Connecting worldbuilding to system (Part 1)

12 years ago, I did a worldbuilding sequence of posts. It started here, then continued on for almost 30 posts. I'd never really got the chance to run games in this setting, because it wasn't long after this that I really began focusing on my studies to become a teacher. 

The setting was a late renaissance/steampunk/pirate affair. You could go back and read the posts, I still think they're kind of cool, otherwise I wouldn't be revisiting them. However, I'll be referencing them while I write this current series. 

The point to this series is seeing whether it's feasible to adapt my SNAFU system to this setting. I've been working on the SNAFU Cookbook, and a part of that includes showing how the system can be adapted to different types of settings, so this is a trial run. 

The system requires a few cultures, a few occupations, and a few other methods that can used to both differentiate characters and link them into the kinds of potential storylines we envision for the setting. 

It similarly needs a range of abilities, to direct the types of actions players might have their characters do. This is a bit psychological, SNAFU is designed to be an open system where anything is possible, but players in many of the playtests have shown that they're more inclined to have their characters perform actions where they've got a better chance of success. Since possessing an ability of a specific type offers a bonus on associated actions, players naturally want to their character to do these types of actions. The abilities also help to shape a players understanding of the setting. In a cyberpunk setting, a few abilities relating to computers and technology would make sense, but in a steampunk-pirate setting, it wouldn't make sense to include them.    

We don't need any special powers or lists of equipment, but we have established a few locations already, amd those can be tied into the mechanisms of the game too. 

Over the next few posts, I'll break down the elements of the worldbuilding, and show how they'd tie into the game's moving parts to make a holistic storytelling environment. 

We'll see where this goes. 
 

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