I’ve watched A Series of Unfortunate Events a few months ago and it was enjoyable (more than my actual contact with the original novels). Something that striked me in that story every time I engaged with it is the construction of ambiguous time. It exists both in the 19th century and the 21st at the same time, mixing fashion, design, cultural norms and technology to disorient the viewer. I enjoy ambiguous settings where material history has been skewered for wonder (or disquiet, such as in It Follows) without ever calling attention to itself, different from the painstaking observations of alternate history.
But how to game in such a setting? Players need all the information that can gather for making impactful decisions (such is the core of the roleplaying I most enjoy), and the aesthetic of ambiguous time doesn’t compensate for the disorientation that may curb creativity. If we don’t know which elements of which periods are all here, how can we choose?
Wondering about it actually made me wonder what are the actual essential aspects of a setting to make it gameable. It’s never the actual detail, or even knowing all the elements. Only the elements that are needed for decision.
Therefore, the actually essential technology players should be aware of in ambiguous settings (and, I guess, any setting) would be:
Transportation: chases, rushing to places, isolation, excursions, exploring. Available transportation is often a vehicle (ha) of drama.
Communication: players need to know how much technology is available for information, calling help and negotiating. Many stories hang on the capacity for making a message or information well-known, and the level of communication technology is central.
Medicine: players need to know what’s actually, well, dangerous in an irreparable way.
Acquisition: which are the methods and values to acquire certain things. Basically, a resume of the economy and how it will be approached in the game (either currency or exchange).
There will be very specific things for some campaigns. Knowing about the technological stage of Security is likely important for heist or stealthy games. The state of Weaponry, especially personal, is important to adventure and action gaming. But in general, these seem to be sound enough for the majority. What seems like inconsistencies are not likely to be a bother as long as these four are nailed down and clear before gaming starts.
Roll to Doubt 