« Dungeon Majesty: PTA Postmortem, Part I | Main | FATE Goes OGL »
April 01, 2005
Cool Lexicon Application
Cool Lexicon application of the week: Kip Manley is running a Lexicon for the players of a Nimus Animae, a campaign loosely based on Ars Magica. I think. Anyhow, the Lexicon is specifically oriented towards defining the covenant's magical library -- which is a terribly cool idea; I hadn't thought of running one with that kind of tight focus, but I bet it'll work superbly.
And then I started poking around the site and read this. I'm fascinated by these big campaign worlds that have been built up by multiple GMs over time. I've brushed against a few of them: Before Breakfast comes to mind. So does the Global Guardians universe, and you could make a case for Amber being a manifestation of this phenomenon. There's a real richness that comes with lots of creative minds at work; you also get seams and odd crevices that don't make sense, which are less common in single-GM worlds but which add to the verisimilitude
TrackBack
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00d8342026ca53ef00e550327a848834
Listed below are links to weblogs that reference Cool Lexicon Application:
Comments
I'm of the general opinion that the tighter the focus for a Lexicon, the better.
Posted by: Jeff at Apr 1, 2005 12:07:33 PM
The Tatroverse (as some have called it), my supers setting, has its roots intertwined with a friend's Rolemaster game setting that he GMed for a decade plus. Strange bedfellows, but it works for me.
Speaking of all this, when's the first Weirdotron session?
Posted by: chris at Apr 1, 2005 12:45:53 PM
Not "running" so much as "suggesting." —Nimas Animæ is our current covenant, which would be I think be the third that's been actively played since 199mumble (there's been some long fallow periods, mind); the basic idea is very similar to Ars Magica, yes, though there are fewer houses and it's obviously not medieval Europe; we have a very clear and comprehensive history for our magical order, thanks to an idle week or so I spent crudely attempting to figure out how many magi there would be in the year 420 if there were 7 in the year 198, and a winter Elkins spent pretty much alone in Swansea with nothing to entertain her but those numbers and a big black notebook. The work she did is phenomenal; go, read the history.
The paradox to take away from this is how wonderfully liberating it is to play in such a detailed world: how much easier it is to build with a firm floor (when you might think it would be tough with such tight restrictions: but no!). We know who taught whom where and when throughout the magical houses, and so we've got "slots" (many named, some not) scattered hither and yon; there's an indescribable feeling you get when you take your vague idea for a character to a world like this and find the slot just waiting for them as if they had been meant to be all along.
A word of warning: the site, it seems, will be down over the next couple of days as it's moved to a new host.
Posted by: Kip Manley at Apr 1, 2005 6:57:15 PM
Suggesting, guiding... nurturing?
I spent a lot of time yesterday reading through that history. It's impressive. And I agree completely regarding the liberation; a multi-created world is real enough, it seems, for just about anything to fit. Group ownership is powerful.
Posted by: Bryant at Apr 2, 2005 9:39:51 AM
Just thought I'd note: the site is back up, and we're getting close to actually starting the Lexicon game.
Posted by: Charles at Apr 13, 2005 9:52:59 PM
