[RP] Shock: Shared Memories (UNBRIDLED WORLD BUILDING!)

bluecoat · **Posted:** February 10th, 2013, 3:27 am

Shock is a tabletop game I picked up tonight that I think might lend itself to this forum pretty well. It's basically a system designed to 1) Share creation of a social-commentary science-fiction world (Blade Runner, Moon, The Giver), and 2) Create individual stories of people trying to get by in said world.

Having just run my first world creation session tonight, I think we should give at least that part of the rules a shot. Following that... there's a lot of stuff that could happen. Might be a good way to kick off some of the old RP threads that seem to have died at the hands of Mafia and DnD. Might be a good way to start up a writing competition in the vein of Machine of Death.

Rules for world creation:

Someone suggests a "shock", the thing that changes society. This can be anything, as long as everyone agrees it's awesome. The guy who told me about this game had the shock of "space ships can travel faster than light speed." My game, it was "The US government endorses and distributes drugs to the populace."

Next, players list "issues" they have with the shock. These can be anything defining the society under the conditions of the shock. In the space ship example, the ships were alive, meaning that planets colonized were essentially growing food exclusively for the ships. For the drugs example, poverty reigned, health care was in disarray for a whole host of reasons, religions were at odds with the government, and the environment had gone to hell from all the chemical dumping.

Players then fill in the "minutia" of the issues. The little details that really affect everything. Before this can happen though, players have to declare "ownership" of an issue. Doesn't matter if they made it or not. But this gives the players free reign to flesh out the details of issues and the shock (one person gets ownership of this one). Only deal is, you can't step on anyone else's toes. This means if your minutia caries over between issues to someone else's, make sure they're alright with your suggestion first. Spaceship example: Those planets that grow food? Basically giant plantations, leading to horrific living conditions for humans across the galaxy if they're unlucky enough to be colonizing. Drugs example: The religious protests ended in violence, and only the major churches continue to exist in the nation. People now know that speaking out against the government's practices means death.

Any further issues or minutia can get thrown into the mix at any time, again, as long as everyone thinks it's cool. We don't necessarily have to worry about that though.

If this sounds like fun to anybody, say so and/or jump right into major shock suggestions. This game doesn't have a GM or anything, so it's a little anarchic. If it comes down to it, that's what polls are for. LETS SEE WHAT RV CAN CREATE.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Shock: People who touch can share memories

The Issues:

The world is a very "open" place. Owned by Arya

There are no secrets. Owned by Pengu

Romance is weird. Adultery is a highly punishable offence. Owned by Arya

Police work is an easy job. Owned by Arya

Criminal syndicates have invested in memory wiping technology to prevent memory from being an issue for a crime. Owned by Market Man

There are memory banks, some of them criminal in nature, some of them for protection purposes. Owned by Market Man

Politicians are constantly in fear of being busted for scandals. Creates tension in world government. No current owner

Class stratification, with the worst workers unable to get jobs, and those who are good at certain tasks getting jobs immediately. Owned by bluecoat

Dictatorships across the world are difficult to form, but once in place, maintain themselves highly effectively. Owned by bluecoat

Most art is obsolete, as touching conveys stories more efficiently. Owned by Pengu

Conflicts are caused by dissonance between memories. Owned by Market Man by power of coin flip

A science of preserving dreams has formed. Owned by bluecoat

Riptide · **Posted:** February 10th, 2013, 10:35 am

I love how you find all these crazy ideas, Blue.

Topsummoner · **Posted:** February 10th, 2013, 11:49 am

Sounds cool.

What about a world in which reddit karma was real world currency?

I think society as we know it would crumble.... all kinds of implications.

PenguinGuy · **Posted:** February 10th, 2013, 12:20 pm

Topsummoner wrote:

What about a world in which reddit karma was real world currency?.

I would love to participate in this game, though I have not yet thought of a good "Shock." I'll post one later when I feel it's significant enough.

Market Man6 · **Posted:** February 10th, 2013, 1:18 pm

Perpetual motion is attained/achieved/discovered

PenguinGuy · **Posted:** February 10th, 2013, 1:33 pm

Market Man6 wrote:

Perpetual motion is attained/achieved/discovered

Or better yet, Laws of Thermodynamics break down.

bluecoat · **Posted:** February 10th, 2013, 2:45 pm

I like the perpetual motion one, but lets keep this going.

World hunger has been solved... by population control.

PenguinGuy · **Posted:** February 10th, 2013, 5:14 pm

Modified from this SMBC comic: http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db ... 2305#comic

A utopian future society is built off a seemingly limitless, free energy source. However, that energy source suddenly disappears.

