Forsaken But Not Forgotten

Part Two - Gameplay

Alright, this one is part two of my reflections on Forsaken!

I knew, thematically, that I wanted to create a game in which we highlighted the contrasts between two states of being. In one reality, our Forsaken are nameless children who have nothing save each other. In the other, they are named Heroes. More than that, they have the strength and powers to overcome whatever is in their way. While I considered trying to have one ruleset which would cover both scenarios, there was a bit too much contrast to do this without it feeling clunky, so I made the executive decision to effectively split the game in half

In what we call The City, Forsaken uses the Belonging Outside Belonging system. I’d previously seen it in Sleepaway, and there was a simplicity and intention that felt correct for use in The City. These are children who have been reduced to stats, numbers, sources of energy. Allowing them to grow into their own means giving them actions they can take not only to distinguish themselves from each other, but also using these Moves in play to show how they create relationships with each other and with the world. How they, who have no community or group or even sense of self, must slowly and carefully establish this in a world otherwise hostile to them As well, careful use of Moves is imperative to the generation of Hope, which is a vital resource for use in the Kingdom.

The other half of the game is The Kingdom, in which players are named heroes who must endeavor to overcome the obstacles in their path. Harkening back to our Sucker Punch comparison, these other worlds are both entirely real to our characters as well as a representation of the world around them. Almost a filter of sorts, that allows them to accomplish what they might consider unthinkable. Unknowable. Let’s say, for example, they’re intimidated by someone who they encounter in the City. Someone who does not see them as a person, who has power and leverage. In the Kingdom, they have power, or specifically Powers which are triggered using certain amounts of Hope. They have strength. They can engage with this person in a world of might, triumph, and remove them as an obstacle in the City. Whether they merely disappear or their ultimate fates are more viscerally expressed is up to you, really.

An important, and probably too on the nose, detail is that every “weapon” that the characters in The Kingdom is a fairytale or story. They hail from different parts of the world, and of course you can make or adapt any as need be, but the important lesson here is that stories are power. Stories are lessons, and these lessons enable us to change and grow. Maybe I’m kinda hitting people over the head with the metaphor but whatever. It’s an offshoot of a different LUMEN game I was making where you were Guardians of the Written Word fighting Bookworms and other such pests. Maybe I’ll make that game one day, in LUMEN or in another system. We’ll see!

Progressing narratively, and emotionally, in Forsaken requires players to fully engage in both halves of the game. I don’t think one half should exist without the other. Both the City and the Kingdom are real to our characters, regardless of whether they are “real” in the grand scheme of things.

You can pick up a copy of Forsaken from Exalted Funeral here! And don’t forget to come back next week, when I finish my Forsaken round up ^^