I have a problem with conventional fantasy games which take only a superficial effort to resemble the society they are meant to resemble. Gary Gygax at least began with war games which grew out of historian's interest in imaginatively speculating on how things might have been different had battles in history ended differently. It gets worse though when the people who play rpgs stop looking at history and just take whatever they see in a game book as good as history, and then others follow taking what they wrote till there is the current Pathfinder anything and kitchen sink approach to fantasy gaming. You find Vikings sailing along side 17th century pirate ships as if there is no influence between them.
The particular gripe I have (being the topic of this post) is that Gary was interested in many things and offered a whole bunch of ideas, and many who had less interest in history than Gygax took it up, including issues of fantasy religion. SO originally D&D introduced clerics as a character modeled on western medieval fighting clergy and martial orders like the Templars and Hospitalars. They were clearly modeled on the Roman Catholic Church with the spells and prohibitions that one would expect of such cinematic versions of those fighting priests. But with the advent of Deities and Demigods, bunches of pagan pantheons come into play, only the gods of those religions are merely treated the same as saints in the Catholic scheme, while the worldview does not cross over. Furthermore, there is no game mechanic for encouraging anything theologic for the cleric's motives, so religion is pretty squishy in D&D and most fantasy games of that kind.
I contend that the problem, is that Christianity is a huge anomaly in it's view of God, sin, origins, teleology, and ethics compared to anything that came before. Buddhism is the only thing that comes close, and it is problematic for other reasons. If you are going to make a fantasy religion for a game, it should have something that it answers about spiritual life, not merely what temporal powers it can give you to smite others. It should answer one or more of the following questions:
Where did we come from?
Why are we here?
What has gone wrong and why?
What do we do to live with that?
What happens to us after we die?
Not all real world religions handle all of these, but they should only believably exist when they answer some. They should also, in general, provide some useful benefit to society in general, including moral, ethical, and social grounding and unity. Anything that does not serve long term social value is unlikely to survive. Cthulhu mythos cults may crop up here and there, but such nihilistic stuff does not build, but destroys.
This all in mind, here is an idea that comes to me for a pagan religion that is both very alien in flavor from the Roman Catholic model, but does both offer a social benefit, as well as answering some of the spiritual questions. There is even a schismatic, heretical sub-cult.
Here is a sample of a realistic pagan religion, rooted in actual real world sects. They are very different in worldview from the modern west, but they are heavily modeled on real religion nonetheless.
Beliefs and Practices
A soul in fear, anger, hatred, greed, and obsession ("The Five Follies" at death will not find rest and will become a devil spirit.
To insure peace at death, one must learn to become free of The Five Follies.
This is done through a process of increasing asceticism, and confrontation with and embrace of taboo practices.
- They begin by living in cemataries, with initiates assuming the duties of grave diggers, and pall bearers, and those who accept and handle offerings for the dead
- Novices assist with mortuary duties - cleaning the corpses, preparing food offerings for the sect, excarnation (defleshing) of cadavers, and preparing ritual meals for the priests
- Priests perform ceremonies of pacification, inscribe the prayers on cadavers before defleshing, inscribe and bind the bones for burial, and burn what parts remain in order to collect the ash which they bless for ritual use
- High Priests spend most of their time in meditation, but do perform the rituals of pacification for the whole of the cemataries, and occasionally venture out to perform the binding of unquiet ghosts which they keep in spirit jars which they prepare and keep in the center of the communities
Initiates to the order are distinguished by their brown robes and shawls, their shaved heads, and the ceremonial shovels which they keep. This is the last time they will ever cut their hair.
Novices take gray robes, and begin to learn the inscriptions which they practice scribing with ink made of grave ash, lime, and resin onto their fellow novice's skin.
Priests receive their white robe - the last article of clothing they will ever wear. It will never be repaired or replaced. They begin to confront taboos more aggressively. They begin to practice ritual cannibalism, sleep a night with corpses before final processing, and begin to live more and more removed from daily affairs. They craft the skull bowls from which the order eats, drinks, and receives alms. They may be called out to do healings when other medicine fails, acting as "sin eaters" who take the wounds ritually upon themselves.
