Gamebuilding #3: Othercity

First and foremost, I know there are bunches and bunches of blogs out there to read, and goodness knows I read about fifty RPG blogs daily. Is there anything you, my wonderful (and quite attractive, if I do say so myself) readers would like me to do a blog post about? Let me know! If you really liked something I've posted about in the past, or would like me to continue a specific series I've delved into, let me know! Getting some feedback about what to post would greatly help me know what you want to read about!

Anyways, to the point...

As many of you may have noticed, I wrote a pair of rather vagues posts a while back here and here. I entitled these posts "Gamebuilding" for a reason, which ties back to the first post I ever made on this blog. One of my reasons behind crafting an RPG blog is to document my quest for publication! Over time I hope to submit adventures and material to several RPG magazines and publications, but the two posts you saw offer an introduction to my grand project.

Othercity.

Here's the first real pitch of this game, so let me know what you think!

Dear Diary,

Myth tells us of time's greatest cities... Atlantis. Babylon. Agartha. Places of fantastic construction, magical origin, and beautiful sights. The stuff of fairy tales, offered up to humanity as symbols of utopian hope and dreamlike wonder.

Every beacon though, however bright, casts a shadow. One fallen to forgetful pasts and dystopian ideals. This shadow, is Othercity.

Othercity is a world outside of our own. A seemingly endless reality of steel, stone, streets and buildings. Divided by districts and factions, it is a harsh place for all who live within it.

And then there's us.

To Earth, we are the lost. To Othercity, we are the Phasers. Nothing more then a bothersome thorn in the feet of Othercity's superiors. People looking for answers, people looking for truth, people looking to get home. Othercity has a system, but we operate outside of it. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that we're special. Maybe it has something to do with what we can do here. Maybe it scares them. Maybe that's why they want to lock us up, or gun us down...

Some of the other Earth Phasers - Terrers they call us - say that Othercity was just another mythical location lost to time in idea and name. I think we've always known of Othercity though... just by a different name.

Welcome to Hell.

~Kayla Bradford

- - -

The way I'm envisioning Othercity is as a dozen or so different genres merging together all within this strange city. To name a few, there will be elements of Fantasy, Steampunk, Cyberpunk, Post Apocolypse, Contemporary, Biopunk, and Superhero.

As a preview to further discussions of Othercity, here is a very quick briefing on each of the cultures/factions:

Wrakes: Law officials of Othercity, unnaturally strong and known to be ruthless and cruel, though much more likely to break your arm then the law.

Serpians: Othercity's gypsy population, you can't trust these drug-dealers any further then their forked tongues will reach.

Rasks: The rulers of Below, these rats will supposidely kill anyone for a price, if you can speak their language that is.

Kienta: A winged race of scientists. If bad looks could kill, these ladies could bring back the dead, not that they aren't trying to find out how to anyways.

Phasers: The chosen. The visitors. The invaders. The Terrers. No matter what you call them, they all have one thing in common. They're a long way from home.

Humans: In the hundreds of years of Phasers coming to Othercity, their "need-to-breed" has left thousands of half, quarter, or less "Humans" in their wake. The Phaser bloodline eliminates all Othercity characteristics in the child, leaving them "normal" in a city that prizes everything else.

Brights: [Data file currently inaccessible]

Coming soon... expanded culture/factions, Othercity's basic geography, and a lexicon of terms important to know in the Othercity world.

Also, I'm leaving the below in the post even though I didn't type it for one reason. Ginger Unity.

***This is proof that Betsy Fernsten (non D&Der) was here when [Storyteller] was writing this blog entry!! She however, did not interfere (much).***

Anyways, more to come on Othercity. I hope people are enjoying what they're seeing so far!

By the way, that fantastic picture above was made by Greywulf over at Greywulf's Lair. He's pretty much awesome so go check his blog out. Right now. DO IT!