[Dreamscape Opera] Eidolon

[Morningstar]

So, I've been developing a new game, and large parts of it I've already put up.

Some of you may know of me through my homebrew version of a new Changeling (before Lost was announced), Changeling: the Delirium, and its later adaptation into Dreams of Delirium as a Lost Supplement.

So, now I present something which is designed with my own ends in mind. So I thought I'd share it with people as I produce it.

http://www.eidolon.me

Excerpts:

Genre

Eidolon is an attempt at a new genre. In constructing the various elements of the Realm and putting it together there were many aspects of it that seemed to touch on extant genres, but seemed to have its own special niche. The Realm of Eidolon is a pastiche. It has the high and low fantasy of classical faerie tales. It has elements of neo-Victorian culture and alternative technology. It has dark and furtive horrors that lay waiting in the dark. I call it dreamscape opera.

Dreams are very important in the Realm. They are so significantly caught up in what story is about that it can sometimes seem synonymous. In the Realm, all things touch upon the dream, and a good deal many more are immersed into it. It has a dreamscape quality to it, in that it is fantastic and wondrous; filled with the beauty of a phantasmagoria. In stories of the Realm there is no aesthetic that is too bizarre, too outlandish or wild. Colours are often exotic and hypnotic, though they be muted or vivid. Music echoes with deep timbre and powerful resonance.

The Realm has sprung forth from a dream, and so by a dream-like order all the details and fabrications are rich with nuance and meaning. That is to say, the subject of our attention, anyone's attention, becomes invested with meaning. The Realm works according to certain contrivances of fate and story. That means that objects, events, and occurrences that occur in any reality shaped by mere causality might stretch belief. However, here in the Realm the heroes arrive just in the nick of time, because time can very literally flow according to the speed of plot (as a necessity, any references to something being literal in this work is of course a deliberate double pun, if it's written it must be true).

Lastly, and most importantly, it is opera!  There should be exposition, there should be rising and falling action, there should be climaxes and conclusions. It is important to consider that the stories of Eidolon focus on the characters, their evolution and the progression of their drama. Each individual is a paragon of humanity, they are Actors in both senses of the word. They are the chosen of destiny, of fate to have the Realm revolve around them. They have a greater significance in the Realm by sheer virtue of the fact that we're telling their stories; as telling someone's story gives them power. So they are Actors because they have agency, they are all puissant to varying scales.

They are also Actors because at heart they are performers. Stories are enriched by drama, conflict and complex characters. Those Actors who give the best performance, the most memorable fodder for stories will find their star rising. The best and brightest of the Actors are the ones who, quite simply, know their stagecraft as well as their statecraft. There is a reason why much of the terminology in the Realm exploits the two meanings of words common between politics and performance. The theatre of power, the parlement, acts of law, masquerades and opera.

The design of these pages is to introduce to you the Realm of Eidolon. Inside it will explore the nature of how a Realm forged from story exists, functions and evolves; more importantly it will explore how the characters which portray its drama also move.

[Morningstar]

Has this piqued any interest so far?

Wanting to hear general feedback or impressions.

[Spooky Fanboy]

Lovely, haunting, mysterious, and intriguing. The flavor text is very flavorful.

Now, how the hell do I play it? Are there mechanics? If so, what are they? What type of stories is this designed to tell?

[Morningstar]

The setting is still being developed. What I have put up is to show it in development and to entice interest.

I want to have that set down pretty firmly before I worry about making mechanics. However, from an initial standpoint these are some of the thoughts I'm having for system:

The mechanics I have in mind are a narrative based system, that make dice, cards and such entirely optional. Some elements are inspired by Baron Munchausen, or the Fate points from the Fudge system, but I am looking at developing something entirely new for the system.

Challenges will either be against other Actors (duels) or against the environment (Ordeals), and can be assessed through a quick five stage process.
Challenges occur as a scene, rather than a specific act or action. Combat will be minimal, and emphasise dramatic conflict, political interaction and intrigue (it's possible to have combat, but it's just not well supported)

Step 1: Exposition (the Actor proposes dialogue or action)
Step 2: Challenge (Any interested Actor can invest or bid resources and skills into this scene)
Step 3: Climax (Competing investments determine which Actor has the most influence over the coming scene and sets out the motif and overall result)
Step 4: Denounement (Remaining investments allow secondary Actors to inject complications or consequences to the Climax)
Step 5: Finale (Scene is resolved, scripted and performed)

[Morningstar]

For the record, what I'm hoping to get here from the board is for people's thoughts. I mean, hearing "I love it" is a great way to keep me motivated. I am humble enough to admit that I thrive on that kind of support.

However, I like to think that I can be open to constructive criticism, and hope that by opening it up to the board that some of the weak points will get pointed out (this will probably be a slightly painful wake up call for me, but that's the fun part I guess).

