I am currently in the process of trying to write up something for GameChef 2010.  I will be using the ingredients of  City, Desert and Edge. 

The basic concept:  This is a 5 act game which is strongly themed on the physical journey through Alexandria and an ethical journey based on Nicomachian ethics.  Characters evolve from meanness (Desert) to excess (City) on the ethical scale.  Their progression upon the scale will affect their chances of success in resolving conflicts. 

More information to come, as soon as I devise it!    I wanted to make a statement by avoiding an Arabian theme on an ingredient list that strongly hints toward that direction.

Sounds good. How does edge play into this scheme.

The game is built on the conflict between the City (Excess, extroverted creation and energy) and the Desert (Deprivation, introverted decline and entropy).  Yang and Yin effectively.   

Each conflict which the characters participate in pushes themselves and the setting on a whole in the direction of one of those two aspects.  The push the edges of the respective aspects domains and expand them.  The problem is that the world (and the characters) get more and more dysfunctional the closer to one of the extremes they are at.  So each character has to walk the knife's edge balance between the two aspects, else the slip off into the abyss. 

So in short, the Edge is the boundary between the City and the Desert and it's the piece that the players can move around.

Viola! I like it.

I have hashed out the core mechanic and the conflict resolution system seems generally complete.  I need to actually winnow down the 6 Virtues which will form the cornerstone of the system, but that should be done quickly enough.  I will try to present the general rules in the thread by the end of Sunday the 12th.

On Beginnings

Alexander the Great forged one of the largest empires in ancient history.  He was taught the secret wisdom by Aristotle, that to succeed in life one needs to walk the Edge between the Desert and the City. With the assistance of this scroll, you may journey in his footsteps. 

A Sojourn in Alexandria is a game examining how a character may change, for good or for ill, during a journey.  It's meant to tell stories of journeys both physical and ethical in nature.  There is no safety in the present, but the future always holds hope. 

This game is intended for a single session of play, ideally suited to convention play or as an intermission in a normal gaming group's campaign.  It will involve one Game Master, the one who will direct the Desert and the City during the course of play.  Additionally, the game can handle between one and six players who shall portray travelers beginning their journeys.  Each participant will also also need 6 six-sided dice. 

Edge:
The Edge represents how much Influence the Desert and the City have on the character.  Every character has a series of numbers from 1 to 6 and the player will draw a line between two of those digits.  The numbers on the left of the line are claimed by the Desert, while the numbers to the right are claimed by the City.  When the character is in balance, there will be an equal number of digits to the left and to the right of the line.  Such a state of balance would be marked like this;  1 2 3 | 4 5 6

For every two Virtues the character has in the Desert, the Edge is moves one space to the right.  For every two Virtues the character has in the City, the Edge moves one space to the left. 

Pushing the Edge: Conflicts

Any time there is a conflict, each of the participants rolls 6 dice (D6).  Each participant examines the dice rolled and classifies each die as a servant of the Desert or to the City.  This classification is done by examining the character's Edge; any die that matches a digit to the left of the Edge serves the Desert, while dice matching digits to the right of the Edge serve the City. 

Once each participant has their dice grouped into the two categories, determine which Influence is dominant in the conflict.  Count up the total number of Desert dice and compare it to the number of City dice.  The Influence with the most dice is deemed to be dominant, affecting how the conflict is finally resolved.

The Virtues are as follows and hopefully one of these should apply to any kind of conflict which could arise.  I am happy to have playtesters over tomorrow to try it out.  Your thoughts?

1) Courage, on dealing with pain and fear
2) Temperance, on dealing with pleasure and love
3) Generosity, on dealing with wealth and resources
4) Patience, on dealing with danger and frustration
5) Honesty, on dealing with one's capabilities and self-esteem.
6) Grace, on dealing with social interaction

So it turns out that the game survived a playtest and while it needs heavy revision, it works.  It turns out to have some heavy improv inspirations including use of a "say yes" and some interesting analysis of personality changes due to stimulus.  I suspect it will be playable on by the time Sunday rolls around, but we shall see. 

Unfortunately that playtest was somewhat limited in scope since I only had one player.  The game copes well enough with a single player, but full party dynamics could enhance the gameplay a great deal I think.

Half-page character sheets are convenient though.

In case anyone has any interest, I just finished my content edits.  Tomorrow will be full of creating art, laying out the text and submitting the project.

As a side note, this is a very improv friendly game.  It has scene framing and a "Say yes, and" approach as the backbone of the system.  I think it would break the minds of a few of the more traditional 3.5 D&D players.

My name is Jason Pitre and my game is called “A Sojourn in Alexandria”.

A Sojourn in Alexandria concerns both physical voyages and ethical journeys. The characters try to walk the knife’s edge between the deprivation of the harsh Desert and the excess of the opulent City. Walk in the footsteps of Alexander the Great!

http://www.genesisoflegend.com/PDF/A%20Sojourn%20in%20Alexandria.pdf