Steel, team, law, two hours total.
'Where the Queen's Law does not carry, it is irrational to exact an observance of other and weaker rules.'-Rudyard Kipling (Written in Robert Falcon Scott's notebook, Tuesday June 27, 1911)
INTRODUCTION
'Wednesday, January 17. Camp 69. T. -22° at start. Night -21°. The Pole. Yes, but under very different circumstances from those expected. We have had a horrible day - add to our disappointment a head wind 4 to 5, with a temperature -22°, and companions labouring on with cold feet and hands.
We have been descending again, I think, but there looks to be a rise ahead; otherwise there is very little that is different from the awful monotony of past days...
We have just arrived at this tent, 2 miles from our camp, therefore about 1 1/2 miles from the Pole. In the tent we find a record of five Norwegians having been here, as follows:
Roald Amundsen
Olav Olavson Bjaaland
Hilmer Hanssen
Sverre H. Hassel
Oscar Wisting.
16 Dec. 1911.
The following articles have been left in the tent: 3 half bags of reindeer containing a miscellaneous assortment of mitts and sleeping socks, very various in description, a sextant, a Norwegian artificial horizon and a hypsometer without boiling-point thermometers, a sextant and hypsometer of English make.
Great God! this is an awful place and terrible enough for us to have laboured to it without the reward of priority ... now for the run home and a desperate struggle. I wonder if we can do it.' - RFS
TERRA NOVA is a game about the disastrous end of Captain Robert Falcon Scott's 1912 Antarctic expedition, which claimed the lives of Scott and his four companions en route from the south pole. In it, the players will assume the roles of Scott's team, beginning on January 18, 1912 and ending with their destruction several months later. In the interim they will be forced to make brutal decisions that balance survival with humanity, the immutable laws of nature with the facile laws of men. In the end, they will fall one by one.
--Robert
Entry: Terra Nova
18 posts
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Entry: Terra Nova
by rpoppe » Sat Mar 11, 2006 7:53 am
- rpoppe
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For the odds of two events multiply the odds.
by SheikhJahbooty » Sun Mar 12, 2006 2:29 am
So what are the odds of getting an ace?
4/52
What are the odds of getting a second ace?
3/51
We multiply
12/2652 or 1/221.
Two hours total? Perhaps each character could have set qualities, so as to save time. You only have 120 minutes.
4/52
What are the odds of getting a second ace?
3/51
We multiply
12/2652 or 1/221.
Two hours total? Perhaps each character could have set qualities, so as to save time. You only have 120 minutes.
-
SheikhJahbooty - Colobus
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- Joined: Wed Feb 08, 2006 4:52 am
- Location: In Yer Dome!
by rpoppe » Sun Mar 12, 2006 1:54 pm
I'd very much like some feedback, if anybody is interested. The card mechanic is taking shape and is pretty solid, but I'm interested in how to promote the role-playing element within what amounts to a ten minute scene repeated ten times.
* * *
INTRODUCTION
TERRA NOVA is a game about the disastrous end of Captain Robert Falcon Scott's 1912 Antarctic expedition, which claimed the lives of Scott and his four companions en route from the south pole. In it, the players will assume the roles of Scott's team, beginning on January 18, 1912 and ending with their destruction several months later. In the interim they will be forced to make brutal decisions that balance survival with humanity, the immutable laws of nature with the facile laws of men. In the end, they will fall one by one.
WHAT YOU NEED TO PLAY
There is no GM in Terra Nova, but you really should have a total of five participants. Playing with four will add some complexity, but it is possible. Playing with two or three wouldn't be any fun, and you simply can't play with six. If at all possible, play with five.
THE 1912 EXPEDITION MEMBERS
Each player will choose a member of Scott's team to play - Evans, Bowers, Oates, Wilson, or Captain Scott himself.
ABOUT SCOTT
Robert Falcon Scott, Captain, Royal Navy, C.V.O.
