K
Posted: Thu May 26, 2005 7:34 pm[Here's what I've got so far. I've got more, but it's all muddly, so I'm posting without the muddle so I can get feedback without forcing assumptions. See the bottom for what I'm trying to do here. This is by far the most abstract RPG I've ever attempted and it feels pretty foggy to me.]
It is 1900 in a large Western city - London, New York, or Prague will all do fine.
There are three characters:
The Accused. Its goal is to learn about his situation before his inevitable death. The player of The Accused presents individual supporting characters to conflict with the other protagonists. The Accused passes from one such Employee to another through bouts of drunkenness.
The Collector. Its goal is to learn the nature of, then pin and label, each of the Accused's perspectives to add to his collection. It wishes to be admitted to the Castle and will trade favors with it to gain that.
The Castle. The castle cannot be stopped. The Castle cannot be seen. The Castle is perceived only in its footprints.The Castle consumes. The Castle will execute The Accused and will bury The Collector in falsehood.
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The Accused must obtain coins to expend in one of two ways: they are used to ask questions to which the Castle must answer truthfully. They are used in two ways: to buy wine with which the Accused can get drunk and forget hirself long enough to wind up being someone else before being consumed by the Castle or collected by the Collector; or they can establish Facts about the Accused which the player writes down secretly. The Accused gets two coins for every "yes" obtained from the Castle. It costs one coin to ask a question.
The Collector gains coins one at a time by asking questions to the Accused and receiving a "yes" about a given Employee. When the Collector has more coins than the Employee, the Collector has collected that Employee and receives as many coins as the Employee had.
The Castle gains a coin for every "no" answer it gives. Its player can spend coins to remove a Fact and one coin from the Accused.
The Castle goes first.
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The idea here is that each of the three players is providing opposition for each other and their goals are asymmetrical. Stories should emerge about the Accused, the nature of the Castle should come clear as the players work it out, and the Collector should lay it all bare.
It is 1900 in a large Western city - London, New York, or Prague will all do fine.
There are three characters:
The Accused. Its goal is to learn about his situation before his inevitable death. The player of The Accused presents individual supporting characters to conflict with the other protagonists. The Accused passes from one such Employee to another through bouts of drunkenness.
The Collector. Its goal is to learn the nature of, then pin and label, each of the Accused's perspectives to add to his collection. It wishes to be admitted to the Castle and will trade favors with it to gain that.
The Castle. The castle cannot be stopped. The Castle cannot be seen. The Castle is perceived only in its footprints.The Castle consumes. The Castle will execute The Accused and will bury The Collector in falsehood.
----
The Accused must obtain coins to expend in one of two ways: they are used to ask questions to which the Castle must answer truthfully. They are used in two ways: to buy wine with which the Accused can get drunk and forget hirself long enough to wind up being someone else before being consumed by the Castle or collected by the Collector; or they can establish Facts about the Accused which the player writes down secretly. The Accused gets two coins for every "yes" obtained from the Castle. It costs one coin to ask a question.
The Collector gains coins one at a time by asking questions to the Accused and receiving a "yes" about a given Employee. When the Collector has more coins than the Employee, the Collector has collected that Employee and receives as many coins as the Employee had.
The Castle gains a coin for every "no" answer it gives. Its player can spend coins to remove a Fact and one coin from the Accused.
The Castle goes first.
-------
The idea here is that each of the three players is providing opposition for each other and their goals are asymmetrical. Stories should emerge about the Accused, the nature of the Castle should come clear as the players work it out, and the Collector should lay it all bare.