Beyond the Barricades [Interest Check]

[Hob]

BEYOND THE BARRICADES


While recovering from personal events, an idea came to me, and I'm trawling for folks who might be interested in a bit of an experiment. At this time, it's just an interest check, nothing more, but it's an important first step.

Group games are great. They are wonderful. And, frankly, they have a tendency to be short-lived at best. It seems that players hardly have time to make connections and plot out possible story arcs and personal character subplots before people start dropping, Real Life rears its ugly head, and/or an asteroid strikes and destroys the ecosystem (poor dinosaurs!) Not all group games are like this, mind you, but the majority in my experience tend to be brief, hopeful flairs of creativity that flicker and die out all too quickly.

So what about a short group game? A sort of "group one-shot." A story premise set within a very limited time and with a definite end, but also still allows for character freedom and development? That is what I have in mind.

The setting? The June Revolution of 1832. No idea what that is? Les Miserables. The story would take place over a period of two and would follow the lives of those involved in the Rebellion: shopkeeps, students, immigrants, soldiers, criminals, police, politicians, spies, beggars, prostitutes, members of the Society of the Rights of Man...etc... The central location would be the shops and residences along the fictional Rue De La Mélasse ("Treacle Street" and kudos to you if you figure out where that came from), a point of resistance isolated from the main part of the uprising. From taking over the funeral procession of General Lamarque on the morning of June 5th to the aftermath of the surviving characters on the evening of June 6th, it would be up to the players as to whether their characters die in glorious defense of their passions or live another day. But LeMarque's funeral procession will happen, the barricades will go up, people will die, and (in the end) the rebellion will fail. NPCs will deliver news and gossip throughout the day and night to move the story forward to the inevitable as the characters react, and events throughout Paris will continue to happen no matter what the characters do. How some of those events turn out, of course, might well be impacted by what a character says or does. It's a group story with a pre-defined ending for everyone to shoot for. (No pun intended). As a side note, any character death would have to be agreed upon; no killing off someone else's character without the writer's permission. Keep in mind, however, that it is a tragedy.

Exact knowledge of history would not be required. Players just have to know that this takes place after the French Revolution and Waterloo, happens before the US Civil War, and that there are no telephones or Nazis. (That I have to clarify that last bit should tell you something.) For those interested in more, Wikipedia has a decent summarization of what happened: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/June_Rebellion.

It would all be original characters with perhaps an occasional historical NPC thrown in. So, no, no playing Marius, Cossette, Valjean, Javert, or Enjolras. People can play characters that are like them if they want to, of course, but outside of that, we would not be stealing from Victor Hugo. Adding to that, no songs from the musical, please. As inspiration, though? No problem!

Themes: patriotism, republicanism, treachery, betrayal, seduction, devotion, martyrdom, loss of innocence, grief, hope, honor, compromise...

Posting speed? Once a week or more. Two weeks with no word received OOC will result in the absent players' characters being lost in the crowds during the chaos.

Sex and other mature content? Oh yes! Perfectly acceptable if that's what the players want and agree upon! We're talking about "Parisian youth" and university students (late teens and college kids) caught up in the passion of the moment. You can't tell me sex wouldn't have happened somewhere along the line! All of those little back alleyways and deserted shops, just ripe for potential? All of E's rules remain in effect, of course.

If you're interested in such a crazy notion, or have any suggestions, please leave a note here. Once interest is gauged... Well, we'll see what happens!

La Liberté ou la Mort

[Dominique]

This is an amazing idea and I hope that it garners more interest. Either way, I would love to participate!

[bandedbandit]

This is beautiful, I would love to be a part of it

[Hob]

This is an amazing idea and I hope that it garners more interest. Either way, I would love to participate!

This is beautiful, I would love to be a part of it

Hey, thanks for the interest, folks! Hopefully we get a few more bites. Ideally, I'm looking for around 5-8 folks, so we'll see what happens. I'm letting the interest check run for a bit to see if we get any more bites.

And with that, a bit of inspiration!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMYNfQlf1H8

[Hob]

Ah well, I think I can see where this is going.

Thanks to those who showed interest! Best of luck to you both!

[The Lovely Tsaritsa]

I only see this this now, I’m sorry it doesn’t get, more interest. I would’ve loved, for trying this.