High priests have little contact outside the sect, and largely live in meditation, naked, covered in grave ash. They seek to destroy any fear and break every taboo to free their souls for the passage into death. The final barrier is denial of even food and water, sustaining themselves only on the flesh and blood of their own bodies in a ritual fashion. They prepare a final meal of their own flesh for those Priests that they choose to replace them. Their bodies are not defleshed or cremated, but are buried in ash pits to mummify. The new High Priests will eventually exhume the mummies, and place them in the Halls of Memory - catacombs below cemataries where the living priests may from time to time consult the dead through the mummies.
Schismatic Sect
A heretical branch practices more proactive rituals. They may actively go out at ritual high holy days to find those they have been observing as exemplary of individuals bound to the Five Follies, and ritualistically murder them. They perform ritual cannibalism, and then bind the ghosts into spirit jars in order to proactively prevent them from doing mischief in the future. They may also actively seek out haunted communities to perform exorcisms (spirit binding) for money, and possibly use captive spirits from previous victims to create haunted places. They also offer curses for money, and proactively seek to practice unspeakable rites, breaking taboos to speed their own ways to release from the Five Follies.
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Some other seeds of ideas:
A goddess of fertility, motherhood, and a tutelary household deity (surely a primary goddess for that society) calls all new brides to receive blessings by serving for a day as temple prostitutes (inspiration: Ishtar/Astarte)
A grain and harvest god of fertility and the fields, who also serves as a tutelary god protecting territory in a defensive war capacity calls for a spring sacrifice to consecrate the fields before planting by raising a chosen young man on a stake over the field who will serve as the vessel for the god to protect the field from ravage by beast or man; a bride is offered after harvest in thanks to the god for abundance (inspiration: several pagan religions, though not like any particular one)
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Now these are not particularly savory notions to those who enjoy the ripples of Roman Catholic virtues, but they are more realistic in that they offer a perceived service to the continuation of the society, and imply some ideas about the relationships between god and man, god and land. Perhaps I will write more on this.
30 August, 2016
Hardcore History
THIS is a really cool podcast.
I have been listening to the World War I series, and he is both a thorough and engaging host. The material is both dense, and each show tops 3 HOURS, so I have only begun part II after listening and re-listening to part I three times over the past couple weeks.
I have done a lot of reading and studying about WWII in the last couple years, so I am looking forward to getting a better grasp of the details of WWI. WWII is a gigantic subject, and I first got really hooked on it watching Band of Brothers, and listening to the audio book of The War multiple times driving between Augusta and Montgomery. I have had arguments about the generation that fought and came out of that era, and whether they really deserve the appellation "The Greatest Generation" or not... I am still persuaded they do. I think that while that generation may not have been led by as concentrated a pool of talent, genius, and moral thought as the Revolutionary War generation, WW II was still perhaps THE most devastating war in the history of the world. The generation that fought it was still composed of people who were grouchy, selfish, isolationist, racist, and whatever else you want to call them, that crucible was unlike any other in scope and heat. The rough ore that went in came out refined in a remarkable way.
Perhaps I will change my mind after studying WW I. Perhaps not.
I am also reading (very slowly, I confess) A Distant Mirror, being the accounting of the calamity of Europe in the 14th century. This was a horrible, horrible quagmire of civilization through the serial wars, insurrections, plagues, and schisms religious and secular that colored that period in red. Even this period, I think was not as pivotal in history as WW II. But again, fascinating read.
Anyway, good stuff history. Like a gluttonous feast for the imagination!
I have been listening to the World War I series, and he is both a thorough and engaging host. The material is both dense, and each show tops 3 HOURS, so I have only begun part II after listening and re-listening to part I three times over the past couple weeks.
