When I’m thinking about something, I’m the kind of guy who likes to get to the initial, true heart of a matter. I’ll spend hours peeling back layer after layer looking for the real core reason for something. For better or worse, first causes are important to me. So when, a couple days ago, Mediocre Tales posted about D&D being a state of mind, the post kicked off a small inkling about role playing games, and just games in general, in the back of my mind. That small seed of an idea has grown over the course of a few ponderings.

Seeds:
The inkling started with my thinking about role playing games and how gameplay within them is typically referenced. The choice of words we use to describe a game or a game situation are key. Here’s a few examples you might overhear someone say when talking about a RPG:

• We explored the tomb.
• I found a great magic item.
• I had a great opportunity to explore my character.
• We discovered the villain was only a sock puppet to the real BBE.
• We uncovered an ancient cult bent on returning the Old Ones to their former glory.

Patterns and signs:
See the pattern? Explored, Found, Discovered, Uncovered… It’s all making sense now. There’s a more basic, deeper reason we play games; and it’s been in our collective (sub) conscious long enough that we’ve been speaking words to its effect so often that they’ve lost their impact. I’m here to restore that reason to its proper place – namely at the position of first causes.

Everyone loves a Mystery:
Mysteries are fascinating things. We love them because they’re unknown to us. We love them because they contain the possibility to surprise. They may not actually surprise, but the mere fact that they might is powerful enough to keep us engaged. We love a good plot twist, an unexpected action, an ending we didn’t anticipate. That’s a powerful hook… somewhere deep in our makeup is a desire to be surprised. We’re entertained by surprise and devote lots of time and energy to weaving mystery into our entertainment activities.

Let’s play pretend:
I watch my son as he plays with the plastic figures he calls his toys and it’s fascinating to me that the he never begins playing make believe with a plan laid out on how the game will progress. Each moment the dinosaur could suddenly gain super powers, or maybe the smallest bug surprises all the other bugs by becoming invincible. His simple character development may be crude, but he’s exploring how his character interacts with the game environment no less than any gamer or actor. These ideas weren’t in his initial concept of play, they were added later; his game evolved. One might say he is exploring the gamespace he’s created where the ending is a mystery that unfolds before him as he plays… I’d be in that camp.

Roll!:
Why do we use random number generators in games? Ever wonder that? Why have dice or shuffle the cards face down or spin a spinner at all? Most players will tell you it’s because it makes the game more interesting. That’s a powerful statement and another clue to our first cause: It turns out that randomization leads to interest. But why?

At their core the dice (or other random factor generators) are agents of chaos. They can’t be trusted to perform at any moment. Until their result is discovered, their result is a mystery. You might say that the dice are what seperates a game from a book. Turn to the end of any book and the result is the same no matter how many times you read it. Even those Choose Your Path books end the same if you make the same choices. By adding the agents of chaos we find the ending to be different (either greatly or subtlely) every time. The ending is a discovery and the play is the exploration of the path to the end.

Why we play:
So in the end we play because we enjoy a mystery and every game is a mystery containing numerous small mysteries. Games are a process of exploration on our way to discovery. And that’s why we play the game. Because it’s all about exploring and discovery.

Mysteries are waiting; Go explore! Go discover! Go Play!

Tags: advice, Board Game, Card Game, computer game, game, Musings, rpg

Game Development is a strange process not unlike discovery and hypothesis testing via the scientific method. At times in my game development process I’ve found myself coming upon the answer to an issue fully-formed and complete. In essence, it’s not as if the answer has been created by me, rather it’s as if the answer was waiting for me (or anyone else) to stumble upon it. What happens is the classic recreation of Archimedes’ Eureka moment.

Eureka is an exclamation used as an interjection to celebrate a discovery. It comes from the Ancient Greek - Heureka meaning approximately “I have found it”.

This exclamation is most famously attributed to the ancient Greek scholar Archimedes; he reportedly proclaimed “Eureka!” when he stepped into a bath and noticed that the water level rose — he suddenly understood that the volume of water displaced must be equal to the volume of the part of his body he had submerged. This meant that the volume of irregular objects could be calculated with precision, a previously intractable problem. He is said to have been so eager to share his realisation that he leapt out of his bathtub and ran through the streets of Syracuse naked. – Wikipedia

Take for example the Card game I’m developing Mad Scientist: The Game. While some of the cards have evolved naturally from decisions I’ve made, a significant number popped into my head fully formed – complete with a vision of the artwork and everything. In an almost Disegno like method, a la Michelangelo’s David wherein the sculpture lies within the block awaiting coaxing from the artist to emerge, it’s as if the game and its component parts lay in wait for discovery from “out there.” In fact, all the card anf board games I’ve been working on have come to me out of the blue as if my mind suddenly tripped over them in my mental wanderings and musings.

