[UA] The Royal Tennenbaums

[David M Jacobs]

At 02:14 PM 30/03/02 -0800, Mark Fender wrote:

>As a bit of an ode to The Royal Tennenbaums, an homage to Sandman #1, and 
>inspired by the recent list of campaign premises, I'm currently trying to 
>get together a UA game dealing with the ramifications of the death of a 
>great patriarch. The PCs would, of course, play extended family members 
>drawn together for the funeral and the reading of the will.

I haven't seen Tennenbaums yet (I will soon), but one film that I 
definitely recommend for this sort of thing is Malpertuis, starring Orson 
Welles.  It's about a ludicrously wealthy old man who stipulates in his 
will that the beneficiaries (his family) will only receive their shares if 
they agree to spend the rest of their lives in his house; furthermore, 
should they leave, they forfeit their share, which is redistributed to the 
others.  He was a twisted old bastard, and you can almost hear him laughing 
from beyond the grave.  #%o)

One thing that's very important is to establish the family's quirks.  Every 
family has habits, behaviours and protocols that set it apart from others, 
but in insular families, these can seem downright weird to outsiders.

Who runs the show?  Obviously, IYUAC, it'll be the father, but who'll take 
charge after he dies?  Is there an unspoken succession rule, is it decided 
by consensus of the rest of the family, or does the old head formally name 
a successor?  In the last case, what happens if he dies before he can 
nominate someone?

Are there factions within the family?

What values does the family hold 
dear?  Honesty?  Loyalty?  Wealth?  Ambition?  Piety?  Knowledge? 
Individuality?  How do their ethics differ from other families?

How tight are they with money?

How do they perceive outsiders?  New blood to replenish a stagnant 
line?  Foolish newcomers who've forgotten the Old Ways?  Equals?  Potential 
allies?

How do they react to people who are new and different?  Do they look down 
on mixed marriages (not just in terms of race, but religion, social class, 
politics and other divisions)?  Are they proud of their uniqueness, or do 
dirty secrets lurk somewhere in their past?  What are those dirty secrets, 
anyway?  How well are their secrets known?

Is history an important part of their identity?  Who are the "stars" of the 
family, both living and dead?  Who are the villains?

How important is kinship?  Do they keep track of every relative, down to 
third and fourth cousins?  Are family friends and those who marry into the 
family afforded the same rights as blood relatives?  What role do 
godparents play, if at all?

What role do women play?  Are they seen as housekeepers?  Breeding 
tanks?  Equals -- or even superior to men?

How do they communicate with each other?  Are they stiff and 
formal?  Uncomfortably frank?  Incredibly subtle?  Loud and boisterous, 
even violent?

Are they superstitious?  How so?  Do they believe in magick, and do they 
see it in positive or negative terms?

Does the family have any sort of rituals, such as coming of age, or ones 
surrounding childbirth?  How important are birthdays or holidays such as 
Christmas or Easter?

Are they religious, and if so, how fervent are their beliefs?  How do their 
beliefs differ from orthodoxy?

These are the sort questions that you'll need to ask.  They may seem 
obvious, but they're the keys to create an interesting, yet believable 
family.; as I said before, you can get some pretty weird results.  I'd be 
happy to provide examples from my own family if anyone's interested.



David M Jacobs
dmjacobs at zipworld.com.au
http://www.zipworld.com.au/~dmjacobs/
ICQ UIN: 17027598

"'Kevin,' David interrupted, 'what the Germans should have done
was show the Russians a dead cat and ask them to explain it.'

"'That would have stopped the Soviet offensive right there,' I said.
"Zhukov would still be trying to account for the cat's death.'"

— from Valis, by Philip K Dick


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