Mary Sue'¦'¦'¦'¦'¦'¦setting?

[Steerpike]

Muffins full of drugs.  Drugmuffins.

[Scholar]

Even with muffins, it would be boring. ;)
If everyone's the same (and perfect), what's the point of existence? sitting around all day thinking "golly, what a perfect and peaceful world i live in. I could take a bath, now." Going on from what Fritos said, life would be one big telenovela, and even if you want to enact change, you are gently dissuaded from this irrational impulse. If you ever have a problem, their is people powerful/influential and altruisitc enough to solve it for you.
That would be a Mary Sue setting for me.^^

[Steerpike]

Of course, the real conflict could come in when the perfect people have to deal with societies of contrastingly far less perfection.

[Scholar]

Of course, the real conflict could come in when the perfect people have to deal with societies of contrastingly far less perfection.

fellow citizen, there is no such things as imperfection. and if there were, you wouldn't have to worry about it. we have people for that who are more than willing to endure such inhuman worries. ;)

[Steerpike]

I think if I was DMing I'd call those people PCs.

[Scholar]

I think if I was DMing I'd call those people PCs.

that's kinda my point. normally, doing the important stuff is up to the pcs, but not if there's a setting full of mary sues around who can do it better (*cough* elminster *cough*).

[Nomadic]

I think if I was DMing I'd call those people PCs.

that's kinda my point. normally, doing the important stuff is up to the pcs, but not if there's a setting full of mary sues around who can do it better (*cough* elminster *cough*).

I don't think that mary sue is good for anyone in a setting. Especially the PCs (but then again I might just be insane).

[Steerpike]

[blockquote=Scholar]that's kinda my point. normally, doing the important stuff is up to the pcs, but not if there's a setting full of mary sues around who can do it better (*cough* elminster *cough*).[/blockquote]They probably would be pretty ridiculously uber.  I was thinking of Special Circumstances from Iain M Banks' superb Culture Cycle, which bears a startling resemblance to the hypothetical setting we're discussing.

Of course, the PCs could also be Perfects/Sues who somehow crash-land on a hostile, backwards, and Imperfect world, a backwater far from the main civilization, and are forced to survive.  It'd be like a demented reality show: a bunch of pampered, beautiful people suddenly have to face the harsh facts of reality, only in this version you'd get eaten by the natives instead of voted off.

[SDragon]

Of course, the PCs could also be Perfects/Sues who somehow crash-land on a hostile, backwards, and Imperfect world, a backwater far from the main civilization, and are forced to survive.  It'd be like a demented reality show: a bunch of pampered, beautiful people suddenly have to face the harsh facts of reality, only in this version you'd get eaten by the natives instead of voted off.

A True Sue would show all of the natives the errors of their backwards primitive ways within a week.

[Steerpike]

That might be even more awesome.  Become the protectors of a tribe of primitives, worshipped as gods (whether you cultivate this or not), guarding against the gargantuan wild beasts, trying to introduce/accelerate technological progress with limited means.  I think it actually has a lot of potential as a concept, it would just need the right treatment.  You could do a whole kind of planetary romance thing.  Maybe some of the Perfects come to believe that the more primitive way of life is actually more fulfilling, go native, and come into tension with those who want to artificially "progress" the natives.  Maybe a Perfect, dissatisfied with the thrill-less life he'd once lived and longing for a chance to excercise his power more fully, manifests some latent megalomaniacal tendencies and begins to forge a militaristic empire from the primitives, which the other Perfects must combat.

The primitives themselves could be a huge problem.  You can't watch them all the time, and a sudden influx of technology could be catastrophic.  Imagine Vikings with laser rifles, and the training to use them.  Maybe some upstart warlord gets ideas and overpowers a Perfect, steals some tech.  Superb reasoning and diplomatic abilities are one thing, but even with sublime charisma you can't convince everyone to play nice. And just because everyone has amazing stats doesn't mean they're always going to agree.

Of course, the setting I'm describing isn't a Sue setting; only the characters.

[Matt Larkin (author)]

Of course, the setting I'm describing isn't a Sue setting; only the characters.

I'm still not sure I understand the idea of an MS setting. If an MS is a character that is too perfect to be interesting, the only equivalent I could think of is a setting with no conflict.

Since even basic human relationships produce some drama, I'd think that'd be a setting with no people. Or animals, since the struggle for survival could still have conflict. So a setting where everyone plays a tree might work.

[Steerpike]

Silvercat is also using the phrase to describe a setting you get too attached to, to the point where you'd end up railroading PCs or refusing to compromise simply to "protect" the integrity of your setting, much in the same way a Mary SUe character (at least in fiction) tends to be untouchable.

But yeah, the other way we're talking about a Sue setting would be a purely hypothetical one with very little conflict, some sort of pacifist utopia.  Or a forest...

[Matt Larkin (author)]

The former I can actually see. But then that's an aspect of the GM, not the setting.

Even in a pacifist utopia there would still be drama: boy meets girl and falls in love, tries to win her, another boy enters stage, etc.

So yeah, I think we're going with trees on that hand. And I would totally leave a game like that.

[LordVreeg]

And I can't see how a GM would consider the setting more inmportnant than the game; hell I wouldn't know what to do if my PCs weren't destroying and morphing averything I do.  SOme of Igbar's best personalities (Like Paolimar and Varkonovitch) are actually old, semi-active PCs.
It just seems alien..."No, you can't destroy that temple, that ruins everything I've designed for the game", when that is what the game is.  

[LD]

That might be even more awesome.  Become the protectors of a tribe of primitives, worshipped as gods (whether you cultivate this or not), guarding against the gargantuan wild beasts, trying to introduce/accelerate technological progress with limited means.  I think it actually has a lot of potential as a concept, it would just need the right treatment.  You could do a whole kind of planetary romance thing.  Maybe some of the Perfects come to believe that the more primitive way of life is actually more fulfilling, go native, and come into tension with those who want to artificially "progress" the natives.  Maybe a Perfect, dissatisfied with the thrill-less life he'd once lived and longing for a chance to excercise his power more fully, manifests some latent megalomaniacal tendencies and begins to forge a militaristic empire from the primitives, which the other Perfects must combat.

The primitives themselves could be a huge problem.  You can't watch them all the time, and a sudden influx of technology could be catastrophic.  Imagine Vikings with laser rifles, and the training to use them.  Maybe some upstart warlord gets ideas and overpowers a Perfect, steals some tech.  Superb reasoning and diplomatic abilities are one thing, but even with sublime charisma you can't convince everyone to play nice. And just because everyone has amazing stats doesn't mean they're always going to agree.

Of course, the setting I'm describing isn't a Sue setting; only the characters.

This reminds me of Populous- if it were made into a game.
Or a less fallible Exalted session.