Quote from: Sergeant Brother;891931It kind of sounds like you don't want a developed setting, but that you want to be able to have human characters encounter a variety of monsters. In that case, just make the monsters and let PC's encounter them.

I want to develop a setting.

When you say "dark/urban fantasy" what sort of fantasy are you thinking... elves, dwarves, vampires, and pixies?
Or something weirder ala The Twilight Zone... like... suddenly in the middle of the bustling city a shiny pink 3 meter cube appears, 2 meters above the ground with no support. Extrapolate 5 or 10 years from its arrival, after having proven invulnerable and immoveable... what sorts of changes has it wrought on the city around it? What new cults have begun to worship the thing or see it as a sign of imminent apocalypse... as ultimate evil or holy perfection? Who has moved in to be closer to it? Who moved away? Who has found ways to gain power and fortune from the thing? Will there be a war over it?

Or maybe set it in a normal metropolis but all the PCs are pigeons, rats, and cockroaches... various factions fighting to survive.

Or maybe all the PCs are homeless vagrants with mental disorders brought on by their magical powers and true-sight. As they war against unseen demons to protect the unknowing and ungrateful city they are treated like subhuman filth by people who cannot see them as the selfless heroes they actually are.
Robert Preston is dutifully at his post, chanting out wards to protect the banking district but the wage slaves around him just see old Bob shouting at cars like he does every Tuesday after a full moon.

Quote from: BoxCrayonTales;891906I want a setting that may support the main paranormal subgenres: monster hunting in the vein of Buffy, Charmed, Angel, Supernatural, Sleepy Hollow, etc; teen drama in the vein of Vampire Diaries, Teen Wolf, etc; soap opera in the vein of Dark Shadows, Being Human, Once Upon A Time, etc. At the same time, I don't want to restrict the monsters to any one set of powers/limitations (a la the broad varieties of vampire and werewolf in Dresden Files or Witchcraft) and I don't want the setting to feel absurdly overcrowded like World of Darkness or Everlasting.

Monster Hunting, Teen Drama, Soap Opera. Undefined creature powers. Creatures rare.

So... Scooby Doo meets Call of Cthulhu, with Josie & the Pussycats as a double feature.

Got it. Did you want it grimdark serious? Kill Thelma. Scooby snacks made of opium cake.

Quote from: BoxCrayonTales;891959I want to develop a setting.

Sorry, bro, but if you seek sources of inspiration, it means you're too clueless and not passionate enough to make it happen. Use one of already written settings, add a tweak or two, focus your attention on the development of better scenarios.

It's not only easier that way. It's also more reasonable.

Godspeed. :cheerleader:

Quote from: Opaopajr;892011Monster Hunting, Teen Drama, Soap Opera. Undefined creature powers. Creatures rare.

So... Scooby Doo meets Call of Cthulhu, with Josie & the Pussycats as a double feature.

Got it. Did you want it grimdark serious? Kill Thelma. Scooby snacks made of opium cake.

This reminds me...

Quote from: JesterRaiin;892016Sorry, bro, but if you seek sources of inspiration, it means you're too clueless and not passionate enough to make it happen. Use one of already written settings, add a tweak or two, focus your attention on the development of better scenarios.

It's not only easier that way. It's also more reasonable.

Godspeed. :cheerleader:

I had inspiration, I thought? It will take time to compose my thoughts and present a premise. I will try to post something substantial later today.

Well, I bolded your parameters above...

It definitely needs an atmosphere, preferably more descriptive than "dark." I mean, that's the Brightness dial, but you still need the Contrast & Humor dial at the very least. And even then you got to put all those dials together to get an encapsulating "pitch" sentence.

You haven't even defined Time & Space beyond vagaries of "modern" and "earth." You have a lot of work to do.
:idunno:

Quote from: Simlasa;891978When you say "dark/urban fantasy" what sort of fantasy are you thinking... elves, dwarves, vampires, and pixies?
Or something weirder ala The Twilight Zone... like... suddenly in the middle of the bustling city a shiny pink 3 meter cube appears, 2 meters above the ground with no support. Extrapolate 5 or 10 years from its arrival, after having proven invulnerable and immoveable... what sorts of changes has it wrought on the city around it? What new cults have begun to worship the thing or see it as a sign of imminent apocalypse... as ultimate evil or holy perfection? Who has moved in to be closer to it? Who moved away? Who has found ways to gain power and fortune from the thing? Will there be a war over it?

