comment: claimedby: Xavid name: The Way the World Works body: | === Questions == You're in the Place Without Recourse. That means you're an Isn't. You're not real! There's some contradicition in your nature that prevents you from affecting the world around you. Even if the gates of the Place Without Recourse were wide open, you couldn't leave, not really. When you got here, Ii Ma whispered a Question in your ear. That Question's what made you an Isn't! Your Question's on your character sheet, in **bold**. If you can find and recognize one of the answers for your question, you'll become an Is, and you're free to leave this Place. (If you so choose.) ``One of the Answers?'' you ask? Yes, each Question has two Answers that can meet it. Either Answer will make you an Is if you accept it. Does which answer you use matter? Probably! === Answers == People are always looking for answers. But you're looking for Answers! (That's with a big `A'.) They're a little weird: they're like things you know, but here they're physical objects, like pebbles. You can hold them or put them in your pocket. You can give them to your friends, or trade them like Pokémon! If you give someone an Answer, you still remember what it said, but you don't have it any more. Most importantly, you can't use it! You might start with one, but it's probably not useful to you. You might expect that the Answers people start with are mostly about them, but sometimes things are strange. Each Answer has a symbol and a color. Having Answers can be useful by itself, but having multiple Answers with the same symbol? That's pretty cool!\footnote{Not particularly //useful// or anything. But I'll think you're cool.} Some Answers, it's pretty clear what they mean. Or at least, what they might mean to someone else. Others, who knows? But each Answer means something to someone. Answers can answer Questions, even if they don't make much sense on their own. If you think you have an Answer for your question, you can test it against your heart and the chains of this place. Give your answer to Ii Ma. If it answers your Question, Ii Ma will give it back, and a path leading from this place will open inside of you. If not, you'll wake up somewhere else, see the sunless darkness of the sky, and say "How beautiful."\footnote{If Ii Ma is particularly irate, you may end up with boils or hives.} In this case, the Answer is lost in vain. Thus, you probably only want to check answers that make sense. As much as anything makes sense! Just because an Answer is true doesn't mean you accept it. You can always look for the other Answer. If you do accept a heart-true Answer, put a star of that color on your Badge to show that you're an Is, and write your name by that color on the Acceptance Sheet near Ii Ma. Does the color matter? Probably! === Elements == Elements are bits of firmament from the Place Without Recourse. Or maybe they're bits of potential. They're more like ideas than actual things: a Lion Element is less bulky and much less likely to devour you than an actual lion. But they're still physical objects, like Answers or sandwiches; you can trade them freely. Actors use Elements when they put on shows, and Judges use them to rebuild this world. (Everyone is either an Actor or a Judge.) Each Element has one of five terrain types: ocean, desert, mountain, swamp, or forest. This is the type of terrain that gets created when the Element is used in a show. Some Elements have something they support, like "Magic" or "Fear". This has something to do with the effect on the Place if an element gets used. === Quests == When the Place Without Recourse started falling apart, it revealed all sorts of little tucked-away places you wouldn't expect. These are Isn'ts, just like you. They're not real! They're all folded up and you can't get inside. But if this realm gets enough structure, they could become Ises. Each Quest has an arrangement of map tiles that can open it; you need a key or special ability to look at the back of the quest to see how to open it. If you look at the back of a Isn't Quest and and then see a matching arrangement on the Map (right over there in the \MapRoom{}), you can unfold the Quest, making it an Is.\footnote{Judges create the map, so you may wish to prevail upon them to provide assistance.} Once a quest's an Is, it stays that way. (Even this Place doesn't have //that// much churn.) Is Quests have something cool hidden inside, like a Treasure. You can't just take it, though. That'd be boring. You have to earn it! It will have a list of conditions: things you must do, things you must have, things you must be. If you, with any friends with you, meet all of these? You take the Treasure. Before you go on a quest, you have to agree on a leader. The leader decides who gets what if you succeed. If there's more than one thing, each of you can only get one. If there's excess, give the rest to a GM. When you complete a quest, mark Completed on the unfolded sign. === Woglies == Woglies devour the integrity of the world. They are shaped like a torus and have two winky eyes. Inside a wogly it's empty. Woglies can devour the integrity of a quest location. This makes the quest difficult! If there are woglies on your quest, you need to get rid of them before you can complete the quest. If you give it something else to devour, maybe it will go away! That'd probably be good for this place's integrity. Each wogly will specify what sort of element it might want to devour. If you feed a wogly such an element, take it down and give it to a GM. === Treasures == Treasures are a special type of item that's obviously interesting. Most of them have a cool ability! They're represented by a little card. If you're carrying a treasure, you have to carry it obviously, so that people can see what you're holding. They're just too cool to hide! If you drop one, put it where people can see it. You can't carry more than one treasure at a time. They repel each other, like magnetic monopoles! Treasures start off as Ises, since they come from Is Locations. That's probably good if you want to show it off to your parents! But it's possible that a treasure could be an Isn't. If a treasure has a colored star on it, it's clearly an Isn't.\footnote{This is the exact opposite of stars on name badges; sorry!} If you take it home with you, it might burn up in the sunlight or fall into a million pieces. It still works here, though; fictional swords cut just fine! === Violence == There is no combat mechanic. That doesn't mean no one ever fights! People kill each other all the time here. But, when you die, you wake up, see the sunrise, and say, ``How beautiful.'' Of course, there isn't a sun any more, so say whatever you want. The point is: feel free to roleplay violence, it doesn't accomplish anything. === Meta == The GMs are unfortunately unable to record game from all angles at once. If you see something you think we should know about, please let us know. Feedback helps us grow! Game is unauthorized fanfic of the writings of Jenna Katerin Moran.\footnote{i.e., by the Qwik Club} Much inspiration and quotes are due to her. Hitherby Dragons material, if you find any sense in it, should not be considered to be this game's truth. See more at http://imago.hitherby.com/ and http://books.hitherby.com/. wrapup: <> stuff: <> type: <> number: <> coda: <> status: draft