The Campaign Builder's Guild

Interestingly, in the GrimDark IdDark, if you're not an IdBeast, the Demons may be your friend:

(Updated above but reproduced here)
[spoiler]
Gods and Demons
[ic=Gods]- Gods in the GrimDark IdDark aren't all powerful, they aren't even omnipotent-they don't even remember anything from day to day; but they certainly aren't powerless, and they certainly aren't normal.

The only things they have going for them is that (1) they are immortal, and (2) they hear the petitions of all of their self-selected worshipers, (3) sometimes they can change shape, and (4) they can talk to their worshipers and relay messages; wherever the worshipers be- but they can only talk to one worshiper at a time. They cannot harm any living creature, although they themselves may feel pain.

Some say that when the Mad Creator God created the world, he intended the Gods to do his works as minions, angels of sorts. But he refused to grant them much authority and they mainly remained bureaucratic speed bumps, merely existing to pass information to him and without power to do much of anything.

There are three Gods.

Gullettugger - The crazed 'Lisso God. Formerly a trilobite; although he doesn't know this records indicate that he only became a 'Lisso in the past thousand years. Gullettugger is constantly trying to strangle himself to death. Worshippers can usually find him hanging by his prodigious tongue from various hooks under the ocean. Gulletttugger is a highly popular God given that many can identify with his sense of tragedy and ineffectiveness. His greatest enemy is Id.

Id - The IdBeasts' God and the most active and ambitious of the Gods. Id gives active counsel to his chosen creatures. The Ur-Men have an ancient tale that Id once represented their interests until it grew tired of them; the Ur-Men are greatly hurt by this betrayal, and the IdBeasts revel in it.

Persephone - She loves her worshippers, literally, and she takes Human form. She lives in a pleasure dome at the top of one of the world's highest mountains. She calls to her worshippers to come serve her and many do. Few leave. Those who do often end up dead, killed by other worshippers who she persuades to hate the ones who leave her. She is a jealous, possessive Goddess. She has little interest in the affairs of the world as long as some humans exist within it. She tries to ignore Id.[/ic]

[ic=Demons]-Demons are filled with constant pangs of pain. The only way they can ease their hurt is by inflicting it on others. Through inflicting pain, they gain peace. There are only Four known Demons and three are currently shackled. Many have been imprisoned for hundreds of years, and one- Hunger has been shackled for nearly eight thousand years by The Annelid Empire. Demons speak, and some have been known to impart great wisdom of ancient technologies and lore, but all of their deals come at a hefty price to those who seek their counsel.

Demons have the body of a horse and the head of a man. Legends state that they are the only remnants of the Mad Creator god- being four aspects of his being. But more believable tales state that the Demons are the soul of the world and some cults have grown up, seeking to free the imprisoned demons-- believing that the world's decay is directly tied to the length of time each demon has spent chained and deprived of its depraved feast.

Hunger/Famine : Imprisoned  nearly eight thousand years past by the Annelid Empire; Hunger has largely been forgotten by his fellows and he rots, nearly fossilized under thousands of feet of sandstone in an ancient tarfield-- driven completely insane by wrenching pain and never, ever being able to sleep.

No one knows where Hunger rests, and to the cultists, hunger's absence from the world is a direct explanation for the constant sweeping famines and decaying dryspells.

Many seek Hunger- the black horse- to learn wisdom, or to free him, but almost no records of its location remain, save perhaps one brief scratch in the wall of an ancient Annelid tunnel, speaking of the defeat of a great demonic force heralding the rise of their empire-- the location of this clue may give some idea as to the Demon's ultimate location.

War - War bears a red horse body. War was nailed up by IdBeasts about 1,300 years ago and tied to a stake in the center of their empire, where all IdBeasts may glare at him and mock his ineffectiveness.

Plague - Plague was struck down 800 years ago and chopped into 999,999 pieces that were scattered around the land. Each piece was weighted down with a lodestone and sunk into either water or land. The lodestones pull the pieces toward the center of the earth and away from each other (naturally, over time the pieces would attract to each other without the lodestones' presences). If the IdDark's magnetic core flipped, or magnetism disappeared, the pieces could feasibly come together and reform-- returning Plague to the world.

