Romanticism and What it Means for our Story

More of This

I've mentioned romanticism before but never fully explained what I mean by that or how it will be used in the game. Romanticism, at its core, is about having emotion rather than setting dictate the tone and aesthetic. In most fiction the setting is the impetus for aesthetics and emotional feel of the work. Star trek, for example, is entirely dictated by the setting, star-fleet uniforms are as an element of the setting rather than what will be emotionally resonant. A uniform in our setting is meant to evoke a certain feeling about the characters and their roles in the story. This is not to say one form of story telling is better than the other, merely different. Star trek is about scientific what if's, our game is about political and character what if's. Tangent aside that's essentially what romanticism is about, letting emotion, tone, and for lack of a better term: flavour dictate the setting and characters rather than the reverse.

In practice this means as few technical conversations as possible and if they're necessary they ought to be dealt with quickly and efficiently so as not to get in the way of characters and plot. It also means that there ought to be far more conversations about how the characters feel and why they feel that way with the hope of the player empathizing with and caring about what characters have to say and their role in the story.

Less of This

From a less technical stand point this means the players experience should be one of joining the characters on an adventure and feeling something about each event. I want players to feel swept up in this galaxy changing story of empires rising and falling, the ambiguity of good and bad in complex political systems, the moral questions surrounding warfare, the questions of honor and what it means to be a soldier. In Essence of Glory problems aren't solved with technology, problems are solved by people doing what they feel is right and then allowing the story to explore the effects on the world and people through emotion.