AbsentWizard

At the bottom of the hill, the Wizard puts down a wooden sign, with an arrow pointing towards the top of the hill. "This way to bottom of the hill," the sign declares. A short distance away at top of the hill, the Wizard puts down a second wooden sign, with an arrow pointed towards the first sign. "This way to Hill (local name: My)," the new sign declares.

Does it still satisfy the letter of the purpose of the thread if someone brings up a pile of dirt and drops it on the previous person, then stands on the pile?

On Writing and Worldbuilding: Volume 3, by Timothy Hickson came out.

What's different about this bizarre nightmare world straddled by a god-sized spider that is actionable by the players, and may need explanation, but wasn't provided?

On a tangent: I think that it's a saving grace that Game of Thrones and GRRM's books leave so much of Westeros unexplained and obscure, because a great many of the parts that are detailed demonstrate a deep unfamiliarity with the functioning of the real-world cultures that they are borrowing from. Some parts are caricatures done with what seems to be no sense of irony or introspection whatsoever. It is regretful and almost irresponsible because these portrayals can become a major portion of the public's perception of these cultures and matters.

There are certain situations where the setting is so different from traditional unspoken assumptions about settings that it is necessary to write a lot more about it in the setting document. What's happening when things are not written out explicitly is either that it doesn't come up because it doesn't matter, or it doesn't come up because it matches everyone's unspoken assumptions about the setting so that it does not bear detailing or discussing. A setting that is very different needs to explicitly spell out all the ways that it breaks those assumptions because it is easy and tempting to fall back to those assumptions because they're comfortable and familiar. This doesn't apply to the vast majority parts of the vast majority of sessions. There is a moon. There is a sun. The sky is blue. Water flows downhill. Most of the interesting beings are humans-shaped. Giant eagles, ancient ruined watchtowers, underground caves, active volcanoes, and evil jewelry are still fundamentally familiar things that most readers/players are familiar with, or combinations thereof. Snake Plisskin flew the Gullfire over Leningrad parses probably as "a human-like person, operating some kind of craft, went over some city". Most are familiar with these concepts; maybe not this specific instance of it, but enough to get the gist of the event. It can be evocative without needing any further description or explanation. I think that an example of where the cracks start appearing is when one starts describing things happening in specialized fields for which most people have no reference or familiarity, not even through media. "Snake Plisskin moved for discovery of the Gullfire," in the sense of legal procedurals, doesn't parse into anything familiar for many readers, even though it is still drawing from well-established things IRL. In a hypothetical game set entirely within court procedures and lawyering, where all interactions outside of the court building is simply skipped over and the results described, there needs to be a LOT of specifying the legal frameworks and case code, so that the players themselves can navigate it and make informed decisions. Feel agency. The settings needs to be extensively written about even though the entire game physically happens in a single room. My point being: "the virtues of a small setting" just implies "everyone's already familiar with all the working elements here", and from there implies not straying far afield. Which ... you do you, but I dislike.