There’s something intriguing in considering that games, game concepts and game mechanics, not unlike all scientific discoveries, all lie in wait somewhere in the Universe, just biding their time until one of us parts the veil and uncovers them.

Does that sound a bit too hard to swallow? Maybe a bit too “out there” for your taste? Take a small exercise and block off part of an afternoon to sit down and design a game from scratch. Odds are you’ll fail. Not because you’re incapable of designing a game, but most games can’t be “forced into creation” like that… they must be discovered; usually first by the subconscious and then given the allowance to have their presence bubble into the conscious mind.

Humor me for a moment and consider that almost all games are, at their core, a means of having fun with math. And we’re not talking about difficult math in most cases. For example, a standard playing card deck generates multiple games from the simple application of probability and statistics of sets of four series of thirteens; enough randomization to create a variance, but not a significantlt difficult one to master.

Math at that level is well known, well explored territory with little new to create. But perhaps the game (or game mechanic) is, at it’s core, a means of discovery within that small set of mathematics. Perhaps that’s why elegant games appeal to us so much. Elegant games have simple rules that harmonize with the theme of a game. At their core such games feel somehow complete. Most of these games, when they initially are brought to our attention leave a small piece of our conscious screaming, “This is so simple… why didn’t I create this?”

But perhaps the emphasis shouldn’t be on the I in the question, but to change the word create to discover and place the proper emphasis there. I contend what our conscious mind is interpreting is a cry from our subsconsious, “Why didn’t I discover this?”

Or, “Eureka!”

Perhaps God does play dice with the Universe.
Maybe that’s the whole point.
Maybe we’re supposed to play more too.

I think it’s your turn.

Tags: Board Game, Card Game, creation, discovery, Game Design, Musings

Randall, my home town boy asked what my favorite setting was. Choosing one over the other is nearly impossible because the GM, players, and plot play significant roles. Most enjoyed game is much easier to determine but far from easy.

The background genre, world, history, and other factors determine a setting. The players in the group, the plot, and the GM interaction truly bring it to life. Rule systems also play a significant role. I struggle to separate them but since he asked about settings, not game experiences, I shall do my best.

Let me start with a couple published systems I didn’t like much from the ’90s: DragonLance and Greyhawk. Dragonlance is obvious. As published, the materials essentially shoved you down a road you could never deviate from. As a setting, in the novels, I liked it. As a playable system, it was a complete failure.

Greyhawk was the complete opposite — very disjointed and open. Not bad but just not cohesive when I look at it as a setting. Far too many authors spread it out in a fashion that made it rather useless. So many cooks broke the world apart with too many differing viewpoints. Perhaps a great DM could have brought it together but as published it was far too chaotic for my taste.

Both also suffered from being “well known”. Part of the RPG experience from my perspective is the unknown. I personally want to see something new and explore it. Even in a familiar system, I want the curve balls and personal touches a DM can provide when generating their own world.

I was and continue to be jaded against anyone picking up a module and attempting to run them. Historically, the results are just bad play, bad interaction and zero setting. I’ve failed on that front many times so I choose not to take the approach again. Can it be done? Sure. By most people? Not a chance in putting out the Styx with a bubble machine.

My favorites are original settings, no matter the genre or system. The DM’s that spend the time to create them have a very comprehensive knowledge of the setting. They can adapt and expand on a moment’s notice. That makes the game. Why? Immersion. If you need to reference a book to tell me something about where I’m at, you just failed.

Personal favorites as a player:

Modern settings. It takes the power out of the GM’s hands and puts it in mine as a player. Even if they want to confine me, I have the ability to choose not to be confined. They require a very open GM to run by their very nature.

Original Fantasy Worlds: I love new takes on genres. Too hook me, you have to open the game up so I can get a feel for the world by exploring and taking missteps. If the plot confines me, I start to get bored and rub against it. I want to player a persona, not a robot.

I hate being railroaded. Even if it is limited. If I can detect it, I start to rebel even if it isn’t necessary. I dislike playing with any game master who cannot adapt and play on their feet with little preparation. The idea that we all have to do X, to continue drives me nuts.

