A Game of Microscope

[KingODuckingham]

People in discord were talking about pen and paper RPGs, and it reminded me that I once bought the pdf of an unusual little RPG called Microscope that I think would fit very well here with the great creative writers we have here on the plaza. To get a summary of the premise of the RPG (and buy the product if you really wanted) you can go here:

http://www.lamemage.com/microscope/

The upshot of it is that we will be collaboratively telling a history, starting in broad strokes but working our way down to some great detail (eventually). This game is for 2-5 players, so I'd like to start by offering 4 people the chance to sign up [we can always make a separate game thread if more people wish to play!] As part of the sign-up I'd like you also to take the first step of the game, which is to propose (or endorse someone's proposal on the Big Picture: a single sentence that all players agree summarizes the history which we will be describing. The rulebook gives three examples:

An ancient empire rises and falls.
Cavemen at the dawn of time found the first civilization.
Mankind leaves the sick Earth behind and spreads out to the stars.

But it could be literally anything, as long as all the players agree. So sign up and get suggesting, and then we can get down to some nitty-gritty collaborative story-telling!

[Taethowen]

This... this sounds right up my alley being an AVID WORLDBUILDER but I will need to look at this closer tomorrow when I've had some sleep and can actually process how this might work. So I'm interested and will commit to something later, possibly.

[Aerlinn]

Ugh, the internet ate my post.

Aanyways, this sounds very cool! I've never had the chance to play any real life RPGs, which seems a shame. I did read through this thread: https://rpggeek.com/thread/716449/share ... ope/page/1, which was pretty informative (and mentions the Silmarillion right off the bat!). I am a little torn about what premise suggest. Something that is obviously up our collective alley, as a site full of fantasy lovers, or something that would be a little further afield from our Middle-earth box here...

And now it is...47 minutes later, I am getting rather sleepy and the cat is begging for dinner. I'll go with a classic, though I'm interested to see what everyone else might come up with.

The loss and re-discovery of magic.

[KingODuckingham]

Oooh, I have to say, I am loving that suggestion, my brain is already popping off with ideas. Would love to get at least one or two more interested people on board to get started!

[Dimcairien Luiniel]

This does sound very interesting. I think I’m up for giving a shot at this.

[Taethowen]

I *am* definitely interested in this, but I'm not sure how much time I have to commit this summer, so it would depend on how quickly the game moved along.I still need to actually LOOK look at the instructions/info for it.

I think the prompt @Aerlinn has chosen is a great one, though! There's already a few ideas tickling the back of my mind.

[DEATH]

I'm interested. This looks like it has some potential. Off to work in an hour but count me in and I'll look through the material when I'm able.

[KingODuckingham]

Fortunately since the game doesn't have a real end, we can drag it out as long as we wish, abandon it and come back later with fresh eyes, or tear through it and declare it done, however we wish.

If you are all interested in the big picture Aerlinn has suggested, then our next step would be to agree on a short description for the bookends of our history, called 'Periods'. By short, I mean a few sentences, maaaybe a whole paragraph, that describes as clearly as we can what happens during those two Periods. Periods are said in game terms to be decades or even centuries of time, so we're summarizing a lot!

We also, in addition to the description of each period, have to label the Tone of each Period, as Light or as Dark, depending on whether the time period is generally positive or tragic. They can both be the same, or they can each be different. We can pick the Tone before the description, or afterwards, it's up to us.

Once we've decided, I will record them in our NOTES. There will be one more semi-collaborative step after this, and then we get into turn-based individual story-telling.

[DEATH]

I think Aerlinn's proposal is pretty enticing and seems to have support. I certainly don't have anything better so I'm happy to endorse it.

For bookends, I would like to see the closing description say something along the lines of "We had reclaimed our magic, but the price was steep," or "...but at what cost?" Something that implies sacrifice. Our protagonists are changed or damaged, physically or psychologically - did we sell out another people/species to gain back what we so desired and living with that is the price?

