Tuesday 27 August 2013

Let's Play: A Doomed Pilgrim in the Ruins of the Future

I recently bought The Sundered Land, a set of 5 nano-games by Vincent Baker. One of them is A Doomed Pilgrim in the Ruins of the Future. It's designed to be played online in a forum or other similar setting - like a blog post. So here goes! Please leave discussion of the game to a future post I will create - this post's comments are just for playing the game.

I'm a warrior seeking peace and an end to bloodshed. I'm on a pilgrimage to the Temple to No Gods in the distant City of Gulls. My pilgrimage has brought me to the Desert of Spires, inhabited by the dying war machines of two long-ago armies. My goal is to pass safely through and continue my pilgrimage.

You, my friends online, play the world. Your goal is to see me to my doom, instead of safely on my way. You're allowed only to directly answer my direct questions, though, so you might not be able to do it.

The rules:
  1. Only answer my questions
  2. If you don't already know the answer, make something up
  3. Keep your answers short
  4. If your answer's disruptive, I'm allowed to delete it
  5. Otherwise, I have to go with the first answer somebody gives.
I have eyes that can pierce through veils and a crossing and crisscrossing of scars. I have been walking through the Desert for one week and my legs are weary. As I crest a rocky, sandy rise I spy the Oasis of Dreams in the distance, beyond which the machines cannot follow. There too, I can slake my desperate thirst.

As I survey the shining water, something warns me of approaching danger. What warns me? Anyone should answer.

26 comments:

  1. The click-clacking of metal tipped feet scurrying across the rock behind you

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  2. I spin around. Do I see anything? Anyone should answer.

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  3. The sun glinting off the eyeglass of two spider-like robots. They are tarnished by rust but move capably towards you, unsheathing sharpened pincers.

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  4. I stifle a sudden gasp at their appearance - the cursed luck to run into these now, when I have made it so far in peace. I ready to move, my sun-scorched limbs protesting – but I take a moment longer to observe my situation.

    What signs of malfunction do they show? What's my best escape route, if any? Two separate people should answer.

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  5. Then I'll tackle the escape route: The only clear way to escape from them is to jump down the steep (near sheer) side of the rise you are standing on. It's a long way down though - you might break something.

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  6. As you look at the two 'spider' constructs you realise that they originally were created with 10 legs each, although the nearer one now only has 8 still attached, and the further one 7. The remaining legs are bent at odd angles and some don't touch the ground as the constructs skitter towards you. They are able to climb the shallower side of your rise with no problems, but might struggle with the steep side.

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  7. I steel myself and leap and slide down the steel incline of sand and rock.


    Do I take any injuries? Do the spiders follow me? Is there anything remarkable at the bottom? Anyone should answer (any number of the questions).

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  8. You feel a wrenching in your ankle as you land awkwardly and with force - there is a hard, smooth surface just beneath the sand you landed on. You hope no bones are broken, but either way you'll be limping for a while. The spiders spring haphazardly down the incline with little regard for their own condition. If you don't move they may land on top of you!

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  9. I guess there is nothing remarkable at the bottom - unless those rocks count!

    It seems pretty unlikely at this point, but I have to give it a try: I come up in a flurry of sand, trying to get my injured leg to work and set off as fast as I can - a kind of shambling jog - towards the oasis. Can I outdistance the spiders?

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  10. The seven-legged spider tumbles awkwardly down the drop, breaking another leg in the process. It takes a while to recover, and is now even further behind you.
    There is no sign of the eight-legged spider. Perhaps it has found another route down that you were unaware of...

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  11. You slowly outdistance the now six-legged spider. There is no other sign of pursuit that you can detect.

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  12. I run on through the scorching heat for hours, my leg paining me and my thirst weakening me, but now the oasis is close. By now the six-legged spider is far behind and has no chance of catching up.


    Winded, I stop for a moment to rest and survey my surroundings with my Piercing eyes. Is anything weird?

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  13. While an oasis is always a little embassy of paradise in any desert, this oasis is more so, as if it is made to look even more inviting. You don't know how, but thre is an unnatural glitter to the water and an unnatural refreshing in the gentle breeze. And some of the fruit growing on the trees is out of season or on the wrong tree entirely. They do look real and very, very inviting however.