Favorite Settings as a GM:

None. I run off the players. They depict the setting for me by acting. I have to respond and work within their goals and desires. The best sessions I’ve run have never been planned. The worst have always been based on planning.

You get what you put into it. For some, that’s planning, for me, its thinking right now. As the player’s challenge me, I consider, adapt and challenge them in response to what they want to do.

Tags: favorites, Musings, Ramblings of Mark, rpg, settings

I’ve been slacking on KORE. Life gets busy in so many different ways including oddball hobbies and interests. I have so many I tend to devote time in sporadic, unplanned blocks to them. Lately, I’ve been focused on building up a robot in addition to planning for the Spring Convergence.

A great small company in Boulder, Colorado is holding an Autonomous Vehicle Competition in April. If you like tinkering with low-level electronics, you’ve probably heard of SparkFun. They are the coolest company in the electronics hobby market. Just this year, they held Free Day and gave out $100,000 worth of free stuff. How cool is that?

Last year, SparkFun held its first Autonomous Vehicle Competition. I took the day off from work and went to watch. For a small company, they are the most welcoming, cool bunch of people I’ve experienced. Game companies could learn a lot from their PR approach.

I attended last year’s AVC as a spectator. It was much like an all day gaming marathon except people were trying to get robots to do what they wanted. Hackers all, they were making furious last minute changes to software, hardware, or the vehicle. Each and everyone of them would take the time to talk, laugh, and discuss the pitfalls they’d encountered. Very similar to a bunch of DM’s or a group of players talking about games current and past.

So when the 2010 AVC was announced, I signed up as an entrant. Today, I finally was notified we had been moved from the backorder list into the official participants list. My team mate and co-worker have been gradually working on a vehicle over the last few months but now the big push is on to get it done. We actually work on autonomous robotic vehicles for a living but the competition is just for fun — win, lose, or destroying the vehicle in the process. No management, no oddball requirements, just for the pure pleasure of doing it. Its a nice change of pace from the corporate grind.

To document the process, I launched a temporary blog for Team HellHound. I also called Kevin and put him through the hard sell of being a sponsor. Eventually after much arm twisting and explaining my sponsor requirements of being a good guy with a logo, I got him to agree. Next on my list is to arm twist, is Chris from 6d6fireball. The hard sell is really difficult when you tell them it costs nothing but you have to send a logo in.

Sadly, given my lack of a secretary and being completely devoid of scheduling skills, I managed to double book myself for the contest and Spring Convergence. My teammate is aware and planning on handling the competition by himself but depending on how the weekend is going I may slip down to Boulder for a few hours to lend a hand, gaming party in tow.

Many thanks to everyone who has contributed to the KORE blog. To each and everyone out there, may your hobbies be fun and fulfilling.

Tags: Assorted Sundry, Musings, Ramblings of Mark

Perhaps it’s the Season.
Perhaps it’s just my current frame of mind.
Perhaps I’m still mulling over Mark’s post on Religion in Fantasy Settings.

Or perhaps it’s a factor of all the above with a sprinkling of something else entirely.

But I’ve been pondering the nature of Miracles and Divine Actions as they are portrayed in rpgs.

As a starting point of reference, I found it interesting that the bulk of the responses to Mark’s post seemed to assume that gods in a fantasy setting would take the form of a more directly interacting force. I too have made that assumption in the past, now I wonder what things might look like if that wasn’t the case. On the one hand, you have the D&D gods who, not unlike the Greek gods of old, are direct, center stage, actors within the multiverse and her inhabitants. This is the usual play style for most games of the genre and it certainly works well for a fantastic setting where players pit their characters against the might of the denizens of the darker reaches of a magical realm.

But what if you don’t want an overt divine hand in your games? What if you really desire more subtlety in your god’s actions? How would these divine actions play out? What might miracles look like from a divinity who plays it quietly? That’s not to say that the god in question has limitations, rather it’s a matter of style. Perhaps it’s part of some pre-ancient law that governs even the interactivity levels of divine creatures, or perhaps it’s just in the nature of the realm or the god in question to do things wihout a heavy hand. The reasons are myriad, the results are intriguing.

