tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2121564167816529957.post5509393138764408196..comments2014-09-17T10:36:05.188-04:00Comments on The Fifth World Design Diary: Consulting the OraclesJason Godeskyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10068631538184332192noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2121564167816529957.post-69627562842870367362008-03-25T12:32:00.000-04:002008-03-25T12:32:00.000-04:00I want to limit the amount of material you need to...I want to limit the amount of material you need to play the game, not expand it. The basic idea could work, but I'd want to roll it into an existing deck, like a deck of playing cards, that you could count on most players having around. I don't want to require people to purchase extra things in order to play (though I'll happily make premium merchandise for big fans, and try to make some money on that end!).Jason Godeskyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10068631538184332192noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2121564167816529957.post-35015257696128080052008-03-24T15:45:00.000-04:002008-03-24T15:45:00.000-04:00I'm thinking you could have your own cards. Cards ...I'm thinking you could have your own cards. Cards like wolf, oak, bear, river, etc. Things that both describe the land and have great architypical meaning. <BR/><BR/>So your region happens to be a savannah in africa, say. You nake a deack that includes the geographical features of the area (a watering hole, a dry gulch), the typical flora and fauna (grass, gazelles, some specific useful plants, a lion, some zebras, mosquitos) and some weather patterns typical to the area. The deck kinda describes your region.<BR/><BR/>Then, when you need a plot point, you pull a card from your deck (or, in my preferred version, put down a card you had in your hand) and interpret what you draw to the circumstances. Drawing a bear might mean you encounter an actual bear, or it might mean you meat a person with traits like a bear, or that you must behave like a bear to overcome the situation. Whatever fits. <BR/><BR/>Cards start not to fit in with the aethetic of the other paraphenelia we've posited with the game. How could we rework this idea to use stones or beats or little totems?WorldWithoutToilhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04338169302100311615noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2121564167816529957.post-62731222190368510472008-03-21T19:37:00.000-04:002008-03-21T19:37:00.000-04:00You know, tarot decks have meanings attached to ea...You know, tarot decks have meanings attached to each card, but fewer people know that playing cards (which have a sordid historical relationship with the tarot deck) <A HREF="http://www3.sympatico.ca/terrir/divination_index.html" REL="nofollow">have meanings, too</A>.<BR/><BR/>We can talk about the general characteristics of Wolf, since Wolfing brings some commonalities with it no matter where you Wolf, but Wolf's precise nature and character varies from one bioregion to the next. These cards, both in the tarot and the playing deck, bring with them their own general tropes and archetypes. What if bioregional oracles played from that? What if each bioregional oracle took the basic archetypes of the decks and applied to it the stories, rhythms, songs, values, winds and myths of that bioregion? So the eight of clubs might always mean a message of fortune, but in one bioregion that might mean many salmon, or in another that might mean much corn.Jason Godeskyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10068631538184332192noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2121564167816529957.post-37374327858362110222008-03-21T16:39:00.000-04:002008-03-21T16:39:00.000-04:00Sigh. You know, you probably make a really good po...Sigh. You know, you probably make a really good point there. From what little I know of Magic decks, they have lands, objects, and character.<BR/><BR/>The difference (for my games, if not also the fifth world - jason will have to talk about that), lies in the scale of the elements (much smaller - not a land, but a specific location to set a scene in), and the purpose of them (to drive a story, not to 'win a game' - or rather, winning <I>means</I> driving the story).<BR/><BR/>But other than that, you probably have something pretty big there.Willemhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00858748991562590835noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2121564167816529957.post-83506137246639776832008-03-21T16:30:00.000-04:002008-03-21T16:30:00.000-04:00I've not played in a wicked age, so I may be missi...I've not played in a wicked age, so I may be missing something. But it sounds to me kinda like a Magic Deck. <BR/><BR/>Wait, don't leave!<BR/><BR/>I mean, earlier we talked a bit about random encounters and how they suck, but also about traveling and how the encounters along the way can define that. What if each card in your location deck was a potential encounter, or a part of an encounter like setting, antagonist, conflict? The GL has a hand of cards and when a unscripted encounter is called for, they play the one from their hand that most appeals? Is that how oracle decks work? Is that how our "mythdecks" might work?WorldWithoutToilhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04338169302100311615noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2121564167816529957.post-31510465489241724432008-03-21T13:52:00.000-04:002008-03-21T13:52:00.000-04:00Now I wonder what we could do with bioregional ora...<I>Now I wonder what we could do with bioregional oracles. Every region could have its own oracle, that could use playing cards or tarot cards to dispense the stories that resonate through that bioregion.</I><BR/><BR/>Dude, you have no idea. Mwahahahaha! Great minds think alike.<BR/><BR/>I call my version of it, the "Mythdeck", and work on the Cascadian one will begin May 16th, if luck holds. <BR/><BR/>I've planned this for a long time, 4 years or more, and the whole story-game angle has finally made it fully make sense.<BR/><BR/>I think the craft of creating a Mythdeck oracle for each bioregion will mean learning herbaceous plants, trees, animals, weather, and stories of each bioregion. <BR/><BR/>And of course, why stop at one deck for a bioregion? You could have a deck of weathers, a deck totally of animals, a deck totally of stones, and on and on. The first one, I think, we need to have a general overview.<BR/><BR/>Just imagine a 'edible, medicinal plant' deck, filled with characters - healers, poisoners, cooks, all interacting in the storyjam they've inspired.<BR/><BR/>Cray stuff. Don't tell anyone. I want us to do it first. :)Willemhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00858748991562590835noreply@blogger.com