Cave of SleepersAn Amber Letter Game coordinated by Astrid Tops
What is a letter game? It resembles a Play By Email game, but since there are a few things about PBEMs in general that I dislike, I use a concept that I read about years ago, invented (?) by Genevieve Cogman and Deb Atwood, who started a game in which they GM'ed their own characters and wrote letters about that to the other. It always looked a rather elegant gaming concept to me: no need for extensive contact between GM and player and no need for extensive contact between players. Why would that be an advantage? First, many email games die because the interaction dies. Someone drops out, people cannot continue their 'scene' because a link is missing. Others feel they cannot keep up with the required volume, or have a feeling that the whole thing is intolerably slow. The letter game can be a good alternative.
You do not need a GM. Everyone is required to GM themselves, that is, write about the woes that have befallen their PC as if they were writing it to other PC's. You can go as fast as you want, and there is no need to wait for other reactions before you continue your own. In that way, people who like to write once a day can still share a game with people whose lifestyle encourages writing once a week, or even once a month. After all, time flows differently everywhere in the Amber Universes. Then why share a game at all? Well, most people like an audience for their writing. And, even if the contact between PC's is indirect, they can still use bits and pieces from other PC's adventures and writing to use in their own adventures, or comment upon events when sending their letter.
My game specifically will deal with Amber fiction writing and world building. Letter gaming may not work for you if you need GM input to write about what happens to your character. Some players for instance prefer the sort of character that makes things unpleasant for others - they will not fit as well as the characters that are being harrassed by life, the universe and their relatives. Since you can grab the jewel, create your own pattern, become king of your universe anytime you want, you will need a little discipline to create your own opposition and failure, or your contributions will be incredibly boring for others to read. No conflict, no story is an old rule for writing and it definitely applies here.
Obviously, the setting requires a reason for all those PC's to keep in touch which each other, that is why there is a cover story to get everyone started, and to find in-character motivation to share your adventures more or less truthfully with others. I'm aware that not all potential characers would accept the task, so you'll have to come up with a reason why your char does, or use another character for the game. The game also requires that you have enough room to make up your own adventures without taking into account every detail of another PC's story. I solved that by combining several universes in the game. In general there will be three types of universes available to each player:
1. A 'solo' universe to start out with.
Since your character is the only one exploring this universe, no matter what s/he does, it will not conflict with other stories. If you kill Corwin, he only dies in your universe, not in theirs. This is good way to start out if you're unsure where you are going, and whether you like the intrusion of others upon your writing or not, or if you don't like wading through every post before writing your next one. It's also a good way of showing others what sort of player/writer/character you are, so that there is a better basis to later play in a controlled shared universe, for instance.2. A controlled shared universe
Some people have no problem with the discipline of using all material that others have written (though the number of players will by necessity probably have to be limited to - I think - something like 4 or 5 maximum), as long as they agree on a few general ideas of playing styles. Not all styles and players and PC's combine equally well - some don't like angst, some don't like warfare, some don't like high power stuff - so basically, a controlled shared universe consists of a group of players consenting to accept each others additions to the universe. New players can only be added by consent of the current group. It is of course possible to start in a shared universe if a group of players apply for the game in coordination. I prefer controlled shared universes to have a coordinator/ref of their own, a 'first citizen' amongst equals so to speak, who can coordinate business as usual without my intervention.3. An uncontrolled shared universe
Well, there are always people who like the total surprise and havoc of having to deal with whatever written by whomever that likes to drop in. It is certainly a challenge, but be warned that some PC's can be very destructive. This might be the thing for people who like high-power and high-conflict, but since I don't intend to do daily ref stuff, participants will still have to be able to agree upon the basic do and don'ts. Even in an uncontrolled universe, killing another PC without consent is out, just to name an example. I'll do my best to keep the real munchkins out, but I'm generally someone who feels that everyone deserves a chance. Since I intend of giving everyone a solo universe anyway, you can always escape back to that one if you don't like the way things are going in the uncontrolled share universe. If the uncontrolled universe generates too much bickering for me to handle, it will be discontinued. On the other hand, I can make several of them if they turn out to be popular and manageable.This setup ensures that you never need to interact with someone whose ideas of gaming do not match yours - unless you game in shared uncontrolled (but then you're asking for it) or made the mistake of inviting him or her into your universe in the first place. And that can always be remedied by GM arranged transportation to a different universe. Should the number of players become really large, you only are required to keep up with the parts of the campaign were you are currently active. Shared universes will require more reading than a solo universe. However, other PC's may read your contribution, though, and ask you questions or comment on it, so reading all contributions is certainly recommended if you would like to be as polite as to answer them).
What is the role of the GM? I am the ultimate referee if people's contributions in one universe are incompatible (normally, the first one to publish is canon, the next has to follow, but with email, you never know when something arrives, so I'd have to sort things out in that case. Also, I have to approve of each and every transfer between universes, to keep things manageable. Certain plot elements concerning the Cave of Sleepers, Dworkin (in each universe) and the events that he mentions in his letter you cannot expand upon. Also, if you're stuck and need someone to discuss the current direction of your plot, I'm there to make suggestions. I'm still considering whether or not to throw in an occasional plot device in 'Meanwhile' form. I think I'll just go with what the players like me to do. Oh, and I handle applications and bring people into the game, since that part needs to be coordinated.
