I've had this idea for a world for years, and I was wondering of anyone's thoughts on it. A society based on music. When I was younger, I listened to Rap a lot. Now that I am older, I listen to Country music. The thing here is that the society would be based on different musical genres. The two that come to mind to me would be Rap stars on one side, and Country stars on the other. The Rap stars would be at war with the Country stars. The Rap stars would be armed with Gang-Banger weapons (9mm pistols, AK-47s, pump shotguns, etc) the Country stars would be armed with cowboy weapons (45 Colt revolvers, 30-30 lever action rifles, double barrel shotguns, etc) You could add all the different genres of music, and give them powers based on the genre of music. Techno music would use more high-tech weapons, but a lower body bias, to make it more even. Celtic music would have higher magic, but lower tech, things like that. The verser could join sides based on his/her preferred style of music. Just a strange idea that I had, but this is the place for strange ideas. Thoughts? I'd love to hear what Eric has to say.
It just occurred to me that not everyone reading that would know about the guns. Let me explain a bit. At first glance, the Country stars would look to be dangerously out-gunned by the Rap stars, but not really. The Rap star's weapons have higher rates of fire, and more shots. However, the Country star's weapons have more power, and greater accuracy. At an up-close fight, the Rap stars have the advantage, but at a distance battle, the Country stars would have the advantage. I'm sure someone could come up with weapons and powers for many more genres of music, but those are just the two that came to my mind when I thought of it.
Besideds gang-bangers tend more toward 'spray and pray' and country boys tend to aim at what they intend to kill. I have some personal experience of this.
I think this would be a very fun world....it should be one where things arenm't taken too seriously for the player anyways....Maybe Nashville is the Capital of the Country Music Americans and Detroit is the Capital of the Gang-bangers.
Eric
Exactly Eric. The Rap star would fire 30 bullets to kill one person, but the Country star would fire seven bullets, and kill seven people.
What other genres of music could you use for this? I also mentioned Techno and Celtic, what else, and what would their weapons/powers be? It was just a weird idea I had.
Death Metal would exist in secret underground cells scattered across the nation (possibly the world). Rumor has it they've got nukes.
I like it Scott. Made me laugh out loud. Maybe not nukes, but chemical weapons for sure. Someone botched trying to make a batch of Crystal Meth, and it turned into Zyclon B.
Listening to Mozart (or is it Beethoven) is supposed to make you smarter. So the small enclave of classic music folks is known as 'the smartest, most devious lot around.'
I'm thinking of Byzantium which was a large city on a larger continent populated by tribes. Attack B and suddenly all your enemies attacked you because the city-dwellers gave their name to devious politicking--byzantine.
Then you have got the One-Hit-Wonders. Anyone alive during the 80s knows that the reason the music from the 80s is so great is that there was such a multitude of these. The One-Hit-Wonders all got together to form a coalition, combining their vast array of powers and abilities. Everything from firepower, psionics, magic, and brains. That's probably the group I would join with.
Extreme music. If you have seen XXX, then you know what I am talking about, Vin Diesel was an Extreme. Don't know what genre of music it is, but they have very high bod skills. High martial arts, acrobatics, driving, everything that Vin Diesel was doing in XXX.
I just called my mom to help me with an idea that I had for this. Praise and Worship music. Christian music. I thought of it, but I couldn't figure out what powers to go along with them. They have "Godly powers" Whatever magic is associated with God, and "The Sword of the Spirit" That's a reference to the Bible, but perhaps more literal, they are skilled swordsmen with their magic to back up the metal.
What kind of music do Hippies listen to? The Hippies are a peaceful lot, just wanting to be left alone, and not bother anyone. However, they are skilled in "Earth Magic" which they use for defense. And if you happen to be a Hippie, I've seen Hippies fight. That whole "Peace and Love" they espouse is a load of BS. Hippies can and will fight if provoked.
Prog. (Progressive Rock, particularly '70s -- Yes, ELP, early Genesis, etc.). Not based in Czech area (Prague -- get it? Ha! I slay myself...) but rather in northern Italy. Flag has a silhouette of a Dinosaur. Main battlefield weaponry is huge, ponderous tanks (think Soviet T-35 or German Maus), the most common design looks like the armadillo/tank from the cover of ELP's "Tarkus". Generally speaking, their equipment is bombastic -- loud, powerful, complicated -- but not all that effective. They have managed to stay free largely because they don't have anything that the masses really want, and they've even managed to hold onto a reasonably sized enclave in East Anglia (Norfolk, England area). Most people disregard them as being irrelevant, but there are those who seek out their enclaves as a place of refuge. Some magic, but it's mostly concerned with communication, but the results aren't clear and require significant interpretation by the receiver.
BTT