Dream Park Hero?

[Susano]

I just re-read Dream Park again, and have started on The Barsoom Project and then intend to follow-up with The California Voodoo Game. So, after finishing Dream Park I realized that the "South Seas Treasure Game" would make for a fun scenario. It might even make for a good Con Game, provided you were allowed around 8 hours to run it in.

 

However...

 

In my opinion, Dream Park's set-up, or to be more accurate, thje way the games are set up, is flawed. Instead of an International Gamers Society, it's a Fantasy Gamers Society, meaning you have to play as a Magic-User, Cleric, Thief, Warrior, or Engineer (they later add Scout). While fine and good for some settings, you end up with (in Dream Park) a Frankish knight in 1940s New Guinea (among other things). So... suppose one where to adapt the South Seas Treasure Game to an RPG engine (say... like HERO). How do you do it?

 

I see several options.

 

1) You make it a pure Pulp run. You make the PCs pulp-ish heroes with various heroic super-skills and the like and let them have at it. While you won't have any magic-tossing PCs (unlike in the novel

Dream Park

) you'd have a more believable set of PCs based on the background. Of course, you can always have a learned professor-type (akin to Indiana Jones) who knows the rituals and the like, in order to make some of the magic work.

 

Or

 

2) You play this akin to

Urban Fantasy Hero

. I was actually considering something akin to 1940s Dresden Files (which isn't that far of a stretch, come to think of it), and have sorcerers and the like running around. No "Clerics" per say, but Dresden does have paladins and holy swords. This is also akin to the world of

Silent Mobius

, in which magic was openly known in the 20th Century, thus making the idea of a team of warriors and magicians being sent by the West to battle an evil Cargo Cult somewhat plausible.

 

Or

 

3) Play the meta-game. You build your PC any way you like. Any time, any setting, any archetype. You don't sweat the "how did I get to 194x details and just run with it. While a colorful way to create your party, it seems somewhat unsatisfying to me.

 

By the way, PCs for The Barsoom Project are easy. Build modern-day characters and then get going. Your magic will come later, when the friendly natives grant you talismans and items of power to use against the enemy. As for The California Voodoo Game... I can't recall the story so I will have to wait until I read it again to consider how to implement it.

 

So... anyway, how do you suggest handling it?

[Hyper-Man]

Re: Dream Park Hero?

 

Now I have to go dig up my old copy of the Dream Park RPG.

 

[Susano]

Re: Dream Park Hero?

 

Having finished the trilogy I will reaffirm my opinion that the set-up is flawed, in that you use fantasy characters to adventure in decidedly non-fantasy settings (they mention a Terminator game, as well as one with cyborgs). So entire genres get left behind in favor of classic old-school basic D&D archetypes. There's also a highly antagonistic relationship between Gamers and GM.. or can, depending on the Game. I mean, in California Voodoo you have several characters killed off in the initial encounter, which is only an hour or so (if that) into a game taking several days to complete.

 

That said, the adventure presented in the first Dream Park novel has the perfect setting already made for it: Day After Ragnarok. I shall have to muse on this idea further.

[RexMundi]

Re: Dream Park Hero?

 

Now I have to go dig up my old copy of the Dream Park RPG.

 

 

Hey I HAVE that one to! Damn, now I want to dig out all my old R. Talsorian stuff.......CURSE YOU!!!! I just organized that box and took it to the storage area!

 

~Rex

[lapsedgamer]

Re: Dream Park Hero?

 

Having finished the trilogy I will reaffirm my opinion that the set-up is flawed' date=' in that you use fantasy characters to adventure in decidedly non-fantasy settings (they mention a Terminator game, as well as one with cyborgs). So entire genres get left behind in favor of classic old-school basic D&D archetypes. There's also a highly antagonistic relationship between Gamers and GM.. or can, depending on the Game. I mean, in [i']California Voodoo[/i] you have several characters killed off in the initial encounter, which is only an hour or so (if that) into a game taking several days to complete.

 

That said, the adventure presented in the first Dream Park novel has the perfect setting already made for it: Day After Ragnarok. I shall have to muse on this idea further.

 

I always though that Larry Niven and Steven Barnes knew about D&D, but that they did not really know D&D. They got the basics down, but i doubt that either of them were players, so they missed the subtlety of the interaction between the DM and the players and what it takes to have a good game. You can't too upset with them. The books are generally enjoyable, and I've played with many real DMs who don't get the little things either.

[Susano]

Re: Dream Park Hero?

 

I always though that Larry Niven and Steven Barnes knew about D&D' date=' but that they did not really know D&D. They got the basics down, but i doubt that either of them were players, so they missed the subtlety of the interaction between the DM and the players and what it takes to have a good game. You can't too upset with them. The books are generally enjoyable, and I've played with many real DMs who don't get the little things either.[/quote']

 

That's my impression as well. They knew about gamings and knew the concept behind gaming, but... they never went beyond basic D&D's concept. By the time the last novel came out, Champions was into it's 4th Edition (for example), GURPS was out, and things were changing all across the gaming spectrum... but they still have classes, levels, hit points, and saving throws.... At least they didn't use fire-and-forget spells.

[Haerandir]

Re: Dream Park Hero?

