tyrants 3: the Palace Gates

[redivider]

I'm posting draft rules for the first three games in the overall Tyrants game I'm working on. If administrators think that posting three 5-6 page posts the same night is excessive, I'm happy to stagger them, but prefer to put them out in clusters since they are parts of a whole.

The explanation of the concept is here:

http://www.indie-rpgs.com/viewtopic.php?t=11277

Any feedback on this game is welcome. Here are some specific questions:


1. is this too heavy on the 'create on the fly' side of things for most role players?
2. Is the explanation of the story grid method understandable? By the way, that whole deal with creating grids and lists of story elements keyed to different rooms in a building is basically exactly how the author George Perec wrote his novel Life: A User's Manual. Except he did it on a far grander scale.
3. Does it make sense to have the option of scoring/grading stories?

The Palace Gates

(Game 3 of Nine Short Games About Tyrants)


"Over the weekend the vultures got into the presidential palace by pecking through the screens on the balcony windows and the flapping of their wings stirred up the stagnant time inside, and at dawn on Monday the city awoke out of its lethargy of centuries with the warm, soft breeze of a great man dead and rotting grandeur. Only then did we dare go in without attacking the crumbling walls of reinforced stone, as the more resolute had wished, and without using oxbows to knock the main door off its hinges, as others had proposed, because all that was needed was for someone to give a push and the great armored doors that had resisted the lombards of William Dampier during the building's heroic days gave way. It was like entering the atmosphere of another age, because the air was thinner in the rubble pits of the vast lair of power, and the silence was more ancient, and things were hard to see in the decrepit light."

-- Gabriel Garcia Marquez, The Autumn of the Patriarch


Game Summary. The Tyrant, so ancient he seemed deathless, has finally succumbed to the ravages of age. At first stunned, then curious, then elated with the news, the people break into the Dictator's palace, revealing his lavish quarters, sordid dungeons, and heaped collections. This game plays like a surreal episode of "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous" or "Cribs." Room by room the artifacts of the Tyrant's long reign are brought to light. Players sift through this detritus of a lifetime of power to create stories of the Leader's rise, routines, and eccentricities.



1. Choose Method of Inspiration
a. In The Palace Gates, players take turns telling stories about the Tyrant's life and motivations based on objects or rooms found in the deceased Tyrant's dwelling. The game suggests six methods for inspiring these stories. Some of these methods require a small amount of advance preparation. Before you play, choose which method (or methods) you will be using.
b. Five of the methods focus on objects:
 Free-form. Players think up and describe an object when it's their turn.
 Brainstorm. Before the game starts, players come up with a list of objects. During play, player are randomly assigned objects from the list.
 Pre-generated. As Brainstorm, except players use a long, pre-generated list included with the game.
 Grab-bag. Players draw small objects, slips of paper with names of objects, and pictures of objects out of a receptacle.
 Scavenger Hunt. The room or house you're meeting in becomes the template for the Tyrant's Palace. Players place numbered sticky notes on objects around in your location. Players pick numbers, then locate the corresponding tagged object.
c. The sixth method is more expansive than one object at a time. It uses Grids to generate a list of several elements (objects, people, time periods, moods, etc.) that players try to incorporate into their story.
d. Whatever method you choose, proceed to step 2. Then, if you are using any of the object-based methods, the rules continue in steps 3 through 5. If you are playing the game using only the Grids method, skip to steps 6 through 8.

