Shadowsoul Posted May 7, 2009 Report Share Posted May 7, 2009 Just an idle thought inspired by a misreading of a post in the thread 'how do you like your fantasy games.' Snapdragon made a reference to a Byronic Hero and for a moment I thought someone had actually created a Hero setting based around Lord Byron. (Silly really because I've come across the term before). But now I'm wondering if it might not be such a bad idea. The setting would be Europe in the 18th and early 19th centuries. The plot would be a departure from the norms of Fantasy Gaming in which the players play dilettantes who move carelessly through a world of adventure, romance and perhaps even supernatural horror. They may worry only about the obstacles in their path or they may be riven by internal doubts, fears and obsessions, it would be up to the individual players to decide how 'Byronic' their characters would be. The setting draw upon a mixture of contemporary romance and adventure tales as well as gothic stories such The Monk, Mysteries of Udolpho and Byron's own writings such as The Vampyre and The Giaour. The players are out for themselves and do not have to work together, in an online version they may even be rivals from time to time. They may encounter mysteries and supernatural events but they do not make a living from solving such problems. Instead they pursue the dictates of their own natures, searching for love, excitement or fabulous wealth. The characters do not have to be amoral or even immoral but there would be a strong element of romantic goals and self oriented adventures. You might do something to help a friend but you probably wouldn't do it for a stranger. Freedom and player input would be very important. Player characters can travel around Europe at will, limited only by their desires and their means. You might choose to start alongside another PC and play a couple of young aristocrats sowing some wild oats while taking the Grand Tour of Europe or throw yourself into the deep end by playing the part of a Radcliffesque heroine trapped in a gothic castle by a malicious relative or cruel kidnapper. Or if that doesn't appeal then you could always be the handsome young rescuer hoping to free said heroine or perhaps a dissolute Byron clone looking to gain a little fun from the situation. You could spend time as a mercenary in Italy, then try your hand at being an amateur vampire hunter Germany before travelling to France in search of the perfect mistress only to escape the wrath of a jealous lover by fleeing to London and funding your attempts at breaking into the business world by moonlighting as a highwayman. There would be plenty of human enemies such as angry husbands, fathers and brothers, creditors, agents of the law, romantic rivals, bandits, soldiers and so on. But characters might also encounter the supernatural foes, devils in disguise, seductive vampires such as Lord Ruthven or Carmilla and perhaps even the hideous creature build by Doctor Frankenstein. While there would be a supernatural element this setting would stay reasonably close to its historical origins. So although players wouldn't have to know anything about Eighteenth Century Europe they'd have to make some effort to fit in e.g. speaking politely while in polite society and not using modern standards of morality, (always tricky). On the other hand pointing out flaws in the GM's depiction of Eighteenth Century history might result in a dragon eating your character. In the tradition of the less scandalous books of the age the results of any succesful seductions would be kept tastefully off camera. So, would Byronic Hero actually appeal to anyone else? Or am I just blowing smoke here? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbywolfe Posted May 7, 2009 Report Share Posted May 7, 2009 Re: Byronic Hero You should check out the book The Anubis Gate by Tim Powers. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Anubis_Gates Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucius Posted May 7, 2009 Report Share Posted May 7, 2009 Re: Byronic Hero I'd play. Unfortunately, you're in the UK and I'm in Indiana. Lucius Alexander Sator Arepo Tenet Opera Rotas - incantation to summon a palindromedary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadowsoul Posted May 7, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 7, 2009 Re: Byronic Hero Anubis Gate certainly looks interesting bigbywolfe. It certainly seems to be very complicated, which is always a plus. Maybe I'll check it out once I get through my current load of books. Nice to know that someone would actually play this game if I did run it Lucius. To be honest I think it would only work online but I understand if you're not interested in pbp. I have plenty of more mainstream ideas for my next campaign if this one doesn't turn up much interest. And to be honest my life is about to get a lot busier so maybe I should think of toning down the gming rather than dialling it up. Eh, let's see if there are any other responses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gojira Posted May 8, 2009 Report Share Posted May 8, 2009 Re: Byronic Hero Dunno if I'd play, but it sure sounds interesting. Anything well written and fun is worth looking at. I think the biggest hurdle would be that I don't know that much about the genre and the source material. The biggest plus was your description, which seemed to give a complete description and also painted a larger than life picture of the adventures. