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[PbP] [Microscope] Game 1: Sid Meier's Alpha Microscope (Reserves Welcome)
The Brayster
UKRegistered User regular
UKRegistered User regular
Hello folks, The Brayster here, bringing you a novel and wonderful Roleplaying experience in the form of Microscope, a tabletop experience with a unique twist produced by Lame Mage Productions.
What is Microscope?
Here's the blurb:
Microscope is what I like to call a timeline generator. The players first decide a theme for the game, which can be nearly anything. High Fantasy, Low Fantasy, Alternate History, Sci-Fi, Steampunk. The scope can last from a single generation of a kingdom to thousands if not millions of years.
The key thing that make this Roleplaying Game so great is just that, Roleplaying. There are no dice, no mechanics, no character sheets. A GM, gameplay wise, does not exist, with an exception for the individual running the game ensuring that the basic rules of the game are being followed.
This is a game of creativity. Every player gets to play god. Ideal for those who love writing, designing a storyboard or novel structure, or those who simply like rich backstories and histories.
In this spoiler lies a general summary of how the game works.
I am looking for 3 other players to take part, so if this sounds fun to you, Sign Up! . Reserves are welcome. If anyone wants to join now but needs to drop out later, no problem, with no character sheets or narrative constraints around to cause bother, creative boots can easily be refilled.
Edit: Link to a blog post which makes it sound much better than I do: http://sindarundome.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/microscope-rpg-review-and-actual-play.html
What is Microscope?
Here's the blurb:
Humanity spreads to the stars and forges a galactic civilization…
Fledgling nations arise from the ruins of the empire…
An ancient line of dragon-kings dies out as magic fades from the realm…
These are all examples of Microscope games. Want to explore an epic
history of your own creation, hundreds or thousands of years long, all in
an afternoon? That's Microscope.
You won't play the game in chronological order. You can defy the limits of
time and space, jumping backward or forward to explore the parts of the
history that interest you.
Want to leap a thousand years into the future
and see how an institution shaped society? Want to jump back to the
childhood of the king you just saw assassinated and find out what made
him such a hated ruler? That’s normal in Microscope.
You have vast power to create… and to destroy. Build beautiful, tranquil
jewels of civilization and then consume them with nuclear fire. Zoom out
to watch the majestic tide of history wash across empires, then zoom in
and explore the lives of the people who endured it.
A role-playing game for two to four players. No GM. No prep.
Fledgling nations arise from the ruins of the empire…
An ancient line of dragon-kings dies out as magic fades from the realm…
These are all examples of Microscope games. Want to explore an epic
history of your own creation, hundreds or thousands of years long, all in
an afternoon? That's Microscope.
You won't play the game in chronological order. You can defy the limits of
time and space, jumping backward or forward to explore the parts of the
history that interest you.
Want to leap a thousand years into the future
and see how an institution shaped society? Want to jump back to the
childhood of the king you just saw assassinated and find out what made
him such a hated ruler? That’s normal in Microscope.
You have vast power to create… and to destroy. Build beautiful, tranquil
jewels of civilization and then consume them with nuclear fire. Zoom out
to watch the majestic tide of history wash across empires, then zoom in
and explore the lives of the people who endured it.
A role-playing game for two to four players. No GM. No prep.
Microscope is what I like to call a timeline generator. The players first decide a theme for the game, which can be nearly anything. High Fantasy, Low Fantasy, Alternate History, Sci-Fi, Steampunk. The scope can last from a single generation of a kingdom to thousands if not millions of years.
The key thing that make this Roleplaying Game so great is just that, Roleplaying. There are no dice, no mechanics, no character sheets. A GM, gameplay wise, does not exist, with an exception for the individual running the game ensuring that the basic rules of the game are being followed.
This is a game of creativity. Every player gets to play god. Ideal for those who love writing, designing a storyboard or novel structure, or those who simply like rich backstories and histories.
In this spoiler lies a general summary of how the game works.
