[Game Chef 2011] A Serpent's Tooth
Ross Cowman:
Introduction
A Serpent’s Tooth is a story game about an old King in the twilight of his life, watching his power give way to the ambitions of youth. We will create principal characters to portray in our story. You will take on the role of King, who begins the game with vast powers of creative authority, the other players take on members of the King’s family and court, each with their own agenda’s and ambitions.
To play you will need 3-5 players, and about 2.5 hours of time.
We will act out a