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  14. I heave a sigh of relief as I see the oasis. It has its own dangers for certain, but I know well from the myths and stories that abound what things to be careful of, and my eyes will help me see through its deceptions. I am certain: I will be safe if I can get there.


    With renewed energy I shamble forwards towards the serene water. Do either of the spiders catch up to me before I reach the oasis?

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  15. As far as you can see, there is no movement on the horizon, even with your piercing gaze. If they survived the fall at all, which, come to think of it, is pretty likely, they seem to have abandoned the idea of the blind chase. They could have given up, they could be thinking of another plan or maybe they found easier prey.

    The refreshing sound of running water can be heard from behind you, as well as the buzzing of insects and the songs of birds. Life, in this dead looking desert. You hear a girlish giggle.

    (I hope I'm not breaking the rules by not only replying, but also adding new elements.)

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  16. Sorry to take a long time to reply - I'm now on holiday. I'm afraid that the rules say you can only answer my direct questions directly. If you like, you can keep the rest of your answer the same, or change it, or maybe someone else will answer.

    Do either of the spiders catch up to me before I reach the oasis? Anyone should answer.

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  17. The spider you lost track of earlier springs from the sandy ground in front of you! The hard surface you landed on earlier was the skin of a metal tunnel just below the sand, a short cut the ancient war machine was programmed to exploit

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  18. (Now that I'm in a situation that is a fight, there are rules I have to follow involving dice that constrain what I can say. I get a 7, which means "I might be able to fight free.")

    I might be able to fight free. I squint at the machine whilst backing away slowly. At first I see nothing new, other than the glare of the hot sun reflecting off of its metal body. Then, my eyes refocus and I see, as if floating inside the machine, an unfamiliar word: "Doefrynain". It's a command word for the machine.

    By the now the machine is getting dangerously close. I yell the word aloud, its strange syllables echoing in my throat. Does it withdraw and give me the opportunity to go?

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  19. The command phrase takes effect as the 'spider' has jumps towards you. Its body folds up into a state of inactivity in mid air, but its momentum carries it to strike the side of your head. It bounces from your forehead to the desert sands. A crack in its outer shell mirrors the new crack in your skull.

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  20. Reeling from the pain, I fall to the ground in terror, expecting at any moment to feel the spider's sharp metal piercing my body, but too dizzy to do anything about it. After a few long moments, my vision clears and I see the immobile spider resting on the sand.


    Wincing with pain in both head and foot, I limp the final distance to the oasis, leaving behind me the guardians of this part of the Desert of Spires. I step into the relatively lush surrounding and stoop down to quench my thirst and sleep in safety.


    Soon I will have to continue my pilgrimage.

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  21. So I won! Yay. Maybe we'll continue with this character another time. I lied earlier when I said we'd discuss this in another thread: let's discuss it here! Thoughts?

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  22. I was surprised when other writers didn't use your questions as opportunities to inflict more harm. Malfunctions for the robots? How about leaking acid, or being electrified?


    I think players need to take every opportunity to add danger! I put in the hard surface under the sand not only to injure your character but to give something for the next answerer but I wound up using it for myself...


    It's a fun little game though, no?

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  23. It seems that this is generally people's experience of Doomed Pilgrim - that despite it being stated as a game with opposing goals, peoples natural inclination is to play it soft and the pilgrim normally wins for early games within a group.

    The author has then argued that this is playing it wrong - that both sides are meant to play to win. Others have argued (http://lumpley.com/index.php/anyway/thread/728) that if people really did that then the pilgrim would always lose, and that there must be some other goal other than winning that makes the game work - a desire to create exciting and satisfying narrative, for example.

    So far the jury is out. Would anyone like to play another game?

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  24. I think I would like to jump to a new character in a new setting. Anyone else have an opinion? I could carry straight on with this character if you like, or with this character, but much further along his journey.

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  25. I liked the essence of this character and setting, but I imagine that would have to carry over in any new game: the fixed goal across an unknown space with only your own abilities to help you.


    If that remains constant then have fun with a new setting and character. I didn't realise you had this much flexibility - another tool for the pilgrim player? I like it!

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