Set-Up
Once the theme and scope have been agreed, the actual set-up for the game begins. Players start by agreeing on a core concept - a single sentence that will encompass the entire timeline. The Big Picture.
Next, Bookends are created, which act as start and end periods of the history about to be created. 'The founding of a Republic' and 'The sacking of Rome' would be the bookends for the history of the Roman Empire, for example.
Next comes the Palette - A list of desired and banned items players desire or do not want in the timeline. This gives all the players a notion of what the other players are expecting from the game, and allows each to shape it more to their own tastes.
And lastly, The first Pass - Each player contributes either one Period or one Event to the timeline, to set up the first aspects of the history. From there, Real Play begins, and players are free to shape history in any way they like, provided they don't contradict either the Palette or History already set.
How does actual play work?
Players decide who becomes the first Lens. This is a role that rotates around players each turn. The Lens gets to pick the overall Focus of the round, as well as create two Nested events (1 Period with 1 attached Event, or 1 Event with 1 attached Scene) for the round, while each other player is allowed to create a single Period, Event or Scene each, which must relate to the Focus.
What is Focus? Focus, set by the Lens, determines a 'theme' for the round, to which all players must adhere. For example, taking real history as the overall scope of the game, a Lens might state 'The Roman Empire' as a (particularly broad) Focus. Players would then be free to create any Period, Event or Scene that is related to The Roman Empire, be it directly involved, the effect of the Roman Empire on neighboring states, or even archaeologists making a discovery studying a Roman Dig Site 2,000 years later.
Making History
All players can make a Period, Event or Scene.
Period: 1) Decide when it is. State two other periods between which this period occurs (This may not be before or after the Star/End Bookends respectively)
2) Describe the period, giving a grand summary of what happens/ what things are like.
3) Decide the tone, either Light/Dark. Is this a period of prosperity or Turmoil? A Golden Age or an Age of Oppression?
Event: 1) Describe when it is. Place the event within an existing period. If the period already has events, decide where it sits in relation to them chronologically.
2) Describe the event. Tell the other players what happens. Should be specific enough for other players to understand what physically takes place. Be sure to include the outcome.
3) Decide the tone. This can be Light/Dark, but does not have to be the same as the Period tone. You're never wrong about the tone you set, but you do need to justify it to the other players.
Scene: 1) State the question. The whole purpose of the scene is to come to an answer to this question.
2) Set the Stage: What do we already know from the history?
Where is the Scene physically taking place? What is going on?
3) Choose Characters: List banned and required characters (max 2 each). All players pick characters (@). Choose a character that helps you answer the Question.
4) Reveal Thoughts (@)
5) Play scene.
Once the theme and scope have been agreed, the actual set-up for the game begins. Players start by agreeing on a core concept - a single sentence that will encompass the entire timeline. The Big Picture.
Next, Bookends are created, which act as start and end periods of the history about to be created. 'The founding of a Republic' and 'The sacking of Rome' would be the bookends for the history of the Roman Empire, for example.
Next comes the Palette - A list of desired and banned items players desire or do not want in the timeline. This gives all the players a notion of what the other players are expecting from the game, and allows each to shape it more to their own tastes.
And lastly, The first Pass - Each player contributes either one Period or one Event to the timeline, to set up the first aspects of the history. From there, Real Play begins, and players are free to shape history in any way they like, provided they don't contradict either the Palette or History already set.
How does actual play work?
Players decide who becomes the first Lens. This is a role that rotates around players each turn. The Lens gets to pick the overall Focus of the round, as well as create two Nested events (1 Period with 1 attached Event, or 1 Event with 1 attached Scene) for the round, while each other player is allowed to create a single Period, Event or Scene each, which must relate to the Focus.