Market Man6 · **Posted:** February 11th, 2013, 8:46 am

Every time contact is made between two people, their memories are shared.

bluecoat · **Posted:** February 15th, 2013, 12:01 pm

Made a poll with the currently pitched options. Vote for any you think are awesome.

This doesn't mean you can't continue to post ideas, by the way. New ideas will be added to the poll.

bluecoat · **Posted:** February 19th, 2013, 3:41 pm

The top three choices need to be decided on, combined, modified, whatever. I personally think the first two could work really well in one shock, but I'm really partial to the memory sharing setting though.

Kikori · **Posted:** February 19th, 2013, 6:03 pm

( ) Source of unlimited energy disappears

... Disappears? Appears. We never had one.

bluecoat · **Posted:** February 19th, 2013, 7:31 pm

Kikori wrote:

( ) Source of unlimited energy disappears

... Disappears? Appears. We never had one.

Suggested by Pengu, from SMBC. Wasn't a typo.

PenguinGuy · **Posted:** February 19th, 2013, 8:55 pm

Kikori wrote:

( ) Source of unlimited energy disappears

... Disappears? Appears. We never had one.

The idea is that a futuristic, utopian society is created using a unlimited power-source, which becomes the foundation of the new world. One day, that power-source disappears.

bluecoat · **Posted:** February 21st, 2013, 5:38 pm

Closing the polls now. "People who touch share memories" wins!

The next step is to come up with some issues this would create in the world, in one-three sentences (this is an arbitrary limit on my part). List them as bullets, and the next few posts should list which of the ideas they like and don't like. If an issue has no opposition, it ends up in the final list.

Suggestions:
-Because of the capacity for crimes based on intimate details, people typically wear full clothing and masks to prevent touching.
-Criminal syndicates have invested in memory wiping technology (to keep police from being able to gather evidence against them).

PenguinGuy · **Posted:** February 21st, 2013, 6:41 pm

bluecoat wrote:

Suggestions:
-Because of the capacity for crimes based on intimate details, people typically wear full clothing and masks to prevent touching.
-Criminal syndicates have invested in memory wiping technology (to keep police from being able to gather evidence against them).

I think a more "open" society will be more interesting than a "closed" society, if that makes sense. If sharing memories is a part of culture, very common, completely acceptable, I think that will lead to more interesting universe than if sharing is more of a taboo. Both will certainly be interesting, but I like the prospect of a more positive world than the seemingly negative world.

Market Man6 · **Posted:** February 22nd, 2013, 4:45 am

-a collective memory bank is created where people CAN(or are forced to??) deposit their memories. This is done so the human race can advance at a much faster pace with all knowledge being common knowledge.

Quote:

Criminal syndicates have invested in memory wiping technology (to keep police from being able to gather evidence against them)

-people create personal memory banks to back up their memories. This will combat against the people that choose to use the aforementioned Memory Wiping Technology (MWT) as a weapon.

Topsummoner · **Posted:** February 22nd, 2013, 8:45 am

PenguinGuy wrote:

bluecoat wrote:

I think a more "open" society will be more interesting than a "closed" society, if that makes sense. If sharing memories is a part of culture, very common, completely acceptable, I think that will lead to more interesting universe than if sharing is more of a taboo. Both will certainly be interesting, but I like the prospect of a more positive world than the seemingly negative world.

+1

Arya · **Posted:** February 22nd, 2013, 10:10 am

PenguinGuy wrote:

bluecoat wrote:

Suggestions:
-Because of the capacity for crimes based on intimate details, people typically wear full clothing and masks to prevent touching.
-Criminal syndicates have invested in memory wiping technology (to keep police from being able to gather evidence against them).

I think a more "open" society will be more interesting than a "closed" society, if that makes sense. If sharing memories is a part of culture, very common, completely acceptable, I think that will lead to more interesting universe than if sharing is more of a taboo. Both will certainly be interesting, but I like the prospect of a more positive world than the seemingly negative world.

People would have no secrets and every fiber of their being would be anyone's knowledge at the slightest touch. All the negatives within the world keep "life" balanced and if everything becomes too positive everyone would be living a "lie" because they must adapt to change their ways from having a mystery to being an open book. You would be forced to think about what you do before you act, which is an upside, but that would take the risk and challenge out of life trying to be the "perfect" person knowing if you messed up anyone/everyone would soon know.

Riptide · **Posted:** February 22nd, 2013, 3:18 pm

It sure as hell would make police work a lot easier.

[RP] Shock: Shared Memories (UNBRIDLED WORLD BUILDING!)

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