2006-06-23: New 1001 nights rule
by Meguey
During any Story, the current GM can only win 8 declared gems. After that, other people can still win declared gems, but no more for the GM.
This helps give an end to the Stories, and keeps the GM from completely cleaning up and ending the game in one Story.
2006-06-25 12:46:56 Ben Lehman
Hey, Meg. We'll talk about it on the phone, I think. We ended up doing it exactly right in play, anyway, except one time we used more than three options (does the bird fly north, south, east, west, or give a strange sign from the Almighty?)
(It went east.)
yrs—
—Ben
2006-06-24 13:36:06 Meguey
Vincent is dead-on with all the above.
My question is: What chart? Do you mean the example of the GM fiat randomizer, or the Safe/Freedom/Ambition bit?
(spock voice) Your use of 'chart' is unclear to me in this case.(/spock voice)
2006-06-23 03:49:49 Ben Lehman
I was just wondering about that.
If all goes well I'll be playtesting tomorrow night. I still have a few more questions but I'm going to consult the rules text once before asking.
yrs—
—Ben
2006-06-23 16:39:04 Meguey
Cool!
2006-06-24 03:57:40 Ben Lehman
My only outstanding question:
I'm not totally sure what the roll is for. Is it just "what the GM says goes and sometimes, if the GM deems it necessary, you can roll for a result instead?"
You just do it as you play, right? You don't roll at the beginning of the story like the chart implies?
yrs—
—Ben
2006-06-24 12:31:38 Vincent
I want to try!
There are three rolls. Two that matter, one that doesn't.
The first roll that matters happens during an in-story, and looks like this:
I say, "who'll get to marry her?"
I pull a die from the central bowl and put it on the table in front of me.
We keep playing. Sooner or later, we find out who'll get to marry her, or that no one will. As soon as we find out, I pick up that die.
I roll it.
If it's odd, I drop it into the current GM's bowl. If it's even, I drop it into my own bowl.
The second roll that matters happens at the end of an in-story, in court. It looks like this:
I dump my bowl out onto the table in front of me. (There are no dice still on the table; we've rolled them all and they've all gone into someone or other's bowl.)
I divvy my dice into three piles - the sultan doesn't behead me, I work toward my ambition, I work toward my freedom.
I roll the dice I've put toward keeping my head. If I roll at least one even, I'm psyched. I put all the evens I roll back into the shared bowl, and all the odds I roll back into my own bowl.
I roll the dice I've put toward achieving my ambition. All the evens I roll, I'm psyched. I put all the evens back into the shared bowl, and all the odds back into my own bowl.
I roll the dice I've put toward winning my freedom. All the evens I roll, I'm psyched. I put all the evens back into the shared bowl, and all the odds back into my own bowl.
We all say what happens around court - "oh man the sultan's pissed at you! Shouldn't'a made that joke about his mother!" - and we go forward into the next in-story.
The roll that doesn't matter happens during an in-story, at the GM's whim, totally unrelated to any of the dice that matter. It looks like this:
My courtier is the master of the hunt. In this in-story, the GM's asked him to portray a pious hermit.
I say, "the pious hermit climbs the wall!"
The GM can say, "okay, at the top of the wall..."
The GM can say, "nope, it's too steep, so..."
The GM can say, "heads you make it, tails you don't..."
Or the GM can take a die from the shared bowl, roll it, interpret it, and drop it back into the shared bowl.
In any case, resolution of any and everything in any in-story is by the current GM's fiat. The GM's fiat might include a randomizer - that's the roll that doesn't matter.
2006-06-25 17:11:48 Ben Lehman
In case it's unclear, this game is really, really good. I recommend it to any humans and most other mammals.
yrs—
—Ben
2006-06-25 17:16:42 Meguey
Funny you should say that, Ben. This is the first game I've ever played where people get to play things like 'the river', 'the jin of the gate', 'the fish', 'the dog', the noble cart-horse', and so on. Yeah. It's fun.