How would you make a campaign inspired by art deco?

Oh shit, I forgot Big O was a thing

I have no art deco so I'll just post Popular Mechanics and what the past thought the future would contain

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>Current year
>Not equipping our soldiers with plate armor

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Why so self-depricating? You're probably cultured in some regards.

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Not too far off.

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A lot of this is more dieselpunk than art deco

Aye, but my pictures folder is a clusterfuck so I don't know where my art deco stuff is

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probably something like counter spy stuff

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Art Deco in that period is ironic though. Misery and crime are creeping closer every year and the rich are super rich. The horrors of the great war are still fresh.

I'm with . Use art deco as a foil to a corrupt society.

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Weren't the 1920s a time of affluence though? Hence the whole Roaring Twenties aspect, at least for America

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Rapture was actually pretty late to the Art Deco obsession, by around thirty years. Rapture was built and inhabited during the 50s, but Art Deco started and became popular in the 20s into the 30s.

I think this is interesting. Art Deco is about the bright and glorious future that humanity could bring about with the power of industry, which is why it was adopted by all of the different utopian ideologies of the Modern age. Capitalists, Communists, and Fascists all adopted the same aesthetic in Art Deco to reflect their view of the glorious future, be it empowerment for the businessman, the common man, or just the white man.

Perhaps the setting could be a huge industrial city, like a fantastic New York, full of different factions clamoring for the rise of the Utopia they like best, while opportunistic gangsters play all sides and represent a form of government that has been all but forgotten; familial, territorial landed aristocrats who rule through force but also through love.

Although I love Art Deco I guess it's kinda hard to make a RPG campaign, a medium usually almost deprived of visual features based on something as purely visual as architecture and art style.

I fucking love this idea. Ideological factions clashing in a post-war metropolis
>Picture relevant
all fighting to shape the future into their utopia.

They've got giants manning the side hatch guns.

You know, considering nowadays cyberpunk is either about either toppling the corrupt system or embracing and reveling in it, a setting about bringing about the ideal system would be terrific especially since we know about the horrendous shit people will do in the 30s and 40s

This idea is far from dead. Even a few years ago the US Marine Corps was looking at the possibility of a hypersonic transport that would let them put troops anywhere on the planet in an hour or two.

I had to read the poster 3 times and then the image name before conceptually seeing the swastika as an "x"

For some, yes. The 20s were a great time to be middle class in the West and particularly in the United States. The nouveau riche, once desperate to join the exclusive aristocratic upper crust, now occupied the trust of the common man moreso than the upper class did and formed their own culture and social circles. The nouveau riche middle class (think Gatsby and the rest of West Egg) were the patrons of much of the great avant-garde art of the 20s and 30s, even if that art often had a socialist slant towards the proletariat. The war had changed public view of traditional values and nobility; what were once seen as guardians of the respected old ways and defenders of the nation now became old reactionary fogies clinging to a power they had never earned and clearly didn't deserve. Pic related; middle-class Japanese in distinctive Western clothes, upper-class Japanese in traditional garb, and their excited children all watch as the very first subway train in Japan rolls in to greet them. While the traditional upper class woman in the kimono and sandals in the middle ground watches with a mix of fear and anxiety as modernity arrives, the middle class modernists up front chat and smoke.

Common folk (think the gas station owner whose wife was cheating on him with Daisy's husband) didn't really get all that much out of it, though, besides more opportunities to join the bourgeois social circles which had earlier rejected them. Those who trusted and respected their capitalist overlords generally tried to join them, but those who felt disenfranchised by the prosperity of the 20s generally joined socialist movements or nationalist ones, thus forming the general political attitude of the time (capitalism vs socialism vs nationalism).

I love this era of history, and I just took a class on art of the interwar period, so (not to toot my own horn) I'm somewhat knowledgeable on the subject if you have any questions about it!

