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Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Facebook Dreams #2

Last week I asked how to turn Facebook from a nightmare of spoilers and things no mortal should see into an awesome element of the game. Tonight I supply the answer. Read it carefully, for it is potent and likely to drive you insane.

Dream City
Lovecraft had the right idea. All dreamers go to the same realm when they're asleep, but some enter it like staggering idiots while others retain their faculties and can explore it just like any dungeon or mysterious continent. The PCs are hopefully dreamwalkers of the second sort.
The Facebook page is that city. In it adventurers from all over the land - from the hills of Modi'in to the forests of Shoham, from the sprawling city of Rishon to the rural charm of Be'er Tuviah - can meet and discuss their adventures. They can exchange information (page discussion), read news from around the world (wall posts), enjoy a hearty chat (FB chat) or a gallery of fine fantasy art (album) - but they can't fight. It's a dream, if you get too mad you just wake up, no harm done.
The last problem is trade. I mean, no one had ever gone to bed with a magic sword and woke up with it replaced by 5,000 gold coins. This is too outlandish even for a fantasy game.

Kids engaging in friendly barter, also known as "intimidate check."

Here the Dream Trading Company comes in with happy music and delightful smiles. These arcanes will gladly deliver goods and payments between interested parties in return for a small commission or a secret revealed. Should PCs threaten or harass them, they will just disappear in a puff of perfumed smoke, leaving the bully unable to dream-trade ever again.

So, what do you think of this solution. Do you see any possible problems with it? If you do, lemme know because the pilot begins in less than a month.

3 comments:

  1. That's a damn cool idea! Social Gamin one up. How does the Dream Trading Company work? Any specific rules or just what you wrote in your article?

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  2. They're not finished yet, but this is more or less it. You either pay them 5% of the item's value or tell them something they didn't know before.

    One Arcane pick up the item from the seller as soon as he's in a safe location (obviously, it won't teleport into a trap or a fight) and deliver it to the buyer. The other does the opposite. Cheating is impossible because both ends of the deal are performed by Arcanes and they won't deliver the goods until they're sure both are real.

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  3. Cool. Simple but sounds like it'll work just fine.

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