Lofgeornost
Feeling Martian!
- Joined
- Jul 8, 2020
- Messages
- 3,356
- Reaction score
- 10,052
Another example of a published setting: Ultima Forsan. This is an Italian Savage Worlds’ product, translated into English in 2015 (a little roughly in spots). The core concept of Ultima Forsan is clear and intriguing, to me anyway: the Black Death of the 1340s was not a natural disease but a form of zombie plague, transforming its victims into ravenous undead. As a result, realms and societies tottered all across Eurasia and Africa in the century after. Much of those continents became a wilderness haunted by zombies and other fell beings. But now, in the Macabre Renaissance (1514), states and civilizations are expanding again, aided by new Da Vinci-esque technology.
So, from my perspective the setting has three main elements: (1) information about the plague itself, what it is, and what effect it has; (2) a description of Europe and the Mediterranean basin in 1514, tracing the new outlines of states; and (3) material on the new fantasy technology. The book does not handle all three of these equally well.
Ultima Forsan is best at explaining and detailing what the plague is and how it will work in play. The disease is the result of infection with a substance called Atrament; death from it leads to revival as a (usually) mindless zombie who then feeds on the living, passing on the infection. But things are a good deal more complex than that; the rules set out various types of undead, including animals that have been infected (which rarely happens). Further, over the century and a half since the plague’s arrival, some humans have adapted to it, becoming Tainted—immune carriers of Atrament. In appearance rather like weak vampires without much in the way of powers, they cannot be infected with plague, but on death turn into particularly horrific undead, called Possessed. In some regions normal humans expel such individuals; in others they are shunned as lepers might have been; while a few realms (like Hungary, one of the most powerful states) are dominated by the Tainted.
All of this material (and I’m obviously leaving a lot of details out) is cool and well-worked-out. The book could have organized it a bit better, though. A glossary would have helped, since there are a fair number of ‘technical’ terms linked to the plague that are important to the game. A final section on the secrets of the plague ends up repeating a fair amount of information that’s already appeared, without adding a great deal more. I’m not sure why it’s a separate section at all, unless the idea was that players could see the earlier parts of the book but not the latter.
The book also provides a good overview of the setting. It deals briefly and evocatively with the near-collapse of civilization as the plague and its army of zombies spread and the subsequent century-long ‘Darkest Age.’ It also divides territories into three eminently-gameable types: ‘fiefs’ (i.e. civilized regions under the control of humanity), wilderness, and the ‘cities of sorrow.’ The last are major towns like Rome and Venice which are now largely abandoned to the restless dead, though a few scavengers may haunt them as well. This perhaps strains credulity, since plague zombies break down naturally over time, and after 150 years one would think such centers would be largely free of them. But ‘cities of sorrow’ are a neat idea and pretty clearly the game’s main equivalent to dungeons.
But, when Ultima Forsan turns to tracing the new states and societies of the Macabre Renaissance, it becomes less successful, IMO. It’s fairly clear that the game was intended to be set in Italy; it’s described first and in somewhat more depth than elsewhere. Most of the geographical section, though, is a very quick survey of some 23 different states (one, the New Swiss Confederation, gets left out). These get about a page each (some a good deal less) and as a result we don’t really learn that much about them which a g.m. could use at the table. Generally the book notes the ruler’s name, maybe a bit about the realm’s history, and some notes about important organizations in it. The latter are reinforced in the character-generation chapter, since players can usually take membership in them as a professional edge. Oddly, we get this information for the Swiss organizations, though there’s no geographical writeup for that region. Normally there is also some mention of the current level of threat from the undead in each realm. But overall the descriptions are pretty thin and a lot of interesting ideas are barely mentioned (e.g. a death-worshipping cult that is now the power behind the throne in Coptic Egypt).
I’m not really sure what the text should have done about this issue. Since the political and social geography of Eurasia has been remade by the plague, it makes sense to include some notes on what the major states are. But treating so many in such summary form doesn’t give a lot of usable information for developing your own campaign. I think it might have been more helpful to explore one region in a good deal more depth—say Italy—then give moderate coverage to immediately surrounding areas, and less to peripheral ones.
