense of permanence and reality is very rewarding!
Risks: Since it won’t be practical for Crews to interact with each other during play, some sort of contrivance will often be necessary, and, “No, you can’t go attack/meet with this other group in your city, for, uh, some reason or other,” may the dent the impression of Duskwall being a real place.
But… On the other hand, there’s no reason multiple groups couldn’t strategize with each other in between sessions, e.g. forming deals to both help Factions they both have a stake in.
Self-Selection: Opting into Living Duskwall would be a commitment, and groups that aren’t enthusiastic about that commitment would be advised to steer clear and let their own Duskwall come alive at their own table, period. For other groups, though, some might get a huge kick out of having their deeds immortalized, and on getting between-session updates on the world.
Thoughts?
Sounds rather TORG-ian and Infiniverse Newsletter to me, what with Rumors that come true in the various alternate worlds…
Nice idea, a bit Pathfinder-esc, with player factions influencing the world. Although it’s less a case of which faction does well, and more a case of how often a specific faction (like the Crows or the Red Sashes) gets screwed over.
If different groups did want to all exist in the same city as other PCs, I could see a few different GMs all do a wiki together, and describe how one player group has affected a faction, and how another player group is attacking a different group. A bit like Diplomacy, since you don’t know what the other player groups will do on their turn/score/session.
Still it would be a lot of work to make a ‘global’ Duskwall.
For news of what happens in other Duskwalls, very cool. To actually share a setting… not for me, I think. It would vastly reduce the sense that the gameworld belongs to our group.
This might be fun for a multi-session convention event. Multiple tables that interface with one another during / between sessions.
Olav Borge Bondal Ken Mikkelsen Haakon Olav Thunestvedt