Another announcement for 2014: The Gauntlet Anthology series!
In an effort to keep our little gaming cult the most feverishly forward-thinking in all of Houston, I am pleased to announce there will be a new Friday event series for 2014. It will be called The Gauntlet Anthology. Here’s the idea: we create and explore different aspects of a single game universe, using multiple game systems to do so.
Here’s how it might go: We start with something like Microscope, which will let us create a world, and will give us a bird’s eye view of its history. From there, we use different games to tell different stories within that world. Is there a particular faction or organization we’d like to know more about? Maybe we play Kingdom next week. Is there a particular era of the world’s history that intrigues us? Maybe we do In a Wicked Age. Is there an ancient temple that needs exploring? Let’s do Dungeon World or Dungeon Crawl Classics or 13th Age. Is there a standout hero or NPC we’d like to know more about? Let’s do Becoming or Archipelago.
There are lots of different directions it could go, but here are the principles that will guide this endeavor:
1. We will keep a record in Google Drive that any member of The Gauntlet can have access to.
2. Anthology events will always be public. That way, anyone can drop-in when they have a free night and contribute to the world.
3. We will get a variety of games to the table. OSR, story, traddy – all are fair game.
4. Each session, regardless of the game being played, will have the Archipelago command phrases in play (“Try another way,” “Harder,” and “Describe that in detail”).
5. No single person owns this world. It is for the whole Community.
I will be the first to admit this is an ambitious plan, but let me assure you it will succeed. By the end of 2014, I expect we will have a rich and intriguing and unique game world to be proud of. I hope many of you will embrace this idea. Feel free to chime-in below with your thoughts.
Sounds amazing!
Sounds amazing!
This is going to be one hell of an epic
This is going to be one hell of an epic
Sean Smith I believe it will be. Also, a fair amount of credit is owed to Rob Ferguson and Derek Grimm for the idea.
Sean Smith I believe it will be. Also, a fair amount of credit is owed to Rob Ferguson and Derek Grimm for the idea.
Sounds very cool! Suggestion for using Dawn of Worlds as a means of telling a creation story for the world and getting some cartography together. Not sure if that would constrain Microscope, though.
Sounds very cool! Suggestion for using Dawn of Worlds as a means of telling a creation story for the world and getting some cartography together. Not sure if that would constrain Microscope, though.
Alan Schwing That was a thought I had as well. It would mean some constraints, but if we use logic we should be able to work through them
Alan Schwing That was a thought I had as well. It would mean some constraints, but if we use logic we should be able to work through them
Alan Schwing and Derek Grimm I don’t know enough about Dawn of Worlds to make a call. Would it be played in place of Microscope or in addition to? What’s the two-sentence gist of it? What are the conflicts and restrictions? I remember Alan posting it awhile back, but I haven’t looked at much of it yet.
Alan Schwing and Derek Grimm I don’t know enough about Dawn of Worlds to make a call. Would it be played in place of Microscope or in addition to? What’s the two-sentence gist of it? What are the conflicts and restrictions? I remember Alan posting it awhile back, but I haven’t looked at much of it yet.
Jason Cordova I think it could be played in addition. It is basically a game where the players are gods creating a world (cartography/drawing and modifying the world map plays a big role) and the people and cultures in it.
The primary conflict I would expect is if you played Dawn first to create the world, when you played Microscope to create the history you would already have somewhat of a historical framework (this culture rose to dominance at a certain time, a calamity occurred at another time, etc.) instead of the blank slate Microscope assumes.
It would be worth taking a look at, as it isn’t very long and looks fun (at least to me).
Jason Cordova I think it could be played in addition. It is basically a game where the players are gods creating a world (cartography/drawing and modifying the world map plays a big role) and the people and cultures in it.
The primary conflict I would expect is if you played Dawn first to create the world, when you played Microscope to create the history you would already have somewhat of a historical framework (this culture rose to dominance at a certain time, a calamity occurred at another time, etc.) instead of the blank slate Microscope assumes.
It would be worth taking a look at, as it isn’t very long and looks fun (at least to me).
Derek Grimm I’ll definitely take a look. In the spirit of the project, I’d like to get as many different games to the table as possible. If there is a way to do both, that would be sweet.
Derek Grimm I’ll definitely take a look. In the spirit of the project, I’d like to get as many different games to the table as possible. If there is a way to do both, that would be sweet.
Jason Cordova The version I have is only 12 pages, but I tend to have out of date files, so there may be a newer, longer version out.
Jason Cordova The version I have is only 12 pages, but I tend to have out of date files, so there may be a newer, longer version out.
Jason Cordova and Derek Grimm I’m not entirely sure how Microscope works, but my thoughts with Dawn of Worlds were to fill in gaps or create more hooks for future gaming. Additionally, it would serve to do some basic cartography. Specifically, you could:
a) Flesh out the “distant past” and create a distant creation myth type tale (think Silmarilion to the LotR). You could choose to dovetail into where microscope begins or work from where microscope has already laid down cannon and play towards a specific resolution. So, increase the depth of scope.
b) Work away from the microscope work and flesh out other regions of the world. This could be used to organically make some other regions. In a fantasy context, maybe this is the “land across the sea/mountains” or even a neighboring nation.
c) Curtail a lot of DoW and use it only as a cartography generatior. Maybe force each player to be a particular Deity or “Power” and require only the use of terrain generation. Further limitations could require incorporation of major microscope events. Might be too much rail-roading, though.
Jason Cordova and Derek Grimm I’m not entirely sure how Microscope works, but my thoughts with Dawn of Worlds were to fill in gaps or create more hooks for future gaming. Additionally, it would serve to do some basic cartography. Specifically, you could:
a) Flesh out the “distant past” and create a distant creation myth type tale (think Silmarilion to the LotR). You could choose to dovetail into where microscope begins or work from where microscope has already laid down cannon and play towards a specific resolution. So, increase the depth of scope.
b) Work away from the microscope work and flesh out other regions of the world. This could be used to organically make some other regions. In a fantasy context, maybe this is the “land across the sea/mountains” or even a neighboring nation.
c) Curtail a lot of DoW and use it only as a cartography generatior. Maybe force each player to be a particular Deity or “Power” and require only the use of terrain generation. Further limitations could require incorporation of major microscope events. Might be too much rail-roading, though.
Alan Schwing and Derek Grimm Having just read Dawn of Worlds, here are my thoughts:
I like DoW a lot. In fact, I think it would be neat to do it first to create the main continent of our game world (along with geographic features) and to define the main civilizations/nations. From there, we could use Microscope to detail the history of a specific civilization/kingdom, since Microscope lets you get into the weeds a little more.
If certain things took place in DoW (a great war or catastrophe, for example), we would just need to be certain to include it in the Microscope game as necessary.
Alan Schwing and Derek Grimm Having just read Dawn of Worlds, here are my thoughts:
I like DoW a lot. In fact, I think it would be neat to do it first to create the main continent of our game world (along with geographic features) and to define the main civilizations/nations. From there, we could use Microscope to detail the history of a specific civilization/kingdom, since Microscope lets you get into the weeds a little more.
If certain things took place in DoW (a great war or catastrophe, for example), we would just need to be certain to include it in the Microscope game as necessary.