Th-thanks user... uguu

Know any social discontent movements around Britain, France, America, etc.? I know Eastern Europe was conflicting with the Soviets while Germany was a chaotic mess of political radicals and Freikorps. Also, why did Japan shift from an Entente-aligned democracy to an extremist militarist state?

Not just a jaguar, a BLACK jaguar.

This is either an acid trip or an enemy Stand.

>Guy in the back is directing the wall-making brick people
Yep, it's a Stand

I think that the romanticized vision of gangsters and mob culture that the 40s and 50s brought was a bit of a rebirth of the romanticism of nobility that had existed before the war. When you think about it, gangsters and nobility are pretty much the same thing - hereditary positions in a hierarchy of warlords who war over territory, extract tax in return for protection (literally a protection racket), and use violence to inspire both fear and love in their subjects. While feudalism was generally replaced on the national scale by the 20s by capitalism, socialism, or nationalist fascism, a thousand year old system doesn't just die out.

Excellent analysis, thanks! Aside from Gatsby, which I've never read, can you recommend any academic or fictional works that would give a better idea of the times?

Also, as a more general question, what woukd be the best system to run ?

>How would you make a campaign inspired by art deco?
A new religion has formed, based upon the semi-secular worship of man, in both the individual and collective sense, as well as progress and technology.

a somewhat peaceful form of "revolution" is common amongst them, as they seek to discover more perfect forms of governance and human organization. They shun tradition and constitutions for their own sake.

Well there were Communist Parties everywhere you went, whose memberships included varying levels of radicalism and varying positions (anarchists, syndicalists, statists, etc), and as I understand it they were generally public societies if you lived in a more tolerant place. While it wasn't super popular everywhere you went, necessarily, socialism was seen as an acceptable viewpoint across the continent in France, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, etc. It was not socially acceptable to openly be a socialist in the United States, though, and the ideology lost pretty much all public power and respect after the Red Scare of 1919 when a series of anarchist bombings prompted mass arrests and hysteria. Nationalism, while much less popular on the continent generally, was big in the United States (as could be seen by the soaring membership numbers of the Ku Klux Klan, which was a powerful force) and in Germany and Spain. Italy was already a fascist nationalist state at this point, and the USSR was already a socialist one. The USSR would often host big international socialist conferences with delegations from parties around the world.

Britain is a bit more of a mystery to me. Socialism began to rise in importance throughout the 20s in the Labo(u)r Party, but nationalism never really became a relevant force. They continued their military expansion though, growing to their greatest imperial height during the 20s (ruling a fourth of the world and a fourth of its population), but economically fell behind the United States.

c about Japan in next post

At least the Nazis had good taste in superbeings

Japan had always been a very nationalistic country, with many movements during the Meiji Restoration centering around national unity (emperor worship, militarism, racism against non-Japanese). They were already an empire (not just in the 'having an emperor' sense but in the having overseas territory sense), ruling Korea, Taiwan, and many of the old German territories (which is the main reason they joined WW1, not because they valued European soverignty.) During the 20s is when nationalism really started to pick up, though, and as I understand it, and they stopped being a democracy in I think 1926, being ruled instead by effectively a bakufu (tent government/junta), which was basically a way to say 'the emperor is in charge but really it's the military lol'. Leftist opinions were largely suppressed, and nationalism and militarism took hold. This was generally driven by religion, racism, and anti-colonialist sentiments similar to what Mao would use later. (The white man tried to take us over and use us! We must fight their rampant imperialism by building a strong nation and taking over other places ourselves! That's not hypocritical because we're the superior race! Except Mao said Tibet belonged to China and said they weren't hypocritical because "Communist" countries can never be imperialistic. Unless they were the Soviet Union when he got mad at them. But whatever.)