I have done a lot of reading and studying about WWII in the last couple years, so I am looking forward to getting a better grasp of the details of WWI. WWII is a gigantic subject, and I first got really hooked on it watching Band of Brothers, and listening to the audio book of The War multiple times driving between Augusta and Montgomery. I have had arguments about the generation that fought and came out of that era, and whether they really deserve the appellation "The Greatest Generation" or not... I am still persuaded they do. I think that while that generation may not have been led by as concentrated a pool of talent, genius, and moral thought as the Revolutionary War generation, WW II was still perhaps THE most devastating war in the history of the world. The generation that fought it was still composed of people who were grouchy, selfish, isolationist, racist, and whatever else you want to call them, that crucible was unlike any other in scope and heat. The rough ore that went in came out refined in a remarkable way.
Perhaps I will change my mind after studying WW I. Perhaps not.
I am also reading (very slowly, I confess) A Distant Mirror, being the accounting of the calamity of Europe in the 14th century. This was a horrible, horrible quagmire of civilization through the serial wars, insurrections, plagues, and schisms religious and secular that colored that period in red. Even this period, I think was not as pivotal in history as WW II. But again, fascinating read.
Anyway, good stuff history. Like a gluttonous feast for the imagination!
24 August, 2016
Infuriating Perfectionism...
Infuriating as it is, as much as I am aware of it, it is still perhaps my biggest creative hurdle...
Perfectionism is paralysis. I go through ever longer lengths of not writing, even though this blog project was started as an attempt to have a creative play-space. But what happens, is I find myself ever more wanting to wait till I know exactly what I want to say, and am satisfied with it.
And so I don't write anything.
It makes one want to scream... or weep... or sigh and forget...
Perfection is in production. That is something I know, but still have such a hard time trusting in. I know not why.
But at least here is something and not nothing for at least today.
Perfectionism is paralysis. I go through ever longer lengths of not writing, even though this blog project was started as an attempt to have a creative play-space. But what happens, is I find myself ever more wanting to wait till I know exactly what I want to say, and am satisfied with it.
And so I don't write anything.
It makes one want to scream... or weep... or sigh and forget...
Perfection is in production. That is something I know, but still have such a hard time trusting in. I know not why.
But at least here is something and not nothing for at least today.
12 August, 2016
What Value Fantasy?...
Why should a man be scorned if, finding himself in prison, he tries to get out and go home? Or if, when he cannot do so, he thinks and talks about other topics than jailers and prison-walls? The world outside has not become less real because the prisoner cannot see it. In using escape in this way the critics have chosen the wrong word, and, what is more, they are confusing, not always by sincere error, the Escape of the Prisoner with the Flight of the Deserter.
--J.R.R. Tolkien, On Fairy Stories
04 August, 2016
Pollyanna And The Goblins (revised)
Once upon a time, there was a pleasant young girl named Pollyanna. She found herself in an orphanage one Christmas, and she was the last one to get a gift out of the charity barrel. Though she was hoping for a beautiful doll like the one she'd seen in the shop window, all she actually found was a pair of crutches. She was at first sad, because what did she need crutches for? But then she remembered what her wonderful Dad had taught her long ago... always find something good about every situation you are in. Then she cheered up, because the crutches reminded her how glad she was that she didn't need them.
And then the goblins came to burn down the orphanage...
* * * * * * * * *
This is a game in which players take turns as goblins putting Pollyanna into a jamb... until Pollyanna gets out. But being a sweet and positive child, she does not fight goblins with bloody violence... she fights back with optimism!
SETUP
Each player will have as many tokens as there are players. A stack of index cards will be shared by all.
The most disgruntled player will be the goblin chief the first round, and the player to their left will begin as Pollyanna.
Each player will take one turn playing Pollyanna while the other players play the goblins that turn. After each time that a player acts as Pollyanna, the role of Pollyanna passes to that player's left. After everyone has had one turn each as Pollyanna, the game will conclude. There is a little more to the structure, but this is the basic structure of the game.
The players, beginning with the first round Pollyanna, will ("Hope" at http://redreevgeorge.deviantart.com/)
frame the story, determining the stakes, the locations that
Pollyanna must traverse to deal with the goblins, and the first
hazard the goblins inflict upon Pollyanna and the orphanage.
FRAMING THE STORY
Pollyanna will begin by describing the scene, answering each of these questions briefly but colorfully:
1) What time is it? The time of year, and the hour included.
2) Where in the orphanage is Pollyanna? Write this on an index card with the time.
