Downfall – Setup Details

Hello Reader! I’m going to turn this into a full fledged write up, re-telling the story of our Haven’s collapse from the last Downfall play through I had. To the best of my recollection anyways, may have to fill in some gaps! Much love to one of my biggest supporters, Riley, and his amazing wife Gaeb, for the excellent collaboration and many laughs we had coming up with this perfectly flawed society. I hope this overview gives everybody else a good sense of Downfall’s setup. If you’d like to check out Downfall, you can find it at http://lessthanthreegames.com/. If you’re interested in more info on Fiasco, there is an amazingly entertaining Tabletop video that goes over setup. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuJizhyf-y4. On to the setup!

 

The Flaw: Perfectionism

Elements: Gravity, Water, Silence

Haven Name/Description: Prime Alpha One

Set on a distant planet with wildly varying terrain found across the planet’s surface, our Haven is stationed in a desert like area, where water harvesting and recycling is essential for survival. If water comes in contact with the desert surface on the planet in high enough concentrations, this can be disastrous. It causes a chemical reaction, vapourizing the elements in the soil and creating a thick, noxious green gas. The planet has gravity fluctuations that can mean death if you are caught on the surface, outside of the specially constructed bio domes that enable habitation.

When traveling between the many bio domes within the Haven, the only protection you have is your Silent Suit. The constant pumping of air through your suit creates a sort of white noise. This creates a positive suit pressure in case of a rip, so no soil can get in and come into contact with the skin or be ingested. The body’s base water content is enough to cause a reaction. If you stay out there too long, the suit begins to block out all noise, as if you have gone deaf. This silence can mean death for any traveller, as you must remain ever vigilant and listen for the potential warning siren that signals an incoming gravity fluctuation. The tech of the Haven is very retro futuristic, think Flash Gordon-esque.

In order to survive, everybody must be perfect in their professional duties. At first this started with just the engineers and the technicians for the survival systems. But this standard of perfection became the norm of everyday life, and everyday jobs. Imperfection is not tolerated!

 

So you can see how we incorporated the three Elements into the Flaw and created a setting around it. Now for the culture.

 

Traditions:

1. Architecture: People of this tradition are the teachers, they make sure the perfected processes for bio dome creation is passed down to their pupils and never deviated from. If it’s built wrong, that means people die.
2. Employment: The people with the jobs that keep the Haven alive are known by everybody, having achieved a sort of celebrity status. This comes with perks and gifts, they are socially above everybody else, but there is no elitism. This is just the way it is, these people are the ones who are perfect for their positions and keep the systems running optimally, ensuring the Haven’s survival.
3. Military: They are the umbrella under which smaller organizations, such as the Perfection Police, answer to. The military’s main focus is the protection of the vital life systems of the Haven.
4. Entertainment: These people work extremely hard to bring the perfect viewer experience in every genre, working around the clock for the citizens of the Haven. They achieve this by a balance of regulated drugs, the perfect amount of uppers and downers to keep them stable and functional. Entertainers are the only Haven residents that have access to these powerful drugs.
5. Justice: The Perfection Police are the beat cops of the Haven compared to the military. They handle the daily security of everyday people, and mete out punishment for those deemed imperfect. There is no need for courts or a judicial system, since an accusation of imperfection is always perfectly accurate. The most common punishment for imperfection is a publicly humiliating stint as the Haven’s weatherman. The weatherman predicts rainfall and gravity fluctuations. Weathermen are always wrong! The only thing worse than imperfection, is imperfection televised to the entire Haven.
6. Love: Followers of this tradition are deeply devoted to the pursuit of perfection, nothing is more perfect at bringing them joy and happiness than finding perfection. They have become fanatical in their pursuits.

 

You can see how each of these traditions is directly influenced by the Flaw. If you find yourself struggling to find a connection between your chosen Tradition and the Flaw, then you should choose a new Tradition.

 

Hero Description:

Occupation: Works for the Perfection Police as an undercover agent

Rebellion: Strongly disagrees with the fanatical pursuit of perfection, seeing the potential for danger.

Name: Sam Mandalay, crew cut, hard boiled cop kind of guy.

 

Fallen Description:

Occupation: A teacher of the Architecture tradition.

Relationship to Hero: Wife, and unwitting informant

Name: Claire Mandalay, very plain looking, studious

 

Pillar Description:

Occupation: Perfection Police

Relationship to the Hero: Sam’s handler and main contact when undercover

Name: Joe Beige, average height, average looks, brown eyes,

 

And there you have it, a simple setup for Downfall, the story ready to unfold. At this point, the Pillar chooses one of the Traditions to become corrupted by the Flaw. Spoilers, the Love Tradition fanatics get a little out of hand!

 

L.