So, here's hoping and dreaming!

[Spooky Fanboy]

Well, okay.

You've made an interesting lay of the thematic groundwork of your game. But to be honest, I really don't know what to say beyond that without having some idea of the mechanics.

What is your ideal scenario of this game? When you picture it being played by people, what do you see happening around the table? Because to go by what you've written so far, I'm confused: Are the characters in this game aware that they're in a play? Are they aware of the metaphysics at work? Or is that more for the players?

[Morningstar]

As I said before, the mechanics are a bit nebulous in my head at the moment, because I want them to be a natural extrapolation of the setting. So this might help congeal some of the things that I am thinking.

Well the people within the Realm are aware of the metaphysics of the Realm. They know that it's founded on laws of story (rather than our world where we have laws of physics). Causality is narrative, rather than as we might expect it. However, their knowledge is limited. No-one knows all the secrets of course, but a basic understanding of principles of story are as natural to them as our deductions on natural observations.

The players would themselves represent avatars of a story, they will have the ability to invest into an Actor and will enact the facets of that story through the Actor. There is no dichotomy here, no split sense of being, the Actor is the embodiment of that story. So in that respects, it's kind of a bit meta in the way a player enacts their characters. This is inherent to the setting of the game, and I intend for this to allow manipulation of game tropes.

An Actor will often have an entourage of various people who are essentially minions, lackies and sidekicks. The avatar of a story can also manifest in these people as proxies of the Avatar's power. (If you've ever played Nobilis, it's kind of like their Anchors). In essence, they are secondary characters that you can play and direct as you please.

So the story of tragedy has an agenda to see that certain facets of its story are played out through the Actor. The story grows in strength the more it's played out. Of course, stories are about conflict, so these story facets must surmount an obstacle or difficulty for it to be worthy of telling.

The default drama of the Realm is the games of politics and power. The idea of story and power are so intertwined in this Realm, that these Actors have become the centre of power itself within the Realm. They have the ability to influence ideas, people, objects and places far more readily than anyone else. The Actors of your story will all be the equivalent of aristocracy. Some will manipulate their own inherent ability through their ties with land and people (an equivalent of landed nobles), some will manipulate their own inherent ability through knowledge and academia (something like the church, except there is not so much an idea of religion in this Realm, they have other things to involve themselves) and others will manipulate their own ability by being mediators of power metrics (similar to guilds, in that they hold monopolies over critical facets of the Realm, but closer to Unknown Armies in that they are emulating fundamental facets of society). By the virtue of becoming an Actor that character is vaunted into the highest eschalons of power and influence. They are invested with purpose and meaning beyond their more prosaic counterparts.

Does that give you a better idea of where I'm going with this?

[Spooky Fanboy]

Yes. You're going where I hoped you were going. I look forward to this game and its blossoming.

[Morningstar]

So what were you seeing, out of curiosity?

[Spooky Fanboy]

I'm getting something like Exalted's Shaping Combat mixed in with the Game of Lords (or whatever it's called) from Changeling: the Lost. Whoever plays the story out to the fullest (while subtly manipulating it to his or her advantage) is the winner. You can get what you want---but if you don't play into the story, you lose power. You can play your role to the hilt---but what if it's a tragedy for you? And finally, you can bungle the whole thing. Sort of a nice spread of results.

[Vulpinoid]

I've been reading through the site.

It looks like the kind of game I could really sink my teeth into.

I would have said that that I could really get immersed in the setting (but Little Game Chef has given me immersion overload)...

It looks like the kind of game that changeling should have been. Consider that a compliment, because changeling went some of the way but stopped short before getting to some of the really great potential available.

I love this idea that a character character could be based on a notion of tragedy and they'd get bonuses toward any action that could hasten their own demise. Such a character lives to be remembered for their actions or their tragic deeds, and a spectacular failure for them is a narrative victory.

V 

[Morningstar]

Thanks Michael, I take that as a big compliment. I will at this point acknowledge  some of my inspirations.
Naturally both incarnations of changeling have stuck with me, but so has DA:F and Fair Folk. I didn't intentionally have a realm with such similarity to Exalted, this was pointed out afterwards.
Other sources: Gaiman, Fables, Girl Genius, Nobilis, Agoné, Wonderland, and Fading Suns (which I freelanced for), and general histories and folklore.
Each of the cultures are inspired by a body of literature and periodic culture.
Albion is Grimm faerie tales meets Victorian era/Imperial Germany.
Ravenna is hellenic myth meets Medici Florence.
Skandi is Viking Sagas meets Anderson Danelands.
Medea is Arabian Nights in the Ottoman Empire.
Ardeal is Slavic and Romani folklore in the Russian Empire.
(name forgotten) is Moorish and Berber tales filtered through a Catalan lens.

[Morningstar]

Here's some more excerpts to show the sorts of stories that I imagine being told here.