Well, reading Wikipedia articles is always a good start. Watching documentaries you might find could give you some context in terms of historical events, but reading the Communist Manifesto, maybe with some help in interpreting it (because it's difficult to understand without some help, since it's like 150 years old and the meaning of different words has changed) would be the biggest recommendation I have. It's not very long and it's very useful in understanding the ideological context under which these movements developed. I think personally that art history is very useful in understanding this period, because art during the 20s and 30s was unlike any period before or after it in expressing not just the general feeling of the time but also the political climate. Reading books/watching videos or documentaries about the history of different artists/art movements would help in giving cultural context. Art Deco is a fascinating movement in that respect, in that it united the most influential aesthetic developments of the time (Futurism, Cubism, geometric abstraction) and fused them with a passion for the utopia of tomorrow common to much political and social thought of the time such that it was equally enjoyable to everyone.

What caused the sudden explosion of wealth in the US following WWI? Was it just military infrastructure suddenly becoming civilian or something else?

Also, thank you for posting, based user. People like you make this my favorite board.

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Thanks user! I love history and art so I'm glad I can share this with you guys rather than just shouting at my friends about it.

No, it wasn't that (and that's not what happened after WW2, either, despite propaganda) but actually, the United States had been very wealthy for a while, overtaking Britain in economic terms by the late 19th century, by 1900 at the very latest. American prosperity in the 20s was brought about by policies of economic liberalization (the marginal tax rate for the wealthiest members of society fell from 73% to 25%), technological advancement (probably sped by massive public spending on research during war) and the sweet sweet illusion of the stock market bubble brought about by excessive and unsustainable speculation. The fact that America's biggest industrial competitors in Britain, France, Belgium, and Germany had all gotten completely fucked over by the deadliest and most destructive war in human history up to that point didn't hurt American industrialists' profit margins either, as they grew to be dependent on American industry and American foreign investment to get back on their feet.

Much of the new wealth of the Roaring 20s went straight to the upper classes, and while a good bit of it trickled down (urban laborers' real wages, that is, the wages they were making as adjusted for inflation, increased by 20%, not to mention they had more time to spend on work/leisure and more money to save because of the advent of technology assisting in essential household work like cleaning) to those below (except for rural workers :[[[[) the great prosperity popularized by art and entertainment from and about that period belonged mostly to the rich.

c about stock market in next post

With lots of money around, much of it belonging to the very rich, and seemingly not enough to spend (especially because investment and technological advancement made so much cheaper), lots of money was put into inessentials like fancy art and lavish parties, but often it was put into savings, which was then invested, oftentimes in stocks. This was made especially easy because predatory loaning practices allowed people with pretty poor credit to take out loans. These loans they took out put them in great debt, debt which was traded around the investment market to make even more money.

This is a strange concept, I know. You'd think it would make more sense to just keep the debt to get paid all the owed money, right? Well, the idea is that if you owe someone money (equal the amount you borrowed plus interest), your debt could be sold to someone else for a good short term burst. If someone owes you 1000 dollars, but suddenly your mom breaks her leg and you need to get her surgery or whatever, then you might sell the debt you own worth 1000 dollars to someone else in exchange for 500 dollars. That way, the person to whom you sell it would make a 500 dollar profit (the 1000 dollars you now owe him minus the 500 dollars he paid to get it) and you would get 500 dollars to spend on getting your mom's surgery which you need right now.

c actually about stock market in next post lol im dum

Another, less sentimental reason someone might sell your debt is because interest rates change all the time; a loan you took out promising to pay 10% interest on will be more valuable than a loan someone else took out promising to pay 5% interest on, right? But your 10% loan is less valuable than a loan someone promised to pay 15% interest on. So if someone who owns your debt thinks interest rates are about to fall, he'll keep it and sell it when they do, so that your 10% interest debt becomes more valuable since all the new debts are worth only 5%. If he thinks they're about to rise, he'll sell your debt while it's worth a normal amount before the price falls since more valuable debts are about to be plentiful.

