A Postmodern TTRPG Toolkit
This is a draft proposal for some of my ideas about how to inject postmodernism into your TTRPG games. It has a bunch of individual pieces which can be used together or independently and are meant to be able to dropped in to many different kinds of game, though they're geared towards more games in the traditional fantasy or Dying Earth genres.
All of these setting elements are meant to be encountered in multiple different iterations across multiple different campaigns (bonus points if the campaigns are in very different genres or settings, like both a Traveller and Call of Cthulhu campaign, or both a Vaults of Vaarn and Mausritter campaign. These elements are loosely themed on archetypes from the Tarot or existing stories, making them doubly intertextual.
Furthermore, all of these setting elements are meant to have some kind of cool or interesting feature that makes them postmodern beyond just the idea of recurrence. For clarity, I will include examples about how you might present these elements to your players across multiple different campaigns.
The Invisible City
The Invisible City1 is a city with some very unusual properties. These properties will most likely never be known to its inhabitants or to the PCs but may become apparent to the players.
Nobody calls it the Invisible City. It is known as Alhambra, or Bahramal, or Mralahab, any permutation of those letters but always some anagram of "Alhambra." The Invisible City blends in with any setting: if you place it in a medieval setting, it will be a large town or city. In a post-apocalyptic setting, it will be a settlement of survivors. In a sci-fi setting, it will be located on a planet or space station. The technology level and laws of physical reality in the Invisible City always obey those of the world in which the Invisible City is located. The only consistent feature is it will be a fairly large settlement, usually the 2nd or 3rd largest city in a region.
The interesting thing, mechanically, about the Invisible City is that it can appear and disappear randomly. If you need a mechanical framework for this, roll a d20 every day the PCs are not in the Invisible City: on a 20, the City appears (if it has not appeared already), on a 1, the City disappears (if it has not disappeared already). Nobody notices when the City appears or disappears. If the City is extant, it appears to have always existed to those in the surrounding area. If the City has vanished, nobody has ever heard of it. This extends to the PCs, though the players (obviously) may figure out what is going on. The City will never (appear) to move while the PCs are inside; what the residents of the Invisible City perceive, if anything, when the City has vanished is a moot point.
Memories may change slightly in order to justify things which cannot be explained without resorting to the City or its inhabitants. For instance, if the PCs are tasked with finding an artifact by one of the City's residents, and the City vanishes while the PCs are traveling to the dungeon in which the artifact is located, the PCs will remember that they are seeking the artifact, but will not remember that they were given that task by someone from the City. If the City reappears, that memory will reassert itself.
The nature of the City is such that it is impossible to explain: the PCs will likely never be able to investigate the anomaly of the City. If you, the GM, need an explanation, or want to offer one to your players, perhaps the City is the projection of a interdimensional parasite from a higher plane of reality, which somehow feeds on people residing in the City.
From a Doylesian perspective, this conceit allows the Invisible City to act as a kind of container for any of these other setting elements that you can literally drop into your games at any time, even in the middle of the game. The memory trick is a bit spooky in my opinion and kind of reminiscent of the infamous False Hydra. In contrast with the False Hydra, however, the Invisible City emphasizes the difference between the knowledge of the players and the PCs.
Example: In an Old-School Essentials game, the PCs begin in the city of Armabahl. They return to the city a couple times between adventures to sell gear and restock. But one session, when the players say they want to stop by the city, the DM informs them that not only is the City not there, but their PCs have no memory of the City or the time they spent there. In a Call of Cthulhu campaign, with the same party, the Keeper rewrites an existing module so the PCs take a trip to the city of Balmahar. Later in the module, when one of the players references Balmahar, the Keeper informs them that none of their PCs have any memory of Balmahar.
The Magician
The Magician is a sorcerer who goes by the moniker "Master of Creation." He can have any physical appearance; his personality may vary widely between iterations; and he may not even have real magical powers each time he is encountered. But he will always claim to have magical powers, and he will almost always go by the epithet "Master of Creation" or some variation thereof (i.e. "Mistress of Creation"). In a setting where this would be unsuitable, he will have the initials M.C.
Like the Invisible City, the Sorcerer has anomalous properties as well. Just as the players will remember "Master of Creation" when they encounter him a second time in a totally different game or setting, the Sorcerer will remember any previous meetings with the players. Obviously, the PCs will not remember, given that those previous meetings were by different characters, but the Sorcerer will claim to remember meeting the PCs in a "past life" or "another world." The Sorcerer will generally not hold grudges even if the PCs took hostile action against him in the past, and will usually give the PCs a chance to join him in whatever (usually unethical) scheme or grift he is planning.
