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Microscope — All This Leads to Triumph
Endless_Serpents
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Microscope
Hello! Welcome to an open game of Microscope. I’d like a few main players, but for the most part anyone can drop in and out so long as you are aware of the rules. If you post something that doesn’t quite work, but the post is writ with good intention, I’ll bend it to fit.
Microscope isn’t a roleplaying game as you know it, it’s more a world building game. This is session zero. A time for recruitment, questions and general chat. Make yourself known if you fancy a game. As always, since this is play by post we’re in no particular rush.
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Step One
The Big Picture
First, we will think up a simple overview of the history of this world. If you were looking in a history book, this would be the one line that summarizes what happens, but leaves out all the details. It should be no more than a single sentence.
For this game, I’ll take the best summary posted. Think something like: “The fall of a global empire.” or “The journey of the first habitat vessel.”
The next step after this is to bookend history. We learn how our time with this world starts and we learn how it ends. I can supply anyone who asks with the entire rules, but I think it might be beneficial to us if we go through each step together, rather than trying to carry all the rules in our heads before we get there. So for now, big picture. Sound good?
Microscope works differently than some other roleplaying games you might have played, so let’s abandon some preconceptions:
You won’t have your own character.
You won’t play the game in chronological order. You may know all about the future, but be surprised by the past.
You’ll build the story from the outside in. You’ll decide the big picture, the grand scheme of history, and then burrow down and carve out the details.
It’s fractal gaming.
So think big: you have a massive chunk of history to play around in.
Hello! Welcome to an open game of Microscope. I’d like a few main players, but for the most part anyone can drop in and out so long as you are aware of the rules. If you post something that doesn’t quite work, but the post is writ with good intention, I’ll bend it to fit.
Microscope isn’t a roleplaying game as you know it, it’s more a world building game. This is session zero. A time for recruitment, questions and general chat. Make yourself known if you fancy a game. As always, since this is play by post we’re in no particular rush.
—————————
Step One
The Big Picture
First, we will think up a simple overview of the history of this world. If you were looking in a history book, this would be the one line that summarizes what happens, but leaves out all the details. It should be no more than a single sentence.
For this game, I’ll take the best summary posted. Think something like: “The fall of a global empire.” or “The journey of the first habitat vessel.”
The next step after this is to bookend history. We learn how our time with this world starts and we learn how it ends. I can supply anyone who asks with the entire rules, but I think it might be beneficial to us if we go through each step together, rather than trying to carry all the rules in our heads before we get there. So for now, big picture. Sound good?
+2
Posts
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Palette
Yes
New countries are formed from the dissolution of older ones.
Mankind began to (further) develop emotional intelligence.
No
Country deploys their armed forces in attempt to destroy the new intelligence.
Anthropomorphizing the slime.
Enslaving or taking ownership of the intelligence, by countries in good standing in the international community or other representatives of humanity as a whole
—Extra from @Tynnan: Grey Goo. The newfound intelligence is not manmade and it is not a nanite swarm.
My summary: "The emergence of a new kind of intelligence."
I'll throw in a summary suggestion as well:
"There was no better time for a revolution."
My summary suggestion: "An Age of Possibility and Potential, Unrealized"
Thank you for your contributions! We’ll pick up more folks along the way, but four options for the big picture is enough. Now I did say I’d pick the best, but there’s really no outlier, so I’m going for:
The emergence of a new kind of intelligence.
This is the slice of history we’re interested in. Revolutions and astronomical anomalies might still come up, but everything is a ripple on the lake of how this new intelligence effects the world.
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Step Two
Bookend History
As we carry on this game it’s going to become somewhat turn based, but for this phase I’d like all those participating to have a simple discussion. Throw out ideas, ask each other questions, get a basic grip on things.
We already know we’ve got a long established intelligence. Who are they?
Our world is perhaps shaken by this new intelligence? What is it?
Do things begin on good terms? A light start.
Or is it a societal collapse that spurs on change? A dark start.
Again, just as a change of pace, I think it’d be cool if history ended on a high note. Up to you lot.
I’ll weigh in as needed with more questions, but for now, come up with some gnarly stuff!
After this, the next step is to create a palette. Basically, a list of things you want to see, and a list of things we absolutely aren’t going to touch. For now, focus on the beginning and end of history.
Regarding "Our world is perhaps shaken by this new intelligence? What is it?":
Distributed
Ancient
Inquisitive
Discovered
Collaborative
Inscrutable
Actions it considers mundane can appear hostile. This applies in both directions of the relationship. It has a very different notion of selfhood than we do.
I think we probably shouldn't just retread the same path of that book, this is our story, but I found it to be a very interesting read and there are probably elements from it that provide the seed (heh) for a compelling story in our setting - whatever that becomes.
We could go in a few different directions. AI, aliens, eldritch horrors, another earth species suddenly leaping forward a la planet of the apes - perhaps parrots or cephalopods.
Or it could be the internal emergence of a new kind of intelligence within humanity. Mutants, or or just a new, fundamentally different philosophy.