Sometimes people would just keep the debt and make all the money plus interest off it and be done with it. However, buying and selling debts gambling on the interest rate offered big profits for those were successful (but also big losses for those were not.) This activity was done not just with debts but also with stocks and other investments, such as real estate. Bonds and securities and stocks and debts and buildings were made and purchased for the purpose of just selling them further up the line, and not much thought was given to actually using them. This artificially drove up demand (and prices) for all of these things as the desire to own them stopped being based upon actually using them for their purpose but just upon selling them to someone else who also probably wasn't going to use them for their purpose, meaning that when push came to shove, oftentimes they weren't worth anything.

c crash in next post

Debts would be sold around and have their prices bidden up and up and up only for one unlucky banker to find that the great deal he just made buying up a mortgage suddenly defaulted. Traded stocks in companies whose prices had soared to ridiculous heights, come to find out, weren't actually going to provide dividends to their stockholders because despite all the investment, nobody wanted their product. Many of these investments rapidly lost worth and investors just tried to sell them off as soon as possible to make some kind of profit off of them. Unfortunately, while many debts were defaulted on and many stocks came out to be valueless, not all of them were. but since the web of financial assets had been spun around the entire stock market and even stretched out to wrap around the whole world(remember all that sweet sweet foreign investment of American money overseas), when banks started taking huge losses even stocks and debts of actual value were thrown away.

So, the false profits of the stock bubble made up much of the prosperity of the Roaring 20s. But during the time the bubble was rising, it was great! Everybody was making tons of money off of entirely worthless pieces of paper and that money paid for many, many a lavish celebration that projected the view we have even today that the 20s were one of the richest times in American history, and who's to say they weren't.

Some of us hate ourselves more than we should. Thank you for showing kindness, though. Veeky Forums, even Veeky Forums these day isn't really the place for that.

You know, why don't we have BABY ASSAULT TANKS?

I was thinking about an art deco game setting where you roleplay as a wheelin'-dealin' stock trader at the height of the Roaring Twenties; lo and behold here are your posts. Now I really want this to be a reality.

Not sure if this counts or not

Can I play too?

Most of this shit isn't art déco it's American futurism.

I do not wish to associate with anyone who doesn't want to play in a Big O campaign.

Post genuine art deco por favor.

You should user!

Futurism and art deco are related movements user.

I'm working on a 30s-esque mecha wargame where Art Deco is one of the defining visual styles.

Not really.
Art Déco is basically a capitalist version of constructivism and only became big after WW2.

99% of what's in this thread is straight-up futurism that doesn't even attempt to have a decorative purpose.

Futurism certainly had an influence on 1920s decorative arts and furniture design but it wasn't called Art Déco yet.

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Thank you all for the ideas. Now more nuts and bolts stuff:

>What system?
>What kind of characters would the PCs be?
>Why/how would they form a party?

I disagree.

Bauhaus is the capitalist version of Constructivism (with socialist pretentions), Art Deco was a decorative style popular in capitalist, socialist, and fascist countries as well as among other ideological communities (see ). While most Art Deco focused on architecture and design, there was unquestionably lots of Art Deco 2d art, such as in posters (like ) and in reliefs (pic related). These media included in Art Deco cover much of the art in this thread which you deem as being "not art deco".

Art Deco as a term, by the way, arose in from the 1925 International Exposition of Modern and Industrial arts in Paris, so much of the work in the style done in the 20s was in fact called Art Deco. Also, I don't understand why you say futurism and Art Deco were "not really" related. The geometric abstraction, the strong masculinity, the bold lines and bulging shapes and the explosive expression of movement characteristic of futurism can all be found in Art Deco, not to mention the obvious ideological link between the two, both celebrating modern industrial society. I will agree not all of the art in this thread is Art Deco, but that which is not, particularly the futurist art, is certainly related.

