I really like the idea of RPG drills and hope that this drill will help players develop their RPG skill set, honing skills ranging from general description skills to story pacing to building a shared creative space to focus and memory in regards to what others say and do.

Any feed back or criticism is welcomed.

The Great Journey

The Great Journey is about a young man who leaves home and enters the Wilderness with nothing but the cloths on his back and his wits.  In the end the Wilderness will overwhelm him and he will either die or return home in disgrace.

Each player takes a turn clock wise.  Each turn is comprised of the following steps.  If a player is unable to complete a step the game ends and the young man returns home in disgrace or dies in the wilderness.

1.  Resolve threat
2.  Describe setting
3.  Establish new threat

Step 1:  Resolve Conflict
Skip this step on the first round.  The first thing a player does on her turn is resolve the last threat.  She must describe how the young man overcomes the previous threat.  The young man may never directly over power the threat, but rather must be described as using the terrain, turning disadvantages into advantages, or otherwise use wits to be victorious.  If the player is unable to devise a creative solution to the threat then she must describe how the threat kills the young man.

Step 2:  Describe the setting
After the conflict is resolved, the young man journeys further into the wilderness.  In the first round the description should start off brief and pleasant.  Each turn the setting must become darker and more detailed.  If the player is unable to describe a darker or more detailed setting, she must describe how the young man must returns home in disgrace.

Step 3:  Establish new threat
The last thing a  player does on their turn is establish a new threat.  This threat must be life threatening.  On the first round it may be something simple and easy to resolve.  Each turn the threat must become more perilous.  If the player can not think of a more perilous threat then she must describe how the young man gets lost in the wilderness and is never seen from again.

Transition rule:  There may be more more then a three second break between the descriptions for each step.  This includes the transition from when one player establishes a new threat to when the next player resolves it.

Consistency rule:  If one player describes something about the young man it may never be counteracted.  If a player accidentally counteracts anything anyone else has established about the young man who ever noticed it must politely point it out to them.  They must end the journey on that stage.

Goal:  The objective of this game is to make the young man’s journey as long as possible.  There are no winners or losers.  The longer it goes the better everyone does.

Bill wrote:
I really like the idea of RPG drills and hope that this drill will help players develop their RPG skill set, honing skills ranging from general description skills to story pacing to building a shared creative space to focus and memory in regards to what others say and do.
 
There are no winners or losers.  The longer it goes the better everyone does.

Thunder_God,

I've played Universalis a few of times and by the end of each session our group had created an epic story steeped in theme and meaning.  The game play is riddled with different strategies to maximize ones influence on the story and exploring those can be a lot of fun.

However, the point of a drill is, in my humble opinion, not to create a magnificent story nor is it strategic exploration.  The point is to hone a skill by taking a series of isolated elements from that skill and doing them over and over and over again.  The repetition builds positive habits.  These habits in turn allow one to progress in the skill.

The Great Journey does this by having the players perform 3 basic steps over and over again.  They set a scene, setup a threat then the next player solves that threat the process is repeated.  It is through this process of repetition, I believe, that a drill can truly be effective.

Best,
        Bill

I agree. I was suggesting a "Solution" to enhancing Memory and paying attention to what others do while creating an SIS :)