You know, you can never have too many punk sub-genres in the world. I mean for me, it just never gets old. And thanks to Cathal here at the Bomb, I have discovered a new genre to play in. You see my game system's fantasy settin, TAG's RuinCrawl, was always supposed to have an edge, and delve into the dark fantasy themes of say Clark Ashton Smith and Brian McNaughton, while deconstructing what has become FRPG. But beyond ample use of the word "grave-robber" in the play-test sessions, where I always had pre-generated characters for the players, I just couldn't quite get my mind as to how to find anything nifty and original.
While generating the characters in a chatroom, only three of us playing live within the same State, I discovered it-- as well as a typo or an area needing improvement here and there also. One of the players noticed the piecemeal acquisition of equipment, armor, and weapons, and asked if the game was "post-apocalyptic?"
I swear Athena whispered in my ear when I answered, "If you mark the end of the world as the sacking of Rome, this is straight up Road Warrioresque."
Wallah! Sandal Punk is born. I am just sitting back and coming up with all sorts nifty angles to throw around in my 500 A.D.-style world of Elder. And it's not just stuff like the bits and pieces of booty. Did you know that the guys who sacked my Rome, Atyr, not only had Mohawk haircuts, but were lead by a guy, Rejnark, the GoblinKing, who wore a white-gold face mask that resembles a hockey goalie mask? And I thought I was being radical when my non-human kinds included goblins and apes as well as elves and dwarves. And wait until you see what I do with Witching Ways!
Enthusiasm for haircuts and B-movie props aside, having a group of good friends come together for an evening of word-formed, as in no miniatures or a video game going on around us, role-playing was quite invigorating. Luckily I happen to have five of best players of all time so far.
Tags: Perytongamers SwordandSorcery TAG WorldofElder
