RPGaDay 2019 #23 Obscure

Today’s theme is Obscure.

I could possibly be writing about obscure games today. I do have a soft spot for the small and the strange. But my entire physical game collection is still boxed up and waiting for me when my wife and I get our own place (fingers crossed!), so I can’t pull one off the shelf and sing its praises right now.

But that’s not the only way I could go. I do love me some Dresden Files and other urban fantasy. One thing I find especially interesting is how the fantastical elements stay hidden. One reason that urban fantasy is sometimes called wainscot fantasy is because the magical things are hidden in the walls of the setting (though sometimes literally).

A lot of urban fantasy games assume that there is some sort of Masquerade in effect. As K in the first Men in Black movie states, “A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky animals […].” Therefore, most supernatural creatures deliberately hide to avoid attracting undue attention. The term “Masquerade” comes from the game Vampire: The Masquerade, in which one of the rules of surviving as a vampire is to avoid attracting attention and letting people think that vampires are made up.

The other games in the World of Darkness line have a degree of wainscoting built in. In Mage: The Ascension, not only is it harder for a mage to use their magic in front of mundane observers, they accrue Paradox for doing so, which can make their lives much more difficult in a lot of ways. Werewolves invoke intense fear in anyone who watches them transform or see them in their most powerful form.

The Dresden Files has a little of column A and a little of column B. Most supernatural creatures have some sort of Masquerade in effect, staying under the radar of mundane society. But wizards like Harry Dresden also have problems with modern technology. He can’t do magic on television because his spell would blow up the camera on top of whatever it was intended to do.

I once ran a D20 Modern campaign which was set in a “Tabloid World.” There was no wainscoting to speak of, but people were so attached to everything being “normal” that they preferred to ignore any potential weirdness going on around them. I had a lot of fun with that and keep wanting to do it again some day.