Microscope (Inactive)

Game Master Pirate Rob

Humanity spreads to the stars and forges a galactic civilization...

Fledgling nations arise from the ruins of the empire...

An ancient line of dragon-kings dies out as magic fades from the realm...

These are all examples of Microscope games.

In Microscope you build an epic history as you play, but you don't play the history from start to finish, marching along in chronological order. Instead, you build your history from the outside in. You start off knowing the big picture, the grand scheme of what happens, then you dive in and explore what happened in between, the how and why that shaped events.

You are free to jump backwards or forwards, zooming in or out to look at whatever you want, defying limits of time and space. Want to leap a thousand years into the future and see how an institution shaped society? Want to jump back to the childhood of the king you just saw assassinated and find out what made him such a hated ruler? That's normal in Microscope.

You have vast creative authority. You can make whole empires rise and fall at will. Dream up a utopia or destroy one with nuclear fire. You have that power, but remember you're not alone: every else at the table can do it too.

You create independently, but not in isolation. Each facet you add to history builds on what other players built before you. You expand on their ideas and the expand on yours. History might not turn out the way you expected. Be prepared to think on your feet.

When you zoom all the way in to a particular moment in time, all the players share the stage and role-play together to find out something we want to learn about the history. Did the crew of the Icarus know the aliens were in Titan? Did the rebels really fake the government crackdown? Do the knights remember the original meaning of their ritual vows? We role-play and see.

The more you play, the more your once simple summary becomes a detailed tapestry, full of meaning and surprises. History snowballs.

The author of the game says I should read this part to you because it's really important: All of us have equal creative power. At times we'll have different roles and authority, but we're all equal participants and authors.

It may sound like I'm running the game because I'm going to be explaining a lot about the rules, and I may interrupt and jump in to clarify how the game is played. But I don't have any more authority than anyone else when it oomes to actually playing the game -- there's no GM.

Some stops of the world building are collaborative, while some are individual.

Our first step is coming up with the big picture. If there was 1 line to summarize what happens, but leaves out all the details, this would be it.

Examples:

• An ancient empire rises and falls
  
• Cavemen at the dawn of time found the first civilization
  
• Mankind leave the sick Earth behind and spreads out to the stars.
  

This bit we're welcome to discuss and agree on a big picture.

Personally I think I'm in the mood for some sort of fantasy, not quite sure of anything else though.

Feel free to say hi and post your thoughts on our pig picture.

Hello everyone! Really glad to get in on this. I've wanted to try out a Fiasco/Microscope game for awhile. So, to jump right in...

In line with a fantasy setting... my mind is going towards this as a Big Picture:

Magic ebbs and flows along the ley lines of the world, rising and falling with empires great and small.

How's that? :)

Yarr, Hawkwen Agricola is our 3rd so far but his posting has been a little slower than normal the last yew days, something about a little baby at home and it sounds like we've got Furst as our 4th.

Hehehe howdy all! This sounds like fun!

I immediately thought REALLY big picture...

This is it...the Universe was ending.

Hehe, both great summaries

Magic ebbs and flows along the ley lines of the world, rising and falling with empires great and small.

This is it...the Universe was ending.

My preference is more towards the ley lines bits but I'm not too committed.

As a note, after this initial cooperative brainstorming bit there's some more organized turn based stuff.

Hehehe I'm fine with that, I just tend to start waaaaaay at the beginning or end when building.

In addendum to it:

Great constructions and war engines are still discovered from ages past where magic ebbed, and strange, arcane contraptions from when magic waxed.

That's probably a little more detail than the big picture should go into.

The book suggests we'll get a better history if we treat it like poker, and hold our best ideas close to our chest.

How about:

A civilization rises from the ashes of its varied past.

?

Hey everyone! Sorry, Pirate Rob had linked this to me, but I hadn't clicked it/didn't realize it was underway!

Hey Pendin! I was in your Mythic CotCT playtest and of course we were in Rob's Thornkeep.

