Life After Moonrise
Scope
The motivation behind building Life After Moonrise
The world is about change and evolution, within individuals and society. Some changes are good, some are bad, and it is undoubtedly going to be a very rough road. Not everyone's story is easy, perhaps not all are even going to be happy. Some people will dedicate their lives to making the world a darker place, while making bold-faced claims about being the real heroes. There's lies, secrets, and infinite shades of grey about who's good and who's bad. Not all villains are evil and not all heroes fight for justice. Whether these people remain static or change with the times is what matters most.
The goal of the project
I want to give my players a deeply-connected story. I want events that took places 2-3 years ago to matter in the present. We'll interweave events, and have even the smallest things have impacts on a larger scale years later.
Life After Moonrise's Unique Selling point
Probably the best part of LAMR is the super naturals and the factions. We have wolves, ghosts, vampires, demons, and dragons mixing in with regular humans, super powered humans, and a society that is not ready for any of it to be in the light of day. There's key factions driving everything, a pack of werewolves that operates like a gang, a research lab that acts like a private army, and politicians acting like dictators. There's sides, it's not as clearcut as good versus evil.
Theme
Genre
The world is a mix of urban fantasy and sci-fi. Magic is real. Gods and goddesses are real. Monsters are real. At the same time, there are incredible advances in technology, including genetic engineering, futuristic mech suits, AI's, cyborgs, and all the rest. It creates a best of both worlds. It's a little more on the Marvel side, but perhaps better grounded.
Reader Experience
The world is exciting, things changing all the time, quickly. It's dramatic and wild at times. Characters drive the story and everything that happens, their actions impact a bigger world.
Reader Tone
The world moves back and forth, bright and dark. Overall, there's hope for a better future, but always dark days between now and then.
Recurring Themes
1. Not all villains are evil. Not all good-guys are heroes.
2. No one can be taken at face value, there's secrets everywhere.
3. Change may be painful, but it's necessary to be better.
4. We have to choose to be better.
Character Agency
Characters have a great deal of control. They're free to develop their characters as they see fit. Major story elements, missions/campaigns have some dedicated goals, the villain will always be the villain, and there's not necessarily a guarantee the players will achieve the intended goals. The world is fluid, adapting, changing.
Drama
Family drama is a key point, the way your family has to either accept you for who you are, or rject you. Isolation as a means of protecting yourself or your family from the changes you're experiencing. This could be a gangster keeping their family away, so a rival gang wouldn't harm them. It could be a werewolf avoiding their family, so they'd survive the full moon. It could be a family outright rejecting a son/daughter because they believe super powered people are 'evil', an us vs. them mentality.
The risks of being a hero or a villain, and the impact that has on everyone around you, remain a key point. If you die a hero, what impact does that have on your familiy? Is it possible to die a hero, and leave the world in a worse place?
(C) Life After Moonrise/Life After Moonrise Players