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[The Quiet Year] Autumn Clubbing
The Brayster
UKRegistered User regular
UKRegistered User regular
For a long time, we were at war with the Jackals.
Now, finally, we’ve driven them out , and we’re left
with this: a year of relative peace. One quiet year,
with which to build our community up and learn
again how to work together. Come Winter, the Frost
Shepherds will arrive and we might not survive the
encounter. This is is when the game will end. But we
don’t know about that yet. What we know is that
right now, in this moment, there is an opportunity
to build something
Now, finally, we’ve driven them out , and we’re left
with this: a year of relative peace. One quiet year,
with which to build our community up and learn
again how to work together. Come Winter, the Frost
Shepherds will arrive and we might not survive the
encounter. This is is when the game will end. But we
don’t know about that yet. What we know is that
right now, in this moment, there is an opportunity
to build something
What is this?
The Quiet Year is a game of community, a story of a people struggling to survive in a land of scarcity, with trouble behind them and Doom well on the way. The game, as you might expect, takes place over the span of a year, with the players shaping the community, its successes and its failures. We will do this with a deck of cards, a map and our imaginations.
What's this about a Deck of Cards?
Glad you asked! The year will take place over the course of 52 (in game) weeks, just as a deck of cards is made up of 52 cards. I will split a deck up into its respective suits, each suit will represent a season, and each card within a suit will therefore represent a week in the lives of this community (Heart = Spring, Diamond = Summer, Club = Autumn, Spade = Winter). Rotating between players, I will draw a card for each 'Turn', during which each player will be prompted to shape the fate of this community, one week at a time. The game will end when the King of Spades is drawn, signalling the arrival of the Frost Shepards.
I'm looking for Four players, give or take, for this game. I myself will not be among your number (unless we need the extra player). Instead, I will run the game, Drawing Cards, presenting dilemmas, updating the map, and so on. Please let me know if you are interested!
Steam: TheBrayster
PSN: TheBrayster_92
PSN: TheBrayster_92
The Brayster on
+3
Posts
Players:
1) Elvenshae
2) discrider
3) Endless_Serpents
4) Nips
Player Turn:
Discover Something New
Introduce a new situation. It might be a problem,
an opportunity, or a bit of both. Draw that situation
onto the map.
Whenever things seem too controlled or easy,
we can use this action to introduce new issues
and dilemmas. When individual characters get
introduced, we’ll give them names.
Some example situations:
• There’s a dried-up well located at the edge of town.
• Mangy wolves have been slinking around the woods.
• There’s a broken-down waterwheel a mile upstream.
• Strange wailing noises come from the forest at night.
• A self-declared prophet arrives.
Hold A Discussion
can choose to open with a question or a declaration.
Starting with you and going clockwise, everyone
gets to weigh in once, sharing a single argument
comprised of 1-2 sentences. If you opened with a
question, you get to weigh in last. If you opened with
a declaration, that’s it for you.
A discussion never results in a decision or summation
process. Everyone weighs in, and then it’s over. This is
is how conversations work in communities: they are
untidy and inconclusive affairs.
Each discussion should be tied to a situation on the
map. When a discussion ends, mark the situation it is
attached to with a small dot.
Some example conversations include:
• Should we retaliate against the bikers? (Or, if
leading with a declaration: We should abstain
from retaliation or violence.)
• Could we use the school-bus as a sleeping area
for the village children?
It’s important that we stay concise. If any of us feel
like we have more to say on a topic, we can always
hold another discussion about it at a later point.
Start a Project:
situation and declare what the community will do to
resolve it. There is no consultation about this idea -
the community simply begins work.
Some example projects:
• We’re converting the mineshaft into a cold
food storage.
• We’re killing those wolves.
• We’re going to sacrifice a newborn on the night of
the full moon, to appease the Windwalkers.
As a group, quickly decide how many weeks the
project would reasonably take to complete (minimum
1 and maximum 6). Remember that you are a small
community. It isn’t easy or quick to build a house
or repair a waterwheel. Do you have the necessary
tools and expertise to do this? Be generous with your
assumptions, but do remember that scarcity and
difficulty are the norm. If a project would reasonably
take longer than six weeks to complete, it will need to
be completed in stages.
Contempt
in a decision-making process, you can take a piece of
Contempt and place it in front of you. This is your
outlet for expressing disagreement or tension.
If someone starts a project that you don’t agree with, you
don’t get to voice your objections or speak out of turn.
You are instead invited to take a piece of Contempt.
Contempt will generally remain in front of players
until the end of the game. It will act as a reminder
of past contentions. Its primary role is as a social
signifier. In addition, you can discard it back into the
centre of the table in two ways: by acting selfishly and
by diffusing tensions.
If you ever want to act selfishly, to the known
detriment of the community, you can discard a
Contempt token to justify your behaviour. You
decide whether your behaviour requires justification.
This will often trigger others taking Contempt
tokens in response.
If someone else does something that you greatly
support, that would mend relationships and
rebuild trust, you can discard a Contempt token to
demonstrate how they have diffused past tensions
Pacing
sketch of the landscape. From this humble place, a
rich tapestry will emerge. How, and at what pace?
