Post by Null and Void on Dec 30, 2017 22:49:05 GMT
Forgive me, but this is an idea I'm still working out the details of, but which I think has some potential. Its a very different sort of campaign than many of the ones I have seen suggested. There is something low key about this. Something that rarely seen in Doctor Who, or at least rarely put into the limelight... Art.
The Undergallery was established by Queen Elizabeth I to contain “dangerous” works of art. She names the Doctor as its curator. We know that it contains the “3D Paintings” that hid the Zygon invaders. We saw that it contained a paradoxical Fez that the Doctor took an interest in and sent from the modern day to the Elizabethan Era. It also contained a number of statues that were pulverized to make room for Zygon Infiltrators.
So, what constitutes "dangerous" art?
Art that incorporates alien technology or alien concepts. Art that reveals something that is best left hidden. Art that changes either the viewer, the artist, or the environment.
It is fundamentally a different view than say, The Black Archive or Torchwood. The mandate of Torchwood is to protect the Empire... the mandate of the Black Archive is that of UNIT, protect the Earth. But the Undergallery....
The Undergallery preserves.
It doesn't gather tools that might be used in the defense of the world... it preserves works that are dangerous, simply so that they can be preserved, understood, and to provide inspiration.
The Undergallery seems an organization that would fit in a Call of Cthulhu game. If you were to compare it to a comic book, it is less Justice League or Avengers, and more Planetary. One of the key mottos of Planetary was "Its a strange world. Let's keep it that way." This is like a Doctor Who version of The Night Gallery rather than The Outer Limits.
The Undergallery must not be just about fear, and defending the planet, but about preserving the wonder and strangeness that exists on the planet. Sure, its dangerous, and its kept away from the public... but it isn't poked and prodded and reverse-engineered into weapons.
So, what sort of characters would belong in an Undergallery Campaign? Artists, Art Historians, Archaeologists, Historians, Curators, Administrators, Art dealers, Antique Experts.... These are investigators, not soldiers. They would look at things in a different way. Its a quiet sort of campaign... There is not so much of the Defending the world of UNIT or Torchwood, nor even the criminal investigation aspect of Paternoster Investigations. Its finding artifacts and working around their consequences. Rarely will it be an active alien invasion that needs to be fought off.
So, finally... what else could be found in the Undergallery? I may write some of these up as gadgets....
A part of a Terrileptyl android, bejeweled and aesthetic.
The Time Cabinet of Magnus Greel, collected from the Estate of Doctor Lightfoot.
"Statues" who were really victims of a gorgon-like monster.
The 13 Treasures of Britain (or those items which had been gathered)... which turn out to be objects with alien technology in them.
Paintings which influence people psychically, imparting emotions into them.
Paintings which provide a gateway to pocket universes.
Paintings which trap entities within them...
The "real" portrait of Dorian Grey
"Cursed" pieces of furniture that impart effects of the people who use them.
Books which contain prophetic information
Anyway... That's the idea
The Undergallery was established by Queen Elizabeth I to contain “dangerous” works of art. She names the Doctor as its curator. We know that it contains the “3D Paintings” that hid the Zygon invaders. We saw that it contained a paradoxical Fez that the Doctor took an interest in and sent from the modern day to the Elizabethan Era. It also contained a number of statues that were pulverized to make room for Zygon Infiltrators.
So, what constitutes "dangerous" art?
Art that incorporates alien technology or alien concepts. Art that reveals something that is best left hidden. Art that changes either the viewer, the artist, or the environment.
It is fundamentally a different view than say, The Black Archive or Torchwood. The mandate of Torchwood is to protect the Empire... the mandate of the Black Archive is that of UNIT, protect the Earth. But the Undergallery....
The Undergallery preserves.
It doesn't gather tools that might be used in the defense of the world... it preserves works that are dangerous, simply so that they can be preserved, understood, and to provide inspiration.
The Undergallery seems an organization that would fit in a Call of Cthulhu game. If you were to compare it to a comic book, it is less Justice League or Avengers, and more Planetary. One of the key mottos of Planetary was "Its a strange world. Let's keep it that way." This is like a Doctor Who version of The Night Gallery rather than The Outer Limits.
The Undergallery must not be just about fear, and defending the planet, but about preserving the wonder and strangeness that exists on the planet. Sure, its dangerous, and its kept away from the public... but it isn't poked and prodded and reverse-engineered into weapons.
So, what sort of characters would belong in an Undergallery Campaign? Artists, Art Historians, Archaeologists, Historians, Curators, Administrators, Art dealers, Antique Experts.... These are investigators, not soldiers. They would look at things in a different way. Its a quiet sort of campaign... There is not so much of the Defending the world of UNIT or Torchwood, nor even the criminal investigation aspect of Paternoster Investigations. Its finding artifacts and working around their consequences. Rarely will it be an active alien invasion that needs to be fought off.
So, finally... what else could be found in the Undergallery? I may write some of these up as gadgets....
A part of a Terrileptyl android, bejeweled and aesthetic.
The Time Cabinet of Magnus Greel, collected from the Estate of Doctor Lightfoot.
"Statues" who were really victims of a gorgon-like monster.
The 13 Treasures of Britain (or those items which had been gathered)... which turn out to be objects with alien technology in them.
Paintings which influence people psychically, imparting emotions into them.
Paintings which provide a gateway to pocket universes.
Paintings which trap entities within them...
The "real" portrait of Dorian Grey
"Cursed" pieces of furniture that impart effects of the people who use them.
Books which contain prophetic information
Anyway... That's the idea