Death - Death still walks the earth, as a Pale horse-beast carrying a scythe. Death is constantly wary of being captured however, and he has been known to ally himself with Humans and Ur-Men against IdBeasts desperate on capturing him. Death constantly shakes with fear, and chatters his teeth. He also likes coffee- caffeinated only.[/ic]
[/spoiler]

So, once again asking, what is HOL?
Crow and Steerpike mentioned it.

HOL is an oldish RPG; the acronym stands for Human Occupied Landfill. It's very much a satire and generally comical, sometimes using black humor, sometimes just nonsensical craziness.
The story is set in the far, far future where the Confederation of Worlds (C.O.W.) and the Megapope of the fast food/religion mix church'n'munch send all their waste to a small planet on the far, far outskirts of the universe called HOL. This waste includes every human considered to be generally useless, obnoxious, or in the way.
So you play a stupid, crazy, or very alternative character living on a giant trash dump inhabited by cannibal accountants, crazy fleshtenders, television hosts, sodomy bikers and other weird things. Also there are small suicidal creatures called wastits that you can eat (but once in about a thousand turn out to be wastems who eat you instead). You can then visit the Diaper Swamp or the world's largest parking lot with the only fastfood restaurant on the planet.

The HOL book is also exceptional in that it is entirely handwritten. And they put that to good use. The text is all over the place, has typos (sometimes entertainingly showcased), and dramatic emphasizing.      

Thank you very much for the summary. It sounds interesting. As you mentioned though, I'm trying to avoid too-direct in-your-face humor which appears to be HOL's schtick. Generally, the GrimDark IdDark is aiming at sarcasm. Outside of the Shim, Sham and Sweeng races, the 'jokes' are intended to be much more muted and less direct- more of the WTF-noir? (Sin City, Pulp Fiction, LA Confidential) type rather than 1940s-born parent humor of the type found on 50s and 60s sitcoms... or Home Improvement. Although obviously- that humor is also present- because in my opinion it sort of fits the "era"'s literary mood.

However, the characters you describe as meeting in HOL sound right up the GrimDark IdDark's alley. It gives me a few ideas that I think I'll have to bat around for player Character types.

Thanks!

I laughed hard when I saw the blurb on death liking coffee

What is a PC?

In the GrimDark IdDark PCs aren't bound to the class system.
Instead, think of Heros' power system.

So I present to you the

"Semi-Classless GrimDark System"
(Because in the IdDark, it's difficult to have Class- but when you have it you're not only going to be killing things-- they're going to hear your name, and drink some cyanide in fear.)
[Note: Need to work on catchphrase.]

In the GrimDark IdDark you can do things with Style/Class, or you can do it without style/class. It all depends on what sort of nihilistic you are. (Are you Emo, Goth, Punk, Anarchist, Ascetic, etc.?)

Ex:
Lucy Starrskyne

11 Classy Points - Classy points are for acting Cool, doing neat things, and being a standup lady or gentleman.

5 Classless Points - Classless points are for being a rowdy rody, a Bad Bad Leroy Brown-- a Real SOB or just generally a classless d***. (Think the Italian in Boondock Saints or Mr. Pink in Reservoir Dogs. "We Can Kill Everyone!")

1 Utility Point - (Can be used for Classless or Classy points)

Each power may be used once a day.
On multiple purchases, the powers can be used multiple times/day.

Gain points organically through gameplay.

Classy Powers
1. Looking Good "Neat And Proper" "Clean as a 'Lisso" (2) - Walk out of a bloodbath without anyone else's blood on you. (Good for evading detection). +4 aura.

2. Making An Offer They Can't Refuse (5) - You are extremely persuasive. +10 to persuasion rolls. 5% discount on items purchased.

3. Sly (3) - +3 bluff. You can keep your cool in any situation. Immune to truth serum.

4. Wyrd - (1)- You've got the beat. People follow and respect you. +2 aura.

Classless Powers

1. Kick in the Groin - (5) Dirty Fighting Specialist. You kick, you scratch, you yank and you hit them in the back. The adrenaline never stops. Aggression +10. If reduced to as much as -10 while fighting, can keep standing. If reduced to -10, will not die until reduced to -20, but must be healed within five hours.

Utility Point
1- Reserved Point.

