#roadsidepicnic

[zedecksiew]

The Zone has different rules

Posting about this mainly as a reminder to self that it is a thought I want to think more on.

Also because it dovetails with notions Liam and I discussed over on Toa Tabletop, about how you can portray subjective fantasy worlds in TTRPG play---essentially: Oh, the party visits a culture with different mores / cosmology / etc? The actual rules of the game change.

===

Over on cohost, Amanda Franck poses the following question:

How do you make rules/problems for a place that is supposed to be inexplicable & mutable & impossible to understand (like fairyland or dreamland or roadside picnic zone)? ... My experience in playing through a few of people's dreamworlds where anything can happen has been mostly bad, because it's hard for all the players to understand the physical space that they are in, and frustrating to try to interact with a world that doesn't respond in a sensible way.

To which Scampir proposes:

If i really wanted to get the point across that an area was under the influence of different logics, I would just use a different game for that area. Maybe a smaller game just so it can be quickly integrated.

(Attribution to make it clear I'm building on other folk's ideas.)

===

So here's my idea:

Say you are running a campaign using D&D or retroclone. Your players encounter Faerie / the Dreamlands / Area X / the Zone.

When they slip into its borders, you tell them things are gonna getting weird. But you don't give them new character sheets. You just start organically calling for resolutions and mechanics from a game that isn't D&D.

Maybe a dice-pool game like RuneQuest or WFRP. Or Blades in the Dark:

GM: "So you rest? Okay, tick your healing clock."

Player: "Wait, wtf's a healing clock?"

This does a few things:

Discombobulates players. They have to figure out the ways in which assumptions of reality differ.

The choice of new ruleset you use signals the specific ways that this specific Weird Zone is weird. (Use a game with more story-game mechanics and you imply that the Weird Zone has a different relationship with causality.)

Players learn / jot down / use new mechanics on the same old character sheet---implying that the Weird Zone changes their characters.

Abilities / mechanics they pick up remain when they leave the Weird Zone, and return to boring normal D&D rules. A signal that the Zone has changed them in uncanny ways.

Player: "Hey, I've still got this '+1d to gather info' ability, right? And this counts as a gather info situation? Can I roll two d20s and total them?"

GM: "Yes."

===

So yeah: bashing incompatible game systems together.

Maybe that's a fool's errand. But I feel like it should be possible to create a procedure for ruleset mash-ups, so that there's a process to follow? Best practices for how it happens.

Consistency at the layer of play culture, even if there isn't consistency at the layer of mechanics.

I'd like to pursue this more, because---as mentioned above---I'm interested in portraying subjective fictional worlds, and this "different place, different rules" thing seems like one way to do that at a conceptual level.

Also I like it because jury-rigs and mash-ups seems quintessentially "rulings not rules"-sy, to me. It seems to be in that OSR-y spirit.

===

( Image source: https://sciencefictionbookart.com/roadside-picnic-arkady-boris-strugatsky-1979/ )

[mangor]

... hey stalker ...

[briandupont]

Small comparison #drawing: Suffix Measure (Sky). #mixedmedia on #paper, 7.5” x 5.75”

#art #contemporaryart #abstractart #textart #Tarkovsky #Stalker #Strugatsky #RoadsidePicnic

[adamwatchesmovies]

Stalker (1979)

Yes, Stalker is lengthy at 161 minutes and with its deliberate slow pace, subtitles, and many deeply philosophical moments it can be a bit difficult to get through, but it’s worth it. Afterwards, you’ll be unsure what to say except “I’d like to see that again”.

Set some time in the near future, the “Stalker” (Alexander Kaidanovsky) works as a clandestine guide into the “Zone”, an area of Russia in which the normal laws of reality no longer apply. Rumours say that within it there is a room that grants the deepest desires of whoever enters it. Stalker accompanies a writer (Anatoly Solonitsyn) and a professor (Nikolai Grinko) into the area, keeping anonymity from each other should they be caught by government forces.

The easiest film I can compare Stalker to is 2001: A Space Odyssey. In bot pictures, I’m not sure I understand everything there is to understand and I'm not sure I want to, or that it matters. This sentiment fits a film set in a place where there are hidden dangers everywhere and two people can walk in opposite directions and end up crossing paths. There’s great use of color and cinematography, with the Zone being in color and everywhere else being photographed in sepia tones. It helps convey the place's bizarre, otherworldly attributes (litterally, they say aliens are responsible for the Zone's creation). It makes the abstract concept of a place where normal rules don’t apply easier to grasp. It’s such a strange, meditative piece, particularly during the conclusion when you find out what the three characters are really about and the mysteries of the Room are revealed (well, as much as they can be considering what it does exactly).

The best way to experience Stalker is to dedicate a big chunk of time to it, like an entire weekend. That sounds like a lot, but hear me out. The best movies have lasting power, they just won't leave your head no matter what. No one who can spoon-feed the meaning of "Stalker" to you. All you can do is meditate on the differences between the characters. You'd associate writers and other artists with freedom and being more down-to-earth than other professionals, but that’s not the case here. What does that mean? How do the actions of the professor hint at his ultimate desire? What about the Stalker? He’s a tragic figure, and what does his relationship with the Room symbolize/mean, particularly when you consider the ending? Those are tough questions and the best way to answer them is to sit down and be patient.

