Good day.
In my last article, I touched on the topic of role-playing contests, which, like all kinds of indie jams for software developers, help concepts and sketches develop into something more. This time I will tell you about the history of my other competitive project.
Table-role-playing contests I came across both our domestic ones (called "Kashevars") and international ones (annual Game Chef). At the international, as a rule, it was required to come up with some new mini-system of rules, and at Kashevary, not only systems were submitted, but also adventure modules for existing systems. Another international competition was trying to set some trends and experiment - that year, the next topic of Game Chef was the search for new tabletop role-playing formats: “lack of a rule book”.
And here's what the conditions looked like:
This year's theme: THE BOOK DOES NOT EXIST
Tabletop RPGs have long been limited to one format - the rulebook format. But in recent years, this standard has begun to change: there are more short games; games built on card mechanics or based on small brochures. This year, as part of Game Chef, we invite you to continue this trend. What if the game does not have uniform rules, does not have one basic text? How then does the player learn the rules of the game? Is it possible to create a board game without a single set of rules? Maybe the game will take on new forms? Or maybe there will be new solutions to old problems?
Get inspired by this theme, let it change your game as you work. Interpret it in any way possible. It is likely that your vision will be significantly different from the options that other participants will offer. We have given the topic some explanation, but you are free to interpret it in your own way.
Four Ingredients This Year: Absorb, Wild, Glitter, Sickle
Let me explain that the words-ingredients had to somehow be reflected in the competitive work (at least two words out of four).
The topic seemed interesting to me, because I already specialize in experimental systems. At first, I was going to take the mechanics from my already finished game about space, which I wanted to “bring down from heaven to earth”, that is, create worlds not only in space, but try to settle down on some limited map and adapt the rules to it. But there was not much time left to submit the work, and besides, I wanted to implement that idea in the form of a standard rule book. Therefore, I began to think in the direction of something else, better corresponding to the theme of the competition.
Here I was visited by various thoughts about how to offer a kind of superstructure on some well-known rules. Well, you know, for example, they still know which traffic light you can go to and which one you need to stop. Maybe build rules around using a device (as I did in the last contest using a calculator), a book, or some other thing.
So there were ideas about the use of penny coins and images. I also thought about involving, say, newspapers. But I found them not very common.
With the form, I decided to take a chance and submit the rules in an implicit form, through one big example of a game, like “overheard” pieces of information that form their own picture for each observer. The best embodiment of my idea would be to shoot a video or record a podcast, but then there was no such opportunity and skills. In addition, for this case, a basis would still be needed, a script. And so an unexpected decision came - a mini-play. So the end result was plain text. Like a forum topic, comment, transcript, record.
Here's what ended up happening:
Gatekeepers, or there will be no Shishkin
Role thought in five bars
Dramatis personae
Lisa.
Arkhip Ivanovich.
Aivazovsky.
Salvador.
Shishkin.STEP 1
The action takes place in Aivazovsky's apartment.
A spacious room, a clean dining table with two reproductions and a handful of coins. Nearby are two leather armchairs and three stools.
There are two people in the room, one in an armchair, the other stands at the table. Frames flash on the included television panel. The windows are sunset.
Aivazovsky, Salvador (conversation).
Salvador. How can you even watch it? I don't understand.
Aivazovsky (thoughtfully). It's a normal movie.
Salvador. Then you look, one. (Takes a couple of steps.) When will the others arrive?
Aivazovsky. Already should. Now I will call.
Salvador. So, wait. Tell me the rules for now.
Aivazovsky (reluctantly turns off the TV). Yes, there are no rules. (Looking at Salvador intently.) Imagine, there are no rules at all! (Makes a gesture with his hand.) Absolutely!
Salvador. You're kidding right now, right? How to play something?
Aivazovsky. You'll see.The lock clicks. Lisa and Arkhip Ivanovich appear at the door.
Salvador. Here you go. Less than a year later Arkhip Ivanovich came!
Arkhip Ivanovich (grouchily). I am the same Ivanovich as you are Salvador. (Sighs. Greets Salvador. Makes a reproachful look.) While we waited, we could make tea for us already.