For beginnings I have much less clarity. Origins of magic? Could it work as a tidal force? Drawn from water (or a moon), stronger at high tide, strongest near the ocean and weakest inland? Is our beginning simply a description of the beginning of our magic, or of a time when we had magic?

Does any of this work for anyone? Are you all over in that tree and I'm barking up this one?

[KingODuckingham]

The beginning should be, per the one sentence above, about the loss of magic. We don't need (necessarily) to describe what the magic is or how it works, unless we want to or it's pertinent to *how* we lost the magic. Going along with your suggestion about damaging along the way, my idea is to have the loss of magic be tied somehow to a person or persons' greed or ambition. Perhaps trying to gain too much magic or too much power through magic, and so all magic was lost, or perhaps taken away? What do you guys think @Aerlinn @Dimcairien Luiniel @Taethowen ?

[Dimcairien Luiniel]

That sounds like really interesting premise. Or, what if because of greed and trying to control it too much, the magic turned on us?

[Li.]

Oh this sounds like a really cool idea! Have we already run out of room on the signup sheet?

[Taethowen]

I'm equally fascinated by the two potential ideas of magic being lost due to either losing the magic through greed/ambition (so that would define the Period as Dark, yes?) or to it being lost because the knowledge itself was slowly abandoned due to the lack of need for magic (perhaps because of the rise of technology, and less people saw the need to learn how to use magic), which could potentially define the period of magic loss as 'Light.'

[KingODuckingham]

@Li. I think we can fit you in, having one 'extra' person in our format I think won't really be an extra person, since one or more of us might not be around on a consistent basis. Please join!

I love the terrifying idea of magic turning on its users somehow, myself. I also am strongly leaning toward the opening Period being Dark, although I must say that your 2nd suggestion @Taethowen is also full of potential. That would make the possible 'sacrifice' in the end Period potentially VERY Dark, because the need to return to magic would not be so positive...

[Taethowen]

@KingODuckingham :twisted: I like creating situations of desperation, mwahaha. *ahem* But yeah... the idea of a people who peacefully abandoned magic and lost all knowledge of it, and then centuries (or millennia) later must regain all that lost knowledge to SURVIVE... oooh, it could be fun to explore that. At least I think so.

[Li.]

Excellent, thanks KoD!

I'm late to the party but I'm really excited by Aerlinn's proposal. I think that as fantasy lovers, we are all fascinated by the concept of magic. It would be really cool to take the 'microscope approach' and figure out what the mechanics of magic might be (assuming a hard magic system), or what the cultural reasons for abandoning magic might have been (assuming a softer system). I think taking a dark tone to start with is the best idea. Everything I've ever learned about storytelling says that we should start with conflict :p. The idea of magic being abandoned due to greed is interesting. If I was going to take it one step further, I'd say that magic may have turned on humans because of their greed.

"Just as man cannot own the ocean or the mountains, so he cannot own magic".

[Aerlinn]

Heh, I have had this tab open for daaaaaaaaays, sorry folks! I'm flattered you all like my premise so much :D

I know it's a bit of a tangent, but I am a sucker for ocean things and so was immediately drawn to @DEATH's idea of magic relating to the tides, or water, somehow. That had me thinking of magic as something that could be caught, like in nets or sails. I haven't really thought that completely through, but it could potentially line up with a conflict between magic and greed, and @Li.'s last line, which I love.

People treating magic like a commodity, until it backfires on them. To clumsily continue Li.'s metaphor...

"You can drink water from a river, but try to swallow the whole thing and you drown." (I wanted to use the ocean but the salt was giving me problems... )

This from @KingODuckingham and @Taethowen also intrigues me though...

That would make the possible 'sacrifice' in the end Period potentially VERY Dark, because the need to return to magic would not be so positive...

[DEATH]

So..... thanks for the prompt @Aerlinn. I'm a bit salty about your reversion to river analogies but hey.

