GroovyBoy
11/30/2007, 19:49
This game is based on the Sci-Fi miniseries The Lost Room. It's available for rental at most video stores. The backstory is supercool, and if you haven't seen it, you need to. Some background info is below, so even if you've never seen the show, you can still get a feel for what it's all about and play (Wikipedia also has a bunch of stuff for perusal).
Even though I'm new at mafias, I have over 20 years experience in roleplaying and LARP writing/running, so I think I have the chops for this. I'm looking for 32 brave souls who wanna spread some paranoia, mess some people up, and warp reality. This setting definitely allows for some fresh takes on the mafia format while still looking/playing like a mafia game. I think you'll have fun (right up to the point you're killed).
If you sign up, please include a start date(s) that would work best for you. That way, I can plan to begin it at a time that is good for everyone.
Anyhoo, here's some more info...
“The Lost Room” is a science fiction television miniseries that aired on the Sci Fi Channel in the United States. The series revolves around the titular room and some of the hundred everyday items from that room that possess unusual powers. The show's protagonist, Joe Miller, is searching for these objects to rescue his daughter, Anna, who has disappeared inside the Room. Once a typical room at a 1960s motel along Route 66, the Lost Room now exists outside of normal time and space.
The Room
The Room is the nonexistent Room 10 at the abandoned Sunshine Motel outside of Gallup, New Mexico. At 1:20:45 p.m. on May 4, 1961, something happened at the site of the Room that erased it and all its contents from history. This is referred to as "the Event" or "the Incident", and is thought to be the reason for the unusual properties of the Room and the Objects. At the time of the Event, the hotel was in quite serviceable condition and had a tenth room. One of the Objects, the undeveloped Polaroid picture, allows the user to view this tenth room as it was just before the Event by standing in its currently vacant location at the Sunshine Motel ruins in the real world.
The Room can be accessed only by the holder of the Key. The Key will open any hinged door with a pin tumbler lock anywhere in the world, turning the door into a portal accessing the Room regardless of where that door would open normally. When exiting the Room, the door opens not to the original entry door but to any door that the holder of the Key has in mind, or to a random door if the user doesn't focus. To reach a specific door, the user must have a clear picture of the door and the area around it. The Room can thus serve as a way station for rapid travel between similar doors anywhere on Earth. Doors with types of locks other than a tumbler lock, or without a lock at all, cannot be used to access the Room; sliding doors are unusable for travel in either direction.
The holder of the Key can bring other people into the Room, but they must either leave together or the holder must let other people out of the room while remaining behind, because the Room "resets" whenever the door is opened from the outside using the key: everything is restored to the way it was originally, minus any Objects that are outside the Room. If something from outside the Room (including a person) is left in it when the holder of the Key leaves, it disappears. If Objects are left in the Room, they return to their original position when the Room resets. A benefit to this is that one can retrieve an Object from something within which it may be encased or hidden (such as a safe) by leaving whatever the Object is in inside the Room and resetting it. This can also let someone sort out a real Object from fakes, since the fakes disappear.
Objects lose their special abilities while in the Room, and can be destroyed. However, according to the Occupant, a new Object will take the destroyed Object's place, a fact he refers to as the Law of Conservation of Objects. The Occupant states that there are many Rooms; thus, any non-Object left in the Room hasn't actually disappeared, but is simply in a different instance of the Room. The reset, in turn, represents a confluence of these Rooms, allowing the Occupant (the only Object capable of consciously existing during a reset) to retrieve things lost during a reset provided they have a clear idea of what they wish to retrieve.
The Event
The Event is a shorthand term given to the moment in time that the Lost Room was created. It occurred at 1:20:45 p.m. on May 4, 1961, and erased the room and all of its contents from history. The reason behind this and the ultimate purpose of the Objects is yet unknown, though two primary theories have been postulated. Even the man occupying the room at the time of the event is unclear about what happened, so the truth remains a mystery. Both theories essentially lead to the same conclusion, but attribute the event to different causes.
One faction, the Order of the Reunification, operates under the belief that the Objects are pieces of God's mind or body (God having presumably died or been killed somehow) and that reuniting them will allow them to communicate with God. More extreme versions of this view hold that reuniting the Objects will turn one into God or at least give that person God-like powers. Martin Ruber purports that the Occupant confirmed this particular theory for him in a vision, making him the self-proclaimed "Prophet of the Objects", but his near-death state from dehydration and heat exhaustion at the time casts doubt on his claims. Additionally, the Occupant himself shows no knowledge of the circumstances behind the event. The Deck of Cards, which gives one who is exposed to it a vision of the events during the Collectors' failed attempt to use the objects on Room 9 of the hotel, may be the source of their beliefs, as it is used in their rituals.
Another (though not necessarily contradictory) view of the phenomenon suggests that reality was somehow shattered at the location of the Room, thus separating it and everything in it from time and giving its contents metaphysical abilities. Should the items be collected and returned to the room by an individual, that person would then have complete control over reality. This theory works under the assumption that the one gathering the objects has the knowledge to utilize them properly. Since the Objects are just considered tools, they would do no good if the user were unaware of their paranormal functions.