The moral compass for his team. He is the quintessential British officer - demanding, distant, and driven. The Captain is aloof from his team, constantly committing observations to his notebook. He desperately wants to return from the south pole but knows the odds are impossibly long. Even above that goal, he wants his men to acquit themselves like gentlemen. In the end, dying like proper Englishmen is what Terra Nova is about.
ABOUT EVANS
Edward R. G. R. Evans, Commander, Royal Navy.
"Edgar Evans has proved a useful member of our party; he looks after our sledges and sledge equipment with a care of management and a fertility of resource which is truly astonishing - on 'trek' he is just as sound and hard as ever and has an inexhaustible store of anecdote." - RFS
ABOUT BOWERS
Henry R. Bowers, Lieutenant, Royal Navy.
"Bowers insists on doing all camp work; he is a positive wonder. I never met such a sledge traveller." - RFS
ABOUT OATES
Lawrence E. G. Oates, Captain Sixth Inniskilling Dragoons.
"'The Soldier' is very popular with all--a delightfully humorous cheery
old pessimist." - RFS
ABOUT WILSON
Edward Adrian Wilson, M.A., M.B. Scientist.
"I believe he really is the finest character I ever met--the closer one gets to him the more there is to admire. Every quality is so solid and dependable; cannot you imagine how that counts down here?" - RFS
ABOUT CAPTAIN SCOTT'S PLAYER
The player who chooses the role of Captain Scott has unusual duties. Unlike the other player characters, his character has no qualities. Scott's player functions more as score-keeper and scene framer, and he does not participate in the normal way. That said, he has no adjudicatory role in play and is not really a "game master" in any accepted sense of the word. The only time he will directly interact with the other player characters is when he chooses to use his compassion.
Scott's player reads the introductory text for each scene, which is pulled directly from Scott's actual expedition notebook.
During each scene, he must note any occasion in which a character behaves in an exemplary fashion. Each mention in his final notebook entry on March 29 is a point of merit for the character so noted. The player of the character mentioned the most wins.
WHAT CONSTITUTES MERIT?
This is subjective, of course. The ideals of the era are paramount - certainly duty, honor, loyalty, perseverance, self sacrifice and denial, good cheer in the face of horrible adversity, these sorts of things all deserve mention. Usually, the player who draws the low card will be in the strongest position to earn merit, but it is highly variable. Perhaps the character who wanders off into the storm to ease his companion's burden (as the real-world Oates did) is the most meritorious of all.
QUALITIES
Characters, with the exception of Captain Scott, have four qualities:
Discipline, which when lost becomes madness.
Hope, which when crushed becomes black despair.
Strength, which when tapped becomes helplessness.
Divide seven points among these three. The resulting range is between one and five, with a five being remarkable and a one being dangerously feeble.
Captain Scott's qualities can always be assumed to be one higher than the fittest member of his team. This means that no matter what the game's outcome, Scott is the last to perish.
ABOUT COMPASSION
Compassion is a fourth quality, which when abandoned becomes indifference. It is set at two for every character except Captain Scott. Captain Scott's player gets four compassion, and can use them freely.
Before play, give every player two cards to represent their compassion. Players can look at these cards and use them whenever they like during the game - they can be used to do one of two things.
If played on the character of the indicated suit (hearts for Wilson, etc) it indicates some act of kindness that completely restores one of the recipients three qualities - discipline, hope, or strength - as indicated by the disaster table.
If played on any other character (including one's own character, which is a viable option), it increases any one quality by one point.
Once compassion is used, it is gone forever. It can be played at any time.
EXAMPLE
Sally, playing Evans, has the seven of clubs as one of her two compassion cards. With this card, at any point in the game, she can completely refresh Bowers' strength (Bowers' suit is clubs; seven on the disaster table is strength), or she can use it to raise any other quality in the game of any character, by one.
THE BREAKING POINT
When a quality falls to zero, the character is faltering. A character beyond the breaking point will rave, or scheme, or lash out. Without aid from other characters, anyone with a quality at zero cannot march on their own. They will need to be carried or pulled.
When a character descends to this state of affairs, one of three things can happen.
1. Someone can spend a point of compassion to raise the quality above zero. In this case, the character can function normally.