This character was heavily inspired by Randall Flagg from a number of Stephen King's books, but he also resembles Patches from the Soulsborne games and M'aiq the Liar from the Elder Scrolls games. Like the Invisible City, meeting the Sorcerer forces the players to confront the difference between their own knowledge and the PCs' knowledge, but I think it goes a bit beyond that. The Sorcerer also transcends the boundaries players expect to have exist between different games as being distinct experiences that cannot cross over.
Example: In an OSE game, the PCs are sent to investigate reports of a necromancer stealing bodies from the local cemetery to raise them as undead servants. When they arrive in the necromancer's lair, he introduces himself quite affably as "Master of Creation" and offers treasure and magical items in exchange for the PC's help assembling an army of undead, which they provide. In a Call of Cthulhu game, the PCs investigate a cult they believe may be linked to the Great Old Ones, and they break into the cult's temple, where they encounter "Master of Creation" again. He looks completely different, but he seems to recognize the PCs, and thanks them for their help in a past life. He confesses to having no actual magical abilities in this life, but asks the PCs to help him acquire some tomes of Mythos knowledge.
Other Elements
The Invisible City and the Sorcerer are my most well-developed postmodern setting elements, but I've had some other ideas.
The Red Merchant
Distinguishing feature: A portly red-haired merchant with a jolly disposition.
Anomalous feature: The Red Merchant keeps what the PCs sell him in his "inventory," and can later sell it back to a different set of PCs. This could have very strange and unpredictable effects if items from one genre are ported into another genre.
Example: On their way back from a dungeon, the PCs in an OSE campaign encounter a jolly redheaded merchant on the road back to town. They sell off some of their items, including a magical artifact: an onyx ring which allows the wearer to see invisible things. Later, in a Call of Cthulhu campaign, the PCs enter an antiquities shop with a portly, redheaded proprietor. He doesn't "remember" the PCs, but one of the PCs finds an ornate onyx ring in the shop, and gets a strange feeling (read: the player metagaming) that the ring has magical properties.
The Jade Empress
Distinguishing feature: A high-class lady with striking, jade-green eyes. Cunning, but rewards her friends.
Anomalous feature: Continually "moving up in the world." Will usually patronize the PCs for the purpose of acquiring wealth and power, which she will retain in her next incarnation.
Example: In an OSE campaign, a noblewoman named Serica offers the PCs a bounty to help rescue some kidnapped travelers from goblins. The PCs' efforts earn Serica a duchy from the King. Later, in a Call of Cthulhu campaign, the PCs visit a Duchy ruled by a woman named Cerise with striking jade-green eyes, who has "a good feeling" about the PCs for some reason.
The Dream Maiden
Distinguishing feature: Only appears in dreams.
Anomalous feature: May appear to the PCs first in dreams while they stay in the Invisible City or upon consuming psychedelic substances from the City. Afterward, the players can decide to encounter the Dream Maiden at any time. The Maiden can offer cryptic guidance or "store" information given to her by the PCs, acting as a kind of "go-between" between different groups of PCs.2
The Inventor
Distinguishing feature: A missing eye, replaced by a glass or some other kind of prosthetic.
Anomalous feature: An eccentric inventor who can copy magical or high-tech items for the PCs. They can "save" schematics from past encounters with the PCs to provide them in a different campaign.
Example: In an OSR campaign, the party meets a helpful dwarf tinkerer with a crystal eye, who offers to duplicate magic items for them (for a hefty price). They give the dwarf a pair of wings they found in a dungeon to duplicate. In a Call of Cthulhu campaign with the same players, the PCs meet an inventor with a glass eye who is able to create a "gliding apparatus."
Even Less Defined Ideas
Four Treasures: The Sword, The Staff, The Ring, The Grail. Themed after the four suits of the Tarot.
Four Knights: The Spring Knight, The Summer Knight, The Autumn Knight, The Winter Knight. Possibly each seeking a treasure (Winter > Grail, Summer > Staff, Spring > Ring, Fall > Sword).
A reference to Italo Calvino's Invisible Cities.↩
This was my first idea, but feels a bit too convenient. Another idea I had is that the Dream Maiden appears in response to players expressing desires or wishes out of character (i.e. "I wish we knew why Old Man Chilton started sacrificing people to Cthulhu", and that night they receive a vision from the Dream Maiden).↩