66 Backgrounds in Odd Jerusalem
I am prepping a new campaign.The overarching concept of this world: Jerusalem, but different. Jerusalem as seen through a twisted carnival mirror: modern geography, but 19th century technology; recognizable structures and streets, but with fantastical elements and an atmosphere of decay and degeneration. The goal: to create a world that is both familiar and strange; recognizable, but wondrous; fantastical but uncanny (in the Freudian sense - Unheimliche). The system will be Into the Odd, with some house rules. And one of those house rules will be backgrounds. I love backgrounds doubling as both a character's backstory and an actual game mechanic. Several games do this: FATE, most famously, but also 13th Age (where backgrounds replace skills, brilliantly), Tunnel Goons (where backgrounds determine stats) and The Black Hack (where one can use one's background once a session to roll with advantage on a check). For my games, I will probably be snatching the Black Hack's met