One of my quarrels* with Okult is the setting and the assumptions about the players that come with it. I still live in Hometown, as do nearly all my gaming friends. And for us, Hometown is also Big Town which makes for a lack of contrast.
Since the similarities between the player and her character are key for the game’s core mechanics to function properly, I propose two alternative skins that may ring more true to people who struggle to recognize themselves in the setting-as-presented.
Summerville
You used to spend your summers in Summerville but you stopped coming as you entered adulthood. A decade later you’re in your thirties and the return to Summerville brings back memories. Forgotten events are remembered and you begin to unravel the town’s sinister secrets.
You’ve never really lived in Summerville. Yet, it sometimes feels like you’ve spent your entire youth there. A youth of endless vacations, of sunshowers and ennui. Summerville is small, much smaller than your Hometown. Perhaps that’s why each sign post, each street corner and shut-down store brings back memories.
You all spent holidays in Summerville, but you don’t anymore. Until now.
Describe Summerville and take notes as necessary.
Each player should contribute two facts about Summerville: memories, anecdotes or pieces of information. One of them should be from the player’s own summer retreat: her family’s country retreat, her grandparent’s hometown or anywhere else she spent parts of her summers when growing up. The other should be made up. Never reveal which is which – they are both true for Summerville.
Homeland
You grew up in Homeland but migrated as you entered adulthood. A decade later you’re in your thirties and the return to Homeland brings back memories. Forgotten events are remembered and you begin to unravel the town’s sinister secrets.
Homeland is where you grew up and where your parents grew up. For some of you, it’s but a blurry memory from what feels like a different life. For some, it’s where you spent your early adulthood. Either way, it’s a place that you’ve left behind but that never left you. Whenever you visit your relatives Homeland comes to life before you in rose-tinted recollections of things that were, in grim thoughts of what became and satellite-disk news and cellphone rumors of what is today.
You all spent your youth in the same village or city in Homeland. But you left or had to leave. Don’t decide why or detail the circumstances just yet – the important bits will emerge trough play. Now you’re back, for the first time in many years.
Describe Homeland and take notes as necessary.
Each player should contribute two facts about Homeland: memories, anecdotes or pieces of information. One of them should be from the player’s own background: her village or country of origin or anywhere else she lived before moving here. The other should be made up. Never reveal which is which – they are both true for Homeland.
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* The other quarrel is that I’d much prefer if the game had Fiasco-like procedural rules, making it easy for non story-gamers as myself to pick up and play the game as intended.