2. Set the Context
a. Players should agree on at least one fact about the Leader's residence: what does it look like from the outside? (A squat fortress of darkened brick, a high wall enclosing a verdant estate with the buildings hidden by neatly pruned trees, etc.)
b. Optionally, players can also establish a few other baseline facts about the Palace. These are optional because players might decide that they would rather leave these questions open, and wait for game play to provide answers. If players decide to establish additional facts, they can either try to reach consensus on the information, or take turns stating one additional fact per player.
 How old is the building?
 Was it always the residence of the nation's Leader?
 Is it only a residence, or does it also house assorted governmental functions?
c. Optionally, players can establish a few facts about the Leader and the nation. These are optional because players may want to leave these questions open, and wait for game play to provide answers. If players decide to establish facts about the Leader, they can either try to reach consensus on all the information, or take turns stating one fact per player.
 What is the Leader's name and title?
 What is the name of the country the Leader ruled?
 What is the Leader's basic ideology and the nation's form of government?
 How long did the Leader rule?
 How did the Leader die?
d.   (Again Optionally) players may identify a few of the people who are exploring the dead Leader's residence. These intruders are not characters controlled by the players. Players will be instead acting as omniscient narrators: telling stories about the Leader and his life and the Palace and its history. But players can reference the explorers' discovery of the objects and rooms that will be the basis of the stories told. If players decide to identify intruders, they should take turns stating the name and profession of one of the people who have broken into the Leader's residence.

3. Identify Object
a. Players take turns describing rooms in the Leader's residence. At a minimum, players must name a room or provide a brief description (a bedroom, a small room lined with shelves, etc.)
 Players can provide more detail if they want.
 Players can narrate as if there were a camera moving throughout the building ("the marble stairway opens up into a vast, formal ballroom") or, if they chose to identify intruders, can focus on those persons' passage through the residence. ("Louis the taxi driver pushes open the door and coughs as a cloud of dust stirs up from a child's bedroom that looks like it froze in time for 30 years.)
b. After describing a room, the player identifies an object found in that room. The object can be a single item or a set or collection of similar items. Each of the object-based methods provides a different way of choosing what the object is:
 Free-form. Players think up and describe an object when it's their turn.
 Brainstorm. Before the game starts, players come up with lists of objects (by writing them down individually or having a brainstorm session with one player writing down the ideas). Merge all the ideas into one master list, and number the objects on this list. Players take turns randomly generated a number corresponding to an object on the list.
 Pre-Generated. There is a list of X objects provided in the appendix to The Palace Gates. Players roll X dice to choose an object from the list. If a player rolls an object that has already been picked, roll again. If a player rolls an object that is not appropriate to the setting that you have established, either modify the object to fit with your location and time period, or re-roll.
 Grab-bag. Players should bring small objects, slips of paper with names of objects, and pictures of interesting things. Place all these items and papers into a bag or box. Players take turns drawing an object/image/name.
 Scavenger Hunt. The room or house you're meeting in becomes the template for the Tyrant's Palace. Each player gets 3-10 small, numbered sticky notes. Make a duplicate set of numbered scraps of paper. Either assign each player one room or just give all players the options of wandering throughout the house. Players stick the numbered tags on or next to different objects (books, curios, furniture, etc.). Be sure to respect your host's privacy. Stay out of any rooms that are off limits, don't dig through closed dressers and cabinets, and don't stick the notes directly on anything that could be marred by adhesives.) After the tags have been placed, players take turns picking one of the numbered scraps. Players then locate the tagged object with the same number and use it for their narration.
c. As an option, players can switch steps 3a. and 3b. That way, they identify an object first, then describe a room that it would be appropriate to find the object in.
d. After all players have described a room and identified an object in the room, proceed to step 4.