The cards of Spring will ask us a lot of questions,
which will establish more about the landscape and
the inner workings of our community. We should use
Spring to become familiar with the mechanics and
structure of the game. There won’t necessarily be a lot
of tension or conflict during Spring, and this is fine.
In Summer, larger threats and greater progress will
both emerge. We’ll begin to define our community
through our actions, and some seeds of discontent
will likely be sown.
In Autumn, danger and failure
become more visible and serious. This will be the
most trying season.
In Winter, the community will
continue its work and preparations, and as players we
will contend with the dramatic irony of knowing that
the Frost Shepherds could arrive at any moment.
If ever the map feels lacking or the community seems
to have domesticated the world around it, we can
introduce new dilemmas. What happens when a child
murders his mother? What happens when someone
screws up and it costs us a food supply?
PSN: TheBrayster_92
Steam: Elvenshae // PSN: Elvenshae // WotC: Elvenshae
Wilds of Aladrion: [https://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/comment/43159014/#Comment_43159014]Ellandryn[/url]
There's a little bit of set-up before the game proper, so while we wait for another sign up or two, feel free to contribute your setting idea, which we can then discuss/vote on once everyone is in.
Post your idea by following these two steps (keep it simple for now):
1) Where is the community physically located? What is the terrain? (E.g. On a cliffside, in a valley between a mountain range, in a desert).
2) Based upon 1), what are any other notable features of the community/local landscape? Try to keep this within eyesight of the community. (E.g. The 'town' is a collection of tents/the locals are residing in old ruins, there is a dense forest directly north)
Edit: Also worth bearing in mind that the 'community' is probably somewhere between 60-100 people, if that matters to your decision.
PSN: TheBrayster_92
1) In a desert
2) With a vehicle wrecking yard to the West
2) There are the remains of a bridge from many years ago partially crossing the river after the confluence.
Steam: Elvenshae // PSN: Elvenshae // WotC: Elvenshae
Wilds of Aladrion: [https://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/comment/43159014/#Comment_43159014]Ellandryn[/url]
PSN: TheBrayster_92
I fuckin' loooooooooove TQY though, so the desire is definitely there.
2. To the north is the Handout, a massive abandoned artificial meat factory.
Son of a bench, I’m in.
The next stage would normally be to vote on which of the setting ideas you guys like best from what was brought up, but as 2/3 of you have gone for a desert, I think it's safe to say we can roll with that?
@Elvenshae , as the odd one out you can add a thing to the setting. The other two, would you guys be okay with me combining your two?
The next thing to do is to each come up with one 'Resource' that you want to be considered important to the community. Once we have three, you can collectively pick one of them to be Abundant, the other two will then be Scarce. Have at it.
Edit: With 4 players that will bring us to 4 resources - one each. One of which will be abundant, the other three scarce.
PSN: TheBrayster_92
Kung Fu
The knowledge and application of martial arts, for the betterment of the mind and body, and defence of the settlement.
In a material sense, there are books and scrolls on the subject only the settlement has. Otherwise, in order of importance: The teachers, masters, educated and young students are the other half of this resource.
Since we're desert-bound (barring Elven's additional detail), I'll throw this in: As you move through the desert to south, the salty aggregate gives way to broken limestone. After a distance's travel in that direction, the ground falls away into a series of limestone steps that steeply lead down into a mile-wide, irregularly-shaped pit. The fall down it might not kill you, but the landing at the bottom certainly would! (I'm imagining something akin to a layered strip-mine in appearance, but slightly more steep.)
I'm doing to suggest the Resource: Historical Knowledge. Do we remember what brought us here, or did the trial that forced our community to settle here wipe that from our recollection?
That detail is entirely up to the group as you all play. It's intentionally left vague - build it up as you see fit. Just bear in mind that, as with any other aspect of the game, on any given players turn they are in 100% control of the narrative, so they might take it a place you don't expect.
Edit: That is to say, if you're making it a Resource, then the direct answer to your question very much depends on whether the group labels it an Abundance or a Scarcity before the game starts. Just that either way, the community considers it important (to hold on to, or to reclaim).
PSN: TheBrayster_92
Keep the broken bridge.
Steam: Elvenshae // PSN: Elvenshae // WotC: Elvenshae
Wilds of Aladrion: [https://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/comment/43159014/#Comment_43159014]Ellandryn[/url]
The question was rhetorical, as we hadn't decided on Abundance or Scarcity yet. ;D But yes, I'm sticking with Historical Knowledge as my suggested Resource.
Ha! Fair, I guess I'm just hard-coded into answering that question.
Resources thus far:
* Kung Fu
* Historical Knowledge
Just need one each from @discrider and @Elvenshae , then between you decide - Which one of these does the community posess in abundance, and which three will become a scarcity for the community to solve/replace?
I'll sort out the initial map in the meantime, then we can begin!