Salvador (unperturbed). Nothing, you'll have time with your tea. (To Aivazovsky.) Well, everything, everything? And Shishkin?
Arkhip Ivanovich. Shishkin will not be.
Lisa. How will it not be Shishkin? (Nods to the audience.) Hello.
Aivazovsky (looks at his watch). Yes, he will. Later. (Turning to the newcomers.) Have you brought the pictures?
Arkhip Ivanovich. Yes. Here. (Takes out a reproduction, puts it on the table.)
Aivazovsky (transferring his gaze to Lisa). You?
Arkhip Ivanovich. And she is. Well, it's Lisa!
Lisa. Wait a minute. Arkhip Ivanovich said that I didn't need to.
Aivazovsky. Oh yes, I completely forgot.
Salvador. I don’t understand something, that is, you can play without a picture?
Arkhip Ivanovich. No, it's just that we're Gatekeepers, and Lisa is kind of like a guest in our worlds.
Liza (thoughtfully). Are they Gatekeepers or Gatekeepers?
Salvador. Are you dissatisfied with Gatekeepers?
Lisa. You have to call yourself something.
Arkhip Ivanovich. Liz, don't be stupid. I am Arkhip Ivanovich. (Pointing to Aivazovsky.) This is Aivazovsky. (Looks at Salvador, remembering something.) Well, yes, I don't know that. You better not go into his world at all. (Smiles.) Otherwise, the clock will melt or some other trouble. In short, it's a total hassle.
Liza (unpleased). It is now. So the pictures could be without authors.
Arkhip Ivanovich. There is no picture without an author.
Salvador (to Arkhip Ivanovich). Do you have something against the world of soft watches?
Liza (excitedly). Oh my God, the World of Soft Watches?
Aivazovsky. Yes! Look. (Picks up one of the reproductions, showing it to Lisa.)
Liza (looking at the picture). Ah, right. I remember.
Arkhip Ivanovich. Everyone saw it, nothing interesting. Here is my Moonlit Night World!
Aivazovsky. And I just. Ninth world.
Salvador. Ninth world? Somewhere I already heard it.
Arkhip Ivanovich. And what about Shishkin then? Bear World?Laugh.
STEP 2
20 minutes have passed. Those are right there.
Aivazovsky. All we play. I am the first.
Arkhip Ivanovich. Go, go. Present already.
Aivazovsky. So so. (Gathers his thoughts.) These Gates led to the colorful Ninth World, where the waves crash on the rocks and high, high in the sunset sky, gulls circle, mourning the lost ships. The endless sea keeps the same number of mysteries and secrets...
Liza (interrupts). And how many ships have already sunk?
Aivazovsky. So far, only one. Played last time. (Thinks for a couple of moments.) In short, such a little world.
Salvador. Well I am now. Just to tell, right?
Aivazovsky. Wait, I'll create some kind of underwater monster.
Arkhip Ivanovich. Cthulhu?
Aivazovsky. Yes, let it be Cthulhu. (Picks up a five-kopeck coin.)
Lisa. Cthulhu? Who is this?
Arkhip Ivanovich. It doesn't matter, he will still sleep. (to Aivazovsky) I hope he will sleep?
Salvador (Lise). Chthonic monster, absorbs brains. Have you not read Lovecraft?
Lisa. No ... And I'm not going to, it seems.
Aivazovsky. Yes, he will sleep. (Looks around those present with a sly look.) For a while.
Arkhip Ivanovich. Well, thank God. Just take ten kopecks, it's too big for a simple creature.
Aivazovsky (laughs). That is, we will have Cthulhu as a location?
Salvador. What are you doing there?
Aivazovsky (changes the coin). Well, five kopecks is a hero, and ten is a place. (Sighs.) Now ten moves will be built.
Lisa. And one penny?
Arkhip Ivanovich. For one thing.
Lisa. A, clear. (Salvador). How is the World of Soft Watches?
Salvador. Now, you see, Aivazovsky brings out monsters.
Aivazovsky. So I'm all.
Salvador. Well listen...STEP 3
An hour has passed. The same and Shishkin.
Arkhip Ivanovich (Shishkin). I thought you weren't coming today.
