Modeling Activity In Fairyland
Modeling make-believe
These documents (begin to) provide a framework for preparing and playing social tabletop games that involve imagination - a simple and intuitive ruleset for adjudicating entertainments wherein the players take on the role of mythical character that journeys through and explores Fairyland (a kingdom once known as 'the realm of imagination' and crudely and more often dubbed the 'Metaverse' in these degenerate latter days - and thus, of course, a realm thoroughly misunderstood).
I note that the word 'magi' is found in 'imagination'.
Most readers will have some understanding of the essence of the table-top pen-and-paper role-playing game. There are many such games published and available, and more are released every day, along with expansion sets and auxiliary products and numerous home-brew solutions. There are many different 'systems' and 'campaign settings' and genres, for there are many different tastes for fantasy and escapism amongst mankind.
One might say we do need yet another product or system, and that the 'market' is saturated.
Regardless, here I offer my attempt at providing a framework and system that pleases me, and works towards solving the difficulties or antagonisms inherent within existing systems with which I am familiar (which I will admit, is a field that does not extend very far).
Important: Because it is the exception to the rule that people can easily find a reliable and enthusiastic group of friends or acquaintances with whom to play table games, and people prefer not to engage with complexity (especially when seeking fun), it is such that the core of the basic game offered here is not really very unique in terms of rules and strategies, and (when not augmented with additional systems) is intentionally simple, in order to facilitate low-barrier-to-entry play, and to ease the burden of the game master who prepares and runs the game. However, the mindset this game attempts to cultivate (particularly when it comes to 'magic' systems within the fantasy world) is not so mundane, and at least in my view, represents a new paradigm (or perhaps an old and unnoticed one brought to light anew).
Behold!:
LANGUAGE as FAIRYLAND: a multivarious REALM to INHABIT.
LINGUISTICS as FÆOLOGY, the study of that REALM.
Did you know that 'Alphabet' is 'Aleph-Beth' - that is, 'Elf-Home'?
Or that he or she that casts a SPELL is a MAGICIAN?.
The key to this game system:
I want to make the dictionary and thesaurus your two key spell-books - your grimoires... because the game already exists within them. These books have every spell and almost every creature, weapon or piece of armour you will ever need to crawl a dungeon, slay a dragon, and rescue the princess (or the prince)..
The basic mechanical, 'tactical' game (ie. grid movements, simple physical activity that is handled by 'D&D'- or 'OSR'-like rules and dice-play) that I offer here is the low-level and familiar platform upon which to cultivate the higher-level Poet, Lyricist, Linguist and Archivist, who are the Sorcerers, Bards, Wizards and Loremasters in the game: philosophical adventurers that delve into the underworld of their own Language, guided by that ancient spellbook once known as the Associative Map and in these latter days of forgetting as the 'Dictionary'. These travellers of the Written Path and of the Space Symbolic seek out and craft spells with words (that is, by and through the art of spelling), and furthermore, their character and potential (along with every other creature, monster, cavern and kingdom) is defined by its' very Name.
As such, this game seeks to inspire new Poets and Skalds, Witches and Sages, new Bards and their Choirs - all potential masters of the magical spell which has been lying in plain sight for a long time, pretending to be mundane.
I find it a little sad and perhaps pitiful that many popular fantasy games include fictional wizards' guilds and witch covens that investigate magic and hoard esoteric lore, and that people imagine taking part in these imaginary activities within the game environment, when they could be forming real magic schools and laboratories, in which the magical potential of the spells disorient and confuse are probed, where heal and cure are discussed; where enslave, bind, and conversely, where the powers of free and unlock are documented in finely-calligraphied scrolls. Or perhaps the true meaning of the spell known as The Absolute is lurking, waiting quietly to be found in the den of the dragon named Thesaurus.
You may very well choose to discard the basic underlying game rules for character vital statistics, for mundane movement, physical combat etc. and replace them with something else, something more expertly crafted to purpose (due to their relative redundancy in terms of other existing well-known and popular products), but in that case I hope you find a way and a reason to bolt on the 'magic system' found herein, and that game-masters might find the various mechanisms described within to be inspirational and provocative.
That is to say, a certain sort of curious, inquiring or philosophical mind might find certain Questions are posed implicitly by the gaming mechanisms and creative processes documented within, or implied by, this book.
What are we modelling
Lands, Histories and Kingdoms. The lives and times of Mortals, and of Fae and of other wilder Creatures, Natural and Unnatural Phenomena, Conversations, Debates, Battles, ...
In Fairyland we meet many strange and unfamiliar creatures.
The game master running a social game set in Fairyland requires a way to quickly and effectively generate and simulate these creatures and their behaviour. Most role-playing games have a Bestiary, where the variety of available monsters are presented as imagery and a selection of statistics, along with the mechanisms of various levels of complexity that model their behaviour in play.
In time, an experienced Game Master will begin to remember many details of these creatures and monsters, but the workload can be overwhelming, and the reference books large and unwieldy.
We need a quick way to define and handle an Elf or a Dwarf or a Dragon.
The central mechanism of this game and of Fairyland itself is the Name. From the name we find all we need.
For a Creature, perhaps a "Sphinx", for example: we must find key general attributes or vital descriptors, and then the few high-priority specialized feats and abilities that really define the character. The Game Master or Master of Ceremonies needs to be able to provide an effective presentation of the Sphinx and it's nature to the players who will interact with it. We need to research the myths and legends of the Sphinx, and distill it's purpose within the game down to it's essence, and these behaviours, abilities, and effects are joined to the simple vital statistics extracted from it's very name.
Conversely, as we can find the attributes (numeric 'scores') of a creature from it's name, we might also find the name of a creature defined initially only by it's numeric scores.
But we are getting ahead of ourselves. More on such details later.
Name as initiatory Vision Quest (session zero)
[...]
Name as recurring baseline 'theme' in the character's journey.
A character is always 'playing it's name' (as in the vision quest, but less overtly).
Continue onward to the chapter on Play Types.
See also: