Speculative Re-enactment

[vaxjedi]

I've always liked the concept of the SCA. And I love LARPs and Interactive Fiction. But my major gripe about the SCA is the content - I'm just not into historical re-enactment. I want to be able to create things, new ideas, etc. So I always wondered if you could do that. There was a group at MiniCon called ROG, who had done that - they made up their own corner of the Star trek universe, made costumes and ship names, and did some gaming so they could have war stories. And they came to the con to party.

I always thought that was pretty cool.

Now, there are more organizations a little like this now. Starfleet, the Klingon Empire, the Goblin Horde, the Camarilla, etc. But I always wanted to make one with an open theme. Some sort of Speculative Re-enactment group (as opposed to historical re-enactment) where you could add the the universe if you wanted. World-build. Or, if you didn't want to, draw info or add to other people's worlds.

Those of you who knew me in college know i tried this with C4 (Cosmic Coincidence Control Center) - the idea was to make an overarching framework with room for people to develop these worlds. C4 was a time-travelling/parallel dimension para-military organization devoted to bringing about Utopia in every world. We had some good ideas, but it never got off the ground.

I have been thinking about it again. But maybe C4 was the wrong atmosphere. maybe a less scientific one, so you could have a wider degree of possible worlds. And no time travel, as that has all sorts of extra issues. And maybe not such a rigid organzation. Just a sort of 'between worlds' world and a society of adventurers.

And another idea - see if I can get some companies with backgrounds to sign up to let us use their background. Non-canon of course, but to encourage interest in their background. Backgroudns with parallel universe models (or that can be extended that way) would be perfect, like Sliders, Myst, Stargate SG-1, etc.

Comments?

Comments

[xiombarg.livejournal.com]

I think the original C4 ocncept was sound, but there were a couple of issues that we didn't address.

1. Critical mass. All these groups seem to require a certain number of enthusiastic participants before they get off the ground. Enthusiasm is infectuous and important. It's notable that both ROG and the SCA seem to involve parties and excuses to have more parties, which is certainly one obvious way to create enthusiasm.
2. There is an age-old question that people on the Forge ask someone with a new RPG concept: But what do the characters do? I think it's relevant here. In the SCA, the answer is simple: Dress up, fight, feast, and politic. In the original C4, the answer was less clear. Dress up, certainly... but anything else was more nebulous.

[duncang.livejournal.com]

Reall party.. I can see alot of C4 being about off-duty people meeting in the Base Lounge.
But what else...perhaps alien/speculative art.
SCA have a shared history/culture so they can do just about anything which falls in that history.. cooking/crafts/heraldry/society.... but with C4 with no common ground other then the C4 para-military structure.. you just don't have teh common ground to share.

[eleri.livejournal.com]

If you have a framework for shared live storytelling, then the common ground comes with the universe.

[duncang.livejournal.com]

I have actually had alot of success taking my C4 persona and bringing him to all manner of other games.
c4 is just such a rich rich universe, which I managed to get soo much good tuff out of. I can take him and walk into just about any world/universe/situation because there isn't anywhere he couldn't have been.

I would say the most sucessful place has actually been Master Zen Dao Meow.. this sort of online comic strip/interactive storytelling/Message board.
it's all basically Furries.. but they weren't strict about it at the bgeining, so I brougt in a "human". I have since left there, and as it got bigger/more popular it became way more "furry" so to speak.. ut in the early days it was a fantatsic outlet for creative/group storytelling. My persona would just show up from time to time and weave these rich stories about the places he had been and the people he had met.

But the key to success for the sort of thing your talking about is in my mind some slightly more "rigid" boundries. The one probelm with c4 is that everyone creates their own worlds and while it's great to have them all meet in a bar ala Callahans and talk about the crazy places they are from/been.. with out some guidlines people lose common ground and you never form the kind of cohesivness necessary. But at the same time.. the open options of C4 bring in alot more of the type of people you would find the most rewarding/interesting.. perhaps.

[ksteppe.livejournal.com]

The one C4 I was a part of was very cool - I still remember it. The great part for me afterwards was discovering how many parrellel story lines were occuring and how little I was aware of during the game. Now sitting around with cool people talking out all that would have been fantastic. Perhaps you need to specificly build in time for that party/debrief.