4. Tell Stories based on the Object
a.    Now we have reached the heart of the game. Players take turns telling brief stories inspired by the objects "found" in the Palace. First, all players spend a few minutes thinking up the outline of a story that directly or indirectly illustrate some facet of the Tyrant's life. These anecdotes can be about the Tyrant, the Tyrant's governing style, the long shadow the Tyrant casts over those around him and the entire nation, the history of the Palace, etc.   Objects can catalyze stories in a variety of ways. Some categories of relationships between objects and the Tyrant are:
 Collections: Are they the result of ordinary, hobbies and past-times, or the fruit of borderline obsessions? (Three words: Imelda Marcos' shoes).
 Evidence: what items or documents would prosecutors seize to help prove the Tyrant's crimes in a court of law? Was Tyrant concealing these tell-tale objects, or brazenly displaying them?
 Extravagances: gold-plated toilet fixtures, menageries of exotic animals, private jets, fourteen splinters of the true cross: nothing shouts wealth and power like conspicuous consumption. What's the point of looting the public coffers if you don't acquire a few luxuries along the way? And what emptiness is the Leader trying to fill with all that bling?
 Fashions: just because he was absolute Leader doesn't mean he didn't have style. What image was the Tyrant trying to present through the clothes he wore and via the décor of his residence? Was he successful, or did visitors come away with a different impression than intended?
 Gifts: presents the Tyrant received from flunkies, supplicants, foreign ambassadors, family members etc. What would you give the man who has everything (because he can seize anything he desires)?
 Heroes: portraits of or artifacts from famous historical figures (or lesser-known role models). Who did the Tyrant idolize? What does this say about how he saw himself?
 Insignia: where there is a Leader, there is a hierarchy trailing below, with markers of the different ranks and status. How are these ranks symbolized and differentiated? Does the Tyrant revel in the trappings of Emperor, or maintain Spartan habits as if he were still a humble soldier?
 Libraries: assuming the Tyrant could read, what books and tracts inspired him or reinforced his ideology? Which genres and authors did he actually read for pleasure? And which classics that he's never cracked open are prominently displayed to suggest vast erudition?
 Loot: baubles pried from broken enemies, expropriated from subjects, permanently "loaned" from museums, or shipped back from conquered nations. Did any of the plunder mean something to the Leader, or did he just revel in the taking? What did the stolen objects mean to or say about their prior owners?
 Petitions:  the pleas and requests of his subjects, from formal petitions to tear-stained letters to bravado-fueled demands. Which were read, let alone answered, which left to gather dust? Which touched the heart of a bureaucrat; which prompted a night-time visit from the secret police?
 Red Herrings: sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. Might some object imply something entirely wrong about the Leader? Are there false rumor about some possessions and its associations with the Tyrant?
 Rosebuds": Some apparently mundane objects are keys to formative event in the Tyrant's life. Why did he keep that item all these years? What memories and feelings does it unlock?
 Shrines: arranged in homage to a person living or dead – beloved parents, revered gurus, fallen comrades, unrequited loves. Who is honored, why, and through what medium?
 Totems: belief systems embodied in material form. What symbols marked the Leader's ideology? Which spoke to his superstitions and faiths?
 Trophies: related to loot, but more personal, and not necessarily object of high intrinsic value. Did the Tyrant keep things that reminded him of milestones along his rise to power? Did he gloat over objects formerly owned by vanquished rivals? Smile as he sorted through momentos of long-past sexual conquests?
 Vices: everyone has temptations, and the Tyrant had the wealth and power to indulge to his heart's delight. Was it drink, drugs, gambling, haute cuisine, junk food, pornography, pain, pleasure, or a little of each?
b. Next, players take turns telling a story inspired by their object. The stories can, but don't need to, build upon stories and facts that have already been told. Stories should be brief. Players should not talk for more than a few minutes.
c. After all players have had a turn telling a story, repeat steps 2 and 3 to assign new objects and tell more stories.

5.   Optional Point System to Grade Stories
a. If players want to add a competitive angle to the game or keep track of how well they are crafting interesting stories, they can grade each other's creative efforts. This is entirely optional. If everyone agrees to use the point system, all players should have a piece of paper to keep notes. Divide and label the paper so there is a column for every player.
b. After each player finishes telling a story, the other players should write down the name of the object the story was inspired by and then mark down a point score for the story. The point system is as follows:
 1-3 points for narrative quality. Grant 3 points for stories that rank high in terms of interest, organization, style, etc. 2 points for stories that were average. 1 point for efforts that didn't quite measure up as stories.
 1-3 points for use of the object. How well was the object used to inspire or organize the story?
 Up to 3 points (plus or minus) for coherence or incoherence with earlier stories. If a story references a fact or element told in an earlier story, and uses or builds upon that fact in a meaningful way, grant +1 points to the player telling the current story and go back and add ½ point to the player whose story provided the inspiration. On the other hand, if the current story contradicts a meaningful fact or element described in an earlier story, subtract 1 point from the current story and go back and subtract ½ pt from the earlier story. Grant pluses or minuses for up to 3 references. If the story references earlier stories more than 3 times, only grade the three references that are the most clear and/or significant.
c. Players should decide whether to reveal the points granted after each story, or to wait until the end of the game and then reveal the points given.

