- Sat Oct 29, 8:00 PM - 12:00 AM
- W Quinellipe ("Quin") Zorn
- Breakdown
- Depends on characters created, to be discussed at table
- Other,Script Change,Open Door Policy
- 2022 (8)
- 4
- 0 of 4
- Created at the table
Description:
The game Breakdown features highly-stressed protagonists (“Pros,” as we call these characters) trying to do some fundamental good amid a tide of inhumanity. Their emotional drive makes them powerful and vulnerable; the harder they push, the more they risk breaking down.
The Life in the Shadows setting is focused on people under pressure in a near-future “Big Brother”/Orwellian state. Inspirations include today”s headlines about surveillance and privacy and/or fiction such as…
- Brazil, the movie, where Sam Lowry tries to cope with the Orwellian state crushing him
- “Life During Wartime” (especially the extended version) by the Talking Heads, as already mentioned above
- Fahrenheit 451’s Guy Montag, awoken by a precocious nonconformist and his wife’s suicide attempt to realize the desperation of his empty life, the oppression of his labor, and a sudden desire to truly experience life amid a culture bent on control, stultification, and self-indulgence
- Blade Runner highlights characters caught in existential crisis – especially the “replicants” with their false memories and short lives
Some inspirations more specific to the world setting include: the TV show Max Headroom: 15 Minutes into the Future; the roleplaying game Paranoia; the book Neuromancer; the book or movie A Clockwork Orange; the book 1984; the TV show The X-Files; the video for the song “Revolution Action” by Atari Teenage Riot; and (not to whatsoever suggest reusing its creepy sexism, just speaking to its superficial setting aspects) the TV show Dollhouse.
Tags: Adult themes, Collaborative, Cyberpunk, Drama, Intrigue, Investigation, Modern, Play to find out, Player antagonism, Rotating authority, Sci-Fi, Serious
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