A Fictional Setting for Belle of the Ball


Belle of the Ball was originally inspired by the Shindig episode of Firefly, which presented a lavish party with clear visual influences from Victoriana and the Antebellum South, but mixed with lots of other aesthetic cues.

Since then, I've described Belle's setting as a Victorian or Southern ball, since that's an easier explanation to new players. I'd still like the game's art to take both as a source of inspiration, but both come with a lot of historical baggage. I prefer a more contemporary, balanced representation in the art than would pass "historical accuracy" nitpicking.

To get around all that, I'm developing a fictional setting for Belle of the Ball. Not too vast, mind you, just a simple, short bit of worldbuilding to make clear that the game is set not in England or in the American South. Rather, it's some other place at some other time that just so happens to have dapper wardrobe and silly names. I've actually already given each guest a title and county of origin. For example...

  • Gigglesack Lololol, Zest of Latesun
  • Velocipede Vintertav, Gem of Krinkle
  • Radioactive Rendermum, Barge of Jamshire
  • Meowsmith Mutterhutt, Rock of Indigum
  • Obelisk Orlantop, Inch of Highmount
  • Mumblecore Masherfax, Cape of Glitterfall
  • Lafayette Linenhatch, Quill of Flappingap
  • Thathery Thumbvee, Eye of Dent
  • Jugular Jugkeg, Wall of Craw
  • Pinchlehead Pimpleleg, Jack of Boarsend
  • Critique Crappique, Drake of Anglebottom

At first, this was an excuse to embed layer of information on each Guest card, in hopes of future expansions tapping into this data set. Now it may also serve as the outline of a whole fictional setting.

I imagine Anglebottom, Boarsend, Craw, Dent, Flappingap, Glitterfall, Highmount, Indigum, Jamshire, Krinkle and Latesun being counties (or tiny countries) on a large Isle. I'd love it if that isle had a name with "bel" somewhere in it. Here's what folks on Twitter have brainstormed so far.

  • Isle of Beltingham
  • Isle of Belton
  • Isle of Belmont
  • Isle of Claribel
  • Isle of Maribel
  • Isle of Belshire

Something like that. Happy to take any more suggestions!

Comments

  1. Michael WaltersFebruary 10, 2013 at 5:39 PM

    How about an archipelago? Each its own little island with all the complications that entails. The area could be the Belosian isles.

    ReplyDelete
  2. StéphaneFebruary 10, 2013 at 6:22 PM

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belle_%C3%8Ele

    ReplyDelete
  3. DanielSolisFebruary 11, 2013 at 9:32 AM

    Maybe! For the moment, I'm less concerned with geography than the name of the place.

    ReplyDelete
  4. DanielSolisFebruary 11, 2013 at 9:32 AM

    It'd be perfect, wouldn't it? But I'd like this to be a name I can "own" so to speak.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Wayne ZombieFebruary 11, 2013 at 11:34 AM

    I did something similar with a game I'm developing, the name scheme was AZ, BY, CX, etc. It's a fun exercise and a bit of a challenge.

    ReplyDelete
  6. StéphaneFebruary 11, 2013 at 1:38 PM

    Misspell it ;) Bellisle? Bellile?

    ReplyDelete
  7. Infamous ScribblerFebruary 11, 2013 at 5:45 PM

    Here's a few ideas:

    Cumberbel
    Luxembel
    Belford
    Belwick
    Belstaff
    Belham
    Hambel
    Middlebel
    Belyork
    Ardenbel
    Canterbel
    Belroch
    Brandenbel
    Belmunt
    Belstoke
    Belcork
    Sutherbel
    Wesbel
    Belfife
    Roxbel
    Belfurt
    Karlsbel
    Augsbel
    Oldenbel
    Belhaven
    Belwig
    Belsley
    Belknock/Belnock/Belnoc
    Belflint
    Pembel
    Burgenbel
    Salzbel
    Belstadt
    Belkirc
    Belstein
    Belfolk
    Strasbel
    Beldeaux
    Belcourt
    Beldorf
    Dusselbel
    Roubel
    Belmark
    Belheim
    Belrose

    Hope you find one useful! I actually brainstorm names for a living, so doing a fantasy setting is a blast. http://sidengo.com/infamousscribbler

    ReplyDelete
  8. d20monkeyFebruary 12, 2013 at 12:14 AM

    Are you opposed to flipping the order?


    Belgrave Isle
    Xanbel Isle

    ReplyDelete
  9. DanielSolisFebruary 12, 2013 at 7:51 AM

    I'm quite open to flipping the order!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

5 Graphic Design and Typography Tips for your Card Game

Image
Chris Farrell of Illuminating Games just wrote a thorough critique of card games setting their body text to be so small that they cannot be read at arm's length, let alone across the table. Here's an excerpt, but the whole thing is worth a read for any would-be card game designers out there. (Myself included.) Break out your copy of the base set of Dominion, and look at the Chapel. This has a text box roughly 3.5cm by 4.5cm. It's got a single line of text. That line of text is 1 (one) millimeter high. 1mm! For me, it's only clearly readable at half an arm's length even in the bright light of day. (...) Compare this to a more sane game like Glory to Rome, where the font size is 2-3 times as large (text is 2mm high, keywords 3mm and usually highlighted). I can generally read Glory to Rome cards across the table, and can certainly see the important keywords. To heap insult upon injury, not only does Glory to Rome have far more legible text than Dominion it also has
Read more

Low-High Dice Game

Image
A dice game inspired by the stock market (and playing lots of Martian Dice). Roll a bunch of dice and choose which sets to keep. Choose your strategy wisely! Stuff You Need Two-to-Six PLAYERS A PENCIL and PAPER to keep score Thirteen standard six-sided DICE How to Play The shortest player takes the first turn. On your turn, first roll all thirteen dice. Several dice will have matching results. These are called SETS. (A single die result is a set, too.) You must choose a set to keep. For example, your first roll results are 111124445555 . The sets are four 1 s, one 2 , three 4 s, and four 5 s. After keeping a set of dice, lock them up in a row. This is called the GOOD TRACK. For example,  you could keep the set of four 1 s, one 2 , three 4 s, or four 5 s . You decide to keep the four 1 s and line them up in your good track. After keeping a set, you may end your turn or re-roll the remaining unlocked dice. When you re-roll, immediately set aside any results that ar
Read more

The Thousand-Year Game Design Challenge

Image
UPDATE: The submission period has closed and here are the entries. If you're an entrant, continue sending pics or vids of people playing your game. The first step to a game lasting a thousand years is for people to play it today. UPDATE 2: And here's the winner! To support games designed for longevity – that can be learned, played and shared for hundreds of years – we offer this challenge to any game designers, artists and imaginative people who also share this desire. Challenge Create a game. The game can be of any theme or genre you desire, but there is one restriction: You're creating a "new classic," like Chess, Tag or card games. So, create a game to be enjoyed by generations of players for a thousand years. Prize $1,000 to the winning entrant, to be announced and awarded January 1, 2012. Entry Deadline Entries must be submitted before midnight July August 31st, 2011. ( Update ) Entry Guidelines Enter by posting a comment below with a link
Read more