Restoration Drama
Posted: Mon May 23, 2005 11:13 amHi,
So after pondering the question for a while, here is what I came up with. It is a live-action game for eight players, but I don't have a good name yet. My hope is that it is educational and non-violent as well as compelling and dramatic. It is very much about a period in history and about entomology specifically (not just about insects, but about the discipline of entomology).
The year is 1669 in London, at the home of a wealthy but politically marginal nobleman just off the Strand. A new treatise has just been published by The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge. It is on the anatomy of the silkworm, and is destined to be *the* seminal work in the foundation of modern entomology. The author is an Italian professor of medicine, Marcello Malpighi, the only Italian member admitted thus far to the Royal Society.
In London, the city still feels the shock of past disasters. In 1660, the thirty years of the anti-monarchist Protectorate came to a close with the restoration of Charles II to the throne. His coming was greatly hailed by the people as the cure to anarchy and dictatorship following the death of Cromwell. However, his reign has been plagued by problems. In London, the Great Plague of 1665 wiped out nearly 100,000 people -- roughly 15% the population. The following year, the Great Fire wiped out an area of one and a half miles by half a mile; 373 acres inside the city walls and 63 acres outside, 87 churches destroyed (including St. Paul's Cathedral) and 13,200 houses.
The Royal Society, as it is called, was founded in 1660 upon the restoration of the monarchy -- though unofficial meetings had been held for many years prior, sometimes referred to as the "Invisible College". The Society now has the patronage of the king, Charles II, and will become of great importance as one of the founding scientific societies.
The Game
The game is about the eight guests at Lord Clayton Wyndham's home in London just off the Strand. It is not very large but richly furnished and well stocked with amenities. He has been a patron of the arts and sciences as well as a scientist himself, and has thrown this party to celebrate the publication of Malpighi's work.
Each of the guests is an exaggerated fictional character based on historical figures of the time, and each is identified with an insect. The game will primarily be conversation, but it will be thick with subtext since discussing insects is a subtext for talking about the characters themselves.
There are a host of themes here, drawn from the turbulent times: There are many recriminations lingering from the failed Commonwealth, on both sides. Rebellions will continue to arise for the next few decades. There is a very current issue of religious tolerance, as conflict remains the Puritanical elements among the people with the Anglican mainstream and the king's Catholic sympathies. Lastly there is the question of sexuality, closely tied with religious views.
Each character has a set of absolute abilities based on their sphere -- represented by a card. For example, the hostess is symbolized by The Bee, and has a social string power that will force anyone to back off in some way. Powers will always succeed when used, but they may be lost after being used.
There may be a few character stats which can affect card use -- these may be on a nametag. One of them most certainly will be alcohol. The more wine consumed, the easier some powers get and the harder others get. I think another of these is social status or perhaps self-confidence. Basically some measure of the respect and affirmation of your peers.
Each character also has one "public secret" that is written into the background. All of the players know these secrets, but the characters do not. There are also a smaller set of four "private secrets" which are written on cards and secretly dealt out.
The private secrets will be a source of interest to be revealed. For each secret, I think three people will know it, and five people will not. Of the three who know it, one player gets a small reward if it is found, the other two players get a small reward if it is *not* found out. Among the other five, they get a significant award if they accuse someone of the secret and are correct, but get a significant penalty if they are wrong.
Theme: Heavily steeped in the issues of the Restoration period of England.
Ingredients: Wine, Entomology, Accuser, less centrally Invincible (the powers), Companion (see below)
Limitations: No character sheet, Designer-made cards, No character generation. (I may find a way to incorporate hand gestures and colors, but there won't be any dice.)
The Characters
Lord Clayton Wyndham (The Dragonfly)
- The host of the party, a count of some repute who was minorly involved in the Commonwealth and hence marginal at present though officially pardoned.
Lady Wyndham (The Bee)
- The wife of Sir Clayton, a respected society woman but also a sympathizer for the Quakers.
Julian Arkwright (The Fly)
- An upperclass traveller and amateur naturalist who has spoken to M. Malpighi in Italy.
The Honourable Richard Bagwell (The Grasshopper)
- An Irish nobleman, and a sophisticated scientist and member of the Royal Society. Loosely based on Robert Boyle.
Malcolm Sterk (The Ant)
- A middle-class professional naturalist employed by the Royal Society. Loosely based on Robert Hooke.
Katherine Sterk (The Silkworm)
- A beautiful and eloquent young woman, the niece of Malcolm Sterk. Loosely based on Grace Hooke and to a lesser degree Catherine Barton Conduitt.
Alice Baird (The Butterfly)
- A female dramatist and satirist, scandalous of behavior. Loosely based on Aphra Behn.
George Ringer (The Flea)
- A middle-class painter and writer.
Issues to Work on
I need to work out all the powers, of course, and the mechanic for how to stop powers from working. I will probably come up with hand gestures to indicate the use of some mechanics, but that isn't settled yet.