5. Create Story Grids
a. The Grids method requires some preparation. Players create grids keyed to short lists of story elements. The boxes in the grids represent rooms in the Leader's palace. Players take turns moving from room to room (from box to box in the grids) and telling stories that incorporate most or all of the story elements keyed to that room.
b. First, decide how many story elements you want to have in each room. Pick a number that is a multiple of 2. Story elements are like ingredients that players will try to incorporate into their stories. So the higher the number is, the more sources of inspiration you'll have. But if you set a high number of story elements, it will also be more challenging to include most or all of these elements into a single story in a meaningful way. 2 elements should be easy. 4-6 elements provide a good middle ground. 8+ will be a challenge.
c. Divide the number of story elements you chose in half and add one. This is how many grids you will need. For example, if you decided to have 6 story elements, you will need 4 grids. Take one piece of paper per grid.
d. Next, decide how big the grids will be. The size of the grids (3x3, 4x4, 5x5, etc.) determines how many rooms are in the palace and how many individual elements will be in each category of story elements. A grid size of 4 by 4 is probably the low end of what you want to choose. 8 by 8 is on the high end.
e. Mark out grids of the correct dimensions on the pieces of paper. Make sure each cell is at least big enough to legibly write two numbers in it separated by a comma (x,y).
f. Decide what kind of story elements you will include. If you have 6 story elements, you will need to pick 6 categories of elements. Story elements were described above as "ingredients" of a story. You can also think of them as the basic building blocks of a story. The who, what, where, why, and how of a narrative, plus color, mood, and style. Possible categories of elements include:
 Inhabitants (tyrant, tyrant's double, tyrant's wife, mistress, prime minister, etc.)
 "Guests" (prisoners, exiles, family guests, official visitors, etc.)
 Books to quote (players identify actual books you have, and try to incorporate quotes or characters from the books into the story).
 Clothing
 Animals
 Plants
 Gadgets
 Art / pictures
 Weapons
 Crimes/sins
 Moods (gloomy, bright, macabre, slapstick, etc.)
 Literary devices (exaggeration, twist ending, satire, etc.)
 Time periods (before tyrant's birth, childhood, manhood, coming to power, rule, death; or specific decades or years).
g. Assign two element categories to each grid. For example, if you chose four elements (guests, gadgets, moods, and time periods), you might pair up guests and moods on one grid, and gadgets and time periods on another. Write the names of the two elements on the top of the pieces of papers, separated by a comma (guests, moods). Pairing elements doesn't necessarily mean they will be closely connected in the story; you just have to assign them in groups of two. You'll notice that you'll have one grid left over. That's fine. Write "Map" on the top of that extra grid.
h. Take the grids that have elements written on them. Fill in all the cells of the grids with pairs of numbers separated by commas. The numbers are all possible pairs of number from 1 up to the size of the grids. So if you have 5 by 5 grids, you'll have 25 number pairs: 1,1 up to 5,5. You can fill the grids in any order you want: assigning number pair in any order or pattern or placing them randomly.
i. Take a blank piece of paper. For each story element category you have, write the category name down as a heading and number a list under the heading. The lists will have as many slots as the size of your grids.
j. Brainstorm elements to fill each list. For example, if clothing is one of your element categories and your grids are 5 x 5, you might fill the clothing list with: shoe, hat, ring, glove, and uniform. The elements can be as broad or specific as you like. Remember that each element on the list will show up in a number of rooms equal to the width or height of the grid. So if you are super specific (say "a scuffed, two-tone (cream and brown), left-foot, size 10 ½ man's bowling shoe missing its shoelace") then that same shoe will show up in five rooms in the Tyrant's palace, which is sort of odd. Two ways of filling the lists are:
 Players take turns adding an element
 All players brainstorm a large number of elements for a category (twice the number of available slots or more). Then players take turns picking elements they like off the brainstormed list until all slots are filled. Repeat for each category.
 Brainstorm as above. Then take turns eliminating elements you don't like. The last 4,5,6, or however many slots there are become the elements for the game. Repeat for each category.
k. Align the papers with numbered grids so the elements written on the top all face the same direction. Stack these papers in any order. Place the extra grid with "Map" written on it on top of the stack. "Map" should be aligned in the same direction as the words on the other papers.