3) What is Pollyanna doing?
THE STAKES
Next, the player who begins as the chief goblin will begin listing the stakes - those things which Pollyanna must defend, or recover. The goblins will each list one stake, each of which Pollyanna may make a single modification to if she likes. The goblins will answer the following questions when naming the stakes:
1) What is at stake? This can be another orphan, a birthday cake, or any other concrete thing.
2) Where is that located in the orphanage? Write the location on an index card, with the stake noted beneath. The things at stake should be things that Pollyanna will really care about enough to go after.
3) How do you get there from where Pollyanna is? This path should include no more than three elements. For example, "down the hall, up the stairs to the attic, and in the wardrobe on the left". Briefly note this on the card, and place the card adjacent to Pollyanna's card in relation more or less to her location.
GOBLIN TROUBLE
The chief goblin will now describe the way in which goblin mischief begins. He can name one particular fact that will cause Pollyanna trouble, and will put a token on a location working from the point farthest from her. The troublesome fact can be anything that the devious goblin chooses relating to the location, or something that the Goblin has chosen to bring to the mayhem. For example, suppose the Goblin places a token on a location noted to be "The Kitchen". He may with his token declare that he is putting a dead coyote in the stove. The fact introduced by the token is the dead coyote, and it is in a kitchen so of course there is a stove which requires no token to declare.
AND WORSE GOBLIN TROUBLE
The next goblin to act continues in kind to declare mischief with a token, either making the previous trouble worse, or moving inward to a new location, placing a token on that card, and declaring a new fact. For example, the second goblin may place a second token in The Kitchen, declaring "...with your birthday cake..." which is a fact that aggravates the first fact. Alternatively, he may choose to place a token on the next card called, let's say, "The Dining Room", and declare that he has lit all the candles in the room.
After placing a token, the goblin notes the fact briefly on the card (e.g. "dead coyote").
Troubles should can be pretty much anything the goblin chooses from the merely annoying such as defacing the founder's portrait, to the dangerously malicious like knocking over the lit candles onto the table cloth. Narrative and creative freedom are encouraged. The only stipulation, is that whatever trouble the goblins create, they cannot harm either Pollyanna, or any of the stakes in an immediate, direct, or permanent fashion. Anything else goes.
Pollyanna may act as well at this time, if she chooses. If at any point while the goblins are making mischief, Pollyanna decides that she does not like the fact laid down by a goblin, she can give one of her own tokens to the offending goblin, and modify the troublesome fact with a "...yes, but..." statement. She cannot nullify the fact entirely, but she can add a condition to it. For example, if the goblin in the Dining Room knocked over all the lit candles onto the tablecloth, Pollyanna might put a token in and say "...yes, but the table cloth is still wet from spilling all the sun tea on it at lunch". The wax will surely ruin the table cloth, but it won't be catching fire.
GOBLINS AND STAKES
Goblins may choose to make mischief in a way that potentially threatens the stake, as long as they recall that they may not harm the stakes in an immediate, direct, or permanent fashion. If for instance, Pollyanna's birthday cake is in the oven, the dead coyote cannot be used to smash the cake directly, nor may they eat it (though licking the frosting with their nasty tongues is just fine), and the rotting coyote carcass inside with it will not immediately ruin the cake, but Pollyanna must certainly act fast or it soon will spoil the cake.
POLLYANNA'S TURN
After each goblin has had a chance to make mischief, Pollyanna gets her turn. With an indomitable optimism, Pollyanna now has the opportunity to observe and declare ways that any mischief the goblins make is actually helpful to her, and harmful to them.
She gets to make one optimistic declaration for every goblin in play on her turn. This declaration directly addresses any particular trouble of her choice. She may declare one optimistic fact for each goblin for free (that is, she does not have to give a token to that goblin). The new fact is noted on the card below the previous one. For example, she will begin by saying something like, "well even though the goblins put the dead coyote in the oven with my birthday cake, at least my cake was on the top rack". This is helpful to her, though not particularly harmful to the goblin cause.
However, just like the goblins, Pollyanna can add facts to facts that she has already declared. Unlike her initial declarations though, she must give a token to the goblin who made the mischief before she can add a second declaration to the first. For example, if she noted that her birthday cake was on the top rack, and then decided to add "...and I'm really lucky that the smell of warm chocolate cake is irresistible". Then she gives the goblin who put the dead coyote in the oven a token.
When Pollyanna makes a declaration that is both helpful to her, and bad for the goblins, she may take that trouble token. If Pollyanna had declared "...the luckiest part is that now, the goblins are fighting among themselves over who gets to eat the cake..." she will have made a declaration helpful to her ("top rack" because it keeps her cake safe), and harmful to the goblins ("fighting among themselves over cake"). She gets to take the trouble token for her own use, and then mark a line through cake on the card, which now makes it safe from further mischief.
AFTER EVERYONE HAS HAD A TURN
All tokens not in play on cards are now passed to the left, and the player to Pollyanna's left becomes the new Pollyanna. Play proceeds from the last point as described.
GETTING RID OF THE GOBLINS
On the last round, when the last player to play Pollyanna takes her turn, any tokens in hand can be used to add facts that may conclusively defeat goblins, by spending one token at a time per fact. The facts must all build on already established facts to be valid. For example, Pollyanna has previously declared that the goblins are fighting over the cake in the kitchen, so she might now spend a token to declare "...and I sure am glad that all that fighting made the littlest goblin decide to go home!" which effectively removes the goblin from play.
The only way the goblin may counter this at this point, is if he still has a token in hand, and decides to use it to make a "...yes, but..." declaration. For example, the littlest goblin player may have decided to go home, but spending that token could declare "...yes, I've decided this fighting makes me want to go home, but only after the chief goblin goes first...", or "yes, I've decided to go home in a huff, but not until I've gobbled the cake...".
WINNING
Pollyanna wins under the following conditions:
1) All of her stakes have been lined out of play
2) None of the goblins have any tokens left, and none are in play on cards (all are in Pollyanna's hand)
The goblins win under the following conditions:
1) Pollyanna fails to preserve any of her stakes before all tokens are in play
2) Pollyanna has no tokens in hand, and she has failed to protect all of her stakes
* * * * * * * * *
This is a game in which players take turns as goblins putting Pollyanna into a jamb... until Pollyanna gets out. But being a sweet and positive child, she does not fight goblins with bloody violence... she fights back with optimism!
SETUP
Each player will have as many tokens as there are players. A stack of index cards will be shared by all.
The most disgruntled player will be the goblin chief the first round, and the player to their left will begin as Pollyanna.
Each player will take one turn playing Pollyanna while the other players play the goblins that turn. After each time that a player acts as Pollyanna, the role of Pollyanna passes to that player's left. After everyone has had one turn each as Pollyanna, the game will conclude. There is a little more to the structure, but this is the basic structure of the game.
The players, beginning with the first round Pollyanna, will ("Hope" at http://redreevgeorge.deviantart.com/)
frame the story, determining the stakes, the locations that
Pollyanna must traverse to deal with the goblins, and the first
hazard the goblins inflict upon Pollyanna and the orphanage.
FRAMING THE STORY
Pollyanna will begin by describing the scene, answering each of these questions briefly but colorfully:
1) What time is it? The time of year, and the hour included.
2) Where in the orphanage is Pollyanna? Write this on an index card with the time.
3) What is Pollyanna doing?
THE STAKES
Next, the player who begins as the chief goblin will begin listing the stakes - those things which Pollyanna must defend, or recover. The goblins will each list one stake, each of which Pollyanna may make a single modification to if she likes. The goblins will answer the following questions when naming the stakes:
1) What is at stake? This can be another orphan, a birthday cake, or any other concrete thing.
2) Where is that located in the orphanage? Write the location on an index card, with the stake noted beneath. The things at stake should be things that Pollyanna will really care about enough to go after.
3) How do you get there from where Pollyanna is? This path should include no more than three elements. For example, "down the hall, up the stairs to the attic, and in the wardrobe on the left". Briefly note this on the card, and place the card adjacent to Pollyanna's card in relation more or less to her location.
