[UA] Re: For the Finns: UA set in Finland

[Ville Halonen]

Lassi Seppälä wrote:
> I know there are a few Finnish posters/readers on this list, so has  
> any of you ever set an UA game in Finland?
> 
> I'm thinking of setting my game in Helsinki.
> 
> Any advice or ideas? I think the TV-series Raid and Kylmäverisesti  
> Sinun (Sincerly Yours in Cold Blood) are good exposure. Any others?  
> Kaurismäki? :)

Okay, my ideas are a bit on the weird atmospheric side, not the good plot
hook side. 

Maybe a cult worshipping Mannerheim, or some other group of
nationalist-mystics? Is there a mystical reason for Mannerheim having a
statue in the middle of Helsinki, but in the middle of nowhere in Tampere?
I don't know whether these groups should have any clue about anything or
not; I've always thought that if I'd run a UA game in Finland, there would
be a big bunch of clueless mystics.

I've always found asematunneli (the tunnel near the central railway station,
for anyone foreign reading this) strangely compelling...Lots of unmarked
doors. That corridor leading up to the tram track between the "Indian" shop
and Chilli -- I think -- that nobody seems to use. I once saw a homeless man
going around the telephone "booths" checking for change, which is quite
understandable, but it also had weird potential. Plus who knows what goes on
in there during the few hours when it's shut? The Compass seems like a great
place for a ritual.

Kurvi is an obvious place for a few boozehounds, but it's also great for a
few other things. Lots of porn stores nearby (*so* Raid), and crappy
pizzerias for occultists to hang around in (I think a hard-core mage with an
addiction to the awful pizzas of Sivuraide would be way cool. A friend said
he actually once received a pizza with burnt sides and a HOLE in it), and
wasn't there a rat problem during the summer? There's that something about a
huge pack of rats.

Could something be made out of street names? Pohjois-Haaga is filled with
streets named after actors/actresses (and why is there a statue for actress
Ida Aalberg both in Pohjois-Haaga -- at Ida Aalbergin tie near the
restaurant Ida -- and at the back of the National Theater?); there are a lot
of country names in Arabia; fairy tales fill Roihuvuori; and so on.

Hope this helps,
-V