Hey Kiradia! Nice to meet you.

Hmmm, it make take a few days to get my thought process in order.

How does this sound:

Like a plant cut at the ground, only to sprout once again, civilizations rise again from deep roots.

Ohh, I like that even better.

I remember Hawkwen! Good to see you again!

I like that too!

Baring any objections from Kiradia, I'm going to set that as our overall description and move on to step 2: Bookend History

Our history will be divided into periods Each period is a very large chunk of time, probably decades or centuries.

Describe how our history begis and ends. These are our starting and ending periods, the bookends of our history. We'll add more periods later on, but everything will be between these points.

1)Agree on a short description for each peroid, just a few sentances or paragraph at most, painting a clear picture of what happens during this time.

2)Decide whether each description is Light or Dark, whether what happens during that period is generally happy or tragic, This is the tone of each period. The tone of the starting and ending period do not have to match.

Our concept is "mankind leaves the sick Earth behind and spreads out into the stars." We decide to have a light starting period and a dark ending period.

Start Period (Light): Earth is in sad shape, but mankind unites to face the challenge and make a new life among the stars, It's not easy, but it's a time of hope and unity.

End Period (Dark): Humanity is scattered across a myriad of star systems with no central connection or core identity. Isolated and alone, humanity fades into stagnation.

I'm imagining a dark beginning where a mighty civilization has just fallen, plunging the world into despair.

No coherent thoughts on an ending yet though.

Thoughts from everybody else?

As a note there is one more collaborative setup step after this before we get into playing the game. As a preview of rules to come: There are 3 levels of history we are going to be looking at.

As a note I linked this to a campaign and added a basic description. I have not yet added a gameplay thread.

Are we wanting high magic or low magic?

If low magic, I would suggest the beginning of a period of ebbing magic along the ley lines. Spells are failing and magical constructs (including buildings) are falling apart, magical pieces of land are having earthquakes and steam ventings from the lack of magic holding it together. Perhaps a mighty military nation has risen to try and bring order to the world but imposes strict martial law. Executing curfew breakers type of strict.

If high magic, the opposite, the beginning of a waxing of magical powers along the ley lines, still leading to earthquakes and steam ventings. Instead of a singular nation perhaps it has become more of an outlaw type world...everyone can tap into the waxing magic so everyone is flinging it everywhere leaving wide swathes of magical destruction and odd deformities, both terrain and folk.

I was imagining it would vary drastically from period to period, some would be high magic and some would be low depending on the leylines etc.

I think either of those starting bits sounds awesome though.

So, I've been giving the beginning and ending some thought and building off of Pendin's ideas...

Beginning (Dark): A low magic time, the ley lines ebbing in their power. Spells fail and magical constructs fall apart constantly. Earthquakes and magical vents rip apart the land. The mighty military nation builds its power on the rise of technology and science(!). Order is slowly restored over the centuries following.

Ending (Light?): After many many centuries of the ley lines ebbing and flowing, science and magic warring with each other in more cycles than can be counted, a shift has begun, with the possibility to change the very nature of the world. Some have begun to mix science and magic, leading to the development of arcano-science.

What do you guys think? I know its kind of adding the whole "science" thing to the mix, but I thought it could be interesting.

Kiradia sounds exciting, I'd leave the last sentence off the opening though, what happens in the centuries following is not yet decided and is what we'll be playing :)

Ending is nice too, but I think should be more what's going on there, rather than talking about the previous stuff.

Something like: The very nature of the world has changed. Science and magic intertwined begin a new age.

Others have thoughts about the mix of science etc?

I am definitely fine with mixing in science...I was going to suggest a steampunk/techno-fantasy world for the low magic setting but wasn't sure if that was everyone's cup of tea so I went with military nation.

I'd see it more though in a waning period of magic. Folk are desperately trying to cling to magic-like effects and turn thusly to science...Although now that I really think about it that seems like a good middle. Arcanoscience. Happens somewhere in the juxtaposition period.

