If you would like to join this campaign, feel free to make a post in the OOC below expressing your interest. You will be inserted into the turn order at the end. Be sure to read the synopsis, as well as any IC posts that have been made, so you can get a feel for what's already been done and an understanding of how the game is played.
[OOC] Chronicles of the Quiet Year
- Post-Apocalyptic
- Modern
- Future
- Casual
- Ancient
- GM Ohm
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Ohm 𝙿𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚍 // 𝙽𝚞𝚖𝚋
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𝙿𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚍 // 𝙽𝚞𝚖𝚋
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T H E Q U I E T Y E A R
The Quiet Year is, at its heart, about establishing a fleeting history of disparate peoples, coming together and forming a community in the hopes of surviving what comes after the world has been driven into ruin. In this game, you will not only play as the community itself, but as distant witnesses and godlike scientists who introduce conflicts, opportunities, and discoveries to the community. You will determine what happens to (or because of) them, and you will also determine how they might react. At the end of the game, there will be a story told and sent away into the winter winds, where the future might remain forevermore unknown.
H O W T O P L A Y
We will start our game by discussing what area we have decided to settle in. When this occurs, each player will then introduce a single feature about the area. This game is genre-agnostic—anything you can think of as a landmark, you can bring to the table. Fantasy, science fiction, modern urban, cyberpunk, whatever you wish.
After each player determines their feature, a second round of determinations will begin, this time with each player introducing a resource. These resources can be physical—lumber, water, weaponry, etc.—or they can be abstract—safety, happiness, religion, etc. These resources will be added to, removed from, and updated as the game progresses. After each player has come up with a resource, the players will then decide, together, which of those resources is in abundance. All other resources will be in decline. These resources, as well as community Projects, we will be keeping track of in the 0th Post in the IC tab.
T H E Y E A R , E X P L A I N E D
The game takes place over an in-game period of 52 weeks, represented by the 52 cards of a playing card deck. Each of the four suits in the deck will represent a singular season, and these seasons will be played in order, from Spring to Winter. In order, the suits will progress as such:- Hearts, to represent Spring
- Diamonds, to represent Summer
- Clubs, to represent Autumn
- and Spades, to represent Winter
Most cards are tied to a choice between two questions. Sometimes, the card will only have one question, but whatever the question is must be answered all the same. I have taken the liberty of purchasing a deck of cards and shuffling each suit extensively—until a card is drawn, I have no idea what card any one of us will pull, but one card in particular will remain very important over the course of the game: King of Spades. Each season will be played through their fullest extent, from Ace to King in whatever order they happen to be drawn, but once we reach the season of Winter, the King of Spades can come at any time, and when it does, the game is over, no matter where the community is in their growth.
This end does not mean death for the community, but it could. All it does is tell us that the story we are telling is now over.
T H E O N E - W E E K T U R N
Each player's turn will start with the drawing of a card. I will pull the top card from the deck and, in the OOC tab, I will ask you to answer one of the corresponding questions. When you do, you will answer this question in-character (third-person observant), in the IC tab. This response can be any number of paragraphs you like, as long as there's at least one paragraph. Characters may be introduced and may recur throughout the story, but the focus will never be solely upon them—it will always be on the community as a whole. Additionally, some questions in the future may cause these characters to die or be subjected to some other fate, either by your own hand or someone else's. This is simply the way things pan out. This is how life goes.S P E C I A L R U L E S
Most cards drawn, if not all, will contain bold text. Whatever this bold text decides, the player whose turn it is in that moment will have to follow those rules to the letter.R E D U C E P R O J E C T D I C E
If a Project has been started by the community in a previous turn, the Project Die associated with it will have its count reduced by 1. If there are multiple Projects, all will have their dice reduced by 1. If a Project's die value has been reduced to zero, the player who started the Project will determine its end result. No matter how it ends, it should represent forward progress. If a Project finishes early, perhaps ended early by the effect of a card, it is instead the responsibility of the active player to determine how it ends.S E C O N D A R Y A C T I O N S
After you answer the initial question on your turn and Project dice have been reduced, you will choose to do one of the following Secondary Actions:- Discover Something New: Introduce a new situation. It might be a problem, an opportunity, or a bit of both. You can use this if you feel things in the community are too easy or calm.
- Start a Project: Choose a situation that the community is dealing with, and introduce a project to help resolve that situation. Such examples include building things, harvesting resources, fighting dangerous threats, and more. When you start a Project, the group will collectively determine how many weeks, from one to six, it will take for that Project to resolve. This is normally represented by dice, but we will keep track of all Projects in the 0th Post of the IC.
- Hold a Discussion: The active player, acting as the community, can choose to hold a discussion, either making a declaration or asking a question about a situation the community currently faces. Each player gets to respond in order, addressing the topic at hand as the community and giving their input. In the original game, these responses are limited to one or two sentences, but I'll allow as many sentences as you need in order to have your say. If the active player in the turn began their Discussion action with a question, they in turn will then get to close out with a final statement; otherwise, what they've said at the start of said Discussion was all the input they were allowed. A discussion never results in a decision or summation process. Everyone weighs in, and then it’s over. This is how conversations work in communities: they are untidy and inconclusive affairs.
