Feng Shui Updating the Secret War?
From: Amertes Posted on: 9/19/2003 1:36 am
To: ALL
Message: 288.1
Has anyone updated the timeline of the Secret War so that the contemporary juncture is set in 2003? I'm sort of wondering how one would interpret 9/11. Seems like a sensitive area to discuss. I'm not trying to start a political flame war or such, just curious if anyone out there has tried it and how the handled it.

Adam

From: Master_Kiero Posted on: 9/19/2003 1:06 pm
To: Amertes
Message: 288.2
in reply to: 288.1
There's a lot of stuff that actually had nothing to do with the Secret War. I'd simply say that was one of those all-human events that happened outside the scope of what was going on.
From: GrifterX2 Posted on: 10/9/2003 12:08 am
To: Amertes
Message: 288.3
in reply to: 288.1
I haven't tried to handle it at all. I don't usually incorporate real world events. Most of the time they just aren't dramatic enough. Having said that, The WTC could easily have been a chi site. Due to the fact that it was blown up, but will be rebuilt even stronger I'd say it was a failed plot on the part of the Jammers. It could have been almost anybody who has a grudge against the Ascended. Another possibility is that it was the work of Li Ting. I can't believe I actually thought this out.

Grifter
Going to hell.

From: Queex Posted on: 10/20/2003 6:10 am
To: GrifterX2
Message: 288.4
in reply to: 288.3
I ran a plot involving HK's new airport. An evil genius had an undersea base right where it was going to be built, so he kidnapped the lead contractor's daughter to try and stop it going ahead.

I don't think it's necessary to involve RL events, but we shouldn't be afraid of doing so. After all, this is action film territory and continuity is optional. Not to mention the mess that critical shifts make of history...

From: JohnSeavey Posted on: 10/25/2003 5:23 pm
To: Queex
Message: 288.5
in reply to: 288.4
It's somewhat eerie that you mention 9/11 as a Jammer plot. When I wrote 'Gorilla Warfare', it was in the fall of 2001, and I'd just started heavily immersing myself in the book when the World Trade attack happened. There was never any thought of incorporating it into the book, but I do remember the very surreal feeling I had--like I'd suddenly stepped into the Secret War in real life.

In general, I think that including a recent, real-life tragedy like 9/11 is something best left to GMs and their individual sense of taste and discretion, and not to sourcebooks.

Sincerely,

John Seavey

From: dwjohnston Posted on: 4/18/2004 5:57 pm
To: GrifterX2
Message: 288.6
in reply to: 288.3
In a lot of ways it makes sense of course for the Jammers to
make alliances with modern terrorists the same way that the Lotus makes
alliances with extortionistic thugs. That's the key to a lot of Secret
History after all. The same people do the same things, but for reasons
that aren't quite so apparent. The Jammers could provide slightly
futuristic technical support, identify feng shui-rich targets, and offer
a hiding place for terrorists who can reach a Jammer-controlled portal.
The terrorists can provide disposable mooks and modern knowledge and
financial resources. It's a marriage made in hell.
From: Sensei Posted on: 4/19/2004 4:30 pm
To: dwjohnston
Message: 288.7
in reply to: 288.6
> "The terrorists can provide disposable mooks"

Heh heh! Disposable Mooks sounds like a great name for a band.

"Disposable Mooks: Kill All You Want! We'll Make More!"

From: IronJester76 Posted on: 5/14/2004 3:55 pm
To: Sensei
Message: 288.8
in reply to: 288.7
I love throwing minions, underlings and faceless cannon fodder at my PC's. It's kind of like throwing hamsters to my dog (NOT that i do throw hamsters to my dog. My wife would never let me...).

On the main subject of this thread, namely 'Real world' events incorporated into the game, i am firmly in favour of a sprinkle of realism, but not a lot. My game is firmly based in a darkly comic 'reality' and my PC's love the escapist craziness of fighting yetis in sewers, stealing bonsai trees from the darkness pagoda and gunfights with bazooka-wielding clowns in a museum dinosaur exhibit.
They don't really want to worry about infections from the sewer water in their gunshot-wounds, the ecological soundness of tree theft and the law-suit from the museum for smashed brontosaraus femurs.