Future Knowledge

[Alverant]

Has anyone ever had any problems with the players having knowledge of events between the Pulp age and today? Things like which companies to invest in, inventions, who to avoid and who to befriend? If so, how do you deal with it?

 

The worst I've seen (and done) was with my Chicago native character talk about the Cubbies. "We're gonna win big this year." "We can't keep losing forever! We'll get the pennant in 10, 20 years tops!" It was all tongue-in-cheek and everyone got a nice chuckle out of it.

[assault]

Re: Future Knowledge

 

Has anyone ever had any problems with the players having knowledge of events between the Pulp age and today?

 

This is an issue with all historical settings. My usual way of dealing with it is to say up front: "This is a parallel universe. Things may or may not turn out the way they will in our world."

 

Things that aren't important, or are entertaining, remain the same. Anything that is being abused and/or is potentially game-breaking, changes.

 

The players can't complain if you tell them up front.

 

General rule of thumb: reward players who are clever and/or entertaining. Hose the others as gently as possible.

[Supreme Serpent]

Re: Future Knowledge

 

Expectations and communications. Key to any campaign, especially historically-based ones.

 

If you don't want players messing too much with historical events, let them know. However, as a GM you then need to do two things - one, give them plenty of other things to do and two, don't hose them when they don't change history. "Gee, well, you guys could have killed Hitler so it's your fault" is not a good recipe if you want to keep players from interfering.

 

Alternate timelines can be fun. As can working players into historical events sideways. Have them fight the mad scientist aboard the Hindenburg, and his lightning cannon ignites the airship, leaving the heroes scant seconds to escape. Oh, the humanity. Have them assisted on an adventure in California by a young man of the Order of DeMolay named Marion Morrison (who later becomes the actor John Wayne).

 

As for investments and such, just have lasting wealth cost points. Investing in the right companies/etc. is just the justification for the XP expenditure.

[Clonus]

Re: Future Knowledge

 

Has anyone ever had any problems with the players having knowledge of events between the Pulp age and today? Things like which companies to invest in, inventions, who to avoid and who to befriend? If so, how do you deal with it?

 

I deal with it by getting all the history wrong. Once the Germans have invaded England via a transatlantic tunnel they dug, players get out of the habit of assuming they'll know how World War II is going to go and that IBM will turn out to be a good investment.

[input.jack]

Re: Future Knowledge

 

Id have to second what Assault and Supreme Serpent said. Let then know that the timeline has been fairly parallel to our own until now, but that things may change.

 

Also, you can have the -causes- for things happening the way they did be different. Want to be an inside investor in IBM? Okay, but to be on the board of directors you have to join their CULT! Sacrifice a newborn baby to their Demon of Wealth and youre in!

["V"]

Re: Future Knowledge

 

Firstly of course the players have no guarantee that things will proceed as "real history" dictates - as has been stated above.

 

Secondly if the characters keep talking about future events IN CHARACTER they will soon get a reputation as weirdoes. Whether their predictions turn out right or wrong they will get noted. Heck, have a master villain spot their accurate predictions and have them kidnapped so that the MV can extract their pineal glands and drink the adrenochromic fluid within it so that he/she can share their precognition.

 

Thirdly I'm lucky I don't have players who are such bad roleplayers! I don't count the comments you mentioned above that were made in fun etc, but if any group tried to use non-character knowledge of future events for a real advantage my opinion of them would go way down. One player of mine is a cavalry captain in a mid 19th Century Ars Magica campaign I'm running. The player has rather glumly mentioned how long it will be till he gets shipped off to the Crimea and the Charge of the Light Brigade... but the character hasn't. And if that's where his orders send him that's where he'll go without "out-of-character" excuses. Mind you, the flip side of that is that he trusts me that it will be interesting to play through if he does get sent there...

 

(btw he won't! The politics of the Order of Hermes will keep him tangled up enough in England, to the extent that he'd probably prefer a few Russian cannons)

[assault]

Re: Future Knowledge

 

(btw he won't! The politics of the Order of Hermes will keep him tangled up enough in England' date=' to the extent that he'd probably prefer a few Russian cannons)[/quote']

 

Pity.

 

If I was running it, I'd sit down and reread Flashman at the Charge, and then send him to the Crimea.

 

The Flashman books are an invaluable resource for 19th Century games, incidentally.

[Cancer]

Re: Future Knowledge

 

I admit I'm probably the worst in our group for this ... not in terms of events, but in terms of science, in particular the physics surrounding the A-bomb, etc. If I'm playing a mad (or super) scientist character (which I tend to do) I try to hold it within the context of the era. I do try to communicate with the GM off-line about these things if it seems important to the game ... often it isn't, and then it's just flavor chatter.

[Narratio]

Re: Future Knowledge

 

I always remind people that, as it's a Pulp game which is not attached to reality, they'd better not expect the game reality to match real life. It's just common sense.

 

There were so many points in western scientific development where things could have gone another way, airships instead of airplanes, trolley bus' instead of cars, etc. Besides, if you're feeling mean, it's easy to divert players by using thier own actions against them. The Cubs will never win a world series as the PC's have just blown up their stadium. Now the Cubs are having to move to... Poughkeepsie.

["V"]

Re: Future Knowledge

 

Pity.

 

If I was running it, I'd sit down and reread Flashman at the Charge, and then send him to the Crimea.

 

The Flashman books are an invaluable resource for 19th Century games, incidentally.

 

Oh yes indeed - but since that player and I are both rabid fans of the Flashman series, I can hit him with more twists/turns/surprises by not doing that! I love the Flashman books, not least because of the meticulous research that goes into them - it's one of the reasons I chose the 1840s/1850s for my Ars Magica stuff, having learned a lot about the period as a result of the books.

[BigJackBrass]

Re: Future Knowledge

 

I deal with it by getting all the history wrong.

 

I use the same method, although in my case it's not deliberate...

[Savinien]

Re: Future Knowledge

 

I smack the players upside the head with the 2 Liter soda bottle, or beer bottles. Empty at my house, either way, if someone else is hosting.

[Mentor]

Re: Future Knowledge

 

Pity.

 

If I was running it, I'd sit down and reread Flashman at the Charge, and then send him to the Crimea.

 

The Flashman books are an invaluable resource for 19th Century games, incidentally.

 

I am running Flashman's grandson, Roger;) in a Pulp game in which the current year is 1906. He really believes his grandfather and is trying to live up to the image. As you say, no better reference.

["V"]

Re: Future Knowledge

 

I am running Flashman's grandson' date=' Roger;) in a Pulp game in which the current year is 1906. He really believes his grandfather and is trying to live up to the image. As you say, no better reference.[/quote']

 

Roger?

 

Perfect name...

 

I trust the double meaning is not lost on an American audience hence the smiley.