I've tried to take on board what the Duck King was saying about the beginning, loss of magic, and not getting into too much of the - at this stage - peripheral detail. And I think there are some really nice ideas developing so forgive me if I put those aside for a moment.

We need a starting Bookend. Loss of magic. To my mind, and in really broad strokes, a couple of options are:
1. We start with magic and tell the story of its loss in "real time".
2. We start after the loss of magic.

I'm going to argue for 2 and make a Tolkien-ish argument. Lord of the Rings starts really close to the end of all of the Rings stuff. It tells a story of a few years, wrapping up a saga of thousands. So starting after the loss ... and potentially a LONG time after the loss has appeal for me, and we can flesh out historical information with judicious use of storytelling within the story.

And then we need an ending Bookend. I think, especially as beginners, we're best off with bookends that are maybe 10 years apart at most? Though the span between loss and recapture might be thousands of years, trying to fill all those in is a monumental task. I think we've actually picked a pretty ambitious tale and I love the idea, but I'm trying to work out how we make it manageable.

So I guess I feel like our next thing is, how long do we want our game/story to be, and where are the start and finish lines? If I'm reading it right we get those in order and then we can start using these ideas we're generating.

[KingODuckingham]

Popping in to make a note of the gameplay proper, once we're past the collab at the beginning (I've c/ped this from the rulebook, hopefully it's not like illegal or something to do so):

Decide which player will start: that player becomes the first Lens. If someone is teaching the game, they should be the first Lens. You can give the Lens a large and visible object to remind everyone at the table who it is.

1) Declare the Focus: The Lens declares the current Focus of the game, the part of history you’re going to explore right now.

2) Make History: Each player takes a turn creating either a Period, Event or Scene. The Lens goes first, then go around the table to the left. What you create must relate to the current Focus. The Lens can choose to create two things on her turn, so long as they are nested inside each other: either a new Event plus a Scene inside that Event, or a new Period plus an Event inside that Period. This gives the Lens more power to get the Focus going.

3) Lens Finishes the Focus: After each player has taken a turn, the Lens gets to go again and add another Period, Event or Scene (or two nested things). This lets the Lens have the last word about the Focus. After all players have addressed the Focus, we take a step back and examine Legacies, elements of the history we want to remember to explore later on:

4) Choose a New Legacy: The player to the right of the Lens picks something from play during this last Focus and makes it a Legacy.

5) Explore a Legacy: The same player creates an Event or dictated Scene that relates to one of the Legacies, either the one just created or one already in play.

6) New Lens: The player to the left of the Lens then becomes the new Lens and picks a new Focus. Repeat. Before the new Lens starts, you may want to take a quick intermission and talk about how the game is going. Talk about what you’ve liked or what intrigues you, but don’t plan what’s going to happen next.



So the wider we make the bookends, the more creative freedom we have, but we can use that freedom to Focus on some very narrow things--we don't have to fill out any part of the history we don't want to! Periods (like our bookends) are meant to be very broad and cover lots of time, but we will be able to make Events within Periods that are much more specific, and also Scenes within those Events that are VERY specific. And when I say we, as you can see, that will be the job of each individual. No more collaboration at that point. It will be fun to see what each person decides!

[Dimcairien Luiniel]

I'm trying to sum up what I've read in this tread and some of the conclusions/questions we may have. Please correct me if I'm off the mark on any of this.

Ok, so to reiterate, we're doing a story about the loss and re-discovery of magic. It seems like a lot of us support the idea of we lost magic because of greed. And maybe it eventually overwhelmed us in some way or another which resulted in the loss? But, I haven't noticed any specifics about how it was regained. Do we need to have some sort of detail such as a sacrifice? Did we have to work to regain magic?

@DEATH I like the the idea of starting after magic's loss as that tends to make the most sense, as it would be a lot of work to tell it in real time. Specific details could (probably) be easily worked out through back flashes if need be.

