Good Society: A Jane Austen Roleplaying Game

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TristramEvans

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Came across this on Kickstarter this week:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/259750074/good-society-a-jane-austen-roleplaying-game

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Have to say, even though its unashamedly billing itself as a storygame, I'm interested enough in the subject matter I'm tempted to throw in. The creators have some play sessions on Youtube, and I watched one, and as usual, I was like "that's not how any of my roleplaying games actually go" but they seem to know the source material well and get into the spirit.
 
Eh, “unashamedly billing itself as a storygame” should include something other than RPG everywhere.

I’ll give it to them though, they actually admit the players share the role of storyteller in crafting an Austen story. Few hybrid authors/supporters ever admit that.
 
Well they raised $65,000 with only a goal of $3,900 so they seem to be doing pretty well so far.

A Dickens game would be cool, particularly the idea of playing street urchins thieving and struggling in the streets of London. Or Robert Louis Stevenson, although I guess that could be quite the genre brew, from horror to pirates to adventure.

I wonder if the designers are familiar with the Dallas RPG?
 
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Well my missus is into Poldark at present...it's not all that disimilar to Austen's work...perhaps I could get her into rpgs with this one...
Although I'm not sure I can sit through too many afternoons of Tea at Two o'clock with Mr Darcy while the other kids are outside hacking and slaying heh heh
 
I had a blast with the Wuthering Heights RPG
I’m a diehard Welshman who fancies himself an expert in Welsh history, that entire English classism rubs me up the wrong way.

However unlike some who think one style of play should rule the world I’m loving the variety that’s appeared in the last few years.
 
I'm not sure what you'd do in a William S. Burroughs RPG...cut and paste random text?

I know you're joking but for W.S. you could borrow from the Cronenberg movie with its paranoid conspiracies storyline and Nova Express (which cuts up elements of Kuttner’s Venus romance adventure Fury) has language as a viral weapon, wolf boys, blue skinned aliens and mutant lesbians, Wild Boys is about a multiverse revolution of gay wolf boys (William liked the idea of wolf boys obviously).
 
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I have only ever read Mansfield Park , whilst studying literature in college. I gave my mom a big hardcover comprising seven Jane Austen novels for Christmas with the secret scheme of borrowing it from her when she is done so I can finally get around to reading the others. All I remember about Mansfield Park is something to do with properties in Antigua. But that was 20-odd years ago that I read it.
 
heh, a Dickens RPG would need an entire chapter devoted to describing food.

George R. Martin shows the biggest Dickens influence in that regard. Or that may simply be stomach influence. Either way, both authors devote an extraordinary amount of prose to edibles.
 
heh, a Dickens RPG would need an entire chapter devoted to describing food.

George R. Martin shows the biggest Dickens influence in that regard. Or that may simply be stomach influence. Either way, both authors devote an extraordinary amount of prose to edibles.

Nikos Kazantzakis, too. Can't read his books without getting hungry.
 
heh, a Dickens RPG would need an entire chapter devoted to describing food.

George R. Martin shows the biggest Dickens influence in that regard. Or that may simply be stomach influence. Either way, both authors devote an extraordinary amount of prose to edibles.
I love tracing an author's influences, I remember reading that in addition to Clark Ashton Smith, Vance's favorite writers were Dashiell Hammett and P.G. Wodehouse. It's an unlikely combination of influences, but it works perfectly.
 
Wodehouse would be a nifty subject for an RPG. Play an idiot member of the Drones club, stealing copper's hats, avoiding plotting aunts, and escaping impending marriages.
 
Wodehouse would be a nifty subject for an RPG. Play an idiot member of the Drones club, stealing copper's hats, avoiding plotting aunts, and escaping impending marriages.
It definitely would require the right group, but it would be enormous fun. I seem to recall a fee one online years ago. I think it was called The Drones or maybe The Drones Club.
 
Because I won't defile Jane's genius with my bumbling, pedestrian storytelling.

It's the canonical problem with strongly genre-typed games - most gamers aren't great writers, and quadruply so when asked to do it improv-style with no prep or editing.

Either way, both authors devote an extraordinary amount of prose to edibles.

They're both pikers next to Jean M. Auel's paleobotany. Ten whole pages on a field the protagonists walk through once and never return to.
 
They're both pikers next to Jean M. Auel's paleobotany. Ten whole pages on a field the protagonists walk through once and never return to.

Is that the Clan of the Cave Bear author? Thats one of those series of books thats been omnipresent at the used bookstores I've frequented since I was a kid, but I dont think I ever read one.
 
Is that the Clan of the Cave Bear author?

Yes. The books are quite good if you like prehistory as a setting, although stop before The Plains of Passage. Also if you have a low tolerance for Mary Sues the main character will annoy you, what with discovering fire and inventing domestication of animals, agriculture and the central banking system singlehandedly[1].

[1] I'm exaggerating about the banking.
 
Yes. The books are quite good if you like prehistory as a setting, although stop before The Plains of Passage. Also if you have a low tolerance for Mary Sues the main character will annoy you, what with discovering fire and inventing domestication of animals, agriculture and the central banking system singlehandedly[1].

[1] I'm exaggerating about the banking.
Never read those...I always kind of assumed they were bad, maybe associating it with the movie. Might be interesting to read the first one and see!
 
I'll be having beers and running Feral for Hayley and Vee in a fortnight! I'm not really a storygamer, unless 3:16 Carnage Under the Stars counts, but I am EXCEPTIONALLY happy for their success. The tyranny of distance of being an Australian RPG creator is thankfully being overthrown.
 
I'm kind of sad the special pledge level that lets one play in a skype game with the authors was sold out before I encountered the KS. I'm not one for online roleplaying (or really any gaming outside of my friend group in our living rooms), but it would be a fascinating experiment.
 
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Might be interesting to read the first one and see!

If you want pure gameable content, read Clan of the Cave Bear, which will give you a fair bit of detail on a Neanderthal society, and The Mammoth Hunters, which will do the same for a Cro-Magnon tribe. Skip the rest.
 
They're close to $80,000 with 19 days to go!

I also decided to pledge for the pdfs of the book and cards. The Canadian dollar is pretty good vs. the AUD, unlike USD.

Interested to see how they approach it.

PS. I also like all the free games and videos of play on their site. They're doing an excellent job of reaching out to potential players.
 
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