Or maybe set it in a normal metropolis but all the PCs are pigeons, rats, and cockroaches... various factions fighting to survive.

Or maybe all the PCs are homeless vagrants with mental disorders brought on by their magical powers and true-sight. As they war against unseen demons to protect the unknowing and ungrateful city they are treated like subhuman filth by people who cannot see them as the selfless heroes they actually are.
Robert Preston is dutifully at his post, chanting out wards to protect the banking district but the wage slaves around him just see old Bob shouting at cars like he does every Tuesday after a full moon.

Quote from: Opaopajr;892011Monster Hunting, Teen Drama, Soap Opera. Undefined creature powers. Creatures rare.

So... Scooby Doo meets Call of Cthulhu, with Josie & the Pussycats as a double feature.

Got it. Did you want it grimdark serious? Kill Thelma. Scooby snacks made of opium cake.

Quote from: Opaopajr;892023Well, I bolded your parameters above...

It definitely needs an atmosphere, preferably more descriptive than "dark." I mean, that's the Brightness dial, but you still need the Contrast & Humor dial at the very least. And even then you got to put all those dials together to get an encapsulating "pitch" sentence.

You haven't even defined Time & Space beyond vagaries of "modern" and "earth." You have a lot of work to do.
:idunno:

Here is my very, very basic pitch.

Welcome to Goth Emo Punk World (or GEMPW for short). GEMPW is just like our real world, only more goth and emo and stuff. Everybody listens to Linkin Park, cut themselves, join gangs and stuff. Also, all myths, fairytales, urban legends, proverbs, Victorian fiction, new age nonsense and stuff are true too. Vampires feed, ghosts haunt, witches eat children, Cthulhu dreams, whatever.

In this campaign setting, the PCs are generally normal people (aka muggles) who uncover the awful truths of the universe, paranormal investigators, self-styled monster hunters, some flavor of transhuman or outright monsters. You're probably more interested in the latter and that will be the focus of today's tract. First, question time.

What makes a monster? Don't get hung up the details. GEMPW doesn't restrict its monsters to a particular set of metaphysical rules. Among my inspirations, Dresden Files has four types of vampires and five types of werewolves and Nephilim makes all myths manifestations of the same elemental forces. Invent as many different varieties as you like. Go wild.

Where did the paranormal come from and where is it going? If the PCs are transhuman or abhuman, then they're probably descended from Great Old Ones or someone fighting Great Old Ones at least indirectly. Whether you want to call it vampire intelligences, fomorians, moon goddess, Atlantis, or what have you, in the end it all boils down to Great Old Ones. Of course, if you bring in Great Old Ones then the plot will revolve completely around them, but this isn't Call of Cthulhu so just leave it be.

How has the paranormal remained hidden from the public eye? I'll keep it simple: it can't, so fate conspires against convincing existence of the paranormal. Visual and audio is distorted beyond recognition (or simply looks like SFX), records are inevitably corrupted or lost, etc. When most muggles confront the supernatural, they either refuse to recognize it at all or blot it from memory after they've escaped with their lives.

What do the PCs actually do? Now we're getting to the interesting part. Meaningful conflict is the soul of drama. Now you just need to define what that conflict is. Who (or what) are the PCs, what do they want, what obstacles must they overcome, and why are they working together? What's the best way to answer those questions? Rolling on random tables.

And that's today's tract. Yeah, I know it is super generic compared to elegant originality like homeless crazy people secretly fighting malevolent forces no one else can see. But, unfortunately for originality, I'm going more in the vein of the new age mythic games like Nightlife and its many imitators. Random tables, mythic history and factions will follow eventually. Criticism desired.

Quote from: BoxCrayonTales;892061Welcome to Goth Emo Punk World (or GEMPW for short). GEMPW is just like our real world, only more goth and emo and stuff. Everybody listens to Linkin Park, cut themselves, join gangs and stuff.

A mess of retro kids joining gangs while also being moody, suicidal loners. OK.

QuoteAlso, all myths, fairytales, urban legends, proverbs, Victorian fiction, new age nonsense and stuff are true too. Vampires feed, ghosts haunt, witches eat children, Cthulhu dreams, whatever.

Thor vs. Zeus in the middle of Union Square while Baba Yaga snacks down on a schoolbus full of 4th graders and dragons roost on the rooftops.
There's not going to be much city left for it to fill the 'urban' requirement. It's basically Rifts... or Armageddon if you know that setting. Kitchen sink apocalypse. OK.