I’d like to take a moment to make something clear. This is not a post to stir some religious debate. My religious views are mine. I’ll be happy to share them with you offline if you want, but I’m not interested in having this topic turn into something other than discussing how the hand of divinity might influence the mortal realm. Please, I want anyone who would like to discuss this to feel free to explore the topic, but rest assured that comments out of bounds will be removed. – KO

Consider for a moment a few examples of presumably divine subtlety where a more heavy-handed approach might have been the expected norm. From that let’s examine how each might have interest to us as gamers:

Let’s start at the biggie. Prophecy fulfillment. Best example I can think of? Jesus. He came not as a conquering messianic warrior to defeat the enemies of the Jews as expected; rather he came as a baby born in meager estate to a simple carpenter. Not the typical end result of a prophecy. Subtle? Extremely.

For games with a more directly interacting divine class, this isn’t the typical end result of a prophecy. In a rpg Jesus would have likely come as the warrior the Jews hoped for. I find it interesting that, looking back on many a game and movie and literary work where prophecy came to fruition, while most may have differed in nature by a small manner, they all happened almost just as the participants or witnesses expected. That’s the definition of overt in this regard. With some small exception, subtlety doesn’t seem to be the norm in fantasy prophecy fulfillment here.

The most widely known herald of His birth was a single star that only a few maji and the astrologers of King Herod understood. Subtle? Very.

For games with overt deities, the bulk of the populace, or at least most of the “in crowd”, would know of the prophecy and would see the signs everywhere. Overt signs are the more common norm portrayed in fantasy. Almost nobody misidentifies the prophetic heralds. Which leads us to this thought to ponder:

In C.S. Lewis’ works The Chronicles of Narnia, the White Witch misinterprets the results of slaying Aslan at the ancient table. Believing that doing so will insure her rule over the world of Narnia for eternity, she mistakenly reads what she wants to in the ancient symbols carved therein.

In my opinion, this is a good counter-example. As with point #1 above, hardly anyone misinterprets the results of prophecy in a fantasy setting. While I’ll agree that in other rpgs this sometimes is the crux of the matter when say, a cultist finally summons some terror from beyond the spheres in Call of Cthulhu. But in most games, the prophecy is and does as it is billed. Subtle? Maybe not so much from a direct analysis, but tangentially it falls into place since most fantasy environments have gods who speak directly to their flock. While a more “plugged-in” god would see to it that their word wasn’t altered, a more nuanced approach would lead to messages being open to misinterpretation. More on this in a bit.

Maybe these examples are too “large scale.” Perhaps to get to the real meat of the discussion we should look smaller and closer to home. In my own life I can pinpoint a couple times when I seemed to be in the right place at exactly the right time to do something. This something might have seemed small to me and to everyone else around me, but to the recipient of the something, I know it made a huge impact.

Take for instance a brief meeting at a truck-stop outside some unimportant town in Oklahoma. Through reasons too diverse to explain in detail, I was put in a position to provide comfort to another. Or at times I’ve been on the receiving end of situations where the result of something done either for, or at least in relation to, something I was involved in have led to the result that “should” have happened. Looking back on those memories I’m somewhat convinced that the laws of averages and coincidence don’t quite cover the situations. Was the subtle hand of divinity finding a way of putting me in the right place to nudge the Universe in some direction or another?

I’m sure not a small number of you are thinking, “But Kevin, barring the Narnia example, these examples you’ve cited are from a more mundane world, not the fantastic setting you describe in the initial part of this post.” And you’re right. But since I don’t actually live in such a fantastic setting, I’m only capable of drawing from examples that I can quantify. And before you cite literary example after literary example of works of fiction I could draw upon, I’ll point out that the purpose of this post was to help internalize the subtlety of a “hands-off” divinity. Hopefully you could take it back to your gaming table and provide your religious-centric characters a means of finding their god’s miracles in things less overt; as I have tried to do here.

Maybe the last two examples are too simple, too easy to explain away as just some facet of the human brain to attempt to find a pattern in the random interactions that make up our experiences here. That’s fascinating from at least one point of view on the topic, because isn’t that the point of a subtle divine being? Shouldn’t gods who chose to act in a less overt manner constantly have their existance and interactions questioned? Nuance leads to questions that a more open and directed approach doesn’t yield. In the end I can easily see two camps emerging in a world where subtlety is the norm; some would begin to see miracles in many aspects of the nature of things, others would consider the bulk of those miracles as little more than coincidence.

And just what’s the end result of such a divergent split among the general population is such a world? If we assume that the nature of a god requires worship in some form or fashion, then we have to assume that each and every divine being would want to further his or her influence in any manner possible. How might subtlety afford a divine being the means of gaining followers without having to interact so overtly? I have no answers for the question, I’m just bringing it up as a point to ponder.