So after pondering the question for a while, here is what I came up with. It is a live-action game for eight players, but I don't have a good name yet. My hope is that it is educational and non-violent as well as compelling and dramatic. It is very much about a period in history and about entomology specifically (not just about insects, but about the discipline of entomology).
The year is 1669 in London, at the home of a wealthy but politically marginal nobleman just off the Strand. A new treatise has just been published by The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge. It is on the anatomy of the silkworm, and is destined to be *the* seminal work in the foundation of modern entomology. The author is an Italian professor of medicine, Marcello Malpighi, the only Italian member admitted thus far to the Royal Society.
In London, the city still feels the shock of past disasters. In 1660, the thirty years of the anti-monarchist Protectorate came to a close with the restoration of Charles II to the throne. His coming was greatly hailed by the people as the cure to anarchy and dictatorship following the death of Cromwell. However, his reign has been plagued by problems. In London, the Great Plague of 1665 wiped out nearly 100,000 people -- roughly 15% the population. The following year, the Great Fire wiped out an area of one and a half miles by half a mile; 373 acres inside the city walls and 63 acres outside, 87 churches destroyed (including St. Paul's Cathedral) and 13,200 houses.
The Royal Society, as it is called, was founded in 1660 upon the restoration of the monarchy -- though unofficial meetings had been held for many years prior, sometimes referred to as the "Invisible College". The Society now has the patronage of the king, Charles II, and will become of great importance as one of the founding scientific societies.
The Game
The game is about the eight guests at Lord Clayton Wyndham's home in London just off the Strand. It is not very large but richly furnished and well stocked with amenities. He has been a patron of the arts and sciences as well as a scientist himself, and has thrown this party to celebrate the publication of Malpighi's work.
Each of the guests is an exaggerated fictional character based on historical figures of the time, and each is identified with an insect. The game will primarily be conversation, but it will be thick with subtext since discussing insects is a subtext for talking about the characters themselves.
There are a host of themes here, drawn from the turbulent times: There are many recriminations lingering from the failed Commonwealth, on both sides. Rebellions will continue to arise for the next few decades. There is a very current issue of religious tolerance, as conflict remains the Puritanical elements among the people with the Anglican mainstream and the king's Catholic sympathies. Lastly there is the question of sexuality, closely tied with religious views.
Each character has a set of absolute abilities based on their sphere -- represented by a card. For example, the hostess is symbolized by The Bee, and has a social string power that will force anyone to back off in some way. Powers will always succeed when used, but they may be lost after being used.
There may be a few character stats which can affect card use -- these may be on a nametag. One of them most certainly will be alcohol. The more wine consumed, the easier some powers get and the harder others get. I think another of these is social status or perhaps self-confidence. Basically some measure of the respect and affirmation of your peers.
Each character also has one "public secret" that is written into the background. All of the players know these secrets, but the characters do not. There are also a smaller set of four "private secrets" which are written on cards and secretly dealt out.
The private secrets will be a source of interest to be revealed. For each secret, I think three people will know it, and five people will not. Of the three who know it, one player gets a small reward if it is found, the other two players get a small reward if it is *not* found out. Among the other five, they get a significant award if they accuse someone of the secret and are correct, but get a significant penalty if they are wrong.
Theme: Heavily steeped in the issues of the Restoration period of England.
Ingredients: Wine, Entomology, Accuser, less centrally Invincible (the powers), Companion (see below)
Limitations: No character sheet, Designer-made cards, No character generation. (I may find a way to incorporate hand gestures and colors, but there won't be any dice.)
The Characters
Lord Clayton Wyndham (The Dragonfly)
- The host of the party, a count of some repute who was minorly involved in the Commonwealth and hence marginal at present though officially pardoned.
Lady Wyndham (The Bee)
- The wife of Sir Clayton, a respected society woman but also a sympathizer for the Quakers.
Julian Arkwright (The Fly)
- An upperclass traveller and amateur naturalist who has spoken to M. Malpighi in Italy.
The Honourable Richard Bagwell (The Grasshopper)
- An Irish nobleman, and a sophisticated scientist and member of the Royal Society. Loosely based on Robert Boyle.
Malcolm Sterk (The Ant)
- A middle-class professional naturalist employed by the Royal Society. Loosely based on Robert Hooke.
Katherine Sterk (The Silkworm)
- A beautiful and eloquent young woman, the niece of Malcolm Sterk. Loosely based on Grace Hooke and to a lesser degree Catherine Barton Conduitt.
Alice Baird (The Butterfly)
- A female dramatist and satirist, scandalous of behavior. Loosely based on Aphra Behn.
George Ringer (The Flea)
- A middle-class painter and writer.
Issues to Work on
I need to work out all the powers, of course, and the mechanic for how to stop powers from working. I will probably come up with hand gestures to indicate the use of some mechanics, but that isn't settled yet.