skeloric
07-28-2008, 04:51 PM
As in another thread, the "--" denotes a break in the concept as it strayed through multiple posts or even threads.
TORG '79
========
The premise is somewhat simple:
Design a 1970's inspired "action film" Earth.
Social 21
Tech 22
Spirit 9-11
Magic 7-8
The range issue for Spirit and Magic is simply one of feeling that it might be a bit more permissible to bump them a little.
Any Spirit rating below 13 (the point at which faith is no longer in the existence of a higher being but rather in their benevolent nature and worthiness of worship or similar) is acceptable for a very Earth-like modern day, a point easily seen in Terra's Spirit rating which is exactly the same as I recall.
Axiom 8 represents the reality of Wicca and those other modern pagans that practice "magic" and I'd recommend 8 for Core Earth as well some 15 years later with all the "Baby-Goths" and Wiccans and "LaVey Witches" and a dozen other stripes of modern magic floating about.
But magic is not a new thing, only finally being recognized.
Certain practices can be trailed back to Appalachian Hoodoo and a long standing New Orleans Voodoo (no discernible relation) going back to the very early 1800s and even back farther than the formation of the United States in the 1780s (1776 is only the drafting of a document, putting it into practice and testing it took roughly another decade).
As such, people could consider Core Earth to be Magic Axiom 8 as easily as Magic Axiom 7.
Perhaps even Axiom 9 (just barely and only in certain remote areas).
Spiritual Axiom is harder to pin down as we could be deemed in transition from the quiet reserved civility of prior generations (such as the 1950s-early 60s) through the long quiet of alternate belief systems running throughout the middle-late 60s and into 70s/80s and finally into the much more raucous, abrasive, and uncivil form it seemed to start taking in the 90s and into the 21st century, as such the Spirit Axiom of 9 might be at a peak or an ebb.
I personally think it was an ebbing period, which makes it possible that it could rise slightly.
However that is based upon a theory that the Axioms are generally fragile and are altered easily, of which I'm not necessarily fond.
But in a Cosm that mimics the 1970s of our own reality, it can be a useful direction to take.
The Axioms therefore would emulate the core truths of the 70s culture (and its counterculture).
"Style over substance" -- look good to feel good -- is a core maxim of the 70s Americana.
Being "hip" and "with it" and "groovy" and "cool" weren't just words -- they had a meaning and reality all their own.
"Get a haircut and get a job" was the core truth of the more "uncool" opposition, and it still had teeth though it was fading fast from the "scene".
Therein lies a potent World Law or two, if only I can tease them out of there.
Lastly, an overflow of the harshness of the 60s is one of disillusionment, a feeling that it had all gone wrong somehow -- a feeling brought on by the assassinations of the Kennedy's and of Martin Luther King Jr. throughout the decade as well as the idea of dying in a war that the younger generation in general could not relate to.
Which might dovetail into some sort of final World Law.
(Anyone paying attention will note that this is a new version of a concept I introduced in an older thread.)
The issue of raising the Magic Axiom is one of thinking that Core Earth should also be Axiom 8.
So if Core Earth is still a 7 then no change...
I also considered the late 80s to perhaps be less Spiritual than than the 50s-early 60s -- though perhaps on an upswing from the lowest point in the 70s -- until it rose slightly higher in the mid-90s to the strong point it is at now.
While all of that could have occurred in Axiom 9, I see the "Yuppie 80s" as having been Axiom 8 (just like Marketplace).
A value that was a holdover of the free spirit 70s making the 70s and 80s both Axiom 8.
So perhaps in contradiction of before, I'd recommend dropping Spirit to 8.
Sources:
Mostly certain 70s shows like Rockford Files, Charlie's Angels, Columbo, Quincy, Starsky and Hutch, as well as what little I've seen in "That 70s Show" (though VERY LITTLE), and even the Brady Bunch.
(The Brady Bunch had the strange Hawaii episodes that dealt with some "Tiki Curse" which in part was a belief that magic could bump up one without too much harm...)
Also the Clint Eastwood films of "Dirty Harry" but only the first two or three that were actually 70s films.
There is also a very STRONG "Blaxploitation" vibe as well such as Shaft and others.
I'm even adding in some 60s holdovers such as Dragnet.
(The vibe of Dragnet was two straight-laced "establishment" officers that often dealt with "those crazy hippie sorts" (who of course were almost always criminals)).
Faith was a taboo subject in most shows as it was something every viewer did on Sunday but faith was never EVER mentioned any other time, certainly not on television except for the rare Billy Graham Crusade or Sunday Morning televised Church service from somewhere.