 

I've toyed with similar ideas, whether for adapting Dream Park, or Steppe by Piers Anthony, another novel built around the conceit of a world-wide LARP. Many years ago, in the pages of one Hero supplemant/fanzine or other (Haymaker? Adventurer's Club? I'll have to hit my bookshelves and see if I can find it), I stumbled across an article about playing Hollywood actors, where you would have your core character (the actor), and in each story line you'd get a suite of powers/abilities to represent the role you were playing in your current TV show/movie (this month I'm a Space Marine! One with soulful eyes girls drool over. Not like last month, when I was a fireman with soulful eyes girls drool over!). Thus, your actual character was primarily a function of the things that made him a good actor, and his other abilities were determined by the scenario. Something similar could work for Dream Park.

 

So, rather than advancing a specific character with a set background, as you participated in more Dream Park games, you'd build a suite of abilities that would allow you to get more out of the roles you took on, or more control over the roles you were offered, or something along those lines. Perhaps a system modeled on Resource points? Or a set of Talents and/or Perks that defined certain meta-game abilities you picked up by various means? Or both?

[Susano]

Re: Dream Park Hero?

 

The issue is, I'm not interested in modeling Dream Park as a game, I am interested in adapting the adventure in the first novel to into a stand-alone min-campaign.

[RexMundi]

Re: Dream Park Hero?

 

Then you adapt it as part 2.

 

~Rex

[Susano]

Re: Dream Park Hero?

 

Then you adapt it as part 2.

 

~Rex

 

Which would preserve the feel of the original adventure. However, I'll admit, setting it in the world of DAR would also rock on toast....

[RexMundi]

Re: Dream Park Hero?

 

Right but 1 shots are all about "The Feel".

 

~Rex

[Susano]

Re: Dream Park Hero?

 

Harry Dresden versus Cargo Cultists....

[RexMundi]

Re: Dream Park Hero?

 

Works for Harry.

 

~Rex.....just Finished Turn Coat ......is using the playtest copy of the Dresden Files RPG to level his work desk.....

[Susano]

Re: Dream Park Hero?

 

Works for Harry.

 

~Rex.....just Finished Turn Coat ......is using the playtest copy of the Dresden Files RPG to level his work desk.....

 

Sounds like you're not impressed with the RPG.

[RexMundi]

Re: Dream Park Hero?

 

I'm not. They've done good work on it, but FATE, the game engine, not a fan of.

 

~Rex

[Susano]

Re: Dream Park Hero?

 

I'm not. They've done good work on it, but FATE, the game engine, not a fan of.

 

~Rex

 

Is that what Spirit of the Century uses? 'cause I didn't like that engine either.

[Chimera 12]

Re: Dream Park Hero?

 

Is that what Spirit of the Century uses? 'cause I didn't like that engine either.

 

By my understanding, pretty much, yes. Or at least pretty close -- the current version of FATE hasn't quite settled down yet and so Spirit of the Century and, for example, Starblazer Adventures use mechanics that differ in small ways in execution. I expect that the Dresden Files engine won't be exactly like SotC either.

 

As for the quality of the engine itself...well, I haven't had the opportunity to try it out in practice, so I shan't comment. Though some of the core concepts certainly sound intriguing enough.

[RexMundi]

Re: Dream Park Hero?

 

Perpetual Motion and Cold Fusion sound good to but much like FATE, they don't work. Honestly, if I had the ip License for the Dresden Files, I would have released it as Multi System content, much like the old Trouble for Havoc module from back in the day. Make a stab at HERO 6, the upcoming "Pathfinder Modern", and one other system just to prove I could do it.

 

~Rex

[IndianaJoe3]

Re: Dream Park Hero?

 

Many years ago' date=' in the pages of one Hero supplemant/fanzine or other (Haymaker? Adventurer's Club? I'll have to hit my bookshelves and see if I can find it), I stumbled across an article about playing Hollywood actors, where you would have your core character (the actor), and in each story line you'd get a suite of powers/abilities to represent the role you were playing in your current TV show/movie (this month I'm a Space Marine! One with soulful eyes girls drool over. Not like last month, when I was a fireman with soulful eyes girls drool over!). Thus, your actual character was primarily a function of the things that made him a good actor, and his other abilities were determined by the scenario.[/quote']

 

That was in one of the Almanacs, but I can't remember which.

[torchwolf]

Re: Dream Park Hero?

 

That was in one of the Almanacs' date=' but I can't remember which.[/quote']

That was 'Running Cinema Campaigns' by Bruce Tong and Greg Lloyd, Hero System Almanac 2 p69-76. It features several references to Dream Park, actually.

In the same book, you can also find 'So You Want to be a Rock'n Roll Star' by Bruce Harlick and L. Douglas Garrett (p44-51) for another unusual genre.

[Starlight]

Re: Dream Park Hero?

 

This is slightly off the main topic but still relating to Dream Park. One of the features of Dream Park I've thought about trying to implement, but never done so as yet, is having the other players play NPC's in those scenes where one or more characters has the spotlight.

 

While the idea is highly appealing the downside that's discouraged me is the sheer amount of work required in fleshing out all those NPC's to the point a player can pick up the NPC and play the NPC in a manner consistent with the underlying game logic.

 

Has anyone tried this? If so, how did it work?

[RexMundi]

Re: Dream Park Hero?

 

Works well enough if you have the "THIS IS HOW THIS NPC ACTS!" written out clearly and concisely, with a few examples. Fills up a 3x5 card basically.

 

~Rex