QuoteWhat makes a monster? Don't get hung up the details. GEMPW doesn't restrict its monsters to a particular set of metaphysical rules.

No rules means no shape... just a big shapeless mess that eats itself. OK.

QuoteWhere did the paranormal come from and where is it going? If the PCs are transhuman or abhuman, then they're probably descended from Great Old Ones or someone fighting Great Old Ones at least indirectly.

So a big shapeless mess that is eating itself for no reason. OK. Azathoth!

QuoteHow has the paranormal remained hidden from the public eye? I'll keep it simple: it can't, so fate conspires against convincing existence of the paranormal.

So Azathoth is invisible. OK.

QuoteWhat do the PCs actually do? Now we're getting to the interesting part. Meaningful conflict is the soul of drama. Now you just need to define what that conflict is. Who (or what) are the PCs, what do they want, what obstacles must they overcome, and why are they working together? What's the best way to answer those questions? Rolling on random tables.

So the suicidal loner gang kids wander randomly across the surface of invisible Azathoth, emoting randomly.

QuoteAnd that's today's tract. Yeah, I know it is super generic

I don't know that I'd call it generic... just formless. It's everything and nothing. The whole encyclopedia soaked in all 31 flavors and dragged through a Vegas buffet.

The most important thing about creativity is choosing what you are NOT going to do. Without boundaries, paralysis; without boundaries, scattered energies and no audience connection (even if it's an audience of one, the author alone).

So... it's a kitchen sink world, with petulant and angsty teen melodrama as a major mood factor. And then it's everything to everybody so no one's left out  -- which means it's nothing to everybody because nothing stands out.

Painting in a palette with all the colors known, then mixed together, in all perspectives and styles simultaneously, is a muddied incoherent mess. SOMEONE MUST BE ON THE OUTSIDE LOOKING IN. No definition, no character, no interest.

Keep going... you need to make tougher decisions than this.

Quote from: Simlasa;892074A mess of retro kids joining gangs while also being moody, suicidal loners. OK.
Thor vs. Zeus in the middle of Union Square while Baba Yaga snacks down on a schoolbus full of 4th graders and dragons roost on the rooftops.
There's not going to be much city left for it to fill the 'urban' requirement. It's basically Rifts... or Armageddon if you know that setting. Kitchen sink apocalypse. OK.

Actually this bit?  Sounds awesome...  But I don't think you have to destroy the city...  I mean, how big are the Dragons that roost on rooftops?  And what if they have a deal with the City?  Also, what if the City was an Entity in itself, so that the damage caused doesn't actually destroy permanently?

Quote from: Christopher Brady;892079Actually this bit?  Sounds awesome...  But I don't think you have to destroy the city...  I mean, how big are the Dragons that roost on rooftops?  And what if they have a deal with the City?  Also, what if the City was an Entity in itself, so that the damage caused doesn't actually destroy permanently?

Yeah, I really like the idea of the city itself being an entity/god... and various factions of the PCs and creatures working for/against it.
That starts me thinking about Nexus: The Infinite City, another kitchen-sink urban setting. Giving it sentience would just add another cool level of weird.

Once again, it sounds like the setting you want is so open ended that it isn't really a setting. There are no set abilities for monsters, all monsters potentially exist, there is no monster culture.

Since it sounds like this will just be for your own campaign, you don't really even to write anything down, not that is that much to write. Just leave things as being mysterious for your players and throw what ever creatures at them that you like. Since there are no set abilities for any given creature type, you don't need rules for vampires, werewolves, gargoyles, ghosts, etc. Just come up with rules for each individual you introduce to the players as needed.

Quote from: TristramEvans;89184590% of it is just WoD fanfic

I don't think that describes Clive Barker's _Books of Blood_, _Cabal_, Simon Green's _Nightside_ series or Charles de Lint's _Newport_ books.  Although many of those were inspirations for the oWoD.

What if the City's priorities were what was what makes it odd.

Instead of caring about individuals, it's more about who or what is where.  If you murder someone, the City might not care at all, but if a bunch of Wererats decided that they wanted to take over a suburb, and the ensuing rush of people leaving, then the City might take notice and start doing 'things' to correct that issue.

For the most part, every one knows that the City is 'alive', but for the most part it just doesn't seem to care, until you do that one little thing...  Which might change from day to day, week to week or month to month, even.