Game Design: The Scattered Dust of Empire
I'm currently in the midst of creating a role playing game/campaign. This entails coming up with a story and game mechanics that encourage the creation of that sort of story.
So what's the game about?
Players play the staff of Earth's first embassy to a huge, star-spanning, millenia old society. Soon after they arrive at the embassy, the empire begins to dissolve.
Earth's government has no illusions about the precarious state of things. The players have two simultaneous missions. First, they are responsible to do what embassies always do--represent their government to another government. Second (and perhaps more importantly), they're responsible to acquire all the knowlege and technology they can (i.e. take anything they can get away with).
Thematically I imagine the campaign hitting a few of the following themes:
1. Responsibility to your group/yourself vs. responsibility to the larger society.
2. Revenge vs. appropriate reparations
3. Free will vs. determinism
The tough part is going from these intentions to game mechanics. I could just go straight to using the Pool, but though I like it, I think I'd like to do something a little more particular to this background.
Prepare to see a bit more on this in the next few days.