What is Focus? Focus, set by the Lens, determines a 'theme' for the round, to which all players must adhere. For example, taking real history as the overall scope of the game, a Lens might state 'The Roman Empire' as a (particularly broad) Focus. Players would then be free to create any Period, Event or Scene that is related to The Roman Empire, be it directly involved, the effect of the Roman Empire on neighboring states, or even archaeologists making a discovery studying a Roman Dig Site 2,000 years later.
Making History
All players can make a Period, Event or Scene.
Period: 1) Decide when it is. State two other periods between which this period occurs (This may not be before or after the Star/End Bookends respectively)
2) Describe the period, giving a grand summary of what happens/ what things are like.
3) Decide the tone, either Light/Dark. Is this a period of prosperity or Turmoil? A Golden Age or an Age of Oppression?
Event: 1) Describe when it is. Place the event within an existing period. If the period already has events, decide where it sits in relation to them chronologically.
2) Describe the event. Tell the other players what happens. Should be specific enough for other players to understand what physically takes place. Be sure to include the outcome.
3) Decide the tone. This can be Light/Dark, but does not have to be the same as the Period tone. You're never wrong about the tone you set, but you do need to justify it to the other players.
Scene: 1) State the question. The whole purpose of the scene is to come to an answer to this question.
2) Set the Stage: What do we already know from the history?
Where is the Scene physically taking place? What is going on?
3) Choose Characters: List banned and required characters (max 2 each). All players pick characters (@). Choose a character that helps you answer the Question.
4) Reveal Thoughts (@)
5) Play scene.
I am looking for 3 other players to take part, so if this sounds fun to you, Sign Up! . Reserves are welcome. If anyone wants to join now but needs to drop out later, no problem, with no character sheets or narrative constraints around to cause bother, creative boots can easily be refilled.
Edit: Link to a blog post which makes it sound much better than I do: http://sindarundome.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/microscope-rpg-review-and-actual-play.html
Steam: TheBrayster
PSN: TheBrayster_92
PSN: TheBrayster_92
The Brayster on
0
Posts
Current players (and order of play):
1) @The Brayster
2) @Egos
3) @Auralynx
4) @AlfredR
Reserves:
1) @astrobstrd
2) @discrider
3) @Musicool
Cheat Sheet:
Decide who goes first. That player becomes the first lens.
1) Declare the Focus: The Lens decides the current focus.
2) Make History: Each player takes a turn and makes either a
Period, Event or Scene. Start with the Lens and go around the
table to the left. Lens is allowed to make two nested things (a
Period with an Event inside it, or an Event with a Scene inside
it).
3) Lens Finishes the Focus: After each player has taken a turn, the
Lens gets to go again and Make History one more time, again
making two nested things if desired.
After the Focus is finished, we examine legacies:
4) Choose a Legacy: Player to the right of the current Lens picks
something that appeared during this last Focus and makes it a
Legacy.
5) Explore a Legacy: Same player creates an Event or Dictated
Scene that relates to one of the Legacies.
6) New Lens: The player to the left of the Lens then becomes the
new Lens and picks a new Focus (start again from step 1).
MAKING HISTORY
On your turn, make either a Period, Event or Scene:
period: Place between two Periods. Describe the Period and say
whether it is Light or Dark.
event: Place inside a Period. Describe the Event and say whether
it is Light or Dark.
scene: Place inside an Event. Choose whether to play or dictate
the Scene.
What you make must relate to the Focus set by the Lens. Do not
contradict what’s already been said. Do not use anything from the
No column of the Palette.
The Lens is allowed to create two things on each of their turns, so
long as one is inside the other (an Event and a Scene inside it, or a
Period and an Event inside it).
STYLE OF PLAY
After setup, do not negotiate or discuss as a group (except to
decide the Tone after a Scene). Do not ask for suggestions or give
suggestions. Keep your ideas close to the vest.
Create clearly and boldly. When you’re making history, you’re in
charge of creating reality. Pitch your vision. No one owns anything
in the history. Create or destroy whatever you want.
Abandon your preconceptions. History will not turn out the way
you expect. Think on your feet and work with what other players
introduce.