We could also go the FF VI (US III) route and say that this particular age an atrocious science is emerging where the very essence of magic is being warped into scientific monstrosities.

I am a fan of steampunk/techno fantasy, but am also fine with just fantasy.

Working on the bookends.

Remember that we're only talking about the beginning and end, what happens in the middle is still to be seen.

Actually, this is probably a good time to work on the last bit of prep, and we can polish up our bookends when we're done.

Step 3: Palette - Add or Ban Ingredients

Next you take a step back and create your history's Palette. The {alette is a list of things the players agree to reserve the right to include or, conversely, outright ban. It gets everybody on the same page about what belongs in the history and what doesn't.

1) Each player can add one thing, either a Yes or a No.

Add something to the Yes column if you think other players would not expect it to be in the history, but you want to be able to include it.

Add something to the No column if you think the other players would expect it to be in the history, but you don't want it included.

Players can go in any order. You don't have to add anything to the Palette if you don't want to.

2) If every player did add something (either a Yes or a No), repeat step 1: each player has the option to go again. If someone opted not to add soemthing, stop; your Palette is done. In the end, no player will have addd two things more than anyone else.

Feel free to discuss and negotiate. No one should be unhappy about what winds up added or banned on the Palette.

If something is in the Yes category, then during the rest of the game it's okay to introduce it into the history even if it doesn't seem like it fits. You've all agreed it belongs.

If something is in the No column, it's okay to bring into the game, no matter what. You've all agreed it's not part of the history.

One player puts "habitable worlds" in the No section. People have to live in artifical habitats, biodomes, space stations, or ship. Another player asks if terraformed worlds would be okay, but the fist player doesn't want that either. The other players decide to go along with it.

Another player adds "aliens" to the Yes column; she's not sure the other players want aliens in this setting, so she wants to find out now. Other players want to keep space mysterious, so after some discussion a different player adds "communication with aliends" to the No section. There may turn out to be aliens in the game, but there will be no way to talk to them.

The Palette is your last chance to freely negotiate and build group consensus about your history. Your choices tell the other players what kind of game you want to play, helping you avoid bad surprises and misunderstandings later on. If there's a big disagreement about the kind of things you want in your history, now's the time to find out and walk about it.

---
I have created us a Google Doc with our game so far. Please add times to yes/no as you add them.

For our first item, I'm going to add "No Instant Communication" to the no palette.

Sure teleportation may be possible, but there's no way to send messages ahead faster than people. Short range communication is okay but talking to the next kingdom over actually requires sending somebody to do it.

Pirate Rob, do you mean that to include technological ways to send "instant" communication. By that I mean, how "instant" are we talking? No quantum entanglement messages/sending spells (for super silliness) or do you mean no telephones/internet ever?

As for me... I think I'd like to add No sentient monsters. By that I mean bestial creatures that would have no reason to evolve intelligence as a survival trait. To draw on fantasy tropes, that would include creatures like dragons or minotaurs.

I'm ok with both of those things...especially in a low magic and emerging tech period.

Hmmm...what would I want to add?

I would like to add Alternate or parallel universes to the Yes column. By this I mean that I'd like the possibility of exploring magic's source or the First World (whatever we'd end up calling it) or something like that and I don't necessarily think it should be planar or have things like the plane of fire.

Added it to the doc in the Yes section with a question mark to get everyone's feelings on it.

I meant like no telephones/internet/sending spells etc. Networking and short range communication is fine but if you want to go talk to the neighboring kingdom etc, it's got to be done in person. I'm willing to reconsider if you think this will be a problem.

Maybe a radio that goes 50 miles, but that's stretching it.

Both the other bits sound good, just waiting on Hawkwen Agricola for round 1 of the Palette

I don't have any problems with it really, I'm just curious if you have an explanation why telephones and such don't work in this world? Maybe electromagnetics don't interact well with the ley lines? Just want to understand. :)

I hadn't thought of a reason why, I just remembered as a rule from Traveler that I liked, although in that case it was no faster than light communication and was easier to explain.

