And progress came there none...

My as-yet-unnamed game is still ticking along, although I've yet to actually write any text. I'm settled on the basic structure, though. The PCs are all residents or visitors to a small seaside town that appears perfectly normal on the surface, but hides strange secrets within. There'll be a matrix of townsfolk into which the players will plug weird rumours. There'll be a set of basic plots which are then weirded up by the players.

Checking out the zeitgeist

Glancing at some of the other blogs, it looks like the two leading styles of game are 'nautical adventure with an emphasis on charts' and 'Dune-esque space intrigue.' Neat.

Small seaside towns and weirdness

While wandering around New Zealand in 2006, we visited this strange little town called Foxton. It was full of bizarre museums and curiosities, like a house of dolls and a replica Dutch windmill. We wondered what sort of people lived there. What's life like in a town with as many museums of lace doilies as general stores? Local weirdness; strange little towns; the bizarre beneath the utterly mundane.

So, here's the gimmick. The game's set in a small seaside town. At first glance, it all looks utterly mundane and boring. There's a map of town, and a list of townsfolk. As part of character generation, the players all come up with rumours about the town and its inhabitants. The game presents a framework that the players then hang weirdness on.

How does this relate to the ingredients? It covers Intrigue easily enough. Seabird fits in nicely too. The name of the town will be Fleur-de-Lis. Dividers and Star I could probably squeeze in, too. Significant inspirations would be everything from Pushing Daisies to Mythago Wood to The Shadow Over Innsmouth. What happens when you're on holiday in Kingsport?

Mechanically, the game would be quite simple. The main problem is bringing player creativity in without handing over story control, which I don't want to do. One option is to do some sort of grid that gets filled out over the course of play.

I'm not sold on this idea yet, although it is nicely low-key and I seem to be in a low-key mood. I'm attracted by the idea of a setting framework that appears extremely restrictive at first glance, but is actually almost totally open-ended. One version of Fleur de Lis might be filled with smugglers and aliens; another might be overrun with zombies and Cthulhu cultists, depending on the rumours that the players put forward.

I might chicken out and go for the Earthsea/Yokohama Shopping Trip idea, but I'll give 'Weird Small Seaside Town' a day or two of thought.