I had an idea today. An RTD about quackery! Well, maybe not an RTD necessarily, as it would be quite RP-heavy, but a game at the very least.
Anyhow, the point of the game is this: there's one constant in this world we live in, and that's fear. People live in fear by their very natures, and seek safety and security in their lives mostly. They would like nothing better than to attain their goal, and are prepared to spend quite a lot of time and money on this. That's where you and a whole lot of other enterprising people come in. Wielding the mighty power of pseudoscience harnessed into a single product or teaching, you are about to sell hope to all these desperate, depressed, dying, dismal people and improve some lives! Those of you and your associates, mostly, but hey, gotta earn a living somehow.
Problem is, you're not the only one to have this idea. And there is no shortage of those who have failed miserably in the mystical quackery market already. To survive and possibly thrive in this merciless business, you have to be the best, or at least better than the others, and subvert men and women of science, uneducated skeptics and the general public, not to mention your possibly malevolent competitors. This can be done in any number of ways, starting with sheer chutzpah and ending with clandestine murder and sabotage.
All in all, fun for the whole family. Haven't got a lot of ideas mechanics-wise, although I do think there are two elements that would be fun to include. Firstly, the methods of your quackery would have to be defined - whether they are technique-based or item-based, that sort of thing - and secondly, the player, when submitting their sheet, would have to post a detailed explanation on why their proposed method to end maladies of many sorts is not actually a sham at all, including pre-emptive answers to skepticism and vaguely sciency-sounding explanations if possible.
Any thoughts?