Sorry, I have a somewhat pondering mind, so I tend to think too long about things.

What I've come up with so far:

Yes

More than a single sentient race.

No

Sexual reproduction or sexual dimorpism.

I was thrashing around for a no, and thought I'd pick something from left field. I have been trying to come up with something that avoids common themes, tropes, ect....that's really hard.

I can elaborate on my yes and no, but my understanding is we're not to do that yet?

Edit: Perhaps the no only applies to sentient beings.

They should come with a bit of explanation and we're allowed to discuss etc.

Those are both great additions to the palette.

As per your edit I do think it is more reasonable if the "No Sexual reproduction or sexual dimorpism." applies only to sentient races.

Go ahead and add them to the doc.

Also we're on round 2 of this so everybody is free to add another element if they like.

Explanation: So I have been envisioning a world where there is not birth per se, but a "will" or "soul" matures to the point where it takes form and spontaneously propagates. There is still birth, but the "will" seeks out a suitable, nurturing "surrogate" and gestates. So anyone can become pregnant and becoming so represents a "blessing" as it reflects highly upon your nature. Races come into play as different/variant character traits. (i.e. Innocent/Inquisitive=Gnome, Aloof/Wise=Elf, Industrious/Driven=Human, ect.. *examples only) So "wills" with those traits seek out "surrogates" with the same traits, giving rise to "races".

I've finally picked up my thought process and have a bunch more, but I don't want to unduly influence, so I'll leave it there for now.

Edit: I realized I forgot that it was supposed to be a No or Yes, so I have my round two in as well.

That sort of detail is more than goes in the palette. Exactly how or why people reproduce is something we can explore during the game. Maybe it'll work out the way you imagine, maybe it'll work out some other way.

I will not add anything new to the palette, meaning that round 2 is the final round of the palette.

My bad, I wasn't quite sure how much or how little to explain.

'Sall good. This game is quite unique, I'm excitied about what we've got going so far though :)

BTW, Happy pi Day!

Kiradia/Pendin Fust You both get to add one more item to the palette before we move on.

Hey, sorry I haven't posted yet. I'm still considering my item for the palette. Its a hard choice. I'll put up something later tonight once I get home from my FLGS.

I don't have anything else to add :) I'm quite open to a whole HOST of possibilities.

Alright, just waiting on Kiradia to finish up the palette phase.

Hey all, sorry, I thought I'd made my post already.

After awhile spending time considering all kinds of things, I've decided that a little bit of silliness is in order. As my final palette choice, I'd like to add this to the yes column:

Dinosaurs. Enough said. :)

OMG AGREED!

Sounds Great!
I'll post some more this afternoon.

Step 4: First Pass

Group decisions are now over. For the rest of the game, each player makes decisions individually and has vast power to shape history.

Each player now gets to add more detail to the history, creating either a new period or event. Players can go in any order they want.

To add a peroid, place it between any two adjacent peroids, then give a short description of what happens during that time. Say if if the Tone is light or dark.

An Event is a specific thing that happens inside a period, like a prince seizing the throne or a colony ship arriving on a new world. To add a new event decide what period the event is in. If there are already other events in that period, place it before or after one of them. An event must be inside an existing period. Tell the other players what happens during the event, say if the tone is light or dark.

I added a (Light) period where Ruins of the First City are uncovered, leading to a renaissance of philosophy and spirituality.

Each of you gets to add a period or scene of your choice. I can provide more examples/explanations if anybody wants.

Added a (Dark) period where the focal points for the ley lines of magic are put under military guard by the V’rek Dominion. This leads to an extended period of an inability to study the sources of magic and how to bring back a higher level of magical activity.

That's beautifuk and way better than mine Pendin :)

Leads to great questions later like who/what is the V'rek Dominion. How did they start, how (if/when?) do they fall?

I love it.

Thanks...but yours gave me the impetus! Team writing...love it!