Entry: Masquerade

[bluegargantua]

Hi,

It's been awhile since I've done these, but it's a nice break from what I'm doing now.

So let's see:

Time: 3 Sessions of 3 hours each. (I really like the idea of the Time theme, but I feel it's execution is poor in this implementation, however, Iron Chef Chinese can't complain when the theme is Sturgeon so I guess I can't either)

Ingredients: Law, Actor, Team

When the Emperor died on the blades of an assassin disguised as a lowly servant, the Empire nearly fell into chaos. Before all was lost, three great Judges came forward and through their single-minded dedication to the Laws of Therodities, peace and order was restored. Now, each Judge sits over one of the three great provinces of the Empire and continues to uphold the Laws. From their high benches, the orders, injunctions and edicts come down that organize the whole of the Empire. The manner of the former Emperor's death led to two important restrictions. The first is that the Judges are figures of complete anonymity. They are sheltered from public view in an elaborate palanquin from which they issue their verdicts. No one knows who they really are or what they look like. The second great rule is that one's identity, role, and station in life is fixed. Impersonating someone else, even in jest, is the most serious of crimes. The Empire will Know it's every citizen and no one will pretend to be something they are not.

Needless to say, this had an instant and unpleasant affect on the many troupes of actors that played throughout the Empire. Unable to practice their trade, and unable to enter a new one, most quickly turned to petty thievery or perished. Among the survivors are the Emperor's Masks, once the greatest troupe in the Empire, the personal acting company of the Emperor himself. Now they scrounge a meager existence on the fringe of civilization, determined to win back their former glory.

For the past two weeks, the playwright of the troupe, "Wordcarver", has been siezed with inspriation. He's locked himself away in isolation and from his hovel strange lights and sounds have been heard. It's been whispered in the past that his writings have been guided by otherworldly spirits and while no one's ever placed much stock in it before, there's no one brave enough to disturb his work. Finally, last night, he burst forth from his quarters with strange dancing lights playing over him. He staggered towards the group, a sheaf of papers thrust out in front of him and then collapsed to the ground, dead.

When the troupe got up the nerve to approach him, they carefully took his script and read through it. The writing was inspired. It was a play. It was a plan. It was a prophecy. Reading Woodcarver's script, the troupe was filled with a sense of purpose. They would flaunt the Judge's sternest laws. They would pose as anyone and everyone they could to travel to the capital of each province, infiltrate the inner sanctum of the Judge there, kill him and then replace him with a member of the troupe. Once all three Judges were replaced, they could start changing the laws and bring freedom back to the Empire. The actors could play once again and the people would break free of the confining chains of the Law.

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So three sessions (one for each province). Three hours long (an hour for each "Act"). The GM gets to instigate "Laws", which fix fundamental ways in which the world works. The Players get to invoke the "Script" which gives them some incredible reality-avoiding powers ("Wait, he crawled through a sewer to get inside, but now he's utterly clean?" "He read the Script"). I feel like the Team (Troupe) element will come in to play in that they have to leave someone behind to impersonate the Judge so the effectiveness of the players drops over time. I also feel like there's going to be a limit of 4 players.

Should be fun
Tom

[matthijs]

Sounds cool.

1. What kind of laws?

2. When the PC's are constantly acting as someone else, what does this do to their sense of self?

3. When the players are playing PC's who are constantly acting, how do they get to know their PC's? Or are they even supposed to?

[bluegargantua]

[TonyLB]

Is the goal of the game to overcome every adversity that the GM can throw at people, through the wonderful power of make-believe (a.k.a. acting)?

Are there limits on how thoroughly a character can become a role? On what roles they can become? If confronted by a guard, can the actor become that guard so convincingly that the guard believes himself to be a fraud? Can an actor become the walls, a thought, the Law itself?

[Mark Bravura]

"It was a play. It was a plan. It was a prophecy."

Sounds like after-hours Malibu mayhem in an alternate universe: invigorating role-playing, to be sure! :~D

M.B.