---
Skills (tentative)

Martial
accuracy (aiming) - Used for guns, bows, slings
aggression - Used for morale, intimidation (instead of persuasion), and general fighting skill.
hand-to-hand - Used for melee fighting.


Social
aura [charisma] - Used for diplomacy, reaction rolls, one-on-one interactions.
bluff - Used for lying.
persuasion - Used for bargaining/discounts, bureaucracy/administration, intimidation (instead of aggression), managing structures.

Intellectual
analytical - Used for mathematical problems.
book-smarts - Used for historical research.
cleverness - Used for street smarts, perception, wits.


--
1 point= 2 skill points
2 point= 3 skill points

3 point= 5 skill points + minor power
3 point= 3 skill points + medium power

4 point= 5 skill points + medium power

5 point= 10 skill points + minor power
5 point= 8 skill points + medium power

6 point= 5 skill points + major power [Rare]

Any advice on the catchphrase in the post above or further differentiating persuasion v. aura-- currently they seem a bit too similar in terms of skills.

Social Combat and Social Status

In the GrimDark, people battle not only with their weapons, but with their wits and minds.

The various skills (above) are added to rolls that determine social combat.

Example:
[ic=Filing Taxes]
Devon the 'Lisso is attempting to negotiate the bureaucracy of filing a tax return with a corrupt filing service. He refuses to pay a bribe and wants to ensure that his records clearly state that he paid his taxes.

Devon enters the room and sees seven people set up at various kiosks around the chambers.

He rolls a cleverness check to see which of the kiosks will help him fare the best. He rolls a 7, and adds his 10 to it for a 17. This is a mild success so he chooses relatively wisely (being able to add a +2 to any subsequent persuasion rolls)

He walks up to the counter and talks to the lady, Esme, who frowns at him and holds out her hand for the customary bribe.

Devon could Make an Offer She Can't Refuse but he won't spend his power for the day. Instead he tries to persuade her to not accept a bribe. His roll fails. So he puffs out his chest and uses aggression. That succeeds and she is cowed. But because he used aggression, the security guards are alerted. They come over and ask if there's a problem.

He uses bluff to discourage them. (he could also use aggression or persuasion). He succeeds and they walk away. If he failed, they might forcibly remove him, or stand beside him, making subsequent checks with Esme much more difficult.

Next he uses his persuasion to encourage Esme to file his taxes properly. He fails, but she promises to file the taxes properly. The GM asks Devon to make a cleverness roll and he succeeds- seeing through Esme's thinly veiled plan.

Devon then uses his aura to convince her to do him a favor. He succeeds and she will file his taxes properly.[/ic]

rofl using tax filing as an encounter... brilliant!

Remember... in some countries even if you have illegal income from embezzlement, or illegal gambling; it's taxable: See Here

Notably: "While embezzlers, thieves, and the like are forced to report their ill-gotten gains as income for tax purposes, they may also take deductions for costs relating to criminal activities"

However, there is a caveat in some cases:

[ic=Bribery Tax Analysis]Bribe to police officer by an illegal gambling den
   --Is this necessary?
   --Appropriate and helpful?
   --Ordinary?
      a-Common and accepted for this type of business- YES
      b-Current deduction not a capital expenditure- no significant future benefits.
         Is a current expense.
   --Would be deductible under 162
   --But 162(c)(1)- no deduction allowed for payment to any official of a government if the payment constitutes an illegal bribe or kickback.[/ic]

And analysis like this fits perfectly into noir black-humor. :D

Quote from: Light DragonRemember... in some countries even if you have illegal income from embezzlement, or illegal gambling; it's taxable: See Here

Notably: "While embezzlers, thieves, and the like are forced to report their ill-gotten gains as income for tax purposes, they may also take deductions for costs relating to criminal activities"

However, there is a caveat in some cases:

[ic=Bribery Tax Analysis]Bribe to police officer by an illegal gambling den
   --Is this necessary?
   --Appropriate and helpful?
   --Ordinary?
      a-Common and accepted for this type of business- YES
      b-Current deduction not a capital expenditure- no significant future benefits.
         Is a current expense.
   --Would be deductible under 162
   --But 162(c)(1)- no deduction allowed for payment to any official of a government if the payment constitutes an illegal bribe or kickback.[/ic]

And analysis like this fits perfectly into noir black-humor. :D

Oh wow, never have I laughed so hard in my life.