The backgrounds of PC's have to match the the first 5 books of the Amber story, and they have to be either Amber or Chaosian blood (whether they know it or not). I will review the background to scan for certain problem areas and I may ask you to change things, though I probably won't. It may be that everyone originates from the same universe ... but it could also be that this is not the case. This will depend on how big the player group will be (as anywhere between 2 and 100 is possible in the concept, I'll have to keep that open for now). If you do a flashback of history mentioning another PC, you need to clear that passage with the other player. I don't care much about points and powers, though if you like to go shared, controlled or uncontrolled, I strongly recommend keeping things in the 100 - 150 range. I will only need a write up of points and powers if you want to cross over to any other universe than your own, including the uncontrolled.
The setting is as follows: you wake up and finds yourself to be in a cocoon on a stone slab. The cocoon shatters and opens. You have trouble remembering who you are and what has happened to you. While your memory slowly seems to recover (for some faster than for others, and some parts may take a very long time), you look around and see that you are in some sort of cave, with electric devices, including some form of lighting. There are other cocoons that still appear to be closed. You do not succeed in opening them, or even see clearly who is inside. Your powers, assuming you have any, are not working here. In the slab, you find your gear, including trumps you may have (but none are working) and on top of the pile you find a sort of watch and a scroll. The scroll is a letter signed by Dworkin (you may or may not have heard of him), and tells you that you have been rescued from a disaster. When the time is right, you will wake up and find a communication device. Dworkin asks in return that you now explore what is left of the universes, and share the account of your travels with the other Sleepers. It could be that your group is all that is left of the Amber and Chaos civilization - on the other hand, much may have been saved. The vortex will lead you to one of the universes, and the communication device is expected to function in nearly all of them. Dworkin does not mention where he went after writing the letter. There seems to be nobody awake at this time, but you (depending on what time you enter the game, there will be a number of shattered and empty cocoons around). There is nothing to eat in the cave, so you'll have to leave it soon. There are two ways out of the cave. One ends in a dark, gaping hole of nothingness - could it be the Abyss? And the other is a swirling mass of colour. When you step through it, a single colour out of the mass seems to engulf you...
You're still here and interested? Wonderful. What you need to participate is send me
a. character background (as restricted above)
b. a proposal for a first 'letter' or 'diary' send to your fellow Sleepers. As the first person to wake up (read Matthew's first contribution for that) already described the cave and the wake-up process in detail, you can gloss that over quickly and get to your first explorations. The diary/letter does not need to be excessively long, just write what would for you be a normal installment. Adult content is OK - if you are a minor, I'm not taking responsibility for your corruption, but since you are on the internet, you've probably seen a lot worse than we can ever imagine anyway. Just one code on this: you can include anything you want in the material, ie sex, torture, incest, blood and gore, but please gloss over the details of such issues, and find a civilized way of describing what your character is doing or going through, so that the material is suitable for a wide adult audience. There are other places where you can overindulge in such matters, if you feel like it.
c. an indication how often you could write. I'm not selecting on a basis of how often you can write, since one of my reasons to choose this format is to encourage people to take more time, and that way create something of quality. However, once a year would be stretching it. My suggestion is to reconsider if you can't write at least 6 to 8 contributions a year (actually I hope most players will be producing a bit more than that).
d. an indication of what sort of direction your character might be going and what sort of adventures you would like in your universe. I don't need detail here, but I need to have a feeling for what you are developing and looking for. Please mention it if you intend to share a universe with other players. You cannot start in a controlled shared universe, unless a group of players consents to this.Since I intend to be able to handle many players in different universes, I don't set a deadline. Just take your time and get back to me when you've thought things through and have written something that feels right an has the right voice for your character. I don't intend to close applications anytime soon, which the setup sort of provides for. Send applications to astrid@iae.nl, not the CAVE mailing list.
When you're accepted (you will be under normal circumstances), you are assigned a colour which is the colour of the universe you will be exploring (you can choose one, but you may not get the colour you want if it is already in use by another player). I intend to have a mailing list up and running to handle the contributions very soon. The subject of an email for sending stuff is
CAVE: <yourcolour> <number of universe contribution> <charname> <number of character contribution>. Please note that the number of the universe contribution includes everything written in that universe. Example: if two PC's, John and Dave are exploring the Yellow universe, the first contribution by John would be named:
CAVE: yellow 1 John 1
If Dave, who follows in after John writes one, his first contribution is named:
CAVE: yellow 2 Dave 1
John's next one would be numbered yellow 3 - John 2, etc. This is for making it easy to determine what the order is of events happening in that universe. Also, if I see two contributions with the same number by different people in the same universe, I know it's time to make a ref call which one goes first.Just a note: all contributions are owned by the writer, of course, and not to be used outside the game environment without his or her explicit permission. Amber universes developed in this game can be used for other gaming purposes by the person who developed it, and by others only after explicit permission to do so.
If you have more questions, just ask them and email me at astrid@iae.nl.
Astrid Tops