New Faction started with the Weak Faith. DIP 2 MIL 1 IND 1 FAI 4 INT 1

My name is Abada-Mer. My home is on the shore of the Big Lake, among the tall grasses where the wild horses are many. But I am not there now. My tribe is not so small, and we followed the wild horses where they went. But I am not with them now. I am a traveler. I travel because of a promise that was not kept. Many years ago, before my mother had married into my tribe, we were visited by the Wise Sages. I have only seen the paintings of them on the rocks myself. Every night the storytellers would gather the children, myself included, to tell the stories of who we are, and how we were given wisdom by the Wise Sages. Before, we used to know nothing. We saw our ancestors in the shapes of clouds and heard them in the sounds of the wind in the grasses. We burned bones to please them. We left milk in the hollows of sacred rocks as offerings. Our ancestors watched and protected us in death as they had in life. Or so we knew. That day, we really saw ancestors. Not ours. The ancestors of the Wise Sages. They were beautiful, glowing beings like wind and light given form. They did not look like us because they were not our ancestors, but their shape was greatly and peaceful to look upon nonetheless. They were so wise that their speech were not understandable to us, except in the shallowest of ways. And their powers were great indeed: they could fly in the sky and walk silently through tents and neither fire nor clubs could injure them. The Wise Sages dwelled with my tribe for some time and taught us some of the truths of the world. We learned that we have done all our ancestors wrong, and that they had not undergone the proper rituals and were not watching over us. We were enraged by this, but then we were ashamed to have been so ignorant. The Wise Sages promised to teach us the proper rituals so that our ancestors can take luminous form, like they, and truly watch over us. Before that happened, the Wise Sages left our tribe to return to their great gathering, where all the Wise Sages of all the lands meet. That was the day that the sky turned red and borne many new stars. The Wise Sages would not tell us why this thing happened, only that they must go away on something important. They promised to return soon, so that no more of our elders would face death without ascending. First death came for my favorite Storyteller, and the tribe grieved, but they said that this is only the most recent of many. And the Wise Sages had not returned. Many more have died since, and I have only made talk. But this year, sickness has come over my mother and I fear that she may die before the year is out. I realize that I cannot only talk. I must travel to find the promise that was not kept. My horse and I have now been through much lands, and today we came to a high hill. On it is littered vast stones beyond counting, each of them carved with the symbols like the amulet which my mother gave me, the amulet that she said a Wise Sage gave to my father and my father gave to her. Broken bodies with shattered visages lay half-sunk among the brush and vines. Everywhere I saw etched and painted onto the rocks images of the red and broken sky, and symbols which I know not the meaning of. I wandered among the roofless, burnt walls of houses of stones until I came to a great, stepped circle. In the center is a wooden table, whose shape I recognized from the Storyteller's description. Here was the heart that fed the Wise Sages, laying mockingly on its side. I picked it up in my hands and found it to be broken, as the promise to my tribe will remain broken. My name is Abada-Mer, of the People by the Big Lake. The sky took away our guiding light, my people's future, and my mother. And I will make the sky pay.   ========= Faction Destroyed: The Weak Lands New Faction: Tribe of Abada-Mer Tribe of Abada-Mer does not hold Region 113 Tribe of Abada-Mer holds no lands and has become a Rebel Leader Tribe of Abada-Mer generates Unrest in Region 113 by existing (Rules wording ambiguous, may be intended as an action) (Action) Tribe of Abada-Mer attempts to raise a military unit in Region 113. Intrigue (2d6+5 (+2 partisan support)) vs Intrigue (2d6+5 minimum TN 12). Tribe of Abada-Mer raises 3 units as rebels (Action) Tribe of Abada-Mer attempts to attack and occupy Region 113. There are 3 attackers and 2 defenders. The attacking leader is Abada-Mer (MIL 1). The two sides have exact technological parity. (Sub-Action) Tribe of Abada-Mer Tactical Maneuvering 2d6+1 (Cmdr MIL) + 2 (Rebel) (Sub-Action) Tribe of Abada-Mer would use Skirmishing Doctrine, as a 1st-system warfare culture. Casualties are calculated 1 step lower for both sides. (Sub-Action) Tribe of Abada-Mer Battle Roll is 2d6+1 (Cmdr MIL) +3 (Units) + 2 (Rebel) (Action) Tribe of Abada-Mer attempts to Establish Claim on Region 113. Roll is 2d6+2 (DIP) vs TN 12. (Fail, was 8 not 13) (Action) Tribe of Abada-Mer attempts to Hoard Treasure (Action) Tribe of Abada-Mer attempts to Hoard Treasure

As of Round 5 DIP 5 MIL 1 STW 2 FAI 5 INT 5 Culture Identity (Conversions) Organized Religion  

The Weak dissolve into total chaos debating the actual meaning of and the results of the Big Sky Event, including what to call it other than Big Sky Event. The current power structure of the Weak debate council, including its agreed-upon formats, are overthrown!   Actions (I) Foment Unrest on 114 (I) Foment Unrest on 114 (I) Foment Unrest on 114 (D) Stabilize Region on 114 (D) Stabilize Region on 114 Resist Foment Unrest on 114 Resist Foment Unrest on 114 Resist Foment Unrest on 114 New rolls for a new Ruler (4,2,4,3,1)   Results New Ruler: D5(4+1) M1 S2 F5(4+1) I5(3+1+1)

As of Round 4 DIP 7 MIL 1 STW 3 FAI 9 INT 3 Culture Identity (Conversions)

The Weak   === Actions (F) Action: Organize Faith. The Head of Faith is the occupants of the Great Forum in (114), since the organization is not hierarchal (flat, and of peers). Bonus: with 8 holy sites, the bonus is +1 on Investigation (F) Action: Convert Holy Site: 115 (F) Action: Convert Holy Site: 103 (F) Action: Convert Holy Site: 105 (F) Action: Convert Holy Site: 108

As of Round 3 DIP 7 MIL 1 STW 3 FAI 7 INT 3 Culture Identity (Conversions)

Weak Faith Document https://docs.google.com/document/d/14KzpHn3VTgHnUFqQc_SLmkfVJamL9ip3inE_6qF9tAw/edit?usp=sharing