2. Another character can sacrifice a point in the same quality that has reached zero in their team-mate, lowering their own by one, in order to bring the degraded character along on the journey. With this option, the poor wretch remains at zero.
3. If no one is able to - or wishes to - assist, the degraded character must be abandoned, and dies immediately.
The player of a character past the breaking point has the privilege of narrating their descent into the pit.
EFFECTS OF BREAKING: RAVING
The ravings of madness are hallucinations. The ravings of despair are fantasy. The ravings of helplessness are fever dreams.
EFFECTS OF BREAKING: SCHEMING
The scheming of madness is paranoia. The scheming of despair is suicidal thought. The scheming of helplessness is deception.
EFFECTS OF BREAKING: LASHING OUT
The action of madness is destruction. The action of despair is self-destruction. The action of helplessness is consumption. A player whose character lashes out must choose to involve another character in his narration, and that player muse lower a quality of his own choice by one.
EXAMPLE
Bill, playing Wilson, is forced to lower his hope to zero. The card that caused the crisis was a nine, which indicates self destruction - Bill narrates Wilson breaking down and walking out into the blizzard in his underclothes, determined to die.
Leland, playing Oates, has a six of hearts as one of his compassion cards. If he plays it, he can completely restore Wilson's hope to its original level. Unfortunately Leland and Bill have made a show of their character's dislike for one another, and Oates isn't about the help the poor doctor.
Pete, playing Bowers, doesn't want to see the doctor die. He's out of compassion cards - if he had one, he could use it to raise Wilson's hope to one and save him. Instead, Pete narrates charging out into the storm to retrieve the suicidal doctor, sacrificing a point of his own hope just to drag him along and keep him alive another week. It's a fool's bargain, but the right thing to do.
CARD MECHANIC
At the start of each scene, read from Captain Scott's notebook. Then each player draws a card and lays it in front of them. Aces are high.
The HIGHEST CARD indicates which of the team is having a crisis:
Hearts: Wilson
Diamonds: Evans
Clubs: Bowers
Spades: Oates
The character of the player holding the high card is the instigator or observer of the trouble, and narrates the outcome. It is possible for the harm to be self-inflicted, or for a player to narrate for their own character.
The LOWEST CARD indicates the nature of the crisis, and the player holding this card narrates the circumstances. Every crisis hinges on either discipline, hope, or strength. The victim of the crisis reduces the associated quality (determined by the low card) by one.
A scene is framed involving at least these two characters, and possibly all four.
Ties result in crises that involve multiple characters, or that have multiple causes.
If a character is dead, that character's player continues to draw cards. If either high or low card is set to affect them, instead it affects all the survivors. This provides excellent motivation for keeping all the characters alive.
DISASTER TABLE
LOW CARD DISASTER AT ZERO?
2 Discipline Hallucinations
3 Hope Fantasy
4 Strength Fever dreams
5 Discipline Paranoia
6 Hope Suicidal thought
7 Strength Deception
8 Discipline Destruction
9 Hope Self destruction
10 Strength Consumption
J Group Discipline Group Destruction
Q Group Hope Group Self destruction
K Group Strength Group Consumption
If the low card is an ace (which means that every card drawn was an ace), the game ends immediately in some abrupt catastrophe. Perhaps the entire party falls into a crevasse.
EXAMPLE
Bill, Sally, Pete, and Leland are playing Terra Nova as Wilson, Evans, Bowers, and Oates respectively. They each draw a card as follows:
BILL/WILSON: 6 of clubs
SALLY/EVANS: 7 of spades
PETE/BOWERS: 4 of hearts
LELAND/OATES: Jack of hearts
Leland has the high card, a heart, so the character in crisis is Dr. Wilson. His character, Oates, will be involved somehow - either as instigator or observer. Pete has the low card, a 4, which means the crisis will revolve around Dr. Wilson's strength.
Bill, whose character is Wilson, whose suit is hearts, drew a black card, and must therefore reduce the quality of his choice by one. Leland, as Oates, drew a red card and must also suffer.