Shishkin. Well, you need to visit the ghouls. Control.
Lisa. In short, I want a raft!
Aivazovsky. Is it an object or a place?
Arkhip Ivanovich (sarcastically). Maybe he's smart? Then the creature.
Lisa. You are scaring me. Ordinary raft. (Thinking.) Although no, the usual one will drown here. Antigravity!
Salvador (puts a penny on Aivazovsky's picture). You write it down, write it down. Raft.
Aivazovsky. Hey, what are you doing here for me?
Salvador (Lise). Look, he doesn't like it. Build better in my world.
Shishkin (to Aivazovsky). Why don't you like the raft?
Aivazovsky (to Shishkin). Antigravity!
Lisa. What is not according to the rules?
Arkhip Ivanovich. That's the thing, there are no rules here.
Shishkin. Well, technically they are. Just free. There are the conditions themselves: drawings, coins, time of construction. Plus Wild Rules.
Arkhip Ivanovich (skeptically). Oh, okay. In fact, there are no rules.
Shishkin. And the Wild ones?
Arkhip Ivanovich. These are not rules.
Salvador (impatiently). Well, are you going to go? Liza ordered a raft.
Arkhip Ivanovich. Crap. We didn't make tea.
Shishkin (smiling) What tea, three in the morning!
Aivazovsky. Actually half past ten. (Looks around the audience.) Shall we break for tea?
Shishkin. Well, let's.Get up. They go to the kitchen.
Salvador (to Shishkin). What's the name of your picture?
Shishkin. World? Uh ... Forest belt!
Arkhip Ivanovich (sarcastically). And not Morning World? Not the World of Pines?
Liza (picking up). Bear World?
Aivazovsky. I know, World of Cones!Laugh.
Shishkin (rolling his eyes). Damn, how you zadolbali.
Arkhip Ivanovich. Yes, we haven't even started yet.STEP 4
In ten minutes. After tea. Those are right there.
Shishkin (finishing the description). Actually such a fabulous clearing in the forest.
Salvador. With bears!
Lisa. And with cones!
Shishkin (with irony). Yes at all! The tin is full.
Arkhip Ivanovich (businesslike). What are you building?
Shishkin. Wings. Bears.
Lisa. Why bears with wings?
Shishkin (wearily). Why why. Fly away from you! (Thinks.) No, we'd better make a hero, a warlock.
Arkhip Ivanovich. Warlock again? Why in the forest?
Shishkin (to Arkhip Ivanovich). Not again, but again. Give me a coin. (Looking at the others.) Who's next?
Aivazovsky. I. Then there will be Salvador, then Arkhip Ivanovich.
Lisa. Then I.
Shishkin (to Lize). What world are you building in?
Lisa. Aivazovsky has. A raft, a pirate and a balloon castle.
Shishkin. Class!
Lisa. But there is a restless sea and the pirate wants to dump somewhere.
Arkhip Ivanovich. Create a castle for me, on the banks of the river. Or a pirate ship. Frigate!
Lisa. No, you are dark. And I wanted to transfer this particular pirate.
Shishkin. We haven't done that yet, but you can create the Wild Rule yourself.
Lisa. So I didn't understand how to do them.
Arkhip Ivanovich. Yes, he didn’t smoke it himself, so far we only have Sickle of Occam and a guest.
Salvador. So, in more detail this moment.
Shishkin (sighing). Well, I added the sickle.
Arkhip Ivanovich. Yes, we carved Cthulhu for them today, by the way. Just in case.
Aivazovsky. Did he interfere with you?
Salvador. Ah, that's what it was. It's clear.
Arkhip Ivanovich. Yes. (to Shishkin.) How exactly does the rule sound there?
Shishkin (reading out). Sickle of Occam. Appears in the universe every ten moves, no matter whose, and goes to the one ... (Interrupts reading.) In short, whoever completed the next building first gets the Sickle, and can bang something extra from anyone.
Aivazovsky (to Arkhip Ivanovich). Here he will reappear just in a turn, and I will cut your tower of black magicians.
Arkhip Ivanovich (protestingly). But I need her, she's not superfluous!
Lisa. Actually, I will get the Sickle, my castle will be completed just in time.