GOBLIN TROUBLE
The chief goblin will now describe the way in which goblin mischief begins. He can name one particular fact that will cause Pollyanna trouble, and will put a token on a location working from the point farthest from her. The troublesome fact can be anything that the devious goblin chooses relating to the location, or something that the Goblin has chosen to bring to the mayhem. For example, suppose the Goblin places a token on a location noted to be "The Kitchen". He may with his token declare that he is putting a dead coyote in the stove. The fact introduced by the token is the dead coyote, and it is in a kitchen so of course there is a stove which requires no token to declare.
AND WORSE GOBLIN TROUBLE
The next goblin to act continues in kind to declare mischief with a token, either making the previous trouble worse, or moving inward to a new location, placing a token on that card, and declaring a new fact. For example, the second goblin may place a second token in The Kitchen, declaring "...with your birthday cake..." which is a fact that aggravates the first fact. Alternatively, he may choose to place a token on the next card called, let's say, "The Dining Room", and declare that he has lit all the candles in the room.
After placing a token, the goblin notes the fact briefly on the card (e.g. "dead coyote").
Troubles should can be pretty much anything the goblin chooses from the merely annoying such as defacing the founder's portrait, to the dangerously malicious like knocking over the lit candles onto the table cloth. Narrative and creative freedom are encouraged. The only stipulation, is that whatever trouble the goblins create, they cannot harm either Pollyanna, or any of the stakes in an immediate, direct, or permanent fashion. Anything else goes.
Pollyanna may act as well at this time, if she chooses. If at any point while the goblins are making mischief, Pollyanna decides that she does not like the fact laid down by a goblin, she can give one of her own tokens to the offending goblin, and modify the troublesome fact with a "...yes, but..." statement. She cannot nullify the fact entirely, but she can add a condition to it. For example, if the goblin in the Dining Room knocked over all the lit candles onto the tablecloth, Pollyanna might put a token in and say "...yes, but the table cloth is still wet from spilling all the sun tea on it at lunch". The wax will surely ruin the table cloth, but it won't be catching fire.
GOBLINS AND STAKES
Goblins may choose to make mischief in a way that potentially threatens the stake, as long as they recall that they may not harm the stakes in an immediate, direct, or permanent fashion. If for instance, Pollyanna's birthday cake is in the oven, the dead coyote cannot be used to smash the cake directly, nor may they eat it (though licking the frosting with their nasty tongues is just fine), and the rotting coyote carcass inside with it will not immediately ruin the cake, but Pollyanna must certainly act fast or it soon will spoil the cake.
POLLYANNA'S TURN
After each goblin has had a chance to make mischief, Pollyanna gets her turn. With an indomitable optimism, Pollyanna now has the opportunity to observe and declare ways that any mischief the goblins make is actually helpful to her, and harmful to them.
She gets to make one optimistic declaration for every goblin in play on her turn. This declaration directly addresses any particular trouble of her choice. She may declare one optimistic fact for each goblin for free (that is, she does not have to give a token to that goblin). The new fact is noted on the card below the previous one. For example, she will begin by saying something like, "well even though the goblins put the dead coyote in the oven with my birthday cake, at least my cake was on the top rack". This is helpful to her, though not particularly harmful to the goblin cause.
However, just like the goblins, Pollyanna can add facts to facts that she has already declared. Unlike her initial declarations though, she must give a token to the goblin who made the mischief before she can add a second declaration to the first. For example, if she noted that her birthday cake was on the top rack, and then decided to add "...and I'm really lucky that the smell of warm chocolate cake is irresistible". Then she gives the goblin who put the dead coyote in the oven a token.
When Pollyanna makes a declaration that is both helpful to her, and bad for the goblins, she may take that trouble token. If Pollyanna had declared "...the luckiest part is that now, the goblins are fighting among themselves over who gets to eat the cake..." she will have made a declaration helpful to her ("top rack" because it keeps her cake safe), and harmful to the goblins ("fighting among themselves over cake"). She gets to take the trouble token for her own use, and then mark a line through cake on the card, which now makes it safe from further mischief.
