Good versus Good versus Good

I was reading some postings today on Alignment (starting at Tenkar's Tavern), where I had some thoughts about Alignment in Sophia's Children. Specifically how the three major Religions upon Nod: The All-One Church, Messianic Church and the Baptists differ in their implementation of Good.

The Matriarchal Messianic Church
will use force, any force necessary

The Messianic Church is Dominant Good in Alignment. The overarching approach of governance is through control, force and institutional power. The goal of this approach is to create the most benefit for all and to crush the forces that would work against this goal. Using force, physical force if necessary, to accomplish the most good.

A Paladin ready to enforce The Oath
of the All-One Church

The All-One Church is Lawful Good in Alignment. The methods employed by they is to employ fairness, rule of laws that are consistently applied and justice in the service of the same ends as the Messianics: create the most good for all while suppressing the forces that would sabotage this goal. To trust in and enforce a code, a system, that furthers the most good.

An example of a Chaotic Good force upon Nod are the Baptists. They cooperate with the Messianic Church -- to the degree that they are allowed -- towards the end of serving the people. They are not overly attached with converting Messianics to their religion, only seeking to seize opportunities to do good in the world. To take whatever opportunities exist to do good.

The Messianic Church tolerates the Baptists as they are not a force that threatens them and also because they work towards similar goals. However, within the All-One Church's State the Baptists are forced to convert -- indeed, the practice of any religion but the State's is illegal.

The forces of "Good" are not necessarily the forces of "Kumbaya."

A "Completed" Game vs. "Complete Game"

"If you wish to Duel, please sign in with the Referee. Of course you will have to turn your weapons in and we ask that Duelists fight unfettered with only the waistcloth -- so you will have to undress before proceeding to the Pit. To the left you'll see the racks where you can take your pick of Broadblades to Duel with -- I would recommend practicing a bit with one against the strawmen we have hanging so that you take one that meets your balance needs. Oh, they have been dulled so that you won't sever any limbs off, but you will still draw blood!"
-Zane, Senior Patron at the Secret Dueling Club in Nein

I want the Game of Sophia's Children to be a Completed Game as opposed to a Complete Game. I do not intend to present a System that can accomplish everything or anything within the genre of Fantasy. I want to present a very specific System that accomplishes something in a very specific manner. The rest of this post will be a bit rambling, but may help me clarify my ideas. . .

I recall the two games I think to be the most Completed: Shadowrun and Old School Dungeons & Dragons. They were Completed in the sense that, in addition the rules that handled the Microscopic conflicts and decision-making, there were rules to handle the Macroscopic elements these rules systems interacted with.

For examples. Shadowrun had Contacts, Decking, Cyberware, Corporations and rules for the characters would interact with these for Shadowrunning. Indeed, the very name of the game indicated what it was the game was trying to emulate. Within Dungeons & Dragons -- at least in the Old School variations and its recent emulations -- there were rules for the Dungeons, the Monsters and the Characters, but also the rules for how the character may interact with all of this via Experience Points, Random Encounters and Dungeoneering.

I also recall games that I have read that were Complete, but NOT Completed. I can not conjure a specific example in mind, but remember, if you will, a game that contained Character Creation, a handful of Monsters and no rules for how these game elements may ever interact. Actually, as I write this I have thought of an example. The Returners Final Fantasy RPG. I have not read any of the more recent iterations of this Game, but within its System are a ton of elements for Character Creation so as to emulate the Final Fantasy genre within the context of a Tabletop Roleplaying Game. It is very intriguing and, indeed, the Character Creation process is a glorified subgame of sorts with its complexity. However, there are really no rules for how a character may go on an Adventure. The game, in the last version I read, was mute or brief on this topic.

As I write this I am now recalling Games that were not even Complete, but Incomplete. I am thinking of Games that have a Character Creation process and a couple of Classes, but no Monsters or conflicts that these Characters can encounter. I can recall reading such Games and obviously they were unplayable as-is, though one could certain borrow specific ideas from the smattering of rules they contained.

I want Sophia's Children to be a Completed Game, not just Complete. I want to present, along with the standard Character Creation, Combat, Monsters, Equipment et alia of the standard Tabletop Roleplaying Game a system that allows for a group of players to begin playing almost immediately with City Crawling, Dungeon Crawling and Factioneering.