Aivazovsky (winking at Salvador). Oh, not a fact.
Lisa. Well, you don't have to do something stupid. I was totally against it!
Arkhip Ivanovich (Shishkin). And, well, yes, Aivazovsky also added the Wild Rule. You can mess up when you have something weighty built.
Aivazovsky. Yeah, then you slow down any building for one turn. In short, you harm so little.
Lisa. What is a guest?
Arkhip Ivanovich. And it's you. I added that the player can not have their own Gates and build wherever they want.
Lisa. Well shine! I was about to take my picture.
Arkhip Ivanovich. Yeah. Do you know what she wanted? Portrait! (To Liza) How do you imagine it, to tell about the world through a portrait?
Lisa. Normally imagine, take and describe. (Wearily.) Okay. We drove.
Shishkin. Let's add a rule that you can build portals between the Gates. If both Keepers agree.
Arkhip Ivanovich. Wait, you can't add yet. You already have a sickle.
Shishkin. Yes, I'm talking to Lisa. Well, by the way, I can cancel mine.
Arkhip Ivanovich. Through voting?
Shishkin. Through voting, only new ones, and old ones simply by personal desire.
Liza (looking hard at Aivazovsky). It would be better to cancel dirty tricks.
Salvador. That is, Lisa and I will add according to the rule and that's it?
Arkhip Ivanovich. No, then everyone will have one and it will be possible to add new ones.
Aivazovsky. In short, we return to the Ninth World. (To Lisa.) While your pirate was flying the Plywood, the weather changed. Storm clouds appear on the horizon, a storm is approaching. (With pathos.) The elf king frowns and gives the order to dive, waving his hand. A minute later, the elven submarine is covered by shimmering force shields and disappears under the water.
Lisa. Well, now the storm is coming.
Shishkin. Don't worry, you'll hide in a castle in the air.
Aivazovsky (businesslike). So-so. The island will be in three moves, the underwater cave in seven. I'll keep adding to the team. I'll order an elf in red.
Salvador. Blonde?
Aivazovsky. Of course!
Salvador. In the meantime, a clockwork dinosaur was completed in the Soft Clock, and ... (Looking meaningfully at Aivazovsky.) I get the Sickle!
Arkhip Ivanovich (reproachfully). Rays of hate you receive.
Aivazovsky. No, the Sickle appears on Lisa's move.
Salvador. Ah, well, yes. (To Lize.) Then I’m just slowing down your castle ...
Liza (indignantly). Radish!STEP 5
In one day. Phone conversation.
Shishkin and Arkhip Ivanovich (discussing recent events).Arkhip Ivanovich. You know, I would change everything. I would write normal rules so that I don’t have to invent each time. (Pause.) Well, look, you have Occam's Sickle - make some similar thing about each philosopher.
Shishkin. So it was all for nothing?
Arkhip Ivanovich. Well, not in vain. The idea itself is good, you just need to properly design the game.
Shishkin. Yes, I was thinking about doing it according to the standard. But. (Pause.) But then Shishkin would not be there. Understand? And the point is that everyone thinks out the mechanism himself.
Arkhip Ivanovich. Yes Yes. The concept of the game, which does not exist in the form of a set of rules ... It's stoned somehow, it's difficult. (Pause.) Well, that's basically okay. Lisa here you know what she suggested ...The end?
Reviews
In addition to submitting their own games, all contestants were asked to write short reviews of 4 games from other participants, as well as to choose one of them, the most worthy. So my Gatekeepers also received some feedback from other authors, here they are:
Review # 1
A very interesting story with entertaining characters, but it is completely incomprehensible how and what they are trying to play. The ingredients are mentioned, although the same Sickle is drawn by the ears to Occam's razor. In general, an interesting essay, but this is not a game. I would love to read more of this author, but I can not vote for this work.
Review # 2
Overview of the Gatekeepers play
I must say right away that the form of presentation of the material in this work is simply beautiful. However, this is not surprising, given that its author is also the creator of an enchanting system and, first of all, a collection of incredible settings - twisted terra. It's not even the unusual presentation of the material, the very idea of acquainting the reader with the necessary factual material is, frankly, not new, but the style of the work makes one recall the science fiction of those times when it was still warm and lamp-like.