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lysando Posted May 8, 2009 Report Share Posted May 8, 2009 Re: Byronic Hero You might want to take a look at GURPS:Screampunk. It is quite possibly the worst-named GURPS supplement ever, it covers that "gothic" period around the turn of the 18th c. (or is that turn of the 19th? anyways, that period around 1800) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmadanNaBriona Posted May 8, 2009 Report Share Posted May 8, 2009 Re: Byronic Hero I'd play. I'm damn near a Byronic Hero myself anyway Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alibear Posted May 8, 2009 Report Share Posted May 8, 2009 Re: Byronic Hero Lee Majors would star in it ... sorry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnotherSkip Posted May 9, 2009 Report Share Posted May 9, 2009 Re: Byronic Hero me wife loves the jane austin stuff so at least id have a reasonable suite of intel to draw upon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markdoc Posted May 11, 2009 Report Share Posted May 11, 2009 Re: Byronic Hero You should check out the book The Anubis Gate by Tim Powers. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Anubis_Gates That was the same thing I thought of, with the addendum that The Stress of Her Regard would be even more apposite, since it includes Byron, Keats and the Shellys as major characters. Both great books. I had planned to swipe whole swathes from The Stress of Her Regard (and blend it with Declare, REH's Shahrazar stories, Hope Hodgson's House on the Borderlands and Clive Barker's Weaveworld) and use it as the background for my victorian "pulp" game, but that never got off the ground. cheers, Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snapdragon Posted May 13, 2009 Report Share Posted May 13, 2009 Re: Byronic Hero Just out of curiosity, but how much would this disad be worth: Tragic Flaw: has crazy wife locked up in the attic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snapdragon Posted May 13, 2009 Report Share Posted May 13, 2009 Re: Byronic Hero In all seriousness, you could probably only have one tragically flawed hero per game....and that person would have to keep their tragic flaw to themselves. The reason Byronic heroes work well as bad guys in regular fantasy games is motivation. On the outside, all you see is the highwayman killing the king's guards one by one at night. On the inside, you find out that a group of six king's guards kidnapped, raped and then killed the Byronic hero's fiance one night, and now he's out for revenge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadowsoul Posted May 13, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 13, 2009 Re: Byronic Hero I'd have to give players leeway to break out of the Byronic mold to some extent. Or even to go in a completely different direction as long as they fitted into the period. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucius Posted May 15, 2009 Report Share Posted May 15, 2009 Re: Byronic Hero Just out of curiosity, but how much would this disad be worth: Tragic Flaw: has crazy wife locked up in the attic. Dependent NPC: Crazy Wife in Attic 8- (Incompetent; Unaware of character's adventuring career/Secret ID) 20 pts Social Limitation: Married to a madwoman (Occasionally, Major) 10 pts Hunted: In Laws, lawyers, plus the whole weight of church, society, and state, striving to keep him as imprisoned as the lunatic he is unwillingly bound to. 8- (Mo Pow, NCI, Limited Geographical Area (He could always flee the country....), PC has a Public ID or is otherwise very easy to find, Watching) 10 pts Lucius Alexander A crazy palindromedary locked up in the attic Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucius Posted May 15, 2009 Report Share Posted May 15, 2009 Re: Byronic Hero I'd have to give players leeway to break out of the Byronic mold .... I heard Byron was a fun-guy, but not that he was moldy..... Lucius Alexander House of the Palindromedary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kal'El Wayne Posted May 15, 2009 Report Share Posted May 15, 2009 Re: Byronic Hero If someone here in the UK was running this live, I'd play. But my character would give in to the first vampire that tried to seduce him to become a vampire. Then I'd probably have to retire the character. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Hopcroft Posted May 22, 2009 Report Share Posted May 22, 2009 Re: Byronic Hero I HAD to rep this..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadowsoul Posted May 22, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 22, 2009 Re: Byronic Hero If someone here in the UK was running this live' date=' I'd play. But my character would give in to the first vampire that tried to seduce him to become a vampire. Then I'd probably have to retire the character.[/quote'] Never got round to answering this. A live version would have to be run in the UK anyway but I think that a character who tried to walk in Lord Ruthven's footsteps would be a bit much even for Byronic Hero. Retirement is a less violent term than the one I would use but it's along the right lines. Thanks for the thumbs-up Michael. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zane_Marlowe Posted May 22, 2009 Report Share Posted May 22, 2009 Re: Byronic Hero Has no one yet seen Pride and Prejudice and Zombies? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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