Sally, as Evans, drew a spade and suffers no penalty. Bowers also suffers no penalty.
* * *
INTRODUCTION
TERRA NOVA is a game about the disastrous end of Captain Robert Falcon Scott's 1912 Antarctic expedition, which claimed the lives of Scott and his four companions en route from the south pole. In it, the players will assume the roles of Scott's team, beginning on January 18, 1912 and ending with their destruction several months later. In the interim they will be forced to make brutal decisions that balance survival with humanity, the immutable laws of nature with the facile laws of men. In the end, they will fall one by one.
WHAT YOU NEED TO PLAY
There is no GM in Terra Nova, but you really should have a total of five participants. Playing with four will add some complexity, but it is possible. Playing with two or three wouldn't be any fun, and you simply can't play with six. If at all possible, play with five.
THE 1912 EXPEDITION MEMBERS
Each player will choose a member of Scott's team to play - Evans, Bowers, Oates, Wilson, or Captain Scott himself.
ABOUT SCOTT
Robert Falcon Scott, Captain, Royal Navy, C.V.O.
The moral compass for his team. He is the quintessential British officer - demanding, distant, and driven. The Captain is aloof from his team, constantly committing observations to his notebook. He desperately wants to return from the south pole but knows the odds are impossibly long. Even above that goal, he wants his men to acquit themselves like gentlemen. In the end, dying like proper Englishmen is what Terra Nova is about.
ABOUT EVANS
Edward R. G. R. Evans, Commander, Royal Navy.
"Edgar Evans has proved a useful member of our party; he looks after our sledges and sledge equipment with a care of management and a fertility of resource which is truly astonishing - on 'trek' he is just as sound and hard as ever and has an inexhaustible store of anecdote." - RFS
ABOUT BOWERS
Henry R. Bowers, Lieutenant, Royal Navy.
"Bowers insists on doing all camp work; he is a positive wonder. I never met such a sledge traveller." - RFS
ABOUT OATES
Lawrence E. G. Oates, Captain Sixth Inniskilling Dragoons.
"'The Soldier' is very popular with all--a delightfully humorous cheery
old pessimist." - RFS
ABOUT WILSON
Edward Adrian Wilson, M.A., M.B. Scientist.
"I believe he really is the finest character I ever met--the closer one gets to him the more there is to admire. Every quality is so solid and dependable; cannot you imagine how that counts down here?" - RFS
ABOUT CAPTAIN SCOTT'S PLAYER
The player who chooses the role of Captain Scott has unusual duties. Unlike the other player characters, his character has no qualities. Scott's player functions more as score-keeper and scene framer, and he does not participate in the normal way. That said, he has no adjudicatory role in play and is not really a "game master" in any accepted sense of the word. The only time he will directly interact with the other player characters is when he chooses to use his compassion.
Scott's player reads the introductory text for each scene, which is pulled directly from Scott's actual expedition notebook.
During each scene, he must note any occasion in which a character behaves in an exemplary fashion. Each mention in his final notebook entry on March 29 is a point of merit for the character so noted. The player of the character mentioned the most wins.
WHAT CONSTITUTES MERIT?
This is subjective, of course. The ideals of the era are paramount - certainly duty, honor, loyalty, perseverance, self sacrifice and denial, good cheer in the face of horrible adversity, these sorts of things all deserve mention. Usually, the player who draws the low card will be in the strongest position to earn merit, but it is highly variable. Perhaps the character who wanders off into the storm to ease his companion's burden (as the real-world Oates did) is the most meritorious of all.
QUALITIES
Characters, with the exception of Captain Scott, have four qualities:
Discipline, which when lost becomes madness.
Hope, which when crushed becomes black despair.
Strength, which when tapped becomes helplessness.
Divide seven points among these three. The resulting range is between one and five, with a five being remarkable and a one being dangerously feeble.
Captain Scott's qualities can always be assumed to be one higher than the fittest member of his team. This means that no matter what the game's outcome, Scott is the last to perish.