Watch Stalker. Discuss it with others and check the special features included with the DVD. Then, watch it again and see how you feel about it a second time. That’s what I plan on doing and I’m very much looking forward to the experience. (Original language with English subtitles, January 6, 2017)

[backpacksnstuff]

One of my favourite sci-fi subgenres is “some crazy sh!t happens in a certain location” subgenre. It amazes me how easily these books conjure up images which I didn’t think my mind was able to produce 😧 They all deserve film adaptations, but in the end, the books turn out to be more thrilling 🤷🏼‍♀️ Unfortunately, I don’t know many books of this genre ☹️: - philosophical “Roadside picnic” by Arkady and Boris Strugatski; - weird, mind-boggling “Annihilation” by Jeff VanderMeer; - beautiful “Spill Zone” by Scott Westerfeld (this graphic novel is my recent find and it steers towards fantasy🤩). Have you read any of those? Do you have any recommendations? #instabooks #instabookstagram #bookstagrammers #whattoread #whattoreadnext #scifibooks #sciencefiction #scifi #sciencefictionbooks #roadsidepicnic #strugatskybrothers #areax #southernreach #southernreachtrilogy #annihilation #jeffvandermeer #philosophicalsciencefiction #weirdfiction #horror #spillzone #graphicnovels #scottwesterfeld (at Tallinn, Estonia) https://www.instagram.com/p/CSDHkabIKKg/?utm_medium=tumblr

[benlongoria]

Even my boy had gotten his share of time in the underworld. We were both lucky to stumble on a raccoon relaxing in one of the smaller drains. • | | | #urbanphotography #urbanjungle #urbanexploration #urbex #urbexpeople #urbexphotography #urbexworld #urbanlife #urbanlifestyle #citylife #travel #worldtravel #underground #hiking #sanantonio #satx #satxphotography #roadsidepicnic #stalker #metro2033 (at Stone Oak) https://www.instagram.com/p/CiaY9QxunTU/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[almostdefinitelydying]

Of course, they have a tiny #grocery #store named #RoadsidePicnic x) #Chernobyl #Ukraine #spoonie #travel #adventures (at Chernobyl, Ukraine) https://www.instagram.com/p/BpamAxLA4XC/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=iwqwxug2h39k

[drawbecauseitsheard]

Original Concept Art for Working Title “Woolgathering/Onerism” loosely inspired by Stalker and Roadside Picnic #originalart #conceptart #dreamcore #stalkerart #roadsidepicnic https://www.instagram.com/p/CaAgKRJrWlL/?utm_medium=tumblr

[hordyniak]

Careless stalkers. Another painting in ‘zona‘. :)

Please visit my artstation: https://www.artstation.com/pawlack

Buy prints: https://society6.com/hordyniak/s?q=popular+art

[recfit]

#sunset #highwayview #saudiarabia #saudi #saudisunset #picnic #roadsidepicnic #family #familytime #desert (at Riyadh, Saudi Arabia) https://www.instagram.com/p/CN5gQZDBO4T/?igshid=p7y0bftmzz5n

[reclusivemonk]

Stalker #roadsidepicnic https://www.instagram.com/p/B-YDXJrhsnr/?igshid=1wke8nokjvio7

[briandupont]

Zone #drawing . #MindlessPleasures 68. #MixedMedia & #collage transfer on #paper, 12” x9” . #art #contemporaryart #abstractart #textart #contemporarypainting #contemporarydrawing ##ThomasPynchon #GravitysRainbow #Tarkovsky #Stalker #RoadsidePicnic https://www.instagram.com/p/ChplqQ8lTjR/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[nyanpew]

#toyotaae86 on @roadside_picnic_fest Owner - ??? #driftmedia #driftmediaru #дрифтмедиа #roadsidepicnic #roadsidepicnicfest #ae86trueno #ae86coupe #hachiroku (at Saint Petersburg) https://www.instagram.com/p/B7bhZ8rhK7i/?igshid=if4ipnadvc4q

[backpacksnstuff]

Arkady and Boris Strugatsky are my favourite science fiction authors. Their books are full of love, hope, and belief in humanity, no matter what. If you have never read their books, start with “Roadside Picnic” and watch “Stalker” by Tarkovsky afterwards (in this order!). I bet you’ll love this book. #bookstagram #booklover #books #whattoreadnext #whattoread #russianliterature #russianbooks #russianscifi #scifibooks #sciencefiction #roadsidepicnic #strugatskybrothers #tarkovskyfilms (at Tallinn, Estonia) https://www.instagram.com/p/CGdXOYdAtaJ/?igshid=10tvba165qp9w

[benlongoria]

I never know what’s in store when I go diving. My mind races when I see a drain entrance, wondering what sort of twists and turns lie below, what life lives inside, what art or other sign of human presence has been left behind, and what obstacles might get in the way. You’d think they’d be simple but even the average tunnel has personality. • | | | #urbanphotography #urbanjungle #urbanexploration #urbex #urbexpeople #urbexphotography #urbexworld #urbanlife #urbanlifestyle #citylife #travel #worldtravel #underground #hiking #sanantonio #satx #satxphotography #roadsidepicnic #stalker #metro2033 (at Stone Oak) https://www.instagram.com/p/CiX9l6YOFte/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[dominicaperrone]

#TBT to when I was still in #college doing #digitalpainting I miss these days so much. #Art #Creative #Digital #GraphicDesign #Photoshop #Tablet #RoadsidePicnic #Sphere #BookCover