If we start after the loss of magic, depending on how long ago it was, do our characters have any understanding of why magic was lost? Or even if magic every existed?

[KingODuckingham]

Not that we shouldn't be thinking about these things, but let's try to put together three sentences for each Period, and we'll let the other details work themselves out when we get there. I think it behooves us for the moment to be vague. Something like:

Start Period (Dark): The magic of the world has receded. We thought that because we could control some magic, that we were rulers, even creators. As it turns out, our greed was the ruler, and it controlled us. And rather than create, it destroyed what we thought to build.

End Period (Light or Dark?): We were desperate, and willing to do anything to receive magical abilities once again. So when the offer came, we paid the cost, no matter how steep the price. We would never be the same again. It would be up to us to decide whether that was for the better, or the worse.

I am NOT suggesting we go with those two "paragraphs" I just came up with. But whatever we do settle on, it should be about that length, and not much more specific.

[DEATH]

Here's a pitch.

Start Period (Darkish?): It was inevitable, once we started building machines. Technology took the place of magic, because it was easy to use and available to all. What once was the province of complex ritual magic could now be achieved with the press of a button. But what seemed to us like progress was in reality, a road to decay.

End Period (Dark with a hint of light?): We hadn’t foreseen (we couldn’t have, could we?) that so much power, so readily accessible would pit us against one another. In the end, returning to the old ways was our only hope of survival. But we paid for that survival, dearly.

Keen to see others, I just wanted to get a slightly different take than O'Duck's original.

[KingODuckingham]

We need more takes from more people, and then we can construct refined propositions. Once we've done that we'll each take a turn choosing one thing that will definitely be in our universe (like fairies or the law of equivalent exchange) and one thing that definitely will NOT be in universe. All of us will then have to work within that Palette.

[Li.]

I'm liking where this is going. I've worked with what both Ducky and DEATH have written and I've put a bit of a lighter spin on the end period.

Start period (dark): We call it the old way, but to the people of that age using magic was as natural as breathing. The spirits of man and nature were two sides of the same coin, but slowly the will of man grew dark. No longer did he seek to work in union with nature. Instead he sought to subjugate it; to treat nature and its gift of magic as a token to be traded. So it was that man turned away from nature and magic ebbed from the world. Thus man turned his attention to more brutal tools; to stone and fire and iron.

End period (light): The memory of magic was lost to most, its presence in society a simple echo of what was heard in stories. To some though, magic remained real. From the ancient tribes of old the knowledge of using magic had endured; passing through blood and time, a tool that could be used when it was most needed. So it was that when the world was at its darkest, those who held the memory of magic united. However, bringing magic back into the world did not come without a cost.

[Dimcairien Luiniel]

I haven't forgotten about this thread, but my brain's been a little busy elsewhere this past week. I love what people are saying so far. Here's my pitch, taking a bit from everyone's ideas so far.

Start period (dark): We had always relied on magic to assist us in our daily lives. But then the time came when we sought to make it ours and ours alone. But the magic refused and cast us out, forcing us to the brutal tools of stone, fire, and iron.

End period (sort of light): Magic was all but forgotten and only remembered in the cautionary tales we would tell our children. But there were a few who sought to make contact with magic again. And wished to work with magic rather than subject it. But the reunification with magic would come at a cost no one expected.

Anyone else sort of getting Onward vibes with the "losing magic because of technology" idea?

[Taethowen]

I really like @Li.'s proposal so far, but also like @Dimcairien Luiniel's.

I'll try to put my own twist on those a bit too, lol.

Start Period (Dark): We were born with magic, and through magic everything we needed came effortlessly. Magic was our joy, our purpose, until it became... mundane. Slowly losing its luster as the cares of life increased with each generation. Greed became commonplace in our hearts, and magic slowly ebbed and waned until one day, it simply vanished and we didn't even notice until it was too late. For despite the joy of using it, we'd found ways to do without it altogether.