MAKING A PLAYED SCENE
1) State the Question
2) Set the Stage: What do we already know from the history?
Where is the Scene physically taking place? What is going on?
3) Choose Characters: List banned and required characters (max
2 each). All players pick characters (). Choose a character that
helps you answer the Question.
4) Reveal Thoughts ()
Steps marked go around the table to the right, opposite of the
normal order, starting to the right of the player making the Scene.
PLAYING A SCENE
Always move towards answering the Question of the Scene.
Roleplay what your character does and thinks. If someone tries
to do something to your character, you describe the outcome.
Shape the world by describing what your character perceives
and how they react to it.
Introduce and play secondary characters, as needed.
Don’t say what someone else’s character does or thinks.
PUSH: CREATIVE CONFLICT
If, while playing a Scene, someone describes something about the
world outside their character and you have a different idea you like
better, you can Push to substitute your idea for theirs.
You cannot Push to change a player’s starting character, except
to change something they perceive or to decide what happens to
them.
1) Proposal
2) Additional Proposals
3) Vote
4) Determine the Winner
5) Play the Results
ENDING A SCENE
When the players know the answer to the Question, the Scene
ends. Discuss what happened during the Scene to decide whether
the Scene was Light or Dark.
The Big Picture: "Tycoons fight over the Bottom Line on a brand new world, with colonists as their subjects and foot soldiers".
The Palette: Yes: Alien Remnants, Death World, Fantastic Transhumanism, Mega City.
No: Planet Destroying Weapons, Human FTL Travel, Mustache Twirling Villainy.
The Timeline:
"Refugees Organize themselves into Colonies to Survive" (Dark)
- "UN offers deal to leave Earth or face ruin" (Dark)
"Discovery of the 'Passage" (Light)
"Exo-Corp diverts colonists to Knoxos Tertius B" (Light)
"The Exile of the Heavenly Mandate" (Dark)
"The Colonization of Knoxos" (Dark)
- "The Keys to Keller City and the Mandate Uplink are handed to Obsidian Industries".
"Head of Exo-Corp converts to Aeonism" (Light)
- "The 'Conduit' is seized by a Sol strike team with minimal resistance".
"The Antecedent Upheaval" (Dark)
"The Golden Age of Knoxos Prime" (Light)
"Apollos Fire reaches Knoxos on its last legs" (Dark)
- Following the reception of a seemingly 'Alien' transmission, The Captain and several of his associates start behaving erratically, leading to armed conflict on board the ship, and pushing the Officers to breaking point.
"The Tyranny" (Dark)
"Super-Intendant Stantsons Fall from Grace" (Dark)
"The Colonies Enter a new Renaissance Era" (Light)
PSN: TheBrayster_92
The only rules in this case are not contradicting facts already set and following the turn structure (and not trying to rule by committee).
There are no dice rolls and no need to accumulate resources, 'power/god points' or other such mechanics found in similar games. It's very heavy on the RolePlaying and world building.
PSN: TheBrayster_92
But it is truly wonderful, I'm glad I found it.
PSN: TheBrayster_92
I sadly suck at writing,for the most part, otherwise I'd sign.
e:Alfred has a star trek game, he doesn't have time for history antics!
Periods and events only require a couple of sentences/ a short paragraph each, and unless you're the lens you're only doing one of those per turn.
It's also worth bearing in mind that most PbP games are designed in much the way that if they were real life would span several sessions. Microscope, on the other hand, is specifically designed to last an afternoon, if played in person.
My only expectation really would be for players to post once per day, but understanding how irregular schedules work means it's not compulsory. Folks can even drop out/ opt in with minimal fuss, seeing as there are no specific character sheets or narrative issues to worry about.
In short, feel free. If you feel like time is an issue, you are free to sign on then if you prove yourself right you can opt out and another player can drop in.
It's a very forgiving game on this account.
PSN: TheBrayster_92
@AlfredR are you down? If so, we have enough people to start.
