In 2073 a single form of entertainment has risen to dominate the worldwide media landscape: The Games. Interactive entertainment developed like a video game with the budget of a blockbuster movie, top level Games have all the grandeur and spectical of the prior century's sporting events - people stream them live from the perspectives of their favorite players, buy limited edition compilation recordings with commentary tracks, collect action figures, get sick consuming bath water.

Today's auteurs are not film directors, but the Gamemasters, and most of them work for Disney, the megacorporation that's bought up most of the world's intellectual properties. Disney alone has the massive interactive Dreamparks, multi-story modular arenas using the most advanced holographic, anamatronic, and augmented reality technology to create the venues in which these games are played - from the small intimate friendly weekends to the massive yearly spectacles - and in 2073, Disney's 150th anniversary - they're planning something truly special.
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:29, Tue 27 Oct 2020.

For the next five years - 2073 to 2078 - Disney is providing a massive tournament celebrating not only the company, but all the media they've acquired. Each game within the tournament will draw inspiration from the movies, comics, video games, books, and television programs of the past, mixed together and mashed up in some cases. Each month a new game will be broadcast as the teams involved compete to advance to the next round.

Each Game's goal will be a surprise to the teams playing - some will be speed-runs, trying to reach an area or accomplish a goal in the fastest time possible. Others may be points-based, trying to max your score killing monsters or collecting power-ups. And others may be direct conflict against another team. They might be mysteries, shmups, fighting games, survival horror scenarios... Each has victory conditions. All types of play will be represented.

And every 6 months, the bottom half of scoring teams will be eliminated. Over a thousand teams will compete. In five years, only one will remain to win the ultimate prize of being the officially sponsored Disney team and the top ranked gamer on the planet.

It's highly unlikely that you'll win... but every well played game is exposure, the opportunity to win new sponsorships, to increase your social media platform, to get picked up and become a household name.

What've you got to lose?

The Games are augmented reality - players compete in the Dreamparks, wearing AR headsets that help simulate the game environment assisted by park employee actors, anamatronics, and props. These games involve a lot of activity - running, jumping, dodging, climbing, and so on, but most of the combat is simulated - either with optical guns disguised as weapons appropriate to the scenario, or hand weapons with striking surfaces and blades that only exist within the augmented reality.

Scenarios often include the need for technical, scientific, or medical skills - to defuse bombs, pick locks, and disarm traps - but said activities rarely involve actual technical skill save in the case of rare puzzles. For the most part, if a player's avatar has the ability to accomplish a task, all it takes is time - and perhaps a minigame.

Avatars

Avatars are the persona players adopt in the game. In league play these avatar are often built up and improved over the season, but for the sake of the Touranment teams will be given avatars tied to each competition game, to ensure that victory is a matter of skill.

What avatars are offered depends on the game, but they tend to fall under one of the following classes:

Fighters: Generally have more Wound Points, do more damage with a successful strike, and occasionally have added auto-aim features. Keep in mind, though - player skill with Beam Weapons (for ranged attacks) and Combat Sport (for melee) still matters.

Magic Users: Few Wound Points, but may have "spells" based on the scenario. Ranged attacks may well use Beam Weapons skill for, say, magic staff usage.

Thief: Few Wounds, but often lockpicking and stealth-based abilities. These may involve minigames using the Games (Augmented Reality) skill.

Techie: Average Wounds, usually technical skills and can repair damaged equipment. These may involve minigames using the Games (Augmented Reality) skill.

Healer: Can restore Wounds to fellow players, sometimes other support abilities.

In Tournament play, as mentioned, players needn't select a class; the team will assign roles from the available options in any given scenario.
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:20, Tue 27 Oct 2020.

Outside the games, 2073 is in bad shape. The climate has risen 4°C over the century, leaving many areas outside the realm of human survivability. Sea levels have risen a full meter, and both drought and freak storms are commonplace. In most of the world resource-based economies are replacing free market capitalism.

Not so in the United States, which has the heavily modified GM crops, hydroponics, desalination, fusion power, and nanofabrication needed to cling to stability. New homes include on-site water and waste management, air purification systems, interactive surfaces, and full immersive VR. Of course, the number of people who can afford new homes is shrinking.

Traditional employment is also fairly rare; most people are part of the gig economy, acting as couriers, personal shoppers, and freelance hired hands. Long-term permanent employment is rare, but social media influencers, VR and AR vloggers, and of course pro gamers compete for audience and sponsorships.

And if you're very desperate, there are always geo-engineering jobs in the dangerous environments abandoned along the equator, no longer fit for human habitation.