The Objects
The Objects are powerful artifacts and consist of roughly 100 everyday items one would expect to find in an occupied motel room in the 1960s. They are indestructible (except when inside the Room) and possess various other-worldly powers when taken outside the Lost Room, but do not work within the Room itself. Various characters repeatedly put forth the opinion that, over time, Objects lead to something akin to bad karma or bad luck for their owners. All of the items seem to have some attraction to one another, wanting to come together. It is stated various times that, with the exception of the Occupant, all objects eventually cross paths.
The Cabals
Many Object-seekers have organized themselves into groups, known as "cabals". Wars between cabals are mentioned in the series. There are at least three cabals:
The Collectors
The original group of Object-seekers formed some time after the Event. Led by Arlene Conroy, the manager of the Sunshine Motel, most of the Collectors were killed or driven insane after the disaster in Room 9 in 1966. The survivors hid their most important Objects in a place called "The Collector's Vault", buried beneath an abandoned prison.
The Legion
A cabal dedicated to collecting the Objects and stopping them from causing more harm. They claim to follow an established set of rules, including that they never kill in order to acquire the Objects, although this rule is sometimes put to the test.
The Order of the Reunification
Also referred to as "The Order" or "The New Religion". They believe that the Objects are pieces of God's corpse and must be reunited. Once so restored, members of the Order would be able to communicate with God for the first time in human history. More extreme views hold that restoring the Objects will allow one to become God, or else achieve God-like power. Unlike the Legion, The Order have no qualms about killing.
The game would start after the events of “The Lost Room.” Detective Joe Miller, now an Object himself, has found his daughter and ditched the Key. Jennifer Bloom has quit The Legion, traveling with Joe and Anna. But the Objects remain, calling to new users, and each other...
Okay, here's the list of the willing and able:
1) theanalogkid
2) Rokk_Krinn
3) DarkCorsair
4) Darkseid Sr.
5) Antipathy
6) da-Craig-O
7) DocDoom187
8) madslaust
9) Unknown352
10) JackoHearts
11)jsoccerdude
12) hail_eris
13) loganspeedo
14) Vevilaughs
15) Biz567
16) Iron_Ham
17) Stark's heir
18) ABF
19) raiserb1ade
20) St. Cuthbert
21) webhead
22) darius dax
23) CFGuy
24) Eleven Bee
25) epalicki
26) MSU
27) stark's heir
28) Bigkahuna83
29)
Prefered Times (so far) - any; after Xmas
Even though I'm new at mafias, I have over 20 years experience in roleplaying and LARP writing/running, so I think I have the chops for this. I'm looking for 32 brave souls who wanna spread some paranoia, mess some people up, and warp reality. This setting definitely allows for some fresh takes on the mafia format while still looking/playing like a mafia game. I think you'll have fun (right up to the point you're killed).
If you sign up, please include a start date(s) that would work best for you. That way, I can plan to begin it at a time that is good for everyone.
Anyhoo, here's some more info...
“The Lost Room” is a science fiction television miniseries that aired on the Sci Fi Channel in the United States. The series revolves around the titular room and some of the hundred everyday items from that room that possess unusual powers. The show's protagonist, Joe Miller, is searching for these objects to rescue his daughter, Anna, who has disappeared inside the Room. Once a typical room at a 1960s motel along Route 66, the Lost Room now exists outside of normal time and space.
The Room
The Room is the nonexistent Room 10 at the abandoned Sunshine Motel outside of Gallup, New Mexico. At 1:20:45 p.m. on May 4, 1961, something happened at the site of the Room that erased it and all its contents from history. This is referred to as "the Event" or "the Incident", and is thought to be the reason for the unusual properties of the Room and the Objects. At the time of the Event, the hotel was in quite serviceable condition and had a tenth room. One of the Objects, the undeveloped Polaroid picture, allows the user to view this tenth room as it was just before the Event by standing in its currently vacant location at the Sunshine Motel ruins in the real world.
The Room can be accessed only by the holder of the Key. The Key will open any hinged door with a pin tumbler lock anywhere in the world, turning the door into a portal accessing the Room regardless of where that door would open normally. When exiting the Room, the door opens not to the original entry door but to any door that the holder of the Key has in mind, or to a random door if the user doesn't focus. To reach a specific door, the user must have a clear picture of the door and the area around it. The Room can thus serve as a way station for rapid travel between similar doors anywhere on Earth. Doors with types of locks other than a tumbler lock, or without a lock at all, cannot be used to access the Room; sliding doors are unusable for travel in either direction.
