In Bonvidaeo, the City of Masks, the mask you wear is who you are - or so everyone tells you. Young nobles just beginning to discover your identity, as you come of age you are thrust suddenly into the scheming and maneuvering of the powerful factions within the City. You must strive to make alliances and increase your Face, the social currency which buys you power and influence and protects you from being dragged down in the faction fights. All the time, though, your forbidden face is coming clearer - conflicting with your mask…
Write a novel, and you tell one story.
Write a storygame, and hundreds of people can tell thousands of stories.
I like the setting of Bonvidaeo; it has too much potential for me to keep it to myself. So here are some thoughts towards a storygame set in the City of Masks.
For reasons of elbow room, and so that I can use the moon/sun thing slightly differently, it is set a currently unspecified number of years prior to the novel - far enough back that it is prior to the career of Young Felkior, so at least 50 years.
Storygame Setting
Playing the Game of Masks
Power 19 for City of Masks
What is a Storygame?
With the caveat that any definition can be argued about, a storygame is a game in which narration plays a key part. Narration can be defined, for this purpose, as the evocative description of actions, events, people and things in a shared imaginative setting. Usually the players of a storygame are identified with particular characters in the story, and their narrative often includes dialogue “in character”.
Acknowledgements
Thanks to the fine people of the Story-Games Forum, both those who commented directly and also those who were inspirational just by being there. Also thanks to Matt Wilson(approve sites), whose thoughts on storygames that would be equally attractive and accessible to women and men were an influence.
Other Storygames You May Like
If you like the Game of Masks, you may also enjoy:
- Dogs in the Vineyard(approve sites): You are “God’s Watchdogs”, in a setting loosely based on pre-statehood Mormon Utah, and you must protect the towns of the Faithful from the consequences of sin and heresy. It is up to you how far you go - but using violence will have consequences.
- Full Light, Full Steam(approve sites): You are the crew of a steam-powered Victorian “ether ship” of the Royal Astronomical Navy, defending the Empire in the inner solar system. The story is driven by what your character cares about. (This was the source for the idea of “Hidden Face” - in Full Light, Full Steam the concept is called a “thematic battery” and works a little differently, but it was still the inspiration.)
- My Life with Master(approve sites): You are Igor-like minions of an evil master. By making connections of love with the townsfolk, who are oppressed by Master, you can overcome your weariness and self-loathing enough to kill Master on their behalf.
- Primetime Adventures(approve sites): You are the cast and writers of a TV show, one with an ensemble cast that focuses on the characters’ stories and their development as people. You plan and then play out a series of shows.
- Breaking the Ice: You are two would-be lovers. You play out the ups and downs of the couple’s first three dates.
- The Shab al-Hiri Roach(approve sites): You are academics at a New England campus in 1919. A soul-eating ancient Sumerian telepathic cockroach bent on destroying human civilization offers you what every academic craves - power. By swallowing the Roach, you can dominate the college.
- The Shadow of Yesterday(approve sites): You inhabit a fantasy world after the Great Cataclysm. Against this background, you work out your loves, your friendships and your conflicts.
- Shock: Social Science Fiction(approve sites): You are characters in a science fiction setting that you design - complete with social concerns, shocks, conflicts and motivations that matter to you as a player.
- Sorcerer(approve sites): You are able to summon and bind powerful non-human entities to your will, and you are driven to do so by a threat to something you care deeply about. However, doing so risks your humanity. Exactly what the entities are, and what “humanity” is, is up to the gaming group.
- 1001 Nights(approve sites): You are members of the Sultan’s court. You cast each other as actors in the stories you tell to pass the time. You envy each other’s lives, and treasure ambitions which you strive to fulfil.
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