End Period (Light): When magic returned, it was on the cusp of being entirely forgotten, relegated to myth and legend of impossibly ancient times. But without magic, for generations, we'd become more depraved and hopeless than any ever thought possible, and its return was our salvation. The price was great and most thought it impossible for they didn't believe magic had ever been real, but the need for hope again was greater.

It's a bit choppier/less refined than I'd like right now, but it's a start.

[KingODuckingham]

@Aerlinn what do you think?

to everyone: I know it's a bit counter-intuitive, but for these sentences less is, if not more, at least better. I want our final revision to have as few distinguishing world traits as possible, since we get to set a lot of those parameters in the next step. I do love the tone that's building though, and that's the important part for this step in the process.

[Li.]

So just to sum up all the contributions so far:

Duck:
(D) Greed made us think we could control magic but our greed led to the destruction of what magic let us create.
(L) After losing magic we were desperate to regain it. The cost was high. When we regained magic, it was for us to decide if this would make us better.

Death:
(D) Machines led to magic falling by the wayside. Technology was simple, magic wasn't. However, this progress ultimately led to decay.
(L) Technology led to our downfall. Turning back to magic allowed us to survive. The cost of survival was high.

Li:
(D) Magic was a symbiosis but man turned to greed and subjugated it, thus magic was lost to us. Man turned instead to technology.
(L) The knowledge of magic lived on through stories and the bloodlines of those loyal to it. When we needed magic most, we were able to return to it, but not without cost.

Dim:
(D) We had always relied on magic but sought to make it ours alone. Magic cast us out, forcing us to the brutal tools of stone, fire, and iron.
(L) Magic was only remembered in cautionary tales. There were a few who sought to make contact with magic again but the reunification with magic would come at a cost no one expected.

Taeth:
(D): Magic became mundane in the lives of its users. We grew bored of it and when it departed the world, we didn't notice. We had found ways of living without it. We didn't need it.
(L): Without magic, we became a depraved and hopeless people. The return of magic was the salvation of man, but the cost of it returning was great.

Aer: (?)

Reading over all of the suggestions, there seems to be a consensus on magic being lost due to greed. The nature of magic hasn't been elaborated on too much; I have suggested it is a force of nature and Death has suggested it is channeled through complex ritual. There seems to be consensus on the return of magic allowing man to survive. There have been no suggestions as to what the cost of magic returning might be.

I'm not sure where we go from here in terms of voting and such?

[Taethowen]

@Li. I think you missed Dim's proposals and put her name on mine.

[Li.]

Yes I did. I'll work on correcting it now :)

[Dimcairien Luiniel]

Hehe, I was just coming here to say something similar.

@Li. I think we both have a similar thought with magic being in some way or another sentient.

But yes, I do think greed is playing a major role in the loss of magic, one way or another. I like how we all have slightly different takes on things so far and all have great potential. Curious to see what sort of a consensus we come to.

[KingODuckingham]

I think we can see what things are consensus, thematically. I think we should ditch any mechanics of the world in our summary because we will add or subtract those things next, and try to combine everything we can as elegantly as we can. I know that is easier said than done but I also don't think it's too hard. Anyone, take a crack at it. I'll be back tomorrow to try, but if someone else does it, and we all like it (even well enough) then I say we push forward. Can't get too hung up on this part, we'll have plenty of chance to add individual detail soon.

[Dimcairien Luiniel]

Is this sort of what we need @KingODuckingham?

(D) Magic was lost because of our greed
(L) The coast to regain magic was greater than any of us thought

[Li.]

Dim, you have my consensus!

[KingODuckingham]

I think we can include in our consensus some idea that technology replaced magic (in some for now inspecific way) in the beginning period, and I'm not sure yet we are in a consensus on whether the ending period is light or dark, but yes, that's roughly the idea.