The players could be members of one of the utopian groups, using new modern technology (planes, cars, big crazy machine gun arm attachments) to sabotage or even destroy projects of their opponents while securing resources for their own. Someone mentioned the idea of proto-superheroes, so it could maybe use Mutants & Masterminds?

The Founding and Manifesto of Futurism by F. T. Marinetti

My favorite proto-fascist manifesto. It captures the energy of the early 20th century. Inspired by a car crash in the Italian countryside it references the feeling of boundless advancement at the time. Industry was beautiful, history was soon to be irrelevant. Nothing was to stop the rising generation blessed by speed. Then almost all the Italian Futurists Died in WW1.

some highlights

>And like young lions we ran after Death, its dark pelt blotched with pale crosses as it escaped down the vast violet living and throbbing sky.
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>But we had no ideal Mistress raising her divine form to the clouds, nor any cruel Queen to whom to offer our bodies, twisted like Byzantine rings! There was nothing to make us wish for death, unless the wish to be free at last from the weight of our courage!

>We affirm that the world’s magnificence has been enriched by a new beauty: the beauty of speed. A racing car whose hood is adorned with great pipes, like serpents of explosive breath—a roaring car that seems to ride on grapeshot is more beautiful than the Victory of Samothrace.

>We will sing of great crowds excited by work, by pleasure, and by riot; we will sing of the multicolored, polyphonic tides of revolution in the modern capitals; we will sing of the vibrant nightly fervor of arsenals and shipyards blazing with violent electric moons; greedy railway stations that devour smoke-plumed serpents; factories hung on clouds by the crooked lines of their smoke; bridges that stride the rivers like giant gymnasts, flashing in the sun with a glitter of knives; adventurous steamers that sniff the horizon; deep-chested locomotives whose wheels paw the tracks like the hooves of enormous steel horses bridled by tubing; and the sleek flight of planes whose propellers chatter in the wind like banners and seem to cheer like an enthusiastic crowd.

Depends on what you want to highlight in your game.

re-purposed Paranoia might be fun if you want to play dissidents trying to sabotage or assassinate.

There is a Noir called A Dirty World that would be good for gangsters.

ORE in general would be good because it works in favor of people who are faster, and if you are playing in an inter war the random backstory rules from Reign could be home brewed into a "What happened to you during the great war" table.

If you want weird science and mechs I might go for Silhouette by Dream Pod 9. I like their vehicle rules.

Or you could roll up your sleeves and start a fresh batch of home brew based on what you are looking for.

Can we take a moment to appreciate accidentally creating the most intellectual thread on tg today?

>anons posting atomic age stuff in a Deco thread

>What kind of characters would the PCs be?
>Why/how would they form a party?
That depends on what the game is gonna be about.

If it's pulpy superheroes, then the PCs are a bunch of talented, skilled and intelligent men and women who form a vigilante team to fight organized crime and supercriminals.

If it's about overthrowing the system, then the PCs are a bunch of revolutionaries who form a cell to either topple the government or aid in replacing the current one with something that fits their ideals better.

And to add on to , who's the BBEG? Probably some sort of bigwig, I'm sure, but what else?

Also, is there some sort of dictionary of 20's slang we can get our hands on?

Post art deco pics then

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Th-thanks user... uguu...

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So if this hypothetical game were to be made, would the technology and look be stuck more to dieselpunk (rocket packs, zeppelins, cool cars and gadgets), or will it branch out to the pulp of the time (e.g. ray guns, rockets)?

I'd say that things like ray guns should be exotic objects that start to show up late the course of a game/story in an Art Deco setting, possibly as a significant plot point.

I would keep it ww2 so atomic and jets are experimental, but at the same time it would be superior to anything we have now for the sake of it being cool. I'm not against the occasional raygun or rocket. How else am I going to run the cosmic horror adventure on Mars? War for the Red Planet.

>who's the BBEG?

An extremist of some sort. The 1900s-1940s had a lot of ideals, and a lot of idealists that didn't care about the consequences of their actions.