Basically TV shows/movies from 1966/7 to about 1979 are the focal point.
How could we not add in Streets of San Francisco?
That show ALWAYS had a chase scene down San Fran's most famous street, the one that one that is a nearly 90 degree decline so that the cars could keep "jumping" over intersections as they plowed ever downward.
James Bond not so much, except for "Live and Let Die" referenced earlier.
--
One element of the Law of Nihilism is that only PRI (Possibility Rated Individuals) can wield Spells or Miracles.
The rest just don't have the passion to invest their energies in what cannot be seen.
Rather than basing the rest of the WLs off of Aysle's Honor/Corruption scale, I'm thinking more like the polarizing aspect of Good/Evil as in the Nile Empire/Terra. You are either Establishment or "Cool" (but maybe some better word choice).
Establishment doesn't do/sell drugs and it doesn't Pimp and it doesn't live in the Street/Urban environment.
The other group is the one seen in the Blaxploitation films.
The third group is the smallest and is "New Establishment" or such and brings the Street/Urban vibe up from the ghetto and tries to infuse it into the staleness of the Establishment and as such are often the more "Heroic" side of the Blaxploitation protagonists.
Starsky and Hutch were sort of the Miami Vice of the 70s and had a vibe I have so far called "New Establishment" or perhaps maybe call it "Soul Establishment".
The group you identify with dictates your behaviour quite strictly and dictates who you associate with and on what terms.
--
Here's the kicker, this is rather how several Cosms seemed to come to pass.
Nile Empire and Terra seemed to rise out of the mythologized version of the 20s, 30s and 40s.
Magna Verita was a dark reflection of our own "Dark Ages" and Middle Ages.
Marketplace in part was the Consumerism of the recent 80s.
Orrorsh was a slice of the last part of the 19th century.
Taking an era or historical premise and enlarging it into its own reality seems be a somewhat popular way to craft a Cosm.
Adding in widely held beliefs of the period as "truths" supported by World Laws seems to be a way to make such projects into vibrant settings of their very own.
--
Blaxploitation
This is an incredibly tricky Genre to portray and would need a steady hand and firm grip to avoid becoming something insulting and alarming...
But, it would be a nice Tech 22 Cosm if done right.
I can think of some WL names though:
"The Power of Soul"
Soul and Funk have Power here.
--
TORG '79
========
The premise is somewhat simple:
Design a 1970's inspired "action film" Earth.
Social 21
Tech 22
Spirit 9-11
Magic 7-8
The range issue for Spirit and Magic is simply one of feeling that it might be a bit more permissible to bump them a little.
Any Spirit rating below 13 (the point at which faith is no longer in the existence of a higher being but rather in their benevolent nature and worthiness of worship or similar) is acceptable for a very Earth-like modern day, a point easily seen in Terra's Spirit rating which is exactly the same as I recall.
Axiom 8 represents the reality of Wicca and those other modern pagans that practice "magic" and I'd recommend 8 for Core Earth as well some 15 years later with all the "Baby-Goths" and Wiccans and "LaVey Witches" and a dozen other stripes of modern magic floating about.
But magic is not a new thing, only finally being recognized.
Certain practices can be trailed back to Appalachian Hoodoo and a long standing New Orleans Voodoo (no discernible relation) going back to the very early 1800s and even back farther than the formation of the United States in the 1780s (1776 is only the drafting of a document, putting it into practice and testing it took roughly another decade).
As such, people could consider Core Earth to be Magic Axiom 8 as easily as Magic Axiom 7.
Perhaps even Axiom 9 (just barely and only in certain remote areas).
Spiritual Axiom is harder to pin down as we could be deemed in transition from the quiet reserved civility of prior generations (such as the 1950s-early 60s) through the long quiet of alternate belief systems running throughout the middle-late 60s and into 70s/80s and finally into the much more raucous, abrasive, and uncivil form it seemed to start taking in the 90s and into the 21st century, as such the Spirit Axiom of 9 might be at a peak or an ebb.
I personally think it was an ebbing period, which makes it possible that it could rise slightly.
However that is based upon a theory that the Axioms are generally fragile and are altered easily, of which I'm not necessarily fond.
But in a Cosm that mimics the 1970s of our own reality, it can be a useful direction to take.
The Axioms therefore would emulate the core truths of the 70s culture (and its counterculture).
"Style over substance" -- look good to feel good -- is a core maxim of the 70s Americana.
Being "hip" and "with it" and "groovy" and "cool" weren't just words -- they had a meaning and reality all their own.