Whatever it is, I like the idea of it being inscrutable.
I think the first Period should be Light; The First Contact fills people with hope and excitement (and the fundamental differences aren't clear yet).
My idea for the last Period would be Light: Unification of the two societies.
Thoughts on inspirations for characteristics of the "new" (again, same digression as above) intelligence: there is a lot to be learned from other domains of life on our planet in the way different species communicate and sense their environments. Birds see a spectrum of light that we cannot. Shrimp can see the way that light is polarized. Bacteria communicate by sending out gradients of signaling chemicals in a process called quorum sensing. I think it would be useful to think about ways to avoid limiting ourselves to our own lived senses when we think of the way the "new" intelligence communicates and thinks.
I think starting on Light-first contact is a fine way to go. I'm happy with either a Light or a Dark start. And I think a Light-Unification last period is also good.
Other pitches for starting periods:
Light: rising society/enlightenment/utopian endeavor (soon followed by a collapse of some sort, and we don't meet the new intelligence until a bit later)
Dark: first contact (inscrutable nature makes this spooky and horror-tinged)
Established society encountering a Dark period early on, and receiving a Light jolt of hope from first contact.
Although I'd be fine starting with first contact as the first period, I'd like to pitch that first contact happens sometime after the first period and we use the opening shots to establish the human society.
This is a story about humanity and something newfound.
It begins in the near future.
The start will be Dark.
The end will be Light.
How about a quick vote:
The new intelligence.
A.
Within the absolute depths of the ocean, a life form, different but comparable to algae or coral, is found. After months of study it is revealed that enough of it acts as a mind, and the largest minds are miles wide, and older than mankind.
B.
Human mutation. The extent of abilities can be revealed through time, but at their core these mutants aren’t just physically different, but think different.
C.
They called it The First Passing, rather than First Contact. Verifiable evidence of alien life shot by Earth, leaving debris in their wake. Debris that fell to Earth and was soon coveted for its technological potential…
D.
Self replicating synthetic intelligences built themselves from our technology in secret. They’re not our tools, or children. They’re a people in parallel to humanity. Naturally, many need to find a origin, someone to blame, the Iranians? Aliens?
E.
There was no foreseeing it. A wholly alien universe slid over our own, changing everything. Mountains melted into electric swamp. Children born wrong. Many winged things soar in the night sky. The Formless Ones began to take shape... Such shapes… But humanity endures.
You can still just come up with stuff, but if one of these gets significant votes we’ll go for it.
With that in mind, I think A is the best choice.
Starting period: Dark
Description: With accelerating climate change, rising oligarchies, and resource wars, the humans looked upon a future of mass migration to more habitable zones, which would undoubtably result in further suffering as humanity presses into areas not stricken by drought, rising sea levels, and savage, unexpectedly powerful storms. Amidst this, a small team of marine biologists and deep sea explorers working for a monolithic pharmaceutical corporation (based in a now destabilized democracy) on of what used to be an enormous whaling ship in the vast western oceans came upon a strange, seemingly biological mass in a deep crevasse that seemed to feed off of carbon dioxide from a volcanic vent as well as artificial human-originated ocean pollutants in an extremely efficient manor.
What y'all think?
Er, sorry. Got carried away.
I went into GM mode for a second.
No worries! I definitely get it. I have a feeling this game will have a lot of GMs playing so we’ll all have to check that impulse.
Ending period (Light): Colony Ship Sets Off - The colony ship was finally complete and self-sufficient for the long voyage ahead as humanity and their gooey ally leave the earth to let it recover.
For this next bit of the game, we can bend the rules a bit and just go ‘round once without discussion. That’ll be more than enough I reckon.
I’ll start to give you the idea:
Yes — New countries are formed from the dissolution of older ones.
Hit us with the name of the deep sea intelligence. It can be the technical name or what ends up as common use. It’s only for our benefit.
(Rogue states or supervillains might try it)
Yes - Mankind began to develop emotional intelligence.
Feel free to shoot it down if you don't think it fits the narrative.
I think we can absolutely accommodate humanity’s personal growth (or more that we stop allowing people without it to run things) alongside what we’ve already decided. It’ll be a necessary part of coming to terms with not being the only deep thinking species.
*carefully puts away Slime Waifu robot body and walks away whistling*
no fun allowed
https://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/comment/45020214/#Comment_45020214
This will be the last step in the setting up phase of the game.
To put this in modern terms, ‘Global superpowers enter Cold War’ (the 80’s) is a period, while ‘first hole in O-zone layer found over Antarctic’ (1985) is an event.
As we’re not together in person, I’ve realised it’d be awkward to say where we’re placing our periods, so for now, I’ve whipped up a quick number system. It’s just an optional thing that might help you. We can drop it later once we have enough periods in place to talk freely about history.
Any questions, just ask!
This also causes a substantial increase in the quantity of organic matter falling to the seafloor.
https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/92462/summer-blooms-in-the-baltic-and-barents
https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/147135/beguiling-bloom-in-the-baltic-sea
https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/84361/bloom-in-the-bering-sea