[UA] Historical Ascensions

[Ian Young]

Michael Daisey comments on ILLUMINATUS! (or "The Illuminatus Trilogy"):

> </editorial on>
>
> God I hope not, as I consider it an incredibly self-indulgent
> exercise in poorly written tripe that is bloated, confused and
> declared "great" based more on the concept of its existence than
> other terribly poor line-by-line writing.  It's a sophomore English 
> assignment run amuck.
>
> </editorial off>

Whoa!  Editorial or not, put a leash on that hyperbole.

ILLUMINATUS! is *definitely* not everyone's cup of tea.  Like many
gonzo/crackpot/in-yer-face books, or movies, or ice cream flavors, opinions
are pretty polarised -- people are either going to love it or hate it, and
very few people who've tried it will fall in the middle.

That said, ILLUMINATUS! is hardly required reading, but it would prove a
pretty useful quarry for knocking off unrefined inspiration for your UA
game.  Plenty of clued-in cabals, clueless cabals, renegade loners, and
maverick crackpots, duking it out over a plot to initiate The End of the
World.  And, as I've mentioned before, The Naked Goddess herself makes a
guest appearance or two.

I think that as far as simple inspiration for your UA game goes, who gives
a hang whether the source material is good or not?  Steal what you can,
strip it down, build it up, and tune it for speed.  Why, hell, I have a
plot for a UA game based on "My Dinner With Andre" bewing in my brain even
as I write this...

Gone,
Ian