New World Creation Project, needs some help.

[Death_Jester]

For those that do not know the website of www.harpingmonkey.com is sponcering something called International World Creation Month. It is a direct out growth (read blatent copy of) NaNoWriMo. The goal is to get on paper 50,000 words about a unique setting. I posted this over there but I wanted to post it here as well to see what kind of information the good peope at the hero games board could offer.

Hello Everyone,

First off I want to say thanks to Mick, Chris and KJ for putting out the idea of InWoCreMo to the patrons at the Monkey. I have had several settings and worlds in my head for a while now. January will give me an excuse to put them on paper (or electronic media at least). More than likely I will end up doing a fantasy campaign setting based on my own combination of Tolkien, Moorcock and Lovecraft but I wanted to throw this out there and get your feedback.
One of the other worlds I have been thinking about is a world much like our own but not Earth per se. It is planet much like Earth in technology but that is about the end of the similarity. Also add to this world the fact that superheroes have existed for about a century as well. So, Super-Heroic Fantasy based in a modern but non-Earth setting.
I know what you’re thinking, “Why not just put it on the earth and be done with it?” Well, I have my reasons to divorce it from our own home planet. Most of it is just to get the players off-balance a little. I also want to do it because I have never seen it done before and especially not done by me. ;D I know this concept has been sort of used by Shadowrun that takes our earth and turns it into a fantasy setting. What I want to do is take a constructed world and make it into a modern-like setting and add supers to the mix.
I have been doing pretty standard fantasy settings since starting to play DnD. I’m familiar with constructed worlds but I have never seen one used to tell superhero stories. I think this is a genre that would work with making a completely unique world.
What I could use from this community is a list of things that I may need to think about and plan for to give the verisimilitude of a place like modern earth using the same techniques that would go into creating a standard fantasy campaign. I don’t mean things like mapmaking and physical world creation – I have that covered. I’m looking for sources for developing modern cultures, technology, a reasonable history in a world capable of the information age, and so on. Plus, ideas for how supers might have impacted the world in the past hundred years; how supers might have evolved into the tights and masked four-color or even Alan Moore-esque heroes that would be current in my world (with a little more depth than they wear capes and costumes to hide their identity).
Does this seem like something anyone would be interested in hearing or reading about? If so, how would you do it? I’m a little stumped, to be honest. I’ve been stuck too long with elves and dwarves to be easily able to go to modern-day, non-earth supers. Any help Ideas or direction you can give would be appreciated.
Thanks for your time in advance.
Jester.

[David Johnston]

This is one of those ideas which is so vague that it is difficult to respond to.
One thing you could do with an original world though is play around with actual major nations which are, for example, ruled by an oligarchy of superhumans, or perhaps a constitutional monarchy where the monarchs have superpowers. You could also consider the possibilities that this world never largely abandoned polytheism because the beings worshipped as gods are very real and actually respond to entreaties for assistance.

[Death_Jester]

Ok, David,

I see your point buddy. It is a little vague at this point. I apologize for that, but I know what I need, it is just hard to express. Let me try and clear it up a bit. What I am looking for from the boards are some resources for creating a modern day campaign setting that is not set on earth. I need a way of simulating the kind of history, culture and religious detail you would find on a planet in the midst of its own information age. Things that will create a verisimilitude of a real world while at the same time not be the earth that they know.

Ideally people posting here would just leave their thoughts about a project like this. What would they like to see, what challenges this would create for the GM to address. Mostly what does the GM have to consider when taking on a project like this. What kind of things does a campaign setting like this need in order to feel complete and “real” enough that the players can over look the fact that it is not earth. Mostly I'm looking for resources in the form of either poster’s thoughts, links to online resources (tools, generators ect) for things related to this topic, or just links to articles that may spark the imagination of someone just getting started on this kind of project. I'm getting ready to chart waters that are a little new to me. I would at least like to get a feeling for what I maybe need in the future to make this campaign and setting work.

As for your thoughts David they sparked off some thoughts of my own and I appreciate you taking the time to post.

[David Johnston]

I recommend checking out the CIA fact book for a format in which to present your descriptions of the major nations of Ultim.