ABOUT COMPASSION
Compassion is a fourth quality, which when abandoned becomes indifference. It is set at two for every character except Captain Scott. Captain Scott's player gets four compassion, and can use them freely.
Before play, give every player two cards to represent their compassion. Players can look at these cards and use them whenever they like during the game - they can be used to do one of two things.
If played on the character of the indicated suit (hearts for Wilson, etc) it indicates some act of kindness that completely restores one of the recipients three qualities - discipline, hope, or strength - as indicated by the disaster table.
If played on any other character (including one's own character, which is a viable option), it increases any one quality by one point.
Once compassion is used, it is gone forever. It can be played at any time.
EXAMPLE
Sally, playing Evans, has the seven of clubs as one of her two compassion cards. With this card, at any point in the game, she can completely refresh Bowers' strength (Bowers' suit is clubs; seven on the disaster table is strength), or she can use it to raise any other quality in the game of any character, by one.
THE BREAKING POINT
When a quality falls to zero, the character is faltering. A character beyond the breaking point will rave, or scheme, or lash out. Without aid from other characters, anyone with a quality at zero cannot march on their own. They will need to be carried or pulled.
When a character descends to this state of affairs, one of three things can happen.
1. Someone can spend a point of compassion to raise the quality above zero. In this case, the character can function normally.
2. Another character can sacrifice a point in the same quality that has reached zero in their team-mate, lowering their own by one, in order to bring the degraded character along on the journey. With this option, the poor wretch remains at zero.
3. If no one is able to - or wishes to - assist, the degraded character must be abandoned, and dies immediately.
The player of a character past the breaking point has the privilege of narrating their descent into the pit.
EFFECTS OF BREAKING: RAVING
The ravings of madness are hallucinations. The ravings of despair are fantasy. The ravings of helplessness are fever dreams.
EFFECTS OF BREAKING: SCHEMING
The scheming of madness is paranoia. The scheming of despair is suicidal thought. The scheming of helplessness is deception.
EFFECTS OF BREAKING: LASHING OUT
The action of madness is destruction. The action of despair is self-destruction. The action of helplessness is consumption. A player whose character lashes out must choose to involve another character in his narration, and that player muse lower a quality of his own choice by one.
EXAMPLE
Bill, playing Wilson, is forced to lower his hope to zero. The card that caused the crisis was a nine, which indicates self destruction - Bill narrates Wilson breaking down and walking out into the blizzard in his underclothes, determined to die.
Leland, playing Oates, has a six of hearts as one of his compassion cards. If he plays it, he can completely restore Wilson's hope to its original level. Unfortunately Leland and Bill have made a show of their character's dislike for one another, and Oates isn't about the help the poor doctor.
Pete, playing Bowers, doesn't want to see the doctor die. He's out of compassion cards - if he had one, he could use it to raise Wilson's hope to one and save him. Instead, Pete narrates charging out into the storm to retrieve the suicidal doctor, sacrificing a point of his own hope just to drag him along and keep him alive another week. It's a fool's bargain, but the right thing to do.
CARD MECHANIC
At the start of each scene, read from Captain Scott's notebook. Then each player draws a card and lays it in front of them. Aces are high.
The HIGHEST CARD indicates which of the team is having a crisis:
Hearts: Wilson
Diamonds: Evans
Clubs: Bowers
Spades: Oates
The character of the player holding the high card is the instigator or observer of the trouble, and narrates the outcome. It is possible for the harm to be self-inflicted, or for a player to narrate for their own character.
The LOWEST CARD indicates the nature of the crisis, and the player holding this card narrates the circumstances. Every crisis hinges on either discipline, hope, or strength. The victim of the crisis reduces the associated quality (determined by the low card) by one.
A scene is framed involving at least these two characters, and possibly all four.
Ties result in crises that involve multiple characters, or that have multiple causes.
If a character is dead, that character's player continues to draw cards. If either high or low card is set to affect them, instead it affects all the survivors. This provides excellent motivation for keeping all the characters alive.
DISASTER TABLE
LOW CARD DISASTER AT ZERO?
