The Game of the Subgenius

There are a lot of games that claim to provide "modern" settings. You've got your d20 Modern, your GURPS books, etc. But rarely do these settings even begin to scratch at the truth of the modern world as revealed by J.R. "Bob" Dobbs.

A lot of settings are based on mythology. Take, for example, the supposedly "subsersive" Vampire: the Masquerade, which is really just a Christian morality play hidden behind a lot of Gothic artsy-fartsy claptrap. Dungeons & Dragons rehashes a lot of cookie-cutter paganry, Legend of the Five Rings gives us a lot of psuedo-Shinto / Buddhist etc., etc. But not one, not one game features such spiritual concepts as the Bleeding Head of Arnold Palmer, the Yeti origin myth, or, yes, "Bob" himself! (GURPS Illuminati and Mage: the Ascension get points for at least referencing the Church).

It's high time there was a game that really tells it like it is, and not just a hinky CCG, either. This RPG is designed not only to provide a world of high Subgenius adventure (or inaction, as your want may be), but also provide a means through which psychic waves may be leveled against the Conspiracy of Normals.

In the Subgenius cosmology, things are not measured by their impact on the merely physical plane. Mind, the physical world is still pretty damn important, but believing in a deterministic lever-action universe isn't much good either. So the Subgenius character isn't determined by his Strength or Intelligence - Subgenius, after all, but more esoteric factors. These four factors are: Time, Slack, Sales, and Souls. Slack is the preeminent of these factors, for the Subgenius must have it, and greater amounts greases his journey down the tubes of the Luck Plane. Time control is also an important factor, allowing a Subgenius to make the most of his Slack, get more done, and befuddle the careful scheduling of the Con. Sales represents not so much mere physical wealth, but the ability for Subgenies to get something for nothing - or, at least, a hell of a lot less than they might expect. Finally, Souls is more esoteric, representing to some extent the "quality" of the Subgenius soul, of his ability to attract the attention of the Elder Gods for good or ill, and refine more bizarre and strange abilities indeed.

The chance of success at tasks and challenges is not determined by mere difficulty, but rather, the ability and willingness of the Conspiracy of Normals to hinder the Subgenius. After all, it is often the way of "Bob" to "fail upwards", and so success is not so clear-cut to the Subgenius as it is to normals. It may be exceedingly hard to do a little thing for a Subgenius to, say, plaster the face of "Bob" on the national news, but it may be exceedingly easy to get somebody to work themselves to death for the good of the god-company.

In theory there would be multiple mechanics through which a Subgenius may approach a challenge - for example, Slack may involve rolling dice and trying to match numbers, Sales might involve wheeling and dealing for success, Time might just allow one to take enough effort to blunder something through, and you might be able to sell a bit of your Soul for easy success and terrible payment in the future.

Yesss... in the FUTURE!