Microscope and Beyond

tglassy · Mar 19, 2019

I think it would be interesting to combine those two concepts for the beginning.

During the height of man's ascendancy and greatness in a technological empire that spans the world (with technology based solely on solar power) the Sun goes out.

Of course, we'd need to figure out why the Sun went out, as that could change things quite a bit. But the other Periods would be what Mankind does to survive this, and we'd find out if they flourish or not. The "End" could be figuring out how to bring the Sun back, or leaving the increasingly dying world they lived on and finding a new one, or any number of things.

FitzTheRuke · Mar 19, 2019

If I understand this then the game would start after the end period? (Because this is all history?) If so, then the end is something of a beginning itself.

"The Sun went out" could just as easily be an End, then.

Here's another: An ancient evil awakens. No one knew it existed. Or did they?

tglassy · Mar 19, 2019

I suppose the game, if we take this as a setting to play in, could be at any point of the history.

5atbu · Mar 19, 2019

When I used Microscope the game was just in one period of history in about the middle, but we all shared and owned the history that had made it, *and* the future that was to come.
That's why it's best to to not be too specific.

KahlessNestor · Mar 22, 2019

I think it could be interesting to have the sun go out at the end, too, for sure. And yes, we could play "within" the history, or use the history as the setting and play "after" the end point.

Step 1: THE BIG PICTURE

Civilization had reached a shining pinnacle of Art, Science, and Magic, but then a Stellar Event occurred, and now all the rules have changed.

Step 2: BOOKEND HISTORY

Your history will be divided into Periods. Each Period is a very large chunk of time, probably decades or centuries. Describe how your history begins and ends. These are your starting and ending Periods, the bookends of your history. You’ll add more Periods later on, but everything will be between these points.

1) Agree on a short description for each Period, just a few sentences or a paragraph at most, painting a clear picture of what happens during that time.

2) Decide whether each description is Light or Dark, whether what happens during that Period is generally happy or tragic. This is the Tone of each Period. The Tone of the starting and ending Period do not have to match.

You can describe either Period first, as you prefer. Sometimes it’s easier to pick Light or Dark for each Period, then see what ideas emerge.

Beginning ideas:

Sun goes out.
Declaration of man’s ascendency and greatness in the technological empire.
An ancient evil awakens. No one knew it existed. Or did they?

End ideas:

Sun goes out
An ancient evil awakens. No one knew it existed. Or did they?

Link to the brainstorming document.

Players:
[MENTION=6801311]KahlessNestor[/MENTION]
[MENTION=4936]Shayuri[/MENTION]
[MENTION=6855545]Archon Basileus[/MENTION]
[MENTION=59816]FitzTheRuke[/MENTION]
[MENTION=79926]ART![/MENTION]
[MENTION=6855204]tglassy[/MENTION]

KahlessNestor · Mar 22, 2019

I don't know why it posted that massive like that...

Shayuri · Mar 26, 2019

Hmm. I'm not sure what I'm seeing. Are we doing a Wheel of Time thing where history is a huge cycle, and the beginning is the ending is the beginning?

Or are we trying to work out when the sun goes out and the evil awakens...beginning or end?

tglassy · Mar 26, 2019

We are trying to determine the beginning of our setting and the end of our setting. It can be huge or small

For example. Our setting could span ten years. It begins with a rebellion and ends with a dictator taking over.

Or it can span thousands of years, which is what I would go for. It begins with a kingdom falling and ends when the world rediscovers it.

The rest of the game would be figuring out what happens in between.

In this case, we are going with a celestial event that happens during the peak of civilization. We are trying to figure out if that is the end or the beginning.

I vote beginning. I would like to explore a world that had to survive without a sun. Then we would pick an end, like someone figures out how to turn the sun back on and does so. The rest of the game would be figuring out what happens between the sun going out and turning back on.

Shayuri · Mar 26, 2019

Ah, I get it now, thank you. So it's not yet defining both, but sort of laying out options.

Making the world sunless is a very interesting option. It makes the world kind of post-apocalyptic, and it creates all kinds of needs for adaptations and difficulties and dangers. It makes the nature of the world fundamentally in question...which is great for us, because then we get to figure it all out.

So I agree with Tglassy...if we recount the current Age as the Sunless Age, that'd be cool. There is a possibility perhaps of a more distant 'Age of Golden Sky' but surely such things are just myths.

FitzTheRuke · Mar 27, 2019

I kind of think the "end" ought to be the "now" of the game, with the future not written yet. So my vote would be on the Beginning being the Peak of Civilization, and the End being the Sun Goes Out (it could still work out to have happened years ago, but it was the End of History as We Know It.

Or I dunno. I'm not entirely sure I understand what Microscope is asking.