Ultima Forsan is weakest in explaining the new fantastical technology of its era. There are some rules for it folded into character creation and the ‘edges,’ which help define what p.c.s can do with it. But the book has very little information on what technology is more widely available, including things p.c.s can’t manufacture themselves but others might (or have). The picture that is presented is eclectic and seems more focused on cool items than on thinking about the effects of the tech on the world. So, for instance, it’s clear from the sample adventure that there are flying ships. How does that affect trade? Or warfare? One could say that the game is more ‘gonzo’ in its orientation, so such questions are irrelevant. But IMO players generally will exploit any new piece of technology available to them, often in unpredictable ways, so it’s important for games to think this sort of thing out in advance.
So, from my perspective the setting has three main elements: (1) information about the plague itself, what it is, and what effect it has; (2) a description of Europe and the Mediterranean basin in 1514, tracing the new outlines of states; and (3) material on the new fantasy technology. The book does not handle all three of these equally well.
Ultima Forsan is best at explaining and detailing what the plague is and how it will work in play. The disease is the result of infection with a substance called Atrament; death from it leads to revival as a (usually) mindless zombie who then feeds on the living, passing on the infection. But things are a good deal more complex than that; the rules set out various types of undead, including animals that have been infected (which rarely happens). Further, over the century and a half since the plague’s arrival, some humans have adapted to it, becoming Tainted—immune carriers of Atrament. In appearance rather like weak vampires without much in the way of powers, they cannot be infected with plague, but on death turn into particularly horrific undead, called Possessed. In some regions normal humans expel such individuals; in others they are shunned as lepers might have been; while a few realms (like Hungary, one of the most powerful states) are dominated by the Tainted.
All of this material (and I’m obviously leaving a lot of details out) is cool and well-worked-out. The book could have organized it a bit better, though. A glossary would have helped, since there are a fair number of ‘technical’ terms linked to the plague that are important to the game. A final section on the secrets of the plague ends up repeating a fair amount of information that’s already appeared, without adding a great deal more. I’m not sure why it’s a separate section at all, unless the idea was that players could see the earlier parts of the book but not the latter.
The book also provides a good overview of the setting. It deals briefly and evocatively with the near-collapse of civilization as the plague and its army of zombies spread and the subsequent century-long ‘Darkest Age.’ It also divides territories into three eminently-gameable types: ‘fiefs’ (i.e. civilized regions under the control of humanity), wilderness, and the ‘cities of sorrow.’ The last are major towns like Rome and Venice which are now largely abandoned to the restless dead, though a few scavengers may haunt them as well. This perhaps strains credulity, since plague zombies break down naturally over time, and after 150 years one would think such centers would be largely free of them. But ‘cities of sorrow’ are a neat idea and pretty clearly the game’s main equivalent to dungeons.
But, when Ultima Forsan turns to tracing the new states and societies of the Macabre Renaissance, it becomes less successful, IMO. It’s fairly clear that the game was intended to be set in Italy; it’s described first and in somewhat more depth than elsewhere. Most of the geographical section, though, is a very quick survey of some 23 different states (one, the New Swiss Confederation, gets left out). These get about a page each (some a good deal less) and as a result we don’t really learn that much about them which a g.m. could use at the table. Generally the book notes the ruler’s name, maybe a bit about the realm’s history, and some notes about important organizations in it. The latter are reinforced in the character-generation chapter, since players can usually take membership in them as a professional edge. Oddly, we get this information for the Swiss organizations, though there’s no geographical writeup for that region. Normally there is also some mention of the current level of threat from the undead in each realm. But overall the descriptions are pretty thin and a lot of interesting ideas are barely mentioned (e.g. a death-worshipping cult that is now the power behind the throne in Coptic Egypt).
I’m not really sure what the text should have done about this issue. Since the political and social geography of Eurasia has been remade by the plague, it makes sense to include some notes on what the major states are. But treating so many in such summary form doesn’t give a lot of usable information for developing your own campaign. I think it might have been more helpful to explore one region in a good deal more depth—say Italy—then give moderate coverage to immediately surrounding areas, and less to peripheral ones.
Ultima Forsan is weakest in explaining the new fantastical technology of its era. There are some rules for it folded into character creation and the ‘edges,’ which help define what p.c.s can do with it. But the book has very little information on what technology is more widely available, including things p.c.s can’t manufacture themselves but others might (or have). The picture that is presented is eclectic and seems more focused on cool items than on thinking about the effects of the tech on the world. So, for instance, it’s clear from the sample adventure that there are flying ships. How does that affect trade? Or warfare? One could say that the game is more ‘gonzo’ in its orientation, so such questions are irrelevant. But IMO players generally will exploit any new piece of technology available to them, often in unpredictable ways, so it’s important for games to think this sort of thing out in advance.