6. Identify your story elements
a. Congratulations. You have created a graphical and narrative map of the Tyrant's residence. Now to explore it.
b. Pick a player to go first. The first player looks at the top, map grid and chooses one of the cells on the outside layer. This cell becomes the entrance to the Tyrant's residence, the door or gate or window through which the curious mob gains access to the palace.
c. The first player writes an X or his or her initials in the cell they just chose to show that that specific "room" in the palace has been explored.
d. The player lifts the top map grid and looks at the other grids in the stack. Write down the names of the elements and the number pairs from the corresponding cells in each lower grid. For example, if the player picked the lower left-hand corner cell on the map, write down the number pairs in the lower left-hand corner cells in all the other grids.
e. Look at the lists of elements and write down the elements that correspond to all the number pairs. The player should end up with one element for each category of elements being used in the game. Returning to the example of a game using four elements (guests, moods, gadgets, time periods), the player would write down something like (guest: foreign journalist, mood: playful, gadget: clock, time period: 1923).
f. Re-stack the grids. The next player looks at the map grid and moves to any blank, adjacent cell. Players should decide whether or not it is permissible to move diagonally. If the game has gone on for a while and there is no blank adjacent cell, move to your choice of the nearest blank cell. If you are using a fairly large grid there are probably more cells than you will have the time or energy to fill with stories. Give players the option of moving 2 or even 3 cells each turn. Choose one of these cells as a main room that will inspire a story. X or black out the non-used cells. For game purposes, these become hallways or empty or nondescript rooms.
g. Repeat steps 6.c. to 6.f. until all players have moved and noted down the elements associated with one room.

7. Tell stories inspired by your story elements
a. Players invent brief stories inspired by the lists of story elements found in the room they explored. First, all players should decide what their room is and possibly a brief description of the room. Then spend a few minutes thinking up the outline of a story that happened in the room or happened elsewhere but involved some of the elements found in the room. Your goal is to invent an anecdote that says something about the Tyrant and/or his world and incorporates or references as many of the elements as possible.
b. Next, players take turns telling their stories. The stories can, but don't need to, build upon stories and facts that have already been told. Stories should be brief. Players should not talk for more than a few minutes.
c. After all players have had a turn telling a story, repeat steps 6 and 7 to assign new objects and tell more stories until the grid is full or you are otherwise done with the game.

8. Optional Scoring system
a. If you want, you can use a point-based grading system.
b. Follow the instructions in step 5, with the following variation:
 Since the main challenge using the grid-based method is to incorporate the multiple story elements, narrative quality is only worth 1-2 points.
 Use of story elements is worth from 1-4 points. Grant more points for using more elements and for using elements in appropriate, meaningful ways (as opposed to just sticking in a random mention of an element that doesn't add anything to the story).

9.   Variant Ways to Explore the Leader's Residence
a. The default narrative framework of The Palace Gates is that curious interlopers are picking their way through the Tyrant's mysterious residence after the Leader has died, fled, or otherwise disappeared. But you can vary this framework  while using the exact same rules. Some possible alternative frameworks include:
 The proud Leader leads guests on an impromptu tour of his home. Players speak as the leader, which could change what kind of stories they tell.
  The Tyrant's residence has been converted into a museum of infamy so that citizens of the nation will not forget the bad old days of the Leader's dictatorial regime. Players take the role of an earnest tour guide delivering a prepared lecture on the Leader's residence, life, and times.
 The Tyrant's residence has been maintained as a shrine to his great leadership. As above but the tour guide is trained to lecture about the Leader's wonderful accomplishments and sterling character.