In the end I know that most rpg gods in a fantasy setting walk the realm and directly influence the outcomes of all manner of situations. Perhaps since this post seems to have a very Christian-orineted focus, the miriacles in these games would be akin to the parting of waters and rains of burning hail. But consider the preceding as fodder for any ideas to spice up (or perhaps tone back) a more aloof, nuanced divine being. When miracles are on the scale of being born of a virgin, turning water into wine, and acting behind the scenes to make sure things fall into place just as they should at the last moment, then the divinity in question takes a different approach to protrayal.

Tags: Musings, rpg, Setting

Gamers have a lot in common with athletes. No, not the tone, fit and hale bodies ready to defy the physics of this mundane realm some call “Real Life.” Rather the quirky and oft-times downright bizarre behaviors that come with superstitions.

You see, years of probability analysis and dice mechanics have opened our eyes. And at the core of our being, every fiber of our pudgy gamer bodies knows the ultimate secret of the Universe… namely that it plays favorites.

We’re a superstitious lot us gamers. So much so that I tend to rank most of my comrades right along with Hockey Players, Gamblers, and Fishermen. We all know that repetition of behavior lends to repetition of result. Some have a lucky pair of socks (usually unwashed to prevent removal of luck.) Some a specific method of going about preperatory events. Some even refuse to shave or bathe (though easy to see in Hockey Players, oftentimes difficult to discern among gamers… but I digress.)

We’re all well versed in the fickle ways the Universe doles out luck to the chosen and “un-luck” to the foolish. And how sometimes only a sacrifice can bring one back into the cherished fold. In some cases that sacrifice is a requirement to eat only a certain meal, wear only a certain color or set of clothes, or the sacrifice of one’s personal hygene. But none-the-less, a sacrifice may turn the shining eye of the Universe back upon you.

We all know or have known superstitious gamers in our past, here are a few I’ve encountered:

I know gamers who will interpret the result of a single roll as an indication of the entirety of the night’s rolls from that die. Roll well and the die is ready to perform. Poor and the die is austricized to the dice bag (or worse, some die leper colony across the room… lest the bad luck from the die bleed off onto the other dice in the bag.)

I know gamers who will refuse to sit in a different chair if the game went well for them. These players will sometimes find themselves at odds with other players vieing for the coveted Lucky Chair +1. Fortunately most of these events didn’t lead to too many trips to the emergency room.

I can recall players refusing to eat the last piece of pizza for fear that it bears ill will they will somehow ingest… of course, these players are more than welcome to sit at my table, I harbor no foolish beliefs. I’ll eat the last piece without a single thought to the ramafications of my dietary choices.

I’ve encountered players who refuse to let another player even touch their dice if the rolls are “going their way.” At one point the issue lead to a dramatic close when an unlucky die accidentally bounced into the lucky players horde of dice and the resounding event caused a Universal Luck Explosion that resulted in the now unluck-tainted dice to be sent to a permanent dice leper colony in a seperate state… but again I digress.

Fortunately, while luck can be used up and spent, it has also been known to accumulate over time by some as of yet unknown means. I’ll admit here that I’ve known players who refuse to use the same dice as last game since the “luck quota” is low and needs time to regenerate. But beware, for dice left too long have also been kown to spoil, making them unusable for eons to come. (In that event, simply contact me and I’ll give you the mailing address of a well-known, highly recommended die leper colony.)

So tell me of your superstitions… or better yet, tell me stories of those whose superstitions you’ve witnessed. Perhaps if we are all better aware of what works and what doesn’t, we can all better prepare ourselves to win the favor of Lady Luck.

But whatever you do… keep your unlucky hands off my dice!

Tags: Assorted Sundry, luck, Musings, rpg

On September 2nd, Ed Healy posted a picture of the house where he played his first game of Dungeons & Dragons. This prompted WJWalton to post about his roots in the gaming culture on his blog The Escapist.

Since Convergence is returning to the beginning this year, I found it appropriate to hunt down those details in my background and post them here… so in response to the concluding lines of The Escapist’s post:

So, what’s your story? Where did you play your first game of D&D, or any other RPG? (Bonus points if you include a picture!)

I’ll bite. (And I’ll go for the bonus points too thank you very much.)