At present I have some vague Systems for these noted, which is a combination of my own musings along with Systems that I like from all over the place. I want the Game elements to be Explicit, as they are with the rest of the Systems I have developed for the Game thus far. I also want it playable right out of the box. To the extent that one could generate Characters and, without necessarily having a specific scenario generated, run those Characters through situations that the Game Itself has generated out of its own Systems.

Perhaps, in a sense, I am looking for a Completed Game that generates Fantasy Killing and Fantastic Situations within Cityscapes and Hostile-Dungeons informed by Factions with their Own Interests. All within the genre of a Fantastic and Fictitious Humano-centric Civilization of my own Imagining that I call Sophia's Children.

As I write this I am considering that I will need to have the following Systems in place and how they intersect with the other Systems: Factioneering, Dungeoncrawling, Citycrawling. I want the Crawls to be Node-based with a high degree of replayability based on Chance Encounters and Factions. It is unclear how this will exactly work out mechnically at this point, but I have some draft notes.

Perhaps persons reading this blog will have their own ideas or be able to point in the right directions with this matter? I am open to all sorts of suggestions, so please leave a comment if you are so inclined!

I want to jerk around with assumed fantasy tropes.

From "Women Fighters in Reasonable Armor"

Check out this Tumblr: Women Fighters in Reasonable Armor.

And this author of Afrocentric Fantasy: Charles S. Saunders.

Along with the game of Sophia's Children, I have been researching and writing notes on the world of Sophia's Children for over five years. I have developed and am still developing a history, language et cetera for each of the cultures upon the Earth of this fantasy setting.

To show you an example of something I have created within the Messianic religion of the Westmen, here is the Marriage Sacrament in summary:

"Marriages are presided over by Priests. All Marriages must first submit for examination by a Surgeon, who ascertains the ability of each person to conceive once administered the Bitter Mint. Barren or sterile persons can still be married, but this is considered a Marriage for the Orphaned as opposed to a Marriage of Conception. If one person can not conceive, they are informed of the difference and encouraged to seek other partners -- but may still be married in a Pact for the Orphaned with the understanding that they will not be able to conceive even with the Bitter Medicine due to the results of the Surgeon's examination.

"Those in a Marriage for the Orphaned are encouraged to adopt Orphans. An Orphan is considered a child with no parents or a child with one parent who can no longer care for them. Same-sex couples are allowed to enter Marriages for the Orphaned.

"In the ceremony, the Priest asks which of the two person will be the Hearth Keeper in the relationship. That person is to kneel before their partner, although in some variations the Priest does not ask, with the Keeper simply kneeling before the other in the beginning of the ceremony. The other is considered the Hearth Master who remains standing.

"The Priest then asks each of the two persons a series of questions related to consent in the relationship. The Hearth Keeper is asked if he will obey Master, take good care of their house, watch over their children -- adopted and created -- obey Master in passions. The Hearth Master is asked if he will protect and not abuse the keeper, provide for their children and their household, and ensure the Passionate Interest in the relationship. Both parties are then asked a series of questions together where they will consent in unison: will they create children (or raise the Orphaned in the Marriage for the Orphaned Rite), upon the death of one partner will they seek another partner if there are children, upon the death of one partner will they look for surrogate parents for their children if they cannot remarry.

"The Priest then informs the couple of the conditions under which they may be Annulled: Death, Disappearance for more than one year, Exile or Banishment of one partner, adultery, failure of the Keeper or Master to attend to their duties in the house or the abuse of one partner by another.

"The close of the ceremony is the exchange of the Collar and Ring. The Master receives a band on their left ring finger that the Keeper places on it (repeating selected passages from The First Book of the Law dictated by the Priest) and the the Master places a collar around the neck of the Keeper (repeating similar passages dictated by the Priest). In some regions, the Keeper is given a ring instead of a collar, though the most traditional assignment is Ring for Master and Collar for Keeper."

The Labyrinth. . .

Man Spends 7 Years Drawing Intricate Maze (Megadungeon. . .)

From The Article

Just thought I'd share this. A woman finds her father's hand-drawn maze in storage. There is now a call for her to produce prints of this maze (which was produced entirely by hand on A-1 paper). I'd sure like a copy!