On Wed, Jun 27, 2012 at 02:26:19AM -0600, Jonathan Jones wrote:
> So, basically, we take turns telling a story, with some fairly simple rules
> added to make things progress smoothly? That's sounds simple enough, and
> fairly entertaining.
>
> On Wed, Jun 27, 2012 at 12:20 AM, Robin Lee Powell <
>
rlpowell@digitalkingdom.org> wrote:
>
> > On Sun, Jun 24, 2012 at 01:19:39AM -0700, Robin Lee Powell wrote:
> > >
> > >
http://www.lamemage.com/
> > >
> > > It's a history-construction game. I have the PDF. I'm going to
> > > try to make people play it at LogFest. We should do it as a phone
> > > game, too. In Lojban.
> >
> > IRC actually might be better, because it'd all be recorded.
> >
> > Anyways, here's a summary of the gameplay, stolen from the PDF.
> > It's essentially a shared world-building co-op storytelling game,
> > *except* that no collaboration, or even suggesting, is allowed.
> > This has (I belive, I've not actually played it) two important
> > effects: (1) everybody gets to be surprised by what happens, which
> > increases engagement (2) the pushy people can't dominate everything.
> >
> > - --------------------
> >
> > - Humanity spreads to the stars and forges a galactic civilization…
> >
> > - Fledgling nations arise from the ruins of the empire…
> >
> > - An ancient line of dragon-kings dies out as magic fades from the
> > realm…
> >
> > These are all examples of Microscope games.
> >
> > In Microscope, you build an epic history as you play. Want to play a
> > game that spans the entire Dune series, the Silmarillion, or
> > the rise and fall of Rome in an afternoon? That’s Microscope.
> >
> > But you don’t play the history from start to finish,
> > marching along in chronological order. Instead, you build your
> > history from the outside in. You start off knowing the big picture,
> > the grand scheme of what happens, then you dive in and explore what
> > happened in between, the how and why that shaped events.
> >
> > You are free to jump backwards or forwards, zooming in or out to
> > look at whatever you want, defying limits of time and space. Want to
> > leap a thousand years into the future and see how an institution
> > shaped society? Want to jump back to the childhood of the king you
> > just saw assassinated and find out what made him such a hated ruler?
> > That’s normal in Microscope. You have vast creative authority. You
> > can make whole empires rise and fall at will. Dream up a utopia or
> > destroy one with nuclear fire. You have that power, but remember
> > you’re not alone: everyone else at the table can do it too.
> >
> > You create independently, but not in isolation. Each facet
> > you add to history builds on what other players built before you.
> > You expand on their ideas, and they expand on yours. History might
> > not turn out the way you expected. Be prepared to think on your
> > feet.
> >
> > When you zoom all the way in to a particular moment in time, all the
> > players share the stage and role-play together to find out something
> > we want to learn about the history. Did the crew of the Icarus know
> > the aliens were on Titan? Did the rebels really fake the government
> > crackdown? Do the knights remember the original meaning of their
> > ritual vows? We role-play and see. The more you play, the more your
> > once simple summary becomes a detailed tapestry, full of meaning and
> > surprises. History snowballs.
> >
> > What you need to play
> >
> > Microscope is for two to five players, but three or four are best.
> > There’s no game prep and no GM. You can play a single session, or
> > keep coming back and exploring the same history over and over again.
> >
> > You’ll need a stack of index cards and something to write with,
> > along with table space to lay everything out. Smaller cards, like
> > blank flash cards, work even better because they take up less space
> > on the table.
> >
> > [snip]
> >
> > teaching step 1: explain the concept
> >
> > First, read the “What Is Microscope?” section out loud. Instead of
> > reading it all yourself, have the other players take turns. Then
> > say:
> >
> > “The author of the game says I should read this part to you because
> > it’s really important: All of us sitting at this table have equal
> > creative power. At times we’ll have different roles and
> > authority, but we’re all equal participants and authors.
> >
> > “It may sound like I’m running the game because I’m going to be
> > explaining a lot about the rules, and I may interrupt and jump in to
> > clarify how the game is played. But I don’t have any more authority
> > than anyone else when it comes to actually playing the game --
> > there’s no GM.
> >
> > “Now that we know what the game’s about, we’re ready to get
> > started.”
> >
> > teaching step 2: game setup
> >
> > Follow the steps in “Starting a New Game.” You can read the first
> > one or two paragraphs of each step out loud or just summarize, as
> > you prefer.
> >
> > Players new to Microscope may try to brainstorm too much detail
> > about the history during the setup. Don’t hesitate to jump in and
> > tell players to save those ideas for later. Follow the steps
> > rigorously.
> >
> > “Microscope is a little like Poker: you want to keep your cool
> > ideas close to your vest until you use them. If the rest of us know
> > what you’re going to do ahead of time, it’s not as interesting.”
> >
> > teaching step 3: explain play
> >
> > “Now that setup is done, we’re ready to start play. We
> > already know more about our history than we did when we came up with
> > the single sentence idea, and as we play we’ll find out more and
> > more.
> >
> > “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.
> >
> > “If you make a Period or Event, just describe what happens as though
> > we’re seeing it from a birds-eye view. You’re in charge, and the
> > rest of us are eagerly listening to hear what you have to
> > say. If you make a Scene, we all pick characters and
> > role-play to find out what really happened in that moment of
> > history.”
> >
> > - --------------------
> >
> > -Robin
> >
> > --
> >
http://singinst.org/ : Our last, best hope for a fantastic future.
> > .i ko na cpedu lo nu stidi vau loi jbopre .i danfu lu na go'i li'u .e
> > lu go'i li'u .i ji'a go'i lu na'e go'i li'u .e lu go'i na'i li'u .e
> > lu no'e go'i li'u .e lu to'e go'i li'u .e lu lo mamta be do cu sofybakni
> > li'u
> >
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>
>
> --
> mu'o mi'e .aionys.
>
> .i.e'ucai ko cmima lo pilno be denpa bu .i doi.luk. mi patfu do zo'o
> (Come to the Dot Side! Luke, I am your father. :D )
>
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--
http://singinst.org/ : Our last, best hope for a fantastic future.
.i ko na cpedu lo nu stidi vau loi jbopre .i danfu lu na go'i li'u .e
lu go'i li'u .i ji'a go'i lu na'e go'i li'u .e lu go'i na'i li'u .e
lu no'e go'i li'u .e lu to'e go'i li'u .e lu lo mamta be do cu sofybakni li'u
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