Personally I am in favor of labeling our end period light, considered from an ultimate sense. I think it's pretty clear that there will be pain and sacrifice involved but I think the ending ought to be hopeful in the last word.

[KingODuckingham]

I'm about to say "bump", WHAT YEAR IS IT?

[Taethowen]

Ok, so here's a summed up version of my proposal then (and SO SORRY it took me so long to get back here, the Edoras Summer Festival consumed all of my brainpower the last couple weeks.):

(D) Magic was lost to us when it became mundane.
(L) But its return would be our salvation.

[KingODuckingham]

Alright, I think it's time to move along. I'm going to use this post as our storyboard, so maybe bookmark it if you want so that as our history develops you can come back and see a bit of a tableau being laid out. For now, though, it's really simple still:

Magic was lost because we were greedy for something more

• DARK
  (START)

Magic was regained at the cost of terrible sacrifice

• LIGHT
  (END)

What we need to do next is create what the game calls our Palette. I think I mentioned this up above but to refresh: we are going to make two lists of things. One will be a list of ideas that we reserve the right to include in the story (although they don't have to appear just because they make the inclusion list) and the other is a list of bans. We are doing this as a way of getting on the same page about what does and does not belong in our fictional world and the telling of its story. We each get to add one thing to each list, although you can pass if you don't care enough to add anything. We can also negotiate and talk it out if something controversial comes up; in fact, it's our opportunity to do so before we get too deep into it. Now, to quote the rulebook directly:

The Palette is not an exhaustive list of what will be in the history: it’s a list
of exceptions. If something fits the setting (like wizards in a fantasy world),
you probably don’t need to add it to the Yes column because the other
players already expect it. Likewise if something seems really out of place
(like wizards in a science fiction history), you probably do not need to add
it to the No column unless you think other players want to include it. When
in doubt, discuss.

Once this step is done, we get into the meat of the game: adding stuff to flesh out the actual history!

So I'll start.

YES LIST
1) Life on multiple planets (Our starting period proposal seems focused on a single world, but I would like to keep the option of space travel to other inhabited planets open please, even if it doesn't end up in the narrative)

NO LIST
1) Time Travel (I'm wasting mine a bit, since the Microscope rulebook specifically warns against time travel and immortality as two concepts that can ruin games, but I really don't like it as a concept in general in fiction so I'm being extra adamant)

[Dimcairien Luiniel]

Thanks for giving a succinct statement of our beginning and ending periods. Asking a bunch of people who enjoy writing to be that brief is very challenging.

YES LIST
2) Different races of beings. (I'm all for having a mix of human/humanoids, animals, aliens, etc.)

NO LIST
2) Teleportation (at least without technology). It makes it way too easy to get other places. And if we are keeping the option of life on different planets available, let's make it require something to get there.

[Li.]

Thanks for the very brief summary Duck. I think I'm beginning to realise exactly how succinct we have to be in order for us to make progress. I guess I'll throw out my suggestions for this round:

YES LIST
3) Magic as a sentient force. I'm not necessarily saying that magic should be treated as a discreet 'character'. I'm more saying that magic has some kind of intellectual capacity. We can explore this later.

NO LIST
3) Race's that are traditionally associated with fantasy, i.e. anything that would be found in Tolkien or basic Dungeons and Dragons such as elves, dwarves, halflings. However to allow room for creativity, I'd say things along the lines of Fae should be allowed, even if they aren't explicitly called Fae. What I'd like is for all of us to use our imagination and come up with fantasy beings (or indeed aliens), that haven't been seen before. That is assuming we introduce non-human life forms.

[KingODuckingham]

What I'd like is for all of us to use our imagination and come up with fantasy beings (or indeed aliens), that haven't been seen before. That is assuming we introduce non-human life forms.

This is as good a time as any to jump in and remind everyone of a very important component of this game:


No preconceptions: If you have an idea in your head of how the history is
supposed to turn out, you are going to be frustrated when people create
things that don’t match your preconceptions. It’s a core premise of the
game that the players have the power to make whatever they want, not to
be stuck trying to follow someone else’s vision.

