A toy game from the 2016 game design advent calendar.

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The picture above is of Laguna Honda, a salt lake in Bolivia. It got me thinking about the Great Salt Lake in Utah, and the barrenness of the desert. Who lived here before the lake? Where'd they go?

This game is about settlers newly-arrived to a salt lake in the desert. They're of the modern age, though not necessarily of this century. It's also about the people who lived in the area before the lake, in the time of the glacier that carved out the valley the lake will rest in. The settlers struggle against the land, taking strength from their communion. The ancient peoples struggle against the loss of their traditions and the increasing power of social forces, taking strength in their connection to nature and the old ways.

Requires:

• Some d6s
• Some players, at least four. Two might work.
• Some items of personal significance, for half the players.

Rules:

Here's what's in this game:

• Two sides, one playing the ancient peoples, the other playing more modern settlers. The ancient players act as GM and Spirit of unfriendly nature for the modern people, and the modern players act as GM and Spirit of the corrupting advance of mankind for the ancient people.
• Some items of personal significance
• Some values for each people
• A stack of dice in the center of the table; just dice one on top of the other, growing through play.
• Some dice held by each side.

Each side should sit on opposite sides of the table. The ancient players should place a small item of personal significance on the table, and each modern player should pick one up. The items will be returned at the end of the game. The items link player to player across sides; pay this person special attention, and focus on them when your side is GMing. Each pair of players should decide what fictional item or legacy their actual item represents.

Each side, ancient and modern, should choose 3 values their people hold dear. Make these as different from the other side as possible, and as incompatible with each other as possible. Perhaps "Tradition" or "Preservation of the land" for the ancient people, and "Progress" or "Materialism" for the modern people. Note that these values might not be things the people themselves think about as valuable.

Both sides should then choose 3 values held in common between them. Perhaps "Strength", "Family", "Land", or "Our God".

Make the initial stack. It's always at least 2 die high, so when it falls just reset it to two die.

When you're told to hold a die, you hold it for your people. Any ancient player can use dice held by any ancient player, and the same for modern players.

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When the other People suffer for keeping their values, hold another die.

When the other People act according to your people's values, your people may give them a die to hold; hold one yourself if you give it to them.

When the stack falls, for any reason, narration switches sides. Before picking up the dice, add the lowest three. On a 10+, this latest episode in your people's lives ends well. On a 7-9, your people have persevered and propsered, but at great cost. On a 6-, the Spirit of the Other People wins, and your people suffer.

When you roll to act against, roll 2d6 for free. Add dice from those you hold (though they are gone when rolled) or by adding to the stack: roll some dice for free, then add them to the stack. Take the highest two of the dice rolled.

Modern Players:

When you act against the power of nature, roll. On a 10+, your people bend nature to your will. On a 7-9, you resist nature's power, but your people pay the price. On a 6-, your actions are in vain.

When you give in to the pressures of nature, hold another die.

Ancient Players:

When you act against the pressures of man, roll. On a 10+, your connection the natural world is strengthened and assists you in dealing with this. On a 7-9, you resist these pressures, but the Spirit of Nature makes life hard for your people. On a 6-, your actions are in vain.

When you give in to the pressures of man, hold another die.

Playing:

The other side should force you up against situations where you'll have to decide whether or not to resist their Spirit. You'll either have to give in, or live according to the other people's values.

When that's not an option, or unacceptable, you can add to the stack. The more you add before it topples, the more likely the final outcome will be bad. You get free dice, for sure, but you'll have to decide if using them to win a battle is worth losing later.

GMing:

When it's your side's turn to GM, set scenes for the other side to play in. Focus on manifesting your side's Spirit in the lives of the other side: challenges with living in an unfriendly land for the modern settlers, and challenges with living among other people for the ancients.

You get rewarded for getting the other side to live according to your people's values, and for challenging them to live according to their own. Go for that, and you'll have what you need to help your people when your turn comes around.

Notes:

This is a competitive game, for better or worse. The idea here is that the mechanics reward each side of the table for enforcing themes for the other. Ancients reinforce the struggle against nature and atavism, and the moderns reinforce the struggle with our own humanity and increasing progress.

This game tries to create a Fruitful Void between these two themes. Somewhere in the middle is the expression of the players' perception of a human duality. The competitiveness reinforces the conflict in this dualism. While it's pretty explicit in the rules that there's two sides, the Fruitful Void here is the manifestation of conflict between humanity and nature as actual conflict at the table.

--Karaktakus the Fruitful Void

Prompt/cover photo: Wikimedia Commons