The challenge: pick two setting elements, genres, memes, themes, whatever, that you would not usually think of putting together, to try to create an instant concept for an RPG setting that would kick ass.

My entry:
X= The Roman Empire
?= Superheroes

Result: The Roman Empire was facing the end of its golden age. Marcus Aurelius' benign rule as a philosopher-emperor should have been the greatest hope for all of humanity, but faced the devastation of plague and hordes of Germanic invaders, reaching as far as Italy. Just when all seemed lost, the Gods themselves intervened, as some of those touched by the mysterious plague did not die, and instead developed miraculous powers. Some could burn with the light of the sun, some had the strength of Heracles, and some could fly. The powers of these "Aurelians" could save the empire, and make certain that the Light of Rome would never fail, though some of these new men are less than pious. Will they work to preserve Rome, or bring about its destruction? Indeed, even the Emperor's own son, Commodus, is one of these Aurelians.  If he becomes Emperor after his father, what will it mean for Rome to have a man with the might of a legion in his fists who cannot be pierced by steel as ruler of the world?

RPGPundit

hmm interesting, reminds me of the Comic Book Series - Astro City.

Or Marvel 1602.
Sort of.

I'll say a cyberpunk soap opera.

And just leave it at that.

Alien Invasion and the American Revolutionary War:  Colonists, Native Americans, English and French unite to repulse the invaders.  Black powder vs plasma cannons.

Quote from: VellorianAlien Invasion and the American Revolutionary War:  Colonists, Native Americans, English and French unite to repulse the invaders.  Black powder vs plasma cannons.

Along these lines, I like the "alien invasion during the Crusades" storyline of Poul Anderson's "The High Crusade." Imagine an English village gearing up to send off a contingent of crusaders, when the beginnings of an alien invasion lands nearby...a fun book.

Let X = Cyberpunk and ? = The Aztec Empire.

The mighty Pochteca (or was it Tolteca?) mercantile guilds have come close to rendering the Emperor moot; waves of tribute from outlying cities make Tenochtitlan an increasingly soft, decadent place to live.  Magicians craft devices which make life so easy, it's becoming cheap.  The most powerful men are the priests, whose blood-powered temples are giant spiritual gateways to the God World read 'cyberspace'), where knowledge may be lost and found, sometimes straight from a man's mind.

Then the Spanish show up.

Quote from: VellorianAlien Invasion and the American Revolutionary War:  Colonists, Native Americans, English and French unite to repulse the invaders.  Black powder vs plasma cannons.

Unless there were very few aliens in comparison, or they had some kind of special weakness, I wouldn't see that being a very long conflict!

My turn again?

x=Africa
?=medieval fantasy

result: The Kingdom of Prester John really exists! Deep in the heart of Africa, at the source of the Nile, a courtly realm cut off from the rest of Christendom by the rise of Islam, where brave knights struggle to defend a kingdom embattled by muslim raiders from the north, and heathen savages in the jungles that surround them!  will your party be sent to confront the forces of the white she-witch, evil and supposedly immortal queen of Mt.Kenya? Or will they be sent north to try to get past the Caliphates of Islam and find out if the rumours are true of a great Christian crusade establishing new kingdoms in the holy land?

RPGPundit

Quote from: RPGPunditUnless there were very few aliens in comparison, or they had some kind of special weakness, I wouldn't see that being a very long conflict!

You should read The High Crusade to see how Anderson presented it. The aliens were very territorial amongst their own kind, relied too heavily on tech and neglected to bring sufficient forces. They expected to easily cow the primitives with a display of high-tech weaponry, but were overwhelmed when the English reacted violently to the show of force. The aliens' territoriality made it so that they only sparsely colonized any given planet, making each colony essentially a large estate. Plus, they had been so used to using machines and slave labor that they couldn't really field a real army when challenged. How the English made it into space and what they did there...well, you'll just have to read the book...

How About The American Revolution & Goofy/Mad Steampunk/Supers?

-The meteorite that landed outside (present-day) Independence Hall the very day George Washington took up command of the revolutionary armies was not large, but the unknown metal it wwas comprised of had the human gene structure.  Emboldened by the panic and loud blast that accompanied said meteorite, a band of Philadelphia Tories wielding clubs and knives picked that moment to charge into the hall, intent on killing these traitors to the Crown.

As they approached John Adams, the stout lawyer felt a tremendous energy building behind his eyes--and was stunned to see two of the toughs advancing on him burst into flames!  With his new heatvision, Adams raced to the aid of his cousin, Sam Adams.

But there was no need to worry--for just he arrived, Sam's arms melted, changed shape, one turning into a hammer, the other a long blade.  The Tories before him were either crushed or skewered before the newly-empowered shapeshifter.

Across the hall the scene was much the same--
Thomas Jefferson appeared to have grown bat wings and was raining death on his enemies from above, while Ceaser Rodney and Button Gwinnett had morphed into a giant troll-like creature.  John Hancock moved at the speed of a blur, striking the invaders here, there, dashing away just in time.  Washington himself threw two Tories through the wall by the fireplace.  A bullet, fired by someone in the crowd, deflected off his wrist.  And the Rev. John Witherspoon had evidnetly turned at least 4 Tories into small beetles, who were in turn stepped on by the Hon. James Wilson of Pennsylvania, who was directing a small zephyr to and fro in the vicinity of main crowd of opposition.