A preconceived starting point is fine, so long as you are willing to let it grow
unexpectedly. Steal an idea from a story, movie, or real world history, but
don’t expect it to turn out a particular way. Preconceptions about how the
history is supposed to look are doomed, and trying to get the other players
to adhere to the outcome you had in mind is doomed and bad form.

That's again from the rulebook. So if someone does come up with a non-human life form, realize that other players may add things about those creatures/beings that you never envisioned, but you're going to have to roll with it. No one owns the history, and we all have equal authority to create facts, stories, events, characteristics, etc. So DO use your imagination, but realize every player will do that, and the stuff you put out from your imagination will grow and change in ways you didn't expect, and you'll need to be okay with where it goes.

[Aerlinn]

......*sidles in*...I haven't been kicked out yet? Sorry for missing the summary round up. Y'all are brilliant though, and you can't go wrong with greed and sacrifice. LOVE the potential for multiple planets and sentient magic.

Ugh, I had every intention of posting a YES and NO when I clicked on this tab instead of limericks and now my mind is blank as a slate. Can I call this a check in? I'm still alive, still interested, and will be back tomorrow with actual Opinions about Things!

[Taethowen]

Just wanted to drop in and say that I have not forgotten this, but my mind is blanking out on anything to add to the yes/no list. Although actually, I do have an idea now... maybe. (It's been a busy/crazy couple weeks.)

YES LIST
4) Advanced medicine/medical care.

NO LIST
4) Monarchies. Let's get a little more creative with different forms of government. Monarchies are a dime a dozen in fantasy worldbuilding.

[KingODuckingham]

@Taethowen just for clarification's sake, are we taking monarchy broadly, as in no nations ruled by a single person? Excluding dictatorships and emperors and whatnot? I'm not opposed, just making sure I understand? I agree they are a pretty easy default. Or were you more just thinking of the words monarch, king/queen, etc?

[Taethowen]

@KingODuckingham Hm, probably more like "no nations ruled by a single person where the throne is passed on by bloodline." I think dictatorships fall outside the definition of monarchy, because a dictator does not have to be a royal ruler. It can also be someone elected by the people.

[KingODuckingham]

Awesome, that's great clarity and I honestly think it'll make the game more interesting, I love it. @DEATH @Aerlinn add whatever you like, and honestly we could maybe come back and add your yes/no's in later (unless it comes up during play), otherwise I'm going to take the first turn of actual play sometime in the next couple of days. I'm antsy to get started and show you guys how this rolls!

[Aerlinn]

This might not have cropped up anyways with @Taethowen's yes to advanced medical care, but it's a bit of a pet peeve so...

NO LIST
5) Insta-magic-healing. Think Rey's force healing of Kylo Ren.

YES LIST
5) Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...No List was easier. I obviously really like immortal characters but I'll go ahead and trust the game's creator on that one. Yes to regular contact between planets, at least some of them?

p.s. @KingODuckingham Gnig-Gnog is an A+ name

[KingODuckingham]

Alright I'm just going to quote some more from the rulebook, because why write my own sentences?

“The basic structure of the game is that we keep going
around the table adding to the history, making either a
Period, an Event or a Scene. For each rotation there’s going
to be one player called the Lens, and that player is going
to pick a particular Focus that everything we create has
to relate to. So if the Focus is a city, each player is going to
get to add something to the history that somehow relates
to that city. It’s a topic to keep us all on the same page.

“I’ll go first to show how it works, so I’ll be the first Lens
and I’ll pick the first Focus for our history.”

The Lens can choose to create two things on her turn, so
long as they are nested inside each other: either a new
Event plus a Scene inside that Event, or a new Period
plus an Event inside that Period. This gives the Lens more
power to get the Focus going.

