Between Past en Future

[qube]

Game rules

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In this game, we're going to make a fantasy world, and roleplay pivotal envets in them.

(1) Every player plays a god. Chose your name and your domain.
Also pick a race (this does not have to be "your" race as god, but you are considered the patron of them). And if that race existed before the starting event or not (more on that later).
Also, you'll have to decide which order you enter the world.

These will be guidelines to what your character can do, but these guidelines are very broad (for example, Afrodite, goddess of love, and patron of Satyrs can start the Troyan war (which has nothing to do with Satyrs, and is a war, dispite being goddess of love)


(2) Turn by turn we're going to make a timeline. This timeline will be determined by the things that happen, not by dates (think mythology. The Trojan war started ... one day, and it ended ... some time later. The exact dates are less important then the things that happened). Things also don't need to be added in chronological order:

- The first player can create the magnificent city of Atlantis
- The second player can create an event that Atlanis gets blown up
- The third player can create an event between those two that the Athlantians created a pact with the dwarves.

Also, and this is perhaps the hardest part: you can't take suggestions of people. This way, the created history will be a more realistic patchwork of events. The other players can ask for clarification, but you have to determine those. It's not the intent to create a history line of tropes - but patchwork cloth of events. Yes Atlantis was a beautiful city full of potential, that makes it all the more tragic that it got blown up.

(2.1) in practice: the first player ("the lens") gets to pick a topic. This can be as broad or specific as you want. Lets say Alice, the first player, picks "Sauron" everyone will make something around this topic.

(2.2) Now, the round starts.

During your turn, you can add something in about the length of one sentence somewhere in the history. You can either

- make a Period between 2 other periods

for example, Alice, the first player and God of war, says
"between The Opening of The Gate and The Cleansing, I create the Age of Sauron: this dark and dangerous period is marked by a great evil that walked the earth, Sauron"
Someone can ask "this sauron character, is he human?" , to which Alice can reply things like "yes", "no, he's an elf" or "it's unknown". The last answer might leave it open for another player to determine the race of Sauron.

- make an Event in a period

for example, Bob, God of love and patron of elves says
"12 Elven archmages, excommunicated for breaking their vow of chastity, swear vengeance and do so by combinging their magic and create Sauron"
Likewise, people can ask questions about this, if things are unclear.


- make a scene in an event.

Carla, God of the hunt says
"During the ritual, a few brave souls try to stop the ritual"

When a scene is possible to be played out by a party, this can be roleplayed (see part (3) )

However, still keeping in mind that the topic is Sauron, the 4th player, Donnie, patron of fairies says
"During the period, The Cleansing, one of the fairy folk finds the Sauron's ring, which is able to make the wearer invisible"
It's not because the topic is Sauron, you're forced stick in the timeframe The Lens made.

(2.3) at the end of a round, once everyone had a turn, The Lens (in this example, Alice) goes again gets to create another event or scene on the topic she's chosen (she can, for instance make an event on how he died). Then the next player (in the example, Bob), gets a new topic and goes 'first'.


(3) when a scene is roleplayed, everyone makes character accordingly, and this is played out. (one person, me, will have to be player & DM at the same time).

For example, to stop try and stop the elven archmages, I'd rule that everyone makes a lvl 15 character and play this out. These characters can be chosen by the gods, someone who's immortal and thus able to partake in all the scense, etc ...
Typically you'd make someone that is the race of your chosen.

Extra clarification

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Race: you are not limited to the 'typical' fantasy races. You can chose one of them, yes, or you can invent something else. We're making our own fantasy world here.

The lens / topic: the point of this mechanism is to flesh out the timeline around something - but as history goes, not everything always goes according to plan. For example, the US today probbably isn't the US as Washington envisioned it. Some things went right, some things went wrong (from his perspective). That's why each player gets to make a decision for a topic, but the person who started the topic, gets two things.

Starting situation

Period: The Opening of The Gate
In a world, where the old gods have fought and died or left, a mystical portal opens.

Event: God 1 steps through the portal, into the world
Event: God 2 steps through the portal, into the world
Event: God 3 steps through the portal, into the world
Event: God 4 steps through the portal, into the world
Event: God 5 steps through the portal, into the world

Period: The Cleansing
The Cleansing is an apocalyptic event

Event: Thoughout the world a the sound of a single bell is heard. The Cleansing has begin.
Event: Thoughout the world a the sound of a single bell is heard for the fifth time, the world is Cleansed.