"Get a haircut and get a job" was the core truth of the more "uncool" opposition, and it still had teeth though it was fading fast from the "scene".
Therein lies a potent World Law or two, if only I can tease them out of there.
Lastly, an overflow of the harshness of the 60s is one of disillusionment, a feeling that it had all gone wrong somehow -- a feeling brought on by the assassinations of the Kennedy's and of Martin Luther King Jr. throughout the decade as well as the idea of dying in a war that the younger generation in general could not relate to.
Which might dovetail into some sort of final World Law.
(Anyone paying attention will note that this is a new version of a concept I introduced in an older thread.)
The issue of raising the Magic Axiom is one of thinking that Core Earth should also be Axiom 8.
So if Core Earth is still a 7 then no change...
I also considered the late 80s to perhaps be less Spiritual than than the 50s-early 60s -- though perhaps on an upswing from the lowest point in the 70s -- until it rose slightly higher in the mid-90s to the strong point it is at now.
While all of that could have occurred in Axiom 9, I see the "Yuppie 80s" as having been Axiom 8 (just like Marketplace).
A value that was a holdover of the free spirit 70s making the 70s and 80s both Axiom 8.
So perhaps in contradiction of before, I'd recommend dropping Spirit to 8.
Sources:
Mostly certain 70s shows like Rockford Files, Charlie's Angels, Columbo, Quincy, Starsky and Hutch, as well as what little I've seen in "That 70s Show" (though VERY LITTLE), and even the Brady Bunch.
(The Brady Bunch had the strange Hawaii episodes that dealt with some "Tiki Curse" which in part was a belief that magic could bump up one without too much harm...)
Also the Clint Eastwood films of "Dirty Harry" but only the first two or three that were actually 70s films.
There is also a very STRONG "Blaxploitation" vibe as well such as Shaft and others.
I'm even adding in some 60s holdovers such as Dragnet.
(The vibe of Dragnet was two straight-laced "establishment" officers that often dealt with "those crazy hippie sorts" (who of course were almost always criminals)).
Faith was a taboo subject in most shows as it was something every viewer did on Sunday but faith was never EVER mentioned any other time, certainly not on television except for the rare Billy Graham Crusade or Sunday Morning televised Church service from somewhere.
Basically TV shows/movies from 1966/7 to about 1979 are the focal point.
How could we not add in Streets of San Francisco?
That show ALWAYS had a chase scene down San Fran's most famous street, the one that one that is a nearly 90 degree decline so that the cars could keep "jumping" over intersections as they plowed ever downward.
James Bond not so much, except for "Live and Let Die" referenced earlier.
--
One element of the Law of Nihilism is that only PRI (Possibility Rated Individuals) can wield Spells or Miracles.
The rest just don't have the passion to invest their energies in what cannot be seen.
Rather than basing the rest of the WLs off of Aysle's Honor/Corruption scale, I'm thinking more like the polarizing aspect of Good/Evil as in the Nile Empire/Terra. You are either Establishment or "Cool" (but maybe some better word choice).
Establishment doesn't do/sell drugs and it doesn't Pimp and it doesn't live in the Street/Urban environment.
The other group is the one seen in the Blaxploitation films.
The third group is the smallest and is "New Establishment" or such and brings the Street/Urban vibe up from the ghetto and tries to infuse it into the staleness of the Establishment and as such are often the more "Heroic" side of the Blaxploitation protagonists.
Starsky and Hutch were sort of the Miami Vice of the 70s and had a vibe I have so far called "New Establishment" or perhaps maybe call it "Soul Establishment".
The group you identify with dictates your behaviour quite strictly and dictates who you associate with and on what terms.
--
Here's the kicker, this is rather how several Cosms seemed to come to pass.
Nile Empire and Terra seemed to rise out of the mythologized version of the 20s, 30s and 40s.
Magna Verita was a dark reflection of our own "Dark Ages" and Middle Ages.
Marketplace in part was the Consumerism of the recent 80s.
Orrorsh was a slice of the last part of the 19th century.
Taking an era or historical premise and enlarging it into its own reality seems be a somewhat popular way to craft a Cosm.
Adding in widely held beliefs of the period as "truths" supported by World Laws seems to be a way to make such projects into vibrant settings of their very own.
--
Blaxploitation
This is an incredibly tricky Genre to portray and would need a steady hand and firm grip to avoid becoming something insulting and alarming...
But, it would be a nice Tech 22 Cosm if done right.
I can think of some WL names though:
"The Power of Soul"
Soul and Funk have Power here.
--