Alas, the form of submission, apparently, became the reason for the weak point of this work. Despite the fact that the characters acting in the work explain to the newcomer the rules of the game for which everyone has gathered, the main phrases, apparently, are either said offscreen, or generally only implied.
Despite the fact that the described game resembles a board strategy rather than a classic role-playing game, the text does not show details that are quite important for this class. So, the purpose of the game is casually mentioned - to talk about the world. Based on what is happening in the play, it can be assumed that the story should consist of the creation and construction of new elements in the world. But it does not indicate when the game is considered over, or how the winner is determined, or even what to do with the created entities. Coins are spent on creation and construction, which are both resource counters and a measure of the time required to create. The solution is so logical and beautiful that after reading about it, you are surprised that everyone around does not do this yet. Alas, this mechanics is also rather raw - it is not clear where, for what and in what quantity the players receive coins, whether they can be exchanged and, conversely, summed up.
If you decide that the game is still role-playing and you don’t have to win it, the picture still turns out to be rather strange. In the text, one of the players proposes to introduce an additional rule that introduces portals that connect disparate worlds. Perhaps this really would not be superfluous, since it seems that at the moment the game described in the play consists of several monologues in which everyone talks about his creation, occasionally harming the others on trifles. By the way, about additional rules. The core of the rules implies the introduction of additional rules of this game during the game. Again, a great decision, and a very witty approach to the theme of the competition - the rule book does not really exist, because the game is created anew every time. But in this case, it turns out that most of the gameplay shown to us is a private situation, characteristic of one single game, and not related to the game itself.
From all of the above, I would draw the following conclusion: Gatekeepers is impossible to play in the form in which it is presented. Actually, the play does not describe the game, but a set of mechanics. By the way, the described players themselves also understand this, this can be understood from the reasoning speech of Arkhip Ivanovich. However, in the same place, the mechanics used are listed:
"Shishkin. Well, technically they are. Just free. There are the conditions themselves: drawings, coins, time of construction. Plus Wild Rules.”
By the way, of the given constants, only pictures caused bewilderment in me. It seemed to me rather strange idea to create a world according to an image already created by someone. Undoubtedly, drawings can be of great help, start the fantasy, give associations, finally build a single imagery. But the loan is limited to one work, and even bring it to the game in advance. Perhaps it would make sense to make this detail a random part of the Gatekeepers.
And finally, on the formal side of the issue. As I said, the author coped with the main theme simply brilliantly. I also want to know how. But the ingredients have not received much development. I could see only the Sickle as one of the optional rules, and the Radiance as one of the provided worlds. But, again, as already mentioned, the text of the play is written in excellent language, contains a number of allusions and Easter eggs, and is generally pleasant to read. The description of Cthulhu as a location is generally a delight. I really hope one day to see new gatekeepers on a par with murshambola and twisted terra.
Review # 3
Somehow Shishkin, Dali, Aivazovsky, Mona Lisa and Kuinzhi got together, and they had a conversation. The conversation stretched for several pages, all this was seasoned with unsuccessful attempts at jokes and strange body movements. “Artistic images, as if alive, rose before my eyes, opening up like the sky over Berlin or the skeletons of Dresden cathedrals after the bombing.” I would like to write such a phrase about this game, but no. The artists gathered, talked about something, about Cthulhu, about a sickle (it is not at all clear where it came from) and so on. The bacchanalia reminded me of the movie The Green Elephant, and I wanted to burst into this meeting and scream: “What are you talking about? What Cthulhu, what pictures?! What are you, gone?!” To be honest, we did not understand anything from the game. It all looks like an art-house film: too many unnecessary pompous words that are perfectly perceived separately, but do not add up to a single sentence. Verdict: complete zero, we didn't even understand how to play it. Key words are not used properly, but the topic is fully disclosed: there is no book. There is nothing at all.
Review # 4
Age markings rule
The coolest thing about this job is the presentation. Putting the rules in the form of a description of the game session seems to me a brutally cool move. A module as a way to design a game is really cool. You can show the author's vision of the appropriateness of the application and interpretation of the rules, convey the way the game is played. Recreating dialogues and questions will fit whatever is in the air in your company as you design it.
