Author: Leo Comerford (---.ac.uk)
Date: 02-08-2003 11:05
I'm impressed. Your idea is a nicely twisted variation on Exalted, and it could make for a fun conspiracy-based contemporary setting. It's an exceptionally "convincing" conspiracy idea: it "explains" everything from the Kennedy assassination to the current state of the pop charts. If you allow that the Confederacy of Dunces doesn't rely only on assassins to neutralise Great Men, but also tempts them away from their greatness back to mediocrity, then you can also "explain" Paul McCartney. Of course, since the Confederacy of Dunces "is" shaping world history, it must itself have a Great Man or two at the top, and maybe a few in the ranks - formidable enemies indeed! No doubt the Confederacy wants to protect humanity from the threat posed by Great Men, not only because of the Bomb, but also because of the evil that Great Men have already unleashed on the world. Such evil deeds have been justified, or perhaps indeed inspired, by the teachings of men like Hegel and Nietsche, who argued that the Great are above morality. It's also possible to "see" how the Confederacy "is" going about its work: politicians and physicists were the first priority, then it broadened its net to take in artists and musicians, among others. Sport, which has remained almost untouched until recently, is the next big target: the doping scandals are the first stage of the assault.
Unknown Armies' Street/Global division applies quite nicely here. Street level characters are just trying to live their Great Lives, while Global level ones have become aware of the Confederacy and/or the existence of Great Men /per se/. There could easily be a Cosmic level, too: just consider the original meaning of the word "genius". While at Street level the PCs (generally) think of themselves only as talented people, and at Global level they (probably) become aware that the Great Men control history and thought, and are somehow set apart from the rest of humanity, at Cosmic level they confront the question of what Greatness actually is. For example, are Great Men truly free and powerful in a way that ordinary people are not, or are they in fact only the tools of some Higher Power? (Think /War and Peace/ or Hegel's World-Spirit.) Should they - /can/ they - oppose or embrace whatever plans this Power has for them or the world? (No P0wOrZ, though - even at this level, Great Men shouldn't have any obviously supernatural abilities, and shouldn't be detectable using science or any form of magic.)
This probably takes the concept closer to the Mage/UA axis than you intended, but that's not necessarily bad. It's not a setting I'd ever play dead straight, but I wouldn't camp it up either. (More on this shortly - I'm off for my dinner. :) )
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