Unpublished Material?

[moofrank]

So there's this:

http://thoulsparadise.blogspot.com/2012/06/interview-with-mark-acres.html

It is an interview with the madman who wrote Sandman--which has always been one of my favorite RPGs ever. It is feather-light in an age when RPGs were simulations. And while the adventure in the box is a bit heavy-handed and linear, it is also LOTS of fun to both run and play.

But we never got the solution. Or ANYTHING else. I know one of the guys from 54' 40" Orphyte who had Sandman before, and he told me there was nothing else.
That interview linked above says this, however:

TP: If the world is not yet ready for the secret of the Sandman, perhaps you can tell us a little about some of the adventures for the installments that were never published?

MA: I would love to; however, I am not free to do so. The copyright is now held by Dan Proctor and so both the secret and the unpublished material are legally his to dispose of as he sees fit.

Secret?!? Unpublished material?!?

Spill. Now. And if you need someone to comb through, I did some RPG scenario writing back in the 90's. Unfortunately, I'm also personally responsible for that whole Mind's Eye Theater crossed arms "I'm Invisible" thing. Sorry about that.

[sniderman]

Sullivan's last line in his comment following the blog entry is particularly off-putting. Since acquiring the Pacesetter rights and brand, GG has updated Timemaster in a hardback release with new original art, brought Sandman out of the depths of obscurity and in front of new players, and released three NEW Pacesetter RPGs with more on the way. Support/enthusiasm for the Action Table System amongst fans hasn't been this strong since the 80s.

"Friendlier hands," indeed.

[Goblinoid Games]

Sullivan is a convoluted story for another time over a couple of beers. Life goes on.

But back to Sandman...yes I do "know the secret." And yes, there was a second set written and playtested, but it seems to have dropped off the face of the earth. At some point after Pacesetter ltd went belly up the manuscript disappeared, and nobody seems to know what happened to it. If it exists, my purchase contract indicates that I own it, but I doubt it will ever materialize for a few reasons. Probably it was on some ancient hard drive that has long since died. I do know it existed digitally in some crusty software, and I know that Don Bingle (the previous owner) searched for it to no avail.

The thing about the "secret" that struck me, though, is that ultimately I'm not sure it would appeal to many people. I could see the story arc being a fun convention game...but spread out over 7 lengthy adventures? I'm betting not an investment that would pay off. However, now that it occurs to me, maybe an abbreviated convention style would be the best way to finish it? Set up to do on a few 4 hour sessions?

[moofrank]

I had kind of guessed that the story arc was very, very thin. Over the course of Map of Halaal, there are only a couple of very vague story arc revelations--pretty must nestled in the last session.

Without knowing the secret, I'd guess that the entire thing needs to be wrapped up in 3 additional sessions at most. I ran the Casablanca session recently as a one shot, and the players were completely drawn in, but greatly disheartened by the unfinished nature of the thing. As experienced roleplayers, they were looking for ways to break out of the reality within the first third.

That tells me that "The Sandman Solution" would really need to finish the cycle as well as retrofit the primary arc into the earlier adventures. That puts the entire Sandman cycle into 7 sessions at most. The kind of kitschy nature and crazy pop culture references are adorable, but even the older groups I"ve run through it start to bristle at the artifice on display by the fourth session.

I've considered asking if our current group wants to continue and writing in a premise based on a Time Loop in an M-parallel. As retrofits, I could then pull on ideas from Timetricks, with perhaps two more sessions- each representing an abbrievated pass through the same loop giving them more powers to completely screw with reality on successive passes.

[seneschal]

Maybe like the TV shows "Lost" and "Twin Peaks" the mystique is in the journey. A definite, nailed down ending would spoil things. On the other hand, since the original wrap-up has vanished like a garden slug dropped in a glass of alcohol, perhaps we could come up with some sort of satisfying finish that fits the spirit of the game without losing its weird atmosphere.