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Three things, I've been itching to work on lately: an Alejandro Jodorowsky levels of excess type story, a piece of direct and timely and local (I live in the Philippines) social commentary, and a roleplay. I hope this play satisfies all three.
Miserable: lots of blood, lots of poverty, lots of sex. I want to exaggerate all the social, political, economical, and even environmental problems that my nation has (or rather, the problems that I know of -- the problems that are, for the most part, obvious), both to create a sort of Brechtian alienation/enlightenment among the audience, and simply because I like excess (really, who doesn't?). So no, this is probably not going to be PG-13.
Quasi-Futuristic: occasional bastions of operatic utopia punctuating vast fields filled with below-feudal levels of suck, all composed technologically of a rough balance between the contemporary, the futuristic, and the fantastical -- ultimately, something like Alejandro Jodorowsky meeting Suzanne Collins.
Filipino: not necessarily the language or the point of view, I do understand that this forum is international, but certainly the locales and the whole social-political-economical-environmental status (albeit exaggerated, as the above two criteria demand). This shouldn't be a problem in terms of player engagement, though: probably no one is gonna be allowed to play a native, and ultimately one nation's struggle is every nation's struggle. What this could be a problem of is in terms of political correctness -- another warning -- although by lack of political correctness, I do not mean loss of civility or outright bigotry, respecting the rules of both the site and humanity in general.
Revolution: and here's where the political incorrectness sets in. This story should be about a bunch of foreigners visiting the country for what seems to be a variety of reasons, but ultimately getting swept up, either on purpose or by accident, in a clash against the establishment, with the possibly politically incorrect bit being that the nature of this foreign intervention should be set up so as to look like the CIA (or something) is involved, and that the powers that be are going to be based on real personalities and junk.
So far, the only concrete stuff I've developed is the general outline of both plot and setting, since I plan to tie the progression of the plot to the progression of the setting. The story should be set in the island of Luzon, divided, as it is in real life, into seven regions, and with the characters moving up from the southernmost region to the northernmost edge of the map (although not straightforwardly). The first region, Bicol, is essentially a wasteland, with the local volcanoes exploding simultaneously a little fiercer than usual. The second region, Southern Luzon, is an lush tropical utopia of sorts, supported by a seedy underbelly of poor folks and criminals. The third region, the Capitol, is a vast city, its center all clean and white and perfect, while the rest of it all dingy and poor and compressed. The fourth region, Central Luzon, is a vast farmland, governed essentially like medieval Europe, with serfs and weaponized aristocrats and junk. The fifth region, Northern Luzon, is an industrially ruined valley, its mountains turned inside-out by the mines, its lakes and rivers polluted by badly managed fishing industries. The sixth region, the Mountains, is a great mountain range cutting through the heart of the island, home to a vast tourist trap exploiting the tribal culture that once dominated the region, and to great swathes of impassable forest populated by the local rebel groups. The seventh region, Ilocos, is esentially the same as Southern Luzon, although more successful in hiding its much, much seedier underbelly.
The revolution is supposed to progress with our characters either leading or being led to the fight against the nine villainous leaders of the island, with each leader representing both a planet and what I view to be a corrupted aspect of our society here. From Bicol is the opportunistic Mayor, exploiting the devastation of the region to gain power; his planet is Mercury. From Southern Luzon is the equally opportunistic Capitalist, exploiting this time the natural resources and cheap but unfairly treated workforce to gain capital; his planet is Venus. From the Capitol is the Duke, the face of the establishment, being the leader of the local media; his planet is the Sun. From Central Luzon is the Enforcer, a greatly deformed cyborg enforcing the poor state of affairs of the local farmers; his is Mars. From Northern Luzon is the President, the leader of the country, ultimately holding all political and martial control over the nation; his is Jupiter. From the Mountains is the Magistrate, Saturn, the corrupt leader of the courts; the Scientist, Uranus, the blind leader of the nation's secret research programs; and the Prophet, Neptune, the deluded head of the state church. And finally, from Ilocos is the Iron Butterfly, Moon, the wife of the former President, the chief adviser of the current President, and the woman considered to be the mother of the nation, ultimately of the current, terrible-to-most state of affairs. Then, once all the leaders are defeated, the adventure ends, though not necessarily on a positive note -- after all, a revolution is not tied to its leaders. Most everything else is fair game, for now.
