I really like post-apocalypse gaming. Not the "World War Z" zombie ones, really (survival horror isn't my thing), but rather the over-the-top Gamma World kind of game. Blasters, mutants, robots, half-buried statues of liberty.
I also really like fantasy gaming. Orcs, magic swords, spells, paladins fighting dragons, zombie hordes under the command of necromancers, etc. Piles of gold and jewels. The whole bit.
But I dislike mixing them in my own games.
For some reason, as soon as the "magic" is revealed to be "technology," I go a little sour on the whole thing.
I probably wouldn't mind playing in it, if I knew that kind of thing could happen or was definitely going to happen.
But it's not my cup of tea for my own games.
What's somewhat ironic about this is that I like both settings and I have a game system that would make adding post-apoc to my game trivial. As trivial as adding orcs into an AD&D game - just pull the stats out of a handy book. I know the rules will work, I know what the defaults for the PC's use of a "magic wand" that's actually .45 caliber would be, etc. The work is done for me. GURPS has plenty of books on the subject - Ultra Tech being just one of them.
I may at some point change my mind - I may run a one-shot or mini-campaign mixing the two. It would be a lot of fun to see how DF delvers deal with a post-apocalypse environment. I'm still undecided on introducing a form of explosives and black powder firearms into my game world. I'm leaning towards no, but it's an option I'm considering.
And I'm certainly up for busting out and re-starting my "Mutants & Mayhem" post-apocalypse game I ran a decade or so back for a group that included two of my current players.
But for my game, I just feel like the mix robs some of the magic from it for me, the GM.
So it's not likely to happen in my Felltower game. The magic is magical, not super-science. And I'm okay with that.
How about if the magic is magic, and the tech is tech - e.g. as in a Cthulhu adventure set in the present or near future?
ReplyDeleteI played in a mixed magic-and-tech game before - Armageddon. It was a lot of fun, since my guy was tech-happy but could be blindsided by the supernatural because of his lack of familiarity with it. But the key there is although the PC didn't come into the game believing in magic, I knew it was a mixed game, and I was ready for and interested in seeing them interact.
DeleteBut for some reason, when it comes to fantasy games, I just prefer not to mix them myself. Not without making that a clear tenant of the game from day one, and basing the game on it. That's why I like The Black City game of Beedo's so much, even if I probably wouldn't run it.
So, it's like they say, "Great Minds" and all that. ROFL
ReplyDeleteI should have linked to your post, because it reminded me I wanted to post about this. But I can't find the link at the moment.
DeleteI spoke a little about it in the Post "Adaptation, Horror on the Hill"
DeleteI take it you mentioned not having my link before you put it on your "Other Blogs" list.
Thanks, by the way. Honored.
http://mysticscholar.blogspot.com/
I used to like the idea of a post apocalypse setting that somehow brought magic into the world along side superscience. That is one reason I like the elves, dwarves and trolls to be faeries or extraplanar beings from magical worlds because this distinguishes them from mutants that are the result of radiation and genetic engineering gone wild. I like magic to be very different from technology if I combine the two.
ReplyDeleteMy post-apocalyptic setting does basically that. It has staggeringly high level of technology, although that kind of tech is not generally available. It also has cars, guns, etc. But I brought magic in as part of the apocalypse. It is not technology. They are completely different. There are faeries, etc. from the plane that crashed into the Material. There are also mutants. It has worked pretty well so far.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like fun. I just realized that it's not what I want run. :)
DeleteFunny...having everything already laid out (mixing DF and Ultratech for instance) is the siren's call for me! I love running GURPS because of that.
ReplyDeleteI have been thinking about dungeon delvers with WWII guns, sold to them by unscrupulous time travellers, who don't want to be eventually overrun, and therefore keep the laser blasters to themselves.
And here I was considering keeping crossbows out of my setting.
ReplyDelete