This week's Monday Mashup is the James Clavell classic, Shogun...
I was actually thinking along these lines a few weeks ago. During one of the Olsons' trips away for the weekend, I found myself watching a slice of Shogun on a cable channel (the same channel that later showed the entirety of I, Claudius), and as I watched it, I mused about the possibility of mixing an Amberite's history with a Shogunesque theme. I debated just which of my characters might do well in such a story and how it might fit into their history.
To me, Shogun is about a man who enters a world which he considers barbaric and uncivilized, only to learn the rules and culture of an alien society and become an active force within it. It's that raw plot which is the juiciness of the novel/miniseries. I should read the novel, its on my list of classics to pick up and read...
So, I am going to mashup Continuum with Shogun, and put the player character (Shogun seems to be more suited to a single or few player setup than a large gaming group) in an alien environment in the past. The PC could be asked to work in a Corner in an earlier culture as an experience tool--or even have a Gemini which suggests that they must do this in order to avoid frag. That is to say, make it clear that a period spent in such a milieu *must* be in their Yet. So, the PC will have to learn to work within a culture which is certainly primitive compared to their home time, and learn to see the worth and the complexity of that culture. It wouldn't even have to BE Medieval Japan, although the more unusual from the standpoint of the character and player, the better.
Posted by Jvstin at September 2, 2003 3:48 PM