PSN: TheBrayster_92
Ninja'd you! I've decided to go all in. Let's...
...Make History.
Well, we have enough people to start now, so let's open up the set-up discussions. The first thing we need to establish is the Theme, and with it, the Big Picture. The theme is the type of setting, and will dictate both what the Big Picture can be and what elements will feature through the rest of the game. This, in short, is the genre. Medieval, Fantasy, Sci-Fi, or anything else you can think of.
The Big Picture is the basic overview of the game you want to play. This is a single sentence, that summarizes (but does not necessarily describe) what happens across the entire timeline we are going to create. This doesn't need to be particularly interesting at first, it will be fleshed out by how we behave the rest of the game. Just make sure it's 'Big', we need a large area to work with. This will be the one line that History Books would use to sum up History.
These are the seeds that the Rulebook provides. We are free to use any of these, alter them to our own tastes, or come up with something else entirely, it is all up to you.
other again in the depths of space
Explorers settle a new land, displacing the native people
Secret societies carefully steer the course of civilization
Primitives leave their caves and found the first cities
Superheroes protect society, undermining the rule of law
A race of machines unearth their organic origins
How the West was won (alternate history America)
Gods play with heroes’ fates until Doom takes them all
The teachings of the Prophet are embraced by many, but
bitterly rejected by others
Technology brings humanity into a golden age
The ancient Enemy spreads its dark hand across the land
Battle of the Planets
Renaissance: society shakes off the shackles of ignorance
and embraces art and learning
Colonists tame a new world, but are cut off from the old
The health of the kingdom is bound to the life of the king
Atlantis sinks and her secrets are lost with her
Evolution of a species
Captains of Industry: corporations dominate society
A brilliant world-conqueror leaves behind a fractured and
feuding empire
Scattered refugees struggle to rebuild after the
Apocalypse
The last Magic passes from the world
I personally am a fan of "Colonists tame a new world, but are cut off from the old". It is open to almost any genre (New World as in a new Continent (Medieval, Fantasy, Renaissance) or New World as in a New Planet (Sci-Fi). It also suggests a lot of potential for both Light and Dark Periods.
My two favourite genres are Medieval/'Low Fantasy' and Sci-Fi
This is my initial suggestion, I can't wait to see what you guys have to offer.
PSN: TheBrayster_92
Originally I was thinking "what becomes of the deep space colonists when Earth goes silent for good," but then I saw the pre-gen Big pictures include something similar. So: I think I'd really like to see colonists tame a new world, but are cut off from the old one if I were to pick one off the list, but I'm not married to it and happy to do something else.
Edit: I would also, in a complete twist, be interested in the health of the kingdom is tied to the life of the king hardcore. I get a Fae/Arthurian Game of Thrones vibe off that one that gives me tingles.
Health of Kingdom is tied to Life of King sounds like it could be interesting like Alfred said.
Long-separated branches of humanity stumble upon each other again in the depths of space could be interesting. Battle of Planets is kinda generic but fun. A lot of them seem open enough to be interesting. Only ones I'd be opposed to are
edit: genre wise- Weird Fantasy, Sci-Fi or Dark Fantasy are fine with me.
In re: genre, Science-Fiction is fine with me but it's a surprisingly broad brush. Personally, the two slightly-narrower science fiction genres that I'm good with are the vaguely-Romantic but often pretty surreal Space Opera / Man-in-Rocket-has-Adventures stuff written by guys like Jack Vance and A. Bertram Chandler and Fred Saberhagen, and the often-grimmer Hard Sci-Fi by guys like Hal Clement. I'm not sure we have the credentials to produce the latter - I sure don't - but the former shares some DNA with the Foundation books and Ringworld, so if that's the sort of space we're aiming for I can definitely play in that yard. Fantasy-wise I'm a fan of Moorcock, Silverberg, Glen Cook, and at least some of the Erikson / Esselmont Malazan world and stories.
