OTHERKIN RPG

ORIGINAL PREMISE: 040603 11:43
PCs are "Otherkin", people in tune with a part of themselves that's not Human. They have memory or awareness of another life, in which they are magical creatures or shapeshifters -- but they themselves live -- or are forced to live -- ordinary lives in the mundane world.

That was Pieter's starting point, and his basic idea was that people would meet other Otherkin in the Faerie Dream Realm, and then try to hook up in the waking world... while trying to juggle jobs and school and relatives crashing on their futons.

And then... um... what?

So, let's see -- the PCs play mundane people who meet each other in an immaterial fantasy realm, and then try to get together in the material world... for coffee. I do that twice a week, actually. Go have adventures in your dreams, and wake up to wonder whether or not it's all a delusion.

There's not a lot of GAME there.

So... let's approach this from a different direction.


CORE PREMISE: 040603 11:52
Here and there in our world are "Otherkin", people in tune with a part of themselves that's not Human. They have memory or awareness of another life, in which they are magical creatures or shapeshifters, but they themselves live -- or are forced to live -- ordinary lives in the mundane world. Sometimes, in their dreams, they assume the aspect of their Other Lives.

Sometimes, they Awaken to an awareness that these are not "memories", that they are, in fact, living in two worlds -- and that events of one world can influence events in the other.

In EITHER DIRECTION.

The Others in the Faerie Realms are often quite powerful, but they can only catch glimpses of events in the Mundane World, and have little or no power to actually affect matters therein. Still, matters of import to the Faerie Relams occur there that cannot go unchecked -- and so they send a part of themselves to Incarnate.

That's one possibility. There might be multiple explanations within the game setting -- whim, curiosity, just part of a natural cycle, or... being "cursed" into a "powerless" life in an "unmagical" world.

Speaking as someone on the fringes of 'Kin culture -- ARRGH. I HATE that last one. It's so WHINY. I'd rather emphasize the idea that the Otherkin have CHOSEN to live human lives FOR A REASON, and that by bemoaning their fates and rejecting humanity, they are really failing themselves and falling away from the needs and desires of their "True Selves". Actually, I want to convey the notion that both the Faerie and the Mundane Lives are EQUALLY Real and Valid and True and IMPORTANT.

But I digress.

Again, events in one world can influence events in the other. Social and political struggles on the mundane plane might translate into archetypal battles against Tyrants or Dark Lords or Impersonal Lovecraftian Miasmas in Faerie. Sometimes, a seemingly trivial action on one side can turn the tides of an epic battle on the other. Cleaning up a vacant lot in the Mundane could purge a verdant meadow of  necromantic corruption in Faerie; lighting a single candle in a forgotton temple in Faerie might spell defeat for a corrupt government official who has been robbing the public coffers and stripping away human rights in the Mundane.

And that defeat, in turn, may turn back the tides of Darkness in both lands.


PERMUTATIONS: 040603 12:22

= Players have TWO PC Sheets, of course: their Mundane Self and their Other Self. I hope to find less klunky terms to describe the two Aspects.

= While many of the "tasks" and "missions" that the PCs undertake in the Mundane World may in fact be merely "mundane", some may be more traditional "adventures" -- closing down a crack house, or getting important information about some underhanded scheme.

= As PCs strengthen the bond between their two lives, their Mundane Aspects may learn to tap into certain Qualities of their Other Aspects. Nothing overt, nothing flashy -- a Werebear might be able to tap into  Great Strength, a Selkie might swim like nobody's business, an Elf's magic might translate into Uncanny Luck while a Fairy's Glamour might boost social manipulation. 

= Conversely, the Faerie Aspect might learn to access skills and knowledge and ways of thought from their Mundane alter-egos that might prove useful.

= Having two different RULES SETS for the different worlds might not be inappropriate. The current crude mental outline in my head right now uses something like IRONCLAW for the Faerie Realms, since they are a Romantic land of Personal Power And Competence, and something akin to A:PC for the Mundane Realm, where one's competence and ability to affect change largely hinge on one's ability to interact with, guide and lead other people. Oh, and it's much easier to end up dead.

= Finally: in the Mundane World, of course, most people would think the PCs and their talk of "other lives" and "shapeshifting" and "Faerie" to be delusional and possibly dangerous. The same may hold true in Faerie -- the other denizens of the Realm, who don't have Mundane counterparts (or aren't aware that they do, or are in denial about the whole thing) would consider our PCs, the Faeries and Dragons and Werewolves and Clockworks who talk about living as "Humans" to be equally delusional.


HOW TO RUN AN ADVENTURE: 040603 12:43
The section that Raffy always wants to see.

The ideal adventure in this setting takes place in both Realms, starting in one or the other with some Unpleasantness imposing itself on the lives of the PCs. There's something of a mystery aspect as well as High Adventure, as the PCs try to uncover symbolic connections between events in the two realms, and to determine which actions on One Side will further their goals on the Other. Yes, this is EXACTLY the sort of setting where the fate of kingdoms, armies, and nations hinge on seemingly trivial, symbolic action. 


Needless to say, Our Heroes aren't the only Otherkin out there -- and not all Otherkin will share their goals. Some NPC-Kin may not be aware that there is any reality to their dreams of strange lands and exotic creatures, but others are. Maybe Detective Griswold doesn't quite understand why he's so willing to share information about his cases with the scruffy group of SCA geeks he hangs out with on the weekends, and never really makes a connection to his recurring dreams of being Perspacius, Paladin-Defender of the Realm. on the other claw, maybe Slim Vinnie, the local drug lord, is all too aware of his other life as Baron Malbono, and cleverly manipulates matters on each side to advance his position in the other. Don Carboni may not even remember the dreams where Malbono slowly poisons him...