RPGaDay2022 - 11 - If you could live in a game setting, where would it be?

     

If you could like in a game setting, where would it be?

In thinking about this, I realised just how many of the settings that I enjoy are dystopian, dark or just nastier than our world. Would I like to live in a world where Cthulhu was real? Absolutely not! Would I want to live in one of the D&D worlds with medieval type societies ruled by nobility on whim and without basic health-care? No, not at all. Even Middle Earth fails that test; even if you got to be a Elf, can you imagine the sorry and sadness you'd have to deal with unless you never left Valinor?

I think my preference would be one of the high science and technology settings. Traveller's would feel too much like our own world, with a feudal layer dropped on top. It's almost too American for me as it has the same vulnerabilities that you see in our world. Where's my socialised healthcare and support for people in trouble. Some of the societies in Sufficiently Advanced would be good, as would some of those in Mindjammer. Perhaps the Known Space of the Ringworld era, or the Star Trek universe. Worlds were you could seek out adventure, not have the basics of existence being a challenge. I love the Star Wars setting, but would I really want to live under the thumb of the Empire or resisting it as a rebel?

I suppose that this answer shows that I play roleplaying games to be able to explore the dangerous, dark and thrilling. It's a bit like a cartoon I remember from years ago which had a D&D style party sitting at a table playing a game called something like "Actuaries & Accountants". This is a chance for escapism, a chance for adventure. At heart, I'm a hobbit who likes my creature comforts and the thought of setting out somewhere dangerous for fun in reality just doesn't entice me.

11 August 2022