Meanwhile, across the Atlantic, in secret factories all across England, King George III's men built behemoth war machines, powered by a variation on Mr. Watt's Steam Engine....but back to our story--

--Ben Franklin had been away from the convention at the time of the attack, but upon hearing the ruckus, quickly climbed into his latest invention--a 12-foot tall metal suit powered by the stored blasts of lightning he had collected and the almighty power of the Franklin Stove, and burst through the last whole wall Independence Hall could boast.

"Sorry I'm tardy to the party," he announced, to shocked Patriot and Tory alike, "but here's a little maxim from Poor Richard you may not have heard of:  'Time to take out the trash!'"

And the battle was joined.

Quote from: ColonelHardissonAlong these lines, I like the "alien invasion during the Crusades" storyline of Poul Anderson's "The High Crusade." Imagine an English village gearing up to send off a contingent of crusaders, when the beginnings of an alien invasion lands nearby...a fun book.

The book was licensed as a board wargame by SPI. It appeared in one of the later issues of Ares magazine. I don't know how good the game was or if it captured the feel of the novel, but it might be interesting in itself if you're a fan, and might also be a good game aid if you use it for RPGing.

Quote from: RPGPunditUnless there were very few aliens in comparison, or they had some kind of special weakness, I wouldn't see that being a very long conflict!

...but of course!  

High Crusade is a good example.  I like the inclusion of black powder and tomahawks, though.  

How about this one...

X= Religion dominates an interstellar setting
?= The religion is Islam and there is no separation between mosque and state

I'm currently working on a game....
I've done some style sheets of art for it:
 

(mind you I'll get a professional to do better this is just so for reference)


Vast Frontier (Mech+Westerns)

Lieutenant Hopsworth grits his teeth as he skims above the treetops.  Touchy flying today, with mist thick as a London peasouper hiding trees threatening to claw his Sopwith Camel from the sky.  He checks to either side to make sure the other lads in the flight are alright.  One two three...his gaze pauses on the gaudy red of the Fokker Triplane.  Never imagined, he muses, I'd be fighting with a bleeding Jerry.  But circumstances had forced the armies of Kaiser and Queen to join forces against a greater enemy...

    There.  His skin crawled at the sight of the brutish, tri-legged monstrosity looming above the muddy fields of Flanders.  A charred ruin announced where a peasant's farmhouse had felt the touch of those damnable Heat Rays.  With the ease of long practise, the rest of the flight of the British Army Air Corps wheeled out to attack the Tripod with Spandaus and Lewis guns.  He himself dove down at a few feet above the mud.  A flash-- he briefly mourned Boggis as the man's air-machine exploded with a flash from the Tripod's Ray Projector.  

    Engine screaming, the Lieutenant flashed between the Tripod's legs; a hand slapped a switch, firing a spin-stabilized rocket whose magnetic head clanged against the armoured hull of the Tripod.  He gritted his teeth as he wove in and out among the three legs of the Martian war machine.  As the Tripod sought to escape the fire from the warplanes, it's legs tangled in the grappling line.  Lieutenant Hopsworth banked aways and cried out in triumph at the damned thing crashed onto its side.

    He fired a Very pistol to signal the attack.  Over the roar of his engine, he heard the rumble of the land-dreadnaughts coming to crack open the tripod with their heavy guns.  Another Martian dead, he thought.  They thought the Earth ripe for picking...but by gum, we'll show those Reds what earthmen are made of!

****

     The Martians of H.G Well's War of the Worlds have invaded...but a few crucial years later, as man has developed the critical tools of aircraft and heavier weapons to oppose the alien menace.  Propel yourself into a world of Maxim guns, trenches, flying aces, and the dreaded Tripods in a Great War of the Worlds!

Quote from: SamarkandPropel yourself into a world of Maxim guns, trenches, flying aces, and the dreaded Tripods in a Great War of the Worlds!

Add some arcane magics and you grab my attention...

Quote from: VellorianAdd some arcane magics and you grab my attention...

    Magic wouldn`t quite work for a Wellsian scientific-romance, but one could always throw in a bit of Burroughs-style psionics without breaking genre.  For my money, the clash between the Martians and the real-world technology and figures of the early 20th century would be the draw.  Imagine fighting with T.E. Lawrence in the Levant, running a guerrilla campaign with his Bedouin allies who have vowed to punish the alien infidels who have occupied the Lands of the Prophet.  The uneasy alliances between colonizer and colonized in the various imperial holdings as they battle a much larger enemy.

    Or what happens *after* the Great War when the European and North American scientists adapt Martian technology to their own ends.  The tech of Wells Martians probably approximates human tech that was being developed by the 1940`s.  The "heat rays" could be high-intensity lasers, the fuel sources for the Tripods small nuclear reactors, equipped with computer the equivalent of the 60's or 70's.  You'd have the 20th century's tech advances kick-started decades earlier.

    Just in time for the Second Interstellar War in 1941...



Andrew