Lens Finishes the Focus: After each player has taken a
turn, the Lens gets to go again and add another Period,
Event or Scene (or two nested things). This lets the Lens
have the last word about the Focus.

The Focus can be anything: a person, a place, a thing, an institution, an
Event, a Period, a concept–anything you want. The Lens can use something
that already came up in play or make up something new on the spot. If
you’re making something new, you’ll usually declare the Focus, then make
a Period, Event or Scene to show what you’re talking about.

WHEN IN DOUBT
Pick a small, concrete Focus, like a particular person or an
incident, rather than a broad or vague one. The narrower
the Focus, the more detailed and personal the history
will be to play

So in the next post, which I will get to later once my kids are for sure asleep, I'll be naming a Focus, and then creating an Event plus a Scene inside that event. Since I won't be adding a Period, it will have to be an Event and Scene in either our opening or closing Period.

[KingODuckingham]

THE FOCUS (this is the unifying theme that ties our story together for this round)

The loss of contact with Earth's space colonies.

THE EVENT (An Event is a specific incident within a Period)

1) Decide when it is: This Event takes place in our closing Period.

2) Describe the Event: In the year 3696 FFF (From the Founding of the Federation calendar), all trans-lightspeed contact was lost with Earth's several colonies, some of which were several billion light-years from Earth. The lines simply went dead. For that matter, the Federation had lost the ability to detect anything beyond their own solar system. The instruments simply...stopped working at 8:34 A.M, FST (Federation Standard Time). The scientists could not say how or why. The Federation Congress determined and carried out two courses of action:
First,to launch a probe investigation at the edge of the solar system to see if there is a physical barrier of some sort before they send any more spaceships.
Second, to investigate, via any means necessary, a restoration of divination magic so that contact with Earth's colonies might be restored.

3) Say whether it is Light or Dark: This is a Dark event. Those colonies contain valuable resources, information, and millions, if not billions, of peoples' loved ones, family, acquaintances, business connections, and more.

THE SCENE (This is a joint role-play, unlike Periods and Events. None of you have any say in or ability to change the Event I have made, but this Scene we will make as a role-play scene together. I, the Scene creator, pose a Question. Our goal in the Scene is to answer that Question.)

The Question: What is required of humanity in order to restore divination magic?

Where, Why, What: A mixed group of highly-regarded/high-status scientists, and (up till now) shadowy, illegal, hiding-on-the-outskirts gaggle of shamans, sorcerers, wizards, witches, and folk by many other names who investigate magic are gathered together to study, discuss, and discover the way to regain divination magic. The Earth-wide Federation government has assembled them at the Quantum Tower in Old New England, on the 87th floor, in a huge conference hall. A government official oversees the proceedings, and there is high security for multiple reasons.

Required characters: We need at least one person (including me) to play a scientist, and at least one person (also including me) to play one of those "magicians" who may or may not be able to use magic I have left it purposely vague.
Or you can play the government official, one of the security officers, or literally anyone else you can imagine being at the scene, as long as we get those two I've listed as required.




Everybody @Taethowen @Aerlinn @Li. @DEATH @Dimcairien Luiniel get in here and claim a character (and ask any clarifications of me, the Lens, that you need if you don't understand something I created). Anything I didn't nail down is up in the air, as long as it doesn't contradict what I have made. Once everyone else has claimed, the Scene creator (me) will claim a character, and then we'll move into the actual role-playing. Also, for reference, a bit of a special rule:

Option: Playing Time as a Character
Instead of playing a normal character, one player in a Scene can choose to
play Time, a special type of character. Time represents forces or groups of
people who are pushing the situation to some conclusion, for good or ill.
The barbarians at the gates, the cavalry come to the rescue, the angry mob,
the black plague, the tanking economy–these could all be Time.

so if you feel like claiming that and you think it makes sense for this Scene, go ahead. I'm not requiring anyone pick it for this Scene though.

[Taethowen]

I would like to play the government official overseeing the proceedings please!