Storytelling

Here we come to the crux of the Realm, the very art of storytelling. This is not merely the communication of story from one talented being to another, no they are the amalgamation of all the principles of narration that are enacted to bring about a story.

Yet, simple don't just make a story, and neither does history nor its setting. They are merely the scenery against which the story is set. The stories of Eidolon focus on interactions between power agents of the Wyrd, known as Actors. These are figures who have become invested with a measure of story, and whose lives are suddenly the focus of a narration. From that moment on, the Actor lives a life of character interaction, dramatization, intrigue, and plot. Actors are not merely passive observers of the narrative, but the votive force for story to express itself.

For stories to exist it requires a few simple things: scenes in which they unfold, Actors to portray them, and the drama of conflict or tribulation. All these things are present in the Realm, and imbued with special purpose. The terms Scene, Actor, and Prop are significant terms in the Realm, as they distinguish them from their ordinary counterparts into elements of a story.

Actors

Actors are the people and other denizens of the Realm who are the literary envoy of story. An Actor is someone who is significant, they exist in the foreground of the Realm. All about them is an air of glamour and majesty, which is a direct byproduct of their nature. While nearly anyone can be an Actor, it is far more common for this trait to be found in people whose heritage is that of other Actors.

Great dynastic lineages have been founded on the talents of one or other Actors, and generational stories have unfolded with the scions of younger generations taking up the torches of their ancestors, something that is more strongly emphasised by some factions over others.

It is important to know that the Actor themselves are not the story itself. The story is something that exists beyond them (see Archons below), and they are merely its players. Some see themselves as puppets or vehicles of a higher power. Others consider themselves as the leading edge of the Wyrd.

Suffice it to say, all Actors have a destiny. They have a rough script of events, conflicts and experiences that are presaged for them. Some will use oracular abilities to prophecy these things, while others will allow the course to take them where they will. All Actors are overshadowed by this governing destiny, with some hale and others destructive, and one of the more personal conflicts that an Actor can rail against is their own manifest destiny.
It is, however, this destiny that sets an Actor apart. They have talents beyond the average person, abilities both mundane and eldritch that ensure they are able to take the story to the places it must go.

The nature of Actors will be examined with greater detail later.

Masks

The Mask is a potent symbol in the Realm, it is the face of power. The term can have two main uses, the first represents the role that an individual Actor takes. This is the nature in which the wyrd has imbued the Actor with story. It is the archetypal form that they are being driven to, or aspire to emulate.
For an Actor to properly harness their talents and prowess they must the Mask as a vessel for the wyrd. An Actor without a mask is merely a figure with potential, but no agency. In essence, it is the presence of a Mask that gives the Actor tools on how to perform the feats of their role.

The Mask comes in two main aspects. When woven around a creature that is fundamentally prosaic, like humanity, it becomes an aura of glamour that is like a lens, focusing the specific aspects of their portrayal they wish to display. The aristocrat looks majestic and noble, and the luminary wise and learned. For creatures whose nature is inherently poetic, it becomes a shell that encapsulates their amorphous nature into a tangible and solid shape. In essence, a Mask is the counterpoint to their prosaic or poetic nature. It is the blending of poetry and prose in the singular entity that is what makes them an Actor.

Masks of Rhyme

For prosaic Actors, the Mask is like an aura of glamour woven around an Actor to portray the nature of their role and the function of their office. The role of noble, luminary or mummer are all faces worn for the benefit of the public. It is visible through the signs of office, and the apparatus of their role. Yet, these vestments and regalia are only outward manifestations of their office, and intimately connected to a intangible Mask they wear.

Masks of Reason

For poetic Actors, a Mask is a mortal guise worn like a veil to both provide them with a  shape that allows them to conform and interact with the fundamental physical nature of the Realm, but also to disguise their poetic nature. Yet, these shaped faced bring with them rules, for such a Mask limits their manifold potential into a single or fewer shapes. Each of these guises has its own rules, laws, and banes. They are strictures of fate that can potentially undo the Mask if triggered.

Masques

The word Mask, can also be used in a pluralistic sense. A Masque is a collective faction of Actors who wear similar Masks, be it one of the noble dynasties, faerie concordat, or similar groupings of power.

Each Masque defines a single estate of power and its praxis: how to cultivate their influence and exercise it, also how to maintain it against adversary. As a society, they give their Actor insight into their own story thread and how to fulfil it. Within the Realm there are three main estates of power: the nobility, the luminary, and the mummery.

The Nobility

The privileges of power for the nobility are defined by their land and their populace. Theirs is the way of sovereignty: command and dominion over land and people. Yet, the link between the two is more profound than simply rulership. Nobles draw their power of strength from their populace and lands directly. Those who stray from their demense will find their influence rapidly waning. A noble in his demense is puissant, and next to insailable. When they must travel, they surely bring with them an errant retinue to bring a portion of this power with them.

