Is your Setting Alive?

[torilen]

Listening to a Doctor Who audio this week (Chimes of Midnight), and it got me thinking about this:
What if the setting in which the Heroes is actually alive? I posted this on my twitter feed, and thought
I'd share here.

Pt1 - An idea taken from a Doctor Who story, though I've seen it done is several places: What if the setting in which your characters find themselves is alive?

Pt2 - This could be used for many settings: A large mansion, a castle, an underground complex, a forest, a swamp, a whole planet - a space ship, if sci-fi - is it an actual living creature big enough to hold a "setting"?

Pt3 - How does it manifest itself? As spirits? Taking control of creatures within itself? Does it create animated creatures to interact with the characters? Where can the manifestation go? All over, or is it bound to a place?

Pt4 - What does the setting feel? Is it angry (manifest by quaking and surprise attacks and traps)? Is it sad (manifest by wailing and moaning, perhaps falling water/rain, a lot of blue and gray colors). Is it happy (manifest by bright colors, laughing, light breezes and warmth).

Pt5 - How does the setting react to the characters? Beneficent (manifest by helping, giving them things, guiding them to secrets)? Destructive (manifest by traps, attacks, quaking, hiding things, keeping doors shut)?

Pt6 - More on reaction to characters: Scared (manifest by hiding things, keeping doors shut, misdirecting the characters, trying to make them leave).

Pt7 - Is the life within the setting controlled by another? A wizard or priest? A deity of some sort? A powerful alien creature? Where is this other being located? Why does it control the living setting? Does it want anything from the living setting?

Pt8 - Can the living setting remain, or must it be removed? How would this be done? Why does it need to be removed? What happens when it is removed? What if the characters are still withing the setting when the life is removed?

For other ideas, thoughts, materials, stories and more - feel free to visit my pages:
All links provided in my signature. Twitter and Patreon have unique materials available.

[Spookyhappyfun]

Chimes of Midnight! I remember that one. That's one of the early ones. I miss Charley.

[torilen]

Charley is becoming one of my favorites. There are several companions I just really
did not like much...their personalities just didn't mix well with my liking. Some of them
I have quite enjoyed. Paul McGann is one of my favorite doctors, as well - it is a shame he
really wasn't on the screen as the doctor. One brief little transition pieces, and one
movie, if I remember correctly.

[Tott]

and the novie was awful!
i think Paul mcGann has actually played the doctor longer and more often than any other actor, its just hes almost exclusivley limited to audio plays. would love to see him guest star on the tv show one day, his little transition piece for 50th anniversary was great. but it really did highlight just how much we missed by not having him on the screen so much.
anyway, back on topic - the living dungeon was something i toyed with but i really couldnt figure out a way to do it on a board game and make it feel any different to any other type of dungeon. Ive seen the conecpt done in computer games a few times and again, it didnt feel any different to any of the other levels of the games

[Spookyhappyfun]

The Eighth Doctor is by far the best Doctor to me. I love those audio adventures and Night of the Doctor was one of my favorite parts about the 50th Anniversary special. I'd love to see more of him on TV if that's at all possible.

As for a living setting, I wonder if something like being inside a giant living beast would work. It's not happy with you being there and wants you out and maybe bile of something is building up and you have only a set amount of time to get from room to room and get out before you start taking damage.

Not quite the same as the initial idea, but it's what came to mind for me.

[aaronAGN]

The Eighth Doctor is by far the best Doctor to me. I love those audio adventures and Night of the Doctor was one of my favorite parts about the 50th Anniversary special. I'd love to see more of him on TV if that's at all possible.

As for a living setting, I wonder if something like being inside a giant living beast would work. It's not happy with you being there and wants you out and maybe bile of something is building up and you have only a set amount of time to get from room to room and get out before you start taking damage.

Not quite the same as the initial idea, but it's what came to mind for me.

Oh my god!!! Paul McGann is my favorite Doctor too!!

In a living Beast.
My first thought was Krull. The Beast's Fortress IS the Beast. Like it's alive and they're connected. It's halls and rooms and doors change according to his whim. Like the Fortress is the body and the Beast is the brain.

Also I thought of the Demon Castle in the Castlevania games. The fact that Dracula's castle is alive and cursed. Which is why it's in a different configuration every time it appears.
And in the reboot Castlevania: Lords of Shadow, it actually talks to you and fights back as Dracula rebels against his former home.

Or you could do something like Lord Jabu Jabu from Legend of Zelda. Where it's basically The Fantastic Voyage. And you're exploring the insides of a person/creatures body.

[torilen]

I don't know much about Castlevania or Zelda (aside from the original Zelda),
but I never thought about Krull as being in that. You're right, though. It is very
much like being an alive castle. (that's right - I know about Krull.)