The holder of the Key can bring other people into the Room, but they must either leave together or the holder must let other people out of the room while remaining behind, because the Room "resets" whenever the door is opened from the outside using the key: everything is restored to the way it was originally, minus any Objects that are outside the Room. If something from outside the Room (including a person) is left in it when the holder of the Key leaves, it disappears. If Objects are left in the Room, they return to their original position when the Room resets. A benefit to this is that one can retrieve an Object from something within which it may be encased or hidden (such as a safe) by leaving whatever the Object is in inside the Room and resetting it. This can also let someone sort out a real Object from fakes, since the fakes disappear.
Objects lose their special abilities while in the Room, and can be destroyed. However, according to the Occupant, a new Object will take the destroyed Object's place, a fact he refers to as the Law of Conservation of Objects. The Occupant states that there are many Rooms; thus, any non-Object left in the Room hasn't actually disappeared, but is simply in a different instance of the Room. The reset, in turn, represents a confluence of these Rooms, allowing the Occupant (the only Object capable of consciously existing during a reset) to retrieve things lost during a reset provided they have a clear idea of what they wish to retrieve.
The Event
The Event is a shorthand term given to the moment in time that the Lost Room was created. It occurred at 1:20:45 p.m. on May 4, 1961, and erased the room and all of its contents from history. The reason behind this and the ultimate purpose of the Objects is yet unknown, though two primary theories have been postulated. Even the man occupying the room at the time of the event is unclear about what happened, so the truth remains a mystery. Both theories essentially lead to the same conclusion, but attribute the event to different causes.
One faction, the Order of the Reunification, operates under the belief that the Objects are pieces of God's mind or body (God having presumably died or been killed somehow) and that reuniting them will allow them to communicate with God. More extreme versions of this view hold that reuniting the Objects will turn one into God or at least give that person God-like powers. Martin Ruber purports that the Occupant confirmed this particular theory for him in a vision, making him the self-proclaimed "Prophet of the Objects", but his near-death state from dehydration and heat exhaustion at the time casts doubt on his claims. Additionally, the Occupant himself shows no knowledge of the circumstances behind the event. The Deck of Cards, which gives one who is exposed to it a vision of the events during the Collectors' failed attempt to use the objects on Room 9 of the hotel, may be the source of their beliefs, as it is used in their rituals.
Another (though not necessarily contradictory) view of the phenomenon suggests that reality was somehow shattered at the location of the Room, thus separating it and everything in it from time and giving its contents metaphysical abilities. Should the items be collected and returned to the room by an individual, that person would then have complete control over reality. This theory works under the assumption that the one gathering the objects has the knowledge to utilize them properly. Since the Objects are just considered tools, they would do no good if the user were unaware of their paranormal functions.
The Objects
The Objects are powerful artifacts and consist of roughly 100 everyday items one would expect to find in an occupied motel room in the 1960s. They are indestructible (except when inside the Room) and possess various other-worldly powers when taken outside the Lost Room, but do not work within the Room itself. Various characters repeatedly put forth the opinion that, over time, Objects lead to something akin to bad karma or bad luck for their owners. All of the items seem to have some attraction to one another, wanting to come together. It is stated various times that, with the exception of the Occupant, all objects eventually cross paths.
The Cabals
Many Object-seekers have organized themselves into groups, known as "cabals". Wars between cabals are mentioned in the series. There are at least three cabals:
The Collectors
The original group of Object-seekers formed some time after the Event. Led by Arlene Conroy, the manager of the Sunshine Motel, most of the Collectors were killed or driven insane after the disaster in Room 9 in 1966. The survivors hid their most important Objects in a place called "The Collector's Vault", buried beneath an abandoned prison.
The Legion
A cabal dedicated to collecting the Objects and stopping them from causing more harm. They claim to follow an established set of rules, including that they never kill in order to acquire the Objects, although this rule is sometimes put to the test.
The Order of the Reunification
Also referred to as "The Order" or "The New Religion". They believe that the Objects are pieces of God's corpse and must be reunited. Once so restored, members of the Order would be able to communicate with God for the first time in human history. More extreme views hold that restoring the Objects will allow one to become God, or else achieve God-like power. Unlike the Legion, The Order have no qualms about killing.
The game would start after the events of “The Lost Room.” Detective Joe Miller, now an Object himself, has found his daughter and ditched the Key. Jennifer Bloom has quit The Legion, traveling with Joe and Anna. But the Objects remain, calling to new users, and each other...
Okay, here's the list of the willing and able:
1) theanalogkid
2) Rokk_Krinn
3) DarkCorsair
4) Darkseid Sr.
5) Antipathy
6) da-Craig-O
7) DocDoom187
8) madslaust
9) Unknown352
10) JackoHearts
11)jsoccerdude
12) hail_eris
13) loganspeedo
14) Vevilaughs
15) Biz567
16) Iron_Ham
17) Stark's heir
18) ABF
19) raiserb1ade
20) St. Cuthbert
21) webhead
22) darius dax
23) CFGuy
24) Eleven Bee
25) epalicki
26) MSU
27) stark's heir
28) Bigkahuna83
29)
Prefered Times (so far) - any; after Xmas