Tone Shifts (was Re: Faeries)

[Joe Iglesias]

On Thu, 25 Feb 1999, Ian Young wrote:
> Joe writes in response to Paul's suggestion...
> > Brilliantly vile.  I like.  The revenants of the aborted.  Hmm. 
> Personally, I think this suggestion goes hand in hand with the notion that
> all UA magick has to be predicated on human perversity and depravity -- a
> notion that was mercifully squelched early on.  

I respectfully disagree.  The occult underground is not a pretty place.
That doesn't make it an evil or perverted place, but it does have nasty
stuff that shouldn't be glossed over or seen as somehow "beneath" PCs.  A
central theme of the game is whether characters rise above their surroundings 
and try to make them better, or succumb to their baser nature.  I think it
does the game a disservice *not* to have gruesomeness alongside the good--
people in UA are highly passionate creatures, with the capacity for 
startling selflessness and senseless cruelty.  A large part of the game's
appeal for me is having the PCs sort out just what kinds of people they
really are.  That entails rolling over some of the rocks of society and
seeing what scurries out.

> Sure, it's ultimately your game to play as you please, but if gritty, vile
> nastiness is as far as you take your game, I think you're missing a lot of
> the big picture.

You misconstrue my motives.  Where did I say that was as far as I was
going to take my game?

I'm a little bemused by your squeamishness as well (well, ok, the fetuses
are squicky, but I'm making a point here). UA is not a pretty game. It
isn't Kult, but it does live on the darker side of the street.  I mean,
you have read the book, right? This ain't Star Wars by any stretch. 

UA leans heavily towards film noir, and noir's almost as ritualized as
Greek tragedies; people's sins find them out.  And no one is wholly
without sin (except the girlfriends and kid sidekicks left behind for
their own good). 

I am not advocating nihilism in UA by any stretch; I just think that
denying that its characters are easily capable of anything (for good or
ill) defangs it. 

I think having the "fae" as embodiments of innocence lost/betrayed is tons
more powerful as a theme than just "they're capricious alien beings".
Especially since it nips the fae-idealization meme right in the bud.

Joe
---
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