This is where the good news ends. For an adult, the proposed design is not a game. This can be played with pleasure at the age of 4 - 5. An adult can play this game with a child. As a child, imagining something that doesn't exist is a real challenge. The clash of several fantasies creates an amazing adventure. But an adult is not interested. Maybe we are spoiled game developers, but writing rules in a given field does not seem like entertainment to us, and inventing entities without purpose and purpose is an interesting pastime. Due to the lack of children of a suitable age nearby, it was not possible to conduct a playtest, but I remember well how I came up with a very similar game somewhere in the senior group of the kindergarten or maybe in the first grade. It might be fun.
True, I always tried to figure out in advance who actually wins. The criterion of victory, alas, is the same integral part of the game as the rules. For the little ones, there is a competition in the power of the imagination, and the winner is obviously the one whose imagination is more flexible to generate useful rules, and richer to respond with new entities to new conditions. The one who cannot come up with anything new on his turn and begins to repeat himself loses. Unfortunately, three adult masters can compete in this until the copper in the coins turns green and no one loses. There is no other criterion.
Almighty, or need to be a god
As time went on, the concept of a game about divine creatures was slowly brewing in my head, until one day the experience of playing the tabletop "Smallworld" was added to the pantheon of divine simulators that influenced me (Populous, Black&White). And then I finally got the puzzle that my game with the gods will be built around the advanced mechanics of Gatekeepers, from where I will take the economy of the sacred resource (manipulation of coins of faith). Thus, the heroes of that play play a certain prototype of the future "Almighty", exchanging impressions similar to what happened in the end.
But it turned out to be something like a “role-playing Monopoly”, where players act as deities that control certain territories on the map and roll dice every turn, moving the chip along the fate track. Different sectors have different effects. From sectors, you can collect coins of faith, or pay with these coins for the creation of something, returning them to the track. At the same time, the game is focused specifically on creativity, although I also added some final goals. And one more of the deities can play out and turn into science, if the conditions are right - then the gameplay will change for him.
As I noticed from the test games, the main thing is not to rush with your move and treat what is happening as a tabletop role-playing game, and not an ordinary board game. That is, you need to tune in to the imaginary world and the situations taking place in it, invent and describe the events that are taking place, and not just throw dice and collect coins.
The rulebook can be viewed here:
However, the rules are the rules, and, as they say, it is better to see once. So below I will describe how one of the playtests of the game went, which I conducted in one of the clubs in my city.
Report on a role-playing game about the co-creation of a new world
So, the young deities gain strength in the expanses of the primordial continent. They accumulate faith and lead their peoples into the future. Armed with a six-sided die and coins of faith.
Our test game had five participants (this is an unhosted game, so I was the player as well) and featured the following deities and races:
Hiddenwise, the patron of the high mountain peaks of Rinna - the god of multi-colored dragons
Mordekaiser, the patron of the dark swampy Lanf - the god who commands the hordes of the undead
Prontos (aka the White Wanderer), the patron saint of the deserts Cavarro - the god who takes care of golems from white clay
Mirtain, the patron of the mysterious Kapon - the god who looks after the werewolf people
I played for Reformax, patronizing the forested Ventron, on whose territory the race of transports lived - creatures of stone and red energy that cannot walk, but can teleport over short distances. Above the forest was the residence of my deity - a large portal in which red energy circulated. Of the other residences, I remember the long tower, stuffed with books, hanging in the middle of the desert of the god Pronthos, as well as the citadel of stone and huge bones at Mordekaiser.
There are four types of deities in the game system: Emitter, Accumulator, Transformer and Devourer. Each type has its own peculiarities of behavior and nuances of game mechanics. In preparation for the game, I printed out flyers for each type of deity so that everyone would have the information at hand.
The types of deities were distributed as follows: Mordekaiser chose the path of the night-devouring deity, Hiddenweisz chose to be the Transformer-Illuminator, Prontos moved into the Accumulators, and Mirtain became the daylight deity-Emitter. I randomly chose the type of my Reformax, it turned out to be another Accumulator - a deity that focuses on material values.