My parents reluctantly bought me the Dungeons and Dragons Basic set (the very rulebook I’ll be using at Fall Convergence) while we were living in Casper Wyoming.

D&D Basic Cover

It was 1978 and I can still recall them wondering about what people would think about them buying this game for their 7 year old son. I had to do some fast talking to wear down their resolve. Back in those days I was a bit of a nerdy kid who had an imagination that was without peer among my friends. Naturally I became enamored with the game and the boundless possibilities it contained and I can recall spending hours in my room rolling up character after character and learning the mechanics of each. I’d pit one against another and oftentimes two or three against a horde of monsters (usually the monsters were far beyond the meager capabilities of the 1st level characters and as a result the outcome was nearly always assured.)

Here’s an image of the house where it all started:

In my memory it is perpetually Summer here. The grass is lush and greener, children run up and down the street playing games that only the childhood innocence of the late 70′s and early 80′s allows, and our parents turned us loose to play until the street lights turned on. It was a glorious time to be a kid. My room was just behind the window on the right, and I can even recall a few sessions played right there on the concrete in front of that garage door.

In fact, if I really strain my brain I can even come up with the names of those who played those ill-fated early games… my sisters and brother usually played, my best friend at the time Jeff, our neighbor Mike, a younger kid named Louis who had the pleasure of seeing his characters be the first to usually die – and repeat the process often, and sometimes Darryl and/or Jack would play too (they were friends with my brother who was more interested in sports, but if he played, so would they.)

We played the game like all kids, magic items dropped from the heavens like mana, those who were friendly to me miraculously survived encounters far beyond their capabilities, and as a form of social hazing Louis’ characters almost always died during the game. Not surprisingly, he’d return with a “new” character that looked almost exactly like the previous save a smudge where he erased the name and replaced it with a new one.

In retrospect, I’d like to take a brief moment and apologize to Louis. We were kids; brutal and uncaring. You took it in stride and always returned to play again. I’m sorry we were so harsh, and I appreciate that through it all you never left the table. - KO

I’ve come a long way from those early days. Arguably, my games are now better balanced, more interesting, deeper and less harsh on the players. I have learned that when you run a game, your job is to be a partner at the table, and not an adversary. But in those early days on Chippewa Trail, the players would often find themselves in a no-win meat-grinder situation of my devising… and yet somehow they still came back to play D&D again.

Tags: Assorted Sundry, Convergence, D&D, Dungeons and Dragons, Musings, rpg

Seriously, I just realized that I probably couldn’t come up with more than a few spare dice scattered here and there; my kids have seen to that.

Last Convergence I borrowed dice from the other players. And while they all seem to have a plethora of the random number generators to spare. somehow that didn’t seem right. Though it probably only seemed that way in my mind, I felt like I was that guy you invite who joins in the game while waiting for something better to do.

So tomorrow on lunchbreak I’ll head downtown and see what strikes my fancy that I can purchase at Who’s Hobby House. Out here in the middle of nowhere my options are severely limited, but I’m making a trip to Denver this weekend so if I don’t find something at Who’s, I should be able to pick up a set of dice there.

In keeping with the nostalgia theme, I wonder if I can find dice you have to color the numbers in with a crayon. Anyone else remember what I’m talking about? - KO

*For the uninitiated, “I’m gonna need more dice!” is one of my favorite things to say when someone at the table proclaims their character is about to attempt something incredibly foolish that will likely result is a messy ending.

Tags: Assorted Sundry, Convergence, Musings

Imagine a culture that, while it may not openly worship death, finds every opportunity to stand on the side of the destruction of life at every turn.

Imagine war being the only means by which such a culture can influence it’s neighbors.

Imagine if you will that this culture derides those who wish to create life, considering them stale and outmoded, while hailing those who act in ways to destroy life as heroes and visionaries.

Imagine laws enacted to make sure that those who wish to kill off the young, or sick, or elderly are protected by force of might.

Imagine a Government openly championing these laws as just and moral.

Imagine the same Government silently supporting those who desire to destroy both themselves and the very forces that gave birth to their freedoms.

Imagine a culture where progress is measured in steps back to simpler, less technological times, while innovation and advancement is deemed evil and unwholesome.

Imagine a society willing to re-write it’s own history to conform with the views of those in power as opposed to accepting the past for what it really was.

Imagine the lexicon of the land changed so that freedom is seen as fascist, and fascism is seen as liberation.

Imagine… Scary isn’t it.

Tags: Imagine, Musings, Setting