Why are people so reluctant to try out games that take place in the modern day like Unknown Armies. I asked if we could play a game with my group and they instantly denied it because "playing as regular people is boring". I don't get it. You can play as someone cool like a cop or a firefighter or a spy, I don't know why people assume just because it's a realistic game everything has to be boring. Besides, its unknown armies, you can still be an elf you're just not going to be an actual different race, you're a freak with pointy ears and an extended lifespan and people are going to be scared of you
>>98650295because people would rather hit skeletons with a swordits not a hard concept to grasp
>>98650295Your friends might be idiots. There are good reasons for not wanting to play in modern times, but "playing regular people is boring" isn't one of them, especially in unknown armies. The only reason youd play a "regular person" in UA is if you decided to do that.
>>98650324That's a good way to chip or dull your blade. Use clubs or maces instead.
It depends on how you sell the modern day to people. I mean hell, most superhero settings are set in modern times. As are most urban/ occult horror, vampire and werewolf games, most zombie games and probably also a number of cosmic horror games. And if you try to sell people "lets play what is essentially Grand Theft Auto" they might be more receptive to it than saying "you can play a cop or a firefighter."Or maybe its just a preference or taste. Personally, it took me a really, really long time and the right constellation of vibes and mood to come around to the idea of modern day settings. And chances are, i´d still much rather pick fantasy or sci-fi. But then there is also that one friend of mine for whom current day (with supernatural elements) is the singlemost preferred time ever.
>>98650295I'm already forced to live in the real world, and you want to spend time imagining being here as well?>you can still be an elf>you're just not going to be an actual different raceWhat the fuck are you even saying?
As an English major I've always dreamed of playing a Bibliomancer in UA, but I know I'll never find a group.
>>98650295The forever GM of my university group was hellbent on slightly fantastical modern day and near-history settings. It felt like a breath of fresh air when he ran a proper fantasy campaign once.
>>98650295This has two different answers and fittingly I've seen both in play in unknown armies specifically.One: The Modern Day (202X) has a problem with communication and information access being easy. Even if it doesn't *solve* the plot, it holds up the game when literally everyone has a phone and a bunch of ways to use it.Two: The Modern Day ages rapidly in ways that aren't immediately obvious. It's oddly difficult to play games set 10 or 20 years ago, when attitudes and technologies shift constantly in ways we don't remember or don't want to play. If you're someone who cares strongly about certain current-year political views, it can be hard to play a character in Current Year Minus Fifteen because playing a character who feels modern but has slightly-off views often grates.
>>98650295>you could be a master of the arcane with a shot at godhood who will see exotic realms and bizarre, awe-inspiring creatures>or>I guess you could respond to ceiling bird incidentsHmm, I wonder.
>>98650295Cops and glowies aren't cool.
>>98650295>Why are people so reluctant to try out games that take place in the modern day like Unknown Armieshave you asked these people why? They might have told you.>I asked if we could play a game with my group and they instantly denied it because "playing as regular people is boring"Well, look, you did and you got an answer>I don't get it.You do not understanding the reason doesnt mean the reason wasnt valid. The problem here is (you)r inability to relate
Sorry, but if my PC can't command lightning or shoot lasers from their eyes, I'm not that interested.
>>98650295Unknown Armies doesn't take place in the modern day. It takes place between 1999 and 2002. The recent 3e version is a pretty clear indicator of why it doesn't work. Symbolic tension has fallen apart. The internet has proved that anything can mean nothing and nothing can mean anything.
>>98651354In unknown armies, your PC could pull chunks off of their enemies, attack them with the city you're in or, with enough mojo, just outright erase them from existence.
>>98652302Nah, that's dumb and lazy. You're just an inherently uncreative person.
>>98650608Have you played Unknown Armies? There are things like werewolves and Golems but they're all created by humans and for humans. You can be an elf, but you're a fucked up human idea of an elf
>>98651051>If you're someone who cares strongly about certain current-year political views, it can be hard to play a character in Current Year Minus Fifteen because playing a character who feels modern but has slightly-off views often grates.i mean. unknown armies is about playing weirdos. If you're a freak leftist in the 80's or 90's that fits in perfectly fine, people just assume you're a crazy hippie or a commie.
>>98653187>Have you played Unknown Armies?No. That sounds shit. Why would you expect that to be what anyone wanted if they said they wanted to play an elf?
>>98653523Unknown Armies is Anthropocentric horror, humans are the real monsters
>>98653523>>98650608To explain it a bit better, Unknown Armies is a horror setting meant to be opposite of "humanity doesn't matter" stuff like CoD or or some editions of WoD, especially WoD. It's a horror setting where the humans matter, humanity matters and the three most consistent sources of the unnatural weirdness are the Archetypes (living embodiments of the pillars of the humanity's collective subconscious) with their mortal avatars, adepts doing paradox magic (basically, squeezing the magical mojo out of the paradoxical, symbolically tense and self contradictory things in life around them) and the several different varieties of the undead, including the werewolves and their equivalent to the demons.It's also the setting that's full on 90s conspiracy theory boon, full of all the outlandish weirdness related to that, but also with a very strong cynical edge. The story is very explicit about keeping most of the supernatural conspiracies pretty low key in the terms of their mundane power, forcing them to actually conspire and act in the shadows. (Dion Isaac is the exception, but he is a godwalker, one of the strongest living avatars, so he's literally built different.) Frankly, the 1e and 2e nailed the relevant element of being cynical but also very earnest at times, with many of the freaks present (including The Freak) feeling just the right amount of insane to actually act as both the statements about the human condition and cool in-game characters.Also, it did feature a lot of batshit insane psychosexual stuff like the Mystic Hermaphrodite Archetype and a lot of the batshit insane stuff about the weird contradictions in the human condition like the side notes about the Rebel and the Outsider archetypes being inherently bound to the structures they are opposing.The game's tagline is literally "You did it" both as an accusation and the declaration of the human agency.
>>98655669To continue it a bit more, a lot of the official modules are actually straight up the weird, oneiric trips focused on playing with the expectations, tropes and the ideas about human conditions, in ways that sound both utterly shitposty when you try to explain them but also somehow work perfectly because they are playing 100% straight, without the ironic detachment in the game itself, like the mixed race KKK chapter enemy organisation, godwalker immune to being killed by Israeli or the Rebel's opposition to the abolishment of the True King as the archetype of the leadership.
>>98650295Literally the ONLY thing that's preventing me from trying Unknown Armies is the retarded d100 system. Everything else about it is great and when I have more free time, I'm gonna figure out how to do it in Genesys.
>>98655699The d100 system works just fine. Honestly, it's probably my favorite implementation of the d100 system.
>>98652495Can I do it with eye lasers?
>>98655684To Go is unironically one of my favorite published modules of anything, ever. A mystic road trip? Cities acting as chakra points on a symbolic body of the United States? Lowball poker where you try and get RID of shit you don't want? Beautiful.
>>98650295>You can play as someone cool like a copOkay, that one got me lol
>>98655669>>98655684>squeezing the magical mojo out of the paradoxical, symbolically tense and self contradictory things in life around them>just the right amount of insane to actually act as both the statements about the human condition and cool in-game characters>batshit insane psychosexual stuff like the Mystic Hermaphrodite Archetype>insane stuff about the weird contradictions in the human condition>archetypes being inherently bound to the structures they are opposing>oneiric trips>godwalker immune to being killed by Israeli