- Start a Project: Choose a situation that the community is dealing with, and introduce a project to help resolve that situation. Such examples include building things, harvesting resources, fighting dangerous threats, and more. When you start a Project, the group will collectively determine how many weeks, from one to six, it will take for that Project to resolve. This is normally represented by dice, but we will keep track of all Projects in the 0th Post of the IC.
- Hold a Discussion: The active player, acting as the community, can choose to hold a discussion, either making a declaration or asking a question about a situation the community currently faces. Each player gets to respond in order, addressing the topic at hand as the community and giving their input. In the original game, these responses are limited to one or two sentences, but I'll allow as many sentences as you need in order to have your say. If the active player in the turn began their Discussion action with a question, they in turn will then get to close out with a final statement; otherwise, what they've said at the start of said Discussion was all the input they were allowed. A discussion never results in a decision or summation process. Everyone weighs in, and then it’s over. This is how conversations work in communities: they are untidy and inconclusive affairs.
A N S W E R I N - C H A R A C T E R
Everything that occurs within your one-week turn, except the reduction of Project dice (save for the resolving of finished Projects), must be done in-character as the community (third-person observant), using the IC tab. This response can be any number of paragraphs you wish, as long as it's one paragraph minimum and addresses all the parts of your turn that you need to complete. I will provide a template for you to use, in which you will mark down and perform what actions you decided to take. Once again, the timelines of Projects, as well as what resources are in abundance or decline, certain introduced characters, and whatever else, will be noted and kept track of in the 0th Post of the IC tab.
C O N T E M P T
The following is pulled directly from the game rules, as it explains this mechanic better than I'd be able to:"If ever you feel like you weren’t consulted or honored in a decision-making process, you can take a token of Contempt and place it in front of you. This is your outlet for expressing disagreement or tension. If someone starts a project that you don’t agree with, you don’t get to voice your objections or speak out of turn. You are instead invited to take a token of Contempt.
"Contempt will generally remain in front of players until the end of the game. It will act as a reminder of past contentions. Its primary role is as a social signifier. In addition, you can discard it back into the center of the table in two ways: by acting selfishly and by diffusing tensions. If you ever want to act selfishly, to the known detriment of the community, you can discard a Contempt token to justify your behavior. You decide whether your behavior requires justification.
"This will often trigger others taking Contempt tokens in response. If someone else does something that you greatly support, that would mend relationships and rebuild trust, you can discard a Contempt token to demonstrate how they have diffused past tensions."
B A L A N C E , R E S T R A I N T , & P A C I N G
Communities do not survive based on streaks of luck. You will not suddenly find the answer to a problem in this game, but you might find something that helps push the community in the direction of solving that problem. It is also important to know that these rules are not to be circumvented or broken. They represent the hardships and trials communities go through in the process of trying to survive. To guide us in the process of the story, it is imperative to realize what the seasons of our Quiet Year represent. To quote from the game itself:
"The cards of Spring will ask us a lot of questions, which will establish more about the landscape and the inner workings of our community. We should use Spring to become familiar with the mechanics and structure of the game. There won’t necessarily be a lot of tension or conflict during Spring, and this is fine. In Summer, larger threats and greater progress will both emerge. We’ll begin to define our community through our actions, and some seeds of discontent will likely be sown. In Autumn, danger and failure become more visible and serious. This will be the most trying season. In Winter, the community will continue its work and preparations, and as players we will contend with the dramatic irony of knowing that the end could arrive at any moment."
A N D W I T H T H A T , T H E S T A G E I S N O W S E T .
We are now ready to begin our lives in the Quiet Year.
@Raskolnikov@Dpmoc
ERRATA
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Remove the slashes from the 'hr' code in order to get your horizontal rules. Format and color how you wish, as long as the rest of the formatting is followed to a legible degree.
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[/hr][center][b][color=COLOR OF SEASON]Name of Card[/color][/b] — [i]Question you will be answering in character.[/i][/center][/hr]
Body of text will go here. In this post, you will answer the question you have chosen, using any number of paragraphs you feel necessary.
Within this post as well, you will also address the secondary action you've decided to take for your turn, this also being in-character.
[/hr]
[center]
[b]Secondary Action:[/b] What secondary taken you've taken this turn.
[b]Project(s) Reduced:[/b] If there are projects that are in-progress, all projects that would have their count reduced by 1 will be listed here. If none, put "N/A".
[b]Project(s) Finished:[/b] Any projects that are finished on your turn will be listed here. If none, put "N/A".
[b]Resource(s) Discovered:[/b] If none, put "N/A".
[b]Resource(s) Changed:[/b] This is where you will determine which resources have shifted from abundance to decline, and vice-versa. If none, put "N/A".
[b]Character(s) Introduced:[/b] The name(s) of the character(s), as well as their role(s) in the community. If none, put "N/A".[/center]
Remove the slashes from the 'hr' code in order to get your horizontal rules. Format and color how you wish, as long as the rest of the formatting is followed to a legible degree.
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