Miserable: lots of blood, lots of poverty, lots of sex. I want to exaggerate all the social, political, economical, and even environmental problems that my nation has (or rather, the problems that I know of -- the problems that are, for the most part, obvious), both to create a sort of Brechtian alienation/enlightenment among the audience, and simply because I like excess (really, who doesn't?). So no, this is probably not going to be PG-13.
Quasi-Futuristic: occasional bastions of operatic utopia punctuating vast fields filled with below-feudal levels of suck, all composed technologically of a rough balance between the contemporary, the futuristic, and the fantastical -- ultimately, something like Alejandro Jodorowsky meeting Suzanne Collins.
Filipino: not necessarily the language or the point of view, I do understand that this forum is international, but certainly the locales and the whole social-political-economical-environmental status (albeit exaggerated, as the above two criteria demand). This shouldn't be a problem in terms of player engagement, though: probably no one is gonna be allowed to play a native, and ultimately one nation's struggle is every nation's struggle. What this could be a problem of is in terms of political correctness -- another warning -- although by lack of political correctness, I do not mean loss of civility or outright bigotry, respecting the rules of both the site and humanity in general.
Revolution: and here's where the political incorrectness sets in. This story should be about a bunch of foreigners visiting the country for what seems to be a variety of reasons, but ultimately getting swept up, either on purpose or by accident, in a clash against the establishment, with the possibly politically incorrect bit being that the nature of this foreign intervention should be set up so as to look like the CIA (or something) is involved, and that the powers that be are going to be based on real personalities and junk.
So far, the only concrete stuff I've developed is the general outline of both plot and setting, since I plan to tie the progression of the plot to the progression of the setting. The story should be set in the island of Luzon, divided, as it is in real life, into seven regions, and with the characters moving up from the southernmost region to the northernmost edge of the map (although not straightforwardly). The first region, Bicol, is essentially a wasteland, with the local volcanoes exploding simultaneously a little fiercer than usual. The second region, Southern Luzon, is an lush tropical utopia of sorts, supported by a seedy underbelly of poor folks and criminals. The third region, the Capitol, is a vast city, its center all clean and white and perfect, while the rest of it all dingy and poor and compressed. The fourth region, Central Luzon, is a vast farmland, governed essentially like medieval Europe, with serfs and weaponized aristocrats and junk. The fifth region, Northern Luzon, is an industrially ruined valley, its mountains turned inside-out by the mines, its lakes and rivers polluted by badly managed fishing industries. The sixth region, the Mountains, is a great mountain range cutting through the heart of the island, home to a vast tourist trap exploiting the tribal culture that once dominated the region, and to great swathes of impassable forest populated by the local rebel groups. The seventh region, Ilocos, is esentially the same as Southern Luzon, although more successful in hiding its much, much seedier underbelly.
The revolution is supposed to progress with our characters either leading or being led to the fight against the nine villainous leaders of the island, with each leader representing both a planet and what I view to be a corrupted aspect of our society here. From Bicol is the opportunistic Mayor, exploiting the devastation of the region to gain power; his planet is Mercury. From Southern Luzon is the equally opportunistic Capitalist, exploiting this time the natural resources and cheap but unfairly treated workforce to gain capital; his planet is Venus. From the Capitol is the Duke, the face of the establishment, being the leader of the local media; his planet is the Sun. From Central Luzon is the Enforcer, a greatly deformed cyborg enforcing the poor state of affairs of the local farmers; his is Mars. From Northern Luzon is the President, the leader of the country, ultimately holding all political and martial control over the nation; his is Jupiter. From the Mountains is the Magistrate, Saturn, the corrupt leader of the courts; the Scientist, Uranus, the blind leader of the nation's secret research programs; and the Prophet, Neptune, the deluded head of the state church. And finally, from Ilocos is the Iron Butterfly, Moon, the wife of the former President, the chief adviser of the current President, and the woman considered to be the mother of the nation, ultimately of the current, terrible-to-most state of affairs. Then, once all the leaders are defeated, the adventure ends, though not necessarily on a positive note -- after all, a revolution is not tied to its leaders. Most everything else is fair game, for now.