It seems like we could probably roll some of these suggestions together into a mission-statement if we put some thought into it, fwiw.
So many good ideas!
The first Hyperion novel handled it pretty well, even though it was more of a side thing. I'm a fan of humans evolving in different environments as human-like " aliens" as opposed to it just being a coincidence (see: space operas basically...)
Frank Herbert presents a "Game of Thrones"
Tycoons fight over the bottom line on a new world, with colonists as their subjects and foot soldiers.
Could be very... "boardroom-politik" with a dose of Alien-style narcissistic companies/Dune-esque guild houses. Basically all about the history of how these space corporations/guild houses/societies shaped the colony "as we know it."
That sounds pretty good actually. Would everyone be okay with that? We could then move on to the Palette
PSN: TheBrayster_92
Most likely just cheering from the bench, but with a couple more sign-ups I reckon we have numbers for a second game.
hAmmONd IsnT A mAin TAnk
The Palette is a simple list of 'Yes' and 'No', labels for elements that can or can not appear in the game. We will go round all players, and each will be allowed to add one element to either the 'Yes' or 'No' column. Once everyone has contributed, we all go round again. Any player is allowed to abstain from contributing at any time, but once a player does so, the Palette phase will end once everyone has had their say in the round. No one player will have contributed 2 more items than anyone else.
The 'Yes' column exists for those elements which you would like to see come up, but you don't expect other players to come up with it themselves. Items on the 'Yes' column are not automatically in the game, they are simply highlighted as available until someone actually decides to do it.
The 'No' column exists for those elements which you feel might come up, but you don't want to see them feature. Items on the 'No' list are banned for use by all players.
I'll start us off.
I would like to place 'Planet Destroying Weapons' on the 'No' list. This includes the likes of the Death Star, a seismic Machine that shatters a planetary core etc. This does not include surface weapons, such as Nuclear Warheads, or other manufactured elements that can wipe out life.
PSN: TheBrayster_92
PSN: TheBrayster_92
@Auralynx I don't think that kills the space opera tone, personally, because we can still see dumb space hijinks in our system - just no sudden influx or exflux of population. Im willing to drop this No if it steps on your space opera fun, honest. Let me know.
NO to Moustache-Twirling Villainy, which should probably go without saying but might as well make it explicit! There will probably be bad guys, but let's give them comprehensible motivations besides sheer perversity. :P
Final Palette:
Yes: Alien Remnants, Death World, Fantastic Trans-humanism, Mega-Cities.
No: World Destroying Weapons, Human FTL travel, Mustache Twirling Villainy.
Now what we need to do is Bookend history. I've since realized we were supposed to do this before the Palette, but in this instance I don't see this being particularly consequential either way.
To put it simply, we need to come up with two Periods, one to mark the very start of the timeline, and the other to mark the very end. As with all other Periods, this will consist of a single sentence summarizing what happens during it, but vague enough to allow plenty of events and scenes to occur within it, with an overall tone of either Light or Dark.
While any combination is allowed, I'd suggest we either have a Light Start Period and a Dark End Period, or a Dark Start Period and a Light End Period. Light-Light just seems too inconsequential and Dark-Dark just seems to dreary.
My suggestions are as follows:
"Colonists leave Earth for a new life in the Outer Galaxy" (Light)
"The Colonies cease to co-operate, becoming insular" (Dark)
or
"Corporations look to the stars for new profit" (Dark)
"A desire for Liberty sweeps across the colonies" (Light)
PSN: TheBrayster_92
Refugees organize themselves into colonies to survive (Dark) into The dawn of the Modern Era (Light), which is sort of along the lines of the initial Foundation series' arc.
Refugees organize themselves into colonies to survive (Dark)
The Colonies enter a new Renaissance era (Light)
The former leaves open a lot of potential exposition and desperate world building, while the latter encompasses all kind of new achievements for the colonists (Liberty, expansion, tech/ethics developments, etc).
PSN: TheBrayster_92