2 Discipline Hallucinations
3 Hope Fantasy
4 Strength Fever dreams
5 Discipline Paranoia
6 Hope Suicidal thought
7 Strength Deception
8 Discipline Destruction
9 Hope Self destruction
10 Strength Consumption
J Group Discipline Group Destruction
Q Group Hope Group Self destruction
K Group Strength Group Consumption
If the low card is an ace (which means that every card drawn was an ace), the game ends immediately in some abrupt catastrophe. Perhaps the entire party falls into a crevasse.
EXAMPLE
Bill, Sally, Pete, and Leland are playing Terra Nova as Wilson, Evans, Bowers, and Oates respectively. They each draw a card as follows:
BILL/WILSON: 6 of clubs
SALLY/EVANS: 7 of spades
PETE/BOWERS: 4 of hearts
LELAND/OATES: Jack of hearts
Leland has the high card, a heart, so the character in crisis is Dr. Wilson. His character, Oates, will be involved somehow - either as instigator or observer. Pete has the low card, a 4, which means the crisis will revolve around Dr. Wilson's strength.
Bill, whose character is Wilson, whose suit is hearts, drew a black card, and must therefore reduce the quality of his choice by one. Leland, as Oates, drew a red card and must also suffer.
Sally, as Evans, drew a spade and suffers no penalty. Bowers also suffers no penalty.
- rpoppe
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- Joined: Thu Mar 09, 2006 1:50 pm
by rpoppe » Mon Mar 13, 2006 7:12 am
I'm using ingredients from package two, but obliquely, bound up with the setting - it seemed like a cop out to make "steel" a character attribute, for example - so I'm wondering if this will reflect poorly on my entry. Here's my explanation, from the game text - what do you think? Is this an appropriate use of the ingredients? I'd really welcome some feedback on my initial design and thusfar have gotten no love. --Robert
* * *
Robert Falcon Scott continually refers to his men as "hard" - these were seasoned polar veterans who volunteered for a journey into the most dangerous and inhospitable terrain on earth. Their resolve, their toughness, their steel is, in retrospect, astonishing. They walked to the south pole. In 1912. And almost returned alive.
The four of them were chosen as much for their technical expertise as for their compatibility. A year of laying depots, working with sledge and ski, had galvanized them into a tightly-knit team of single-minded professionals. Although each had a role and specialty, by necessity they thought and acted as one when it counted.
The Terra Nova expedition was governed by two sets of contradictory but immutable laws. The first were the laws of nature - merciless and implacable, utterly inimical to human survival, and incontrovertible. The second were the laws of civilization - more specifically, the laws of His Majesty King George V. The men who followed Scott to the south pole lived and died by a moral code that ignored the harsh realities of Antarctica when they interfered with the prerogatives and obligations of an English gentleman. In the end, it could be argued that this is what killed them all.
* * *
Robert Falcon Scott continually refers to his men as "hard" - these were seasoned polar veterans who volunteered for a journey into the most dangerous and inhospitable terrain on earth. Their resolve, their toughness, their steel is, in retrospect, astonishing. They walked to the south pole. In 1912. And almost returned alive.
The four of them were chosen as much for their technical expertise as for their compatibility. A year of laying depots, working with sledge and ski, had galvanized them into a tightly-knit team of single-minded professionals. Although each had a role and specialty, by necessity they thought and acted as one when it counted.
The Terra Nova expedition was governed by two sets of contradictory but immutable laws. The first were the laws of nature - merciless and implacable, utterly inimical to human survival, and incontrovertible. The second were the laws of civilization - more specifically, the laws of His Majesty King George V. The men who followed Scott to the south pole lived and died by a moral code that ignored the harsh realities of Antarctica when they interfered with the prerogatives and obligations of an English gentleman. In the end, it could be argued that this is what killed them all.
- rpoppe
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- Posts: 55
- Joined: Thu Mar 09, 2006 1:50 pm
by Graham Walmsley » Mon Mar 13, 2006 7:29 am
- Graham Walmsley
- Langur
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- Joined: Thu Mar 09, 2006 6:23 am
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