In general, it turned out to be a rather fun game, full of unexpected events. We saw how one of the golems was swallowed by a sandworm and he was able to get out of the monster. They saw how the skeletons asked their master to make them even deader. They saw the battle of two dragons, as well as the prayer of the dragon to the god of werewolves, so that he would give her the opportunity to give birth. Golems unearthed a huge cyborg in the desert. One of the werewolves hovered between forms during the transformation. The transport ports built a symbolic wooden bridge to the desert as a sign of friendship with its inhabitants. A golem praying to the god of werewolves was able to turn into a human. Two transports accidentally got stuck at the same point in space and were merged into one new creature. A squadron of dragons hunted monstrous fish in the world's oceans.
During the game, Hiddenwise, following the prescribed nature of the Transformer god, read awesome advice from his notebook, responding to the requests of believers (instead of creating the miracles themselves, of course, as it was supposed to be for the Transformer god, who was used to helping more often with word than deed) - it was very cool and fun (at the same time, the person saw this game for the first time in his life, but improvised perfectly, having come up with the idea to build on his third-party notes in game tips). True, a couple of times he nevertheless condescended to divine intervention, for example, showing the way back to a dragon lost in the world's oceans. Mordekaiser raised a possum draco lich, who then begged him to be taken apart and reassembled as a simple draco lich. In addition, the god of night launched the dead citadel into flight and tested its weapons - firing a rocket into the desert and cutting through the forest lands with a beam of destructive energy. Prontos created a unique brick object, which later became an indestructible artifact. He also invented an eye that can be inserted into objects, thereby reviving them. He also had a mask that allowed him to possess himself in the one who put it on. Mirtain was also slowly creating items, one of which was a Cube that created random effects.
During the game, fixed expressions such as "Incoming prayer" and "Pray for me" appeared, accompanying the moments when players stopped at the yellow sectors of the fate track. This event meant that you need to choose another player who will describe the creature's appeal to the deity, and then describe your answer to this prayer.
As for my deity, for him the story developed something like this: at the beginning there were a couple of minor troubles - for example, an anomaly appeared in the controlled area in which transports could not teleport. Then the first unique item appeared, called the Trans-fruit - it was an apple on one of the trees, which suddenly turned from ordinary to glass, filled with red portal energy. The item allowed the wearer to teleport. Later, this item became cursed (a glass worm wound up in it) and was taken by the dragon god. The next item became a weapon - the Psychocross. It was an X-shaped contraption that fired psychic energy. Pretty soon, this item received the status of an artifact and became indestructible.
View of the playing field to the final of the game meeting (buttons mark the Chosen Ones)
Then my Reformax created: Orb of Invisibility (giving the wearer invisibility and found in an area cut by the beam of the citadel of the dead), space staff (captured by one of the transports in another dimension and later eliminated by an attack of insects from underground caves), misty goblet (giving knowledge to those who drink from it and found in underground caves, cleared of insects), Flight ring (later missing along with one of the transport ports in the endless sea) and Pouch of Secrets (from which it was possible to pull out something interesting).
I will note a couple of prayers that happened during the change of my deity. One day, the transports wanted to see some changes, in a word, reforms. Then Reformax decided to respond and by divine power lifted individual parts of Ventron into the air, forming it into a bunch of forest-covered islands, between which only transports (or flying creatures) could travel. Another moment is related to the trans-port, who wanted the dragon god to teach him how to be a dragon - the petitioner was able to breathe a cloud of red energy.
After accumulating five items from the God-Battery, the Chosen One comes to life (other gods need to raise three heroes for this) - for me, this Chosen One became a certain Remix, a transport consisting entirely of red energy and until that time stored in a stone tomb. Having appeared, the Chosen One went to collect faith from the yet undiscovered regions of the continent.
In five hours of play, we eventually got three Chosen Ones: the heroine, consisting of red energy, was joined by a golem created by Prontos from various parts and artifacts, as well as the Hiddenwise dragon, who knew unearthly wisdom.
And here are the players
This is probably the end of this story. Thank you for your attention and I hope that the article was useful to you.
Source: habr.com