PSN: TheBrayster_92
Steam: Elvenshae // PSN: Elvenshae // WotC: Elvenshae
Wilds of Aladrion: [https://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/comment/43159014/#Comment_43159014]Ellandryn[/url]
So, the limestone pit is represented to the south with a set of closed-in cliffs. The vehicle wrecking yard is to the west, represented by some generic ruins as, well, that's a very specific asset I don't have.
Naturally, as the game goes on we'll fill this in so it doesn't look so crap, but crap-maps are half of what makes The Quiet Year. I'll neaten it as we go. Probably doesn't help that this is a desert so, well, it's gonna look plain anyway.
PSN: TheBrayster_92
Both the components and knowledge to create or jerry-rig machinery that makes all the challenges of life easier.
The close access to the vehicle scrap-yard allows the village to, if not understand, at least access advancements in the age past.
*Kung-Fu
*Historical Knowledge
*Numaize
*Technology
I vote our Abundance should be Numaize. Our community isn't going to get very far if it starves and dies in the first month!
I'm not much of a cook
As time goes on, items may be added to, or removed from, this list, with their scarcity or abundance changing likely more than once. But for right now, these are the biggest things the community finds themselves worrying about.
With that we're ready to go. If it's okay with you guys, I'm going to treat the sign-up order as the player order for simplicity, which means the order stands at:
I will tag each of you on your turns, if anyone Holds a Discussion on their turn, please follow the same order and tag the next person down when you have made your statement.
From this point on, OOC collaboration and discussion will be kept to a bare minimum. Please bear in mind that on each players turn, they are in 100% control of the narrative at that point. Discussions need to be kept to the Hold a Discussion action, and the discussion of project duration for a new project. Remember, if you feel you aren't being heard in these cases, feel free to declare CONTEMPT. You are as much an influence over the community as anyone else, which also means you represent a part of the community that isn't being heard. Please feel free to refer back to the 2nd post of this thread for any explanations. If anything is unclear, @ me.
I'll kick off the first turn shortly.
PSN: TheBrayster_92
Added Numaize fields (Abundance)
Resources:
None
Contempt:
None
@Elvenshae , you draw the 4 of Hearts! Your choice is as follows:
What important and basic tools
does the community lack?
OR
Where are you storing your food?
Why is this a risky place to store things?
PSN: TheBrayster_92
The autoharvestron, an amazing device which greatly simplifies the planting and harvesting of crops, is in need of constant maintenance. We struggle to keep sufficient spare parts and tools on-hand and lack the ability to make them ourselves, due to our lack of technology. The community has been forced to largely revert to using hand tools. Luckily, the numaize is easy enough to tend that at this time, the community is well-provisioned.
Accordingly, we are going to Start a Project and send the regular expedition to the Vehicle Wrecking Yard to the west to scavenge for supplies and tech. We need have a discussion for how long this will take.
I propose that it takes approximately 3 weeks: slightly < 1 week to travel there, ~1 week of scavenging, and slightly > 1 week to return (hopefully) with the findings.
@discrider
Steam: Elvenshae // PSN: Elvenshae // WotC: Elvenshae
Wilds of Aladrion: [https://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/comment/43159014/#Comment_43159014]Ellandryn[/url]
@Endless_Serpents @Nips
Steam: Elvenshae // PSN: Elvenshae // WotC: Elvenshae
Wilds of Aladrion: [https://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/comment/43159014/#Comment_43159014]Ellandryn[/url]
Correct! Strictly speaking, the Have a Discussion action probably doesn't need to be in strict turn order either, as long as everyone gets a say.
PSN: TheBrayster_92
PSN: TheBrayster_92
Added flag marker for project 'Wrecking Yard Expedition'.
Resources:
Wrecking Yard Expedition: 3
Contempt:
None
@discrider , you draw the Ace of Hearts! Your choice is as follows:
What group has the highest status in the community?
What must people do to gain inclusion in this group?
OR
Are there distinct family units in the community?
If so, what family structures are common?
PSN: TheBrayster_92
While not much is known about our past, it is clear that without the Numaize, the village would have perished long ago.
The Overseers are those elder farmers who are charged with keeping the Numaize flowing.
Determined largely by seniority, Overseers take on a large number of the youth as apprentices. Those that show promise as more than just unskilled labour are taught the secrets to tending the fields, with the most proved or favoured replacing their Overseer when they die, or can no longer tend the fields for age.
There are other professions in the village, but none so revered. Even if they require as much skill.
And there are only so many fields, and so only so many Overseers, which can frustrate the impatient.
I'm also going to start a Discussion
Numalaize:
Some of the youth have been seen brewing a soporific psychedelic beer from the Numaize, and going on "spirit trips". What should be done about them?
@Endless_Serpents
Steam: Elvenshae // PSN: Elvenshae // WotC: Elvenshae
Wilds of Aladrion: [https://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/comment/43159014/#Comment_43159014]Ellandryn[/url]
Steam: Elvenshae // PSN: Elvenshae // WotC: Elvenshae
Wilds of Aladrion: [https://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/comment/43159014/#Comment_43159014]Ellandryn[/url]