AFTER EVERYONE HAS HAD A TURN
All tokens not in play on cards are now passed to the left, and the player to Pollyanna's left becomes the new Pollyanna. Play proceeds from the last point as described.
GETTING RID OF THE GOBLINS
On the last round, when the last player to play Pollyanna takes her turn, any tokens in hand can be used to add facts that may conclusively defeat goblins, by spending one token at a time per fact. The facts must all build on already established facts to be valid. For example, Pollyanna has previously declared that the goblins are fighting over the cake in the kitchen, so she might now spend a token to declare "...and I sure am glad that all that fighting made the littlest goblin decide to go home!" which effectively removes the goblin from play.
The only way the goblin may counter this at this point, is if he still has a token in hand, and decides to use it to make a "...yes, but..." declaration. For example, the littlest goblin player may have decided to go home, but spending that token could declare "...yes, I've decided this fighting makes me want to go home, but only after the chief goblin goes first...", or "yes, I've decided to go home in a huff, but not until I've gobbled the cake...".
WINNING
Pollyanna wins under the following conditions:
1) All of her stakes have been lined out of play
2) None of the goblins have any tokens left, and none are in play on cards (all are in Pollyanna's hand)
The goblins win under the following conditions:
1) Pollyanna fails to preserve any of her stakes before all tokens are in play
2) Pollyanna has no tokens in hand, and she has failed to protect all of her stakes
03 August, 2016
Divination Gamification
There are a huge number of kinds of historic divination methods, some very codified (like Kabalism) and others just astonishingly silly (like divination by belly button, or divination by buttocks).
Anyway, dice and cards were of course long ago used as divination tools, and now are two of the most common randomizers in gaming. But it occurred to me that casinos use roulette wheels which are a variation on spinners, in conjunction with a carefully laid out table. While the wheel itself is random, betting on particular combinations of color and number make it also a strategic game.
But I was looking at a long list of divination methods in which a number of objects is dropped and the patterns formed used to make the augury. So it got me thinking about a way to gamify that. It seems to me that the way the game is skinned is the really interesting part, as otherwise the way the handful falls is entirely subjective, random, and not particularly interesting. So the board needs to be something conducive to a story. As such, it seems that it should be a map of some kind that allows the creation of relative relationships in either space, time, or condition. For example, it could be the map of a country at war, or intersecting time clocks, or interpersonal relationships of favors, debts, or obligations.
The board determined, the next part is the randomizer, the "divination" or the "fortune" in which dropped stones or dice are cast on the board and their position relative to each other and relative to their space on the board determines the capacity and character of action available. The cast could be a fortune up front, fortune in the middle, or even fortune at the end mechanic, and it would be interesting to experiment with all three.
I have a vague picture in mind of a board with a host of intersecting rings with nodes, and circles around the rings that represent action, looking something like asymetric crop circles.
Will have to think more on this.
Anyway, dice and cards were of course long ago used as divination tools, and now are two of the most common randomizers in gaming. But it occurred to me that casinos use roulette wheels which are a variation on spinners, in conjunction with a carefully laid out table. While the wheel itself is random, betting on particular combinations of color and number make it also a strategic game.
But I was looking at a long list of divination methods in which a number of objects is dropped and the patterns formed used to make the augury. So it got me thinking about a way to gamify that. It seems to me that the way the game is skinned is the really interesting part, as otherwise the way the handful falls is entirely subjective, random, and not particularly interesting. So the board needs to be something conducive to a story. As such, it seems that it should be a map of some kind that allows the creation of relative relationships in either space, time, or condition. For example, it could be the map of a country at war, or intersecting time clocks, or interpersonal relationships of favors, debts, or obligations.
The board determined, the next part is the randomizer, the "divination" or the "fortune" in which dropped stones or dice are cast on the board and their position relative to each other and relative to their space on the board determines the capacity and character of action available. The cast could be a fortune up front, fortune in the middle, or even fortune at the end mechanic, and it would be interesting to experiment with all three.
I have a vague picture in mind of a board with a host of intersecting rings with nodes, and circles around the rings that represent action, looking something like asymetric crop circles.
Will have to think more on this.
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