The Luminary

Power for the luminary is found in knowledge and understanding. The luminaries possess rare insight. They can see through to the Skein of the Realm, and read the very patterns that bring it together. From this vantage, they have the unique ability to stand somewhat apart from the narrative flow of the wyrd and reweave, direct, or shape the Skein to the extent of their abilities. However, the way of gnosis takes a terrible toll on the mind. Madness is a constant companion for those touched by revelation.

The Mummery

The mummers draw their power from social narratives, dreams of things that bind society together: security, wealth, and prestige. The mummers assume some aspect of this ideal and borrow for themselves a measure of its power. Mummers are bound by the codes and requirements of whatever dream they serve. As long as they abide to the identity shaped by the dream, they are granted immense influence over its purview. They become makers and shapers of the dream manifest through invention and craftsmanship.

The Story Cycle

The progression of a single thread of story will typically follow a well known pattern. A story emerges and evolves over five acts, each having unique qualities and elements that progress until the conclusion. The course of the cycle is one that takes the Actor from a state of equilibrium into conflict, which then produces a new equilibrium. So while the Actors may return to their point of origin they are still changed by the experience.

Each of these stages occur in an order that flows to rhyme, there is no set time that ends these stages, and they may be portrayed over a single day or an entire season.

It is possible, and certain notable examples are counted when the story emerged significantly different from these patterns. Students of story know that it is not set in stone, but merely a convention that the narrative flow seems to prefer. There are two types of story. The first is the drama: a rising and falling conflict within the social mileu; and the quest; a sacred journey to far horizons, according to a charter. Consequently, there are two main vocations that an Actor can pursue. They can become courtiers and attempt to influence the dramas dramas of the court, or become wayfarers and find their fortune beyond the safety of the hearth. As a general rule, Actors will parlay in the dramas when they seek to increase their temporal power and holdings, while going on a quest is certainly guaranteed to return the heroes with more personal power than before (or not at all).

The Drama

The Drama occurs as the result of Actors coming together to plot, to conduct intrigue and other social interactions. Within the Realm, this typically means the workings of a courtroom, the favoured playground of the powerful Actors. Such courts follow standards of etiquette, which are designed to minimalise the damage that can be done by such powerful players coming into opposition with one another.

A Drama starts with exposition, moves to escalation, peaks in conflict, turns into catharsis, and finishes in resolution; and within the Realm they will be either imperial, municipal, or provincial.

The imperial drama is the paramount dramas of all those in the Realm. It takes place in the Parlement of the the imperial city. Here the members of the Imperium, as well as other exquisitely accomplished Actors entangle each other in arcane ritual, enigmatic politicing, and verbal jousting. There are displays of rhetoric, dialogue, graymayre, and some of the finest performances in the Realm. From this engine of political conduct, the acts of parlement are set down, which determine the laws of the Realm. As it draws figures and plenipotentiaries from all around the Realm it is a highly bizarre, unusual and mixed crowd of powers and envoys that come to pay homage.

The municipal drama is one that occurs in one of the many forums or courts of the metropolitan burroughs. These dramas are much more varied in nature and style than the ones of the Parlement, but all emulate it in one fashion or another, with those of the capital hills being the most political. The municipal dramas frequently deal with the political and social issues relevant to their individual dominion. This ensures that the cultural flavours of each dominion becomes highly relevant to the interplay of figures.

The provincial dramas are the lowest keyed dramas of all. They revolve around one single manor of an estate, and specific to one key demense of power. These dramas are very much internal, with all the Actors coming to the drama having deep and personal connections with each other.

The Quest

The Quest is quite another matter, it is a sacred journey. One part odyssey, one part pilgrimmage. While there is great opportunity and great acclaim that can be found in the search for adventure and danger, the real journey is the change and development that besets the Actors on their travels. Consequently, quests mostly take place in the rural landscape of Eidolon, far beyond the urban sprawl of Metropolis. The course of the quest is one that takes the Actor from their origin into the unknown and back again. Significantly, many Actors come into their own potency for the first time through the experiences of these quests, emerging from obscurity into notoriety.

The most iconic of these being ones where the Actor traverses from the waking world and into the dreaming realms. These quests describe the journey from a point or origin, across a threshold into the underworld where they attain some form of exaltation of their own being, and return from the dreaming lands into the world of the ordinary, changed from before. While there is a sequence presented for the journey, not every single step must be taken, and indeed significant variations of their order exist. Certain steps may also be very fleeting or simply absent from the story.

One of the distinct differences about a quest is the size of the party of Actors. Quests have room for only a few worthies, rarely ever more than 13 and usually only three to five in size. This gathering or fellowship of Actors is commonly known as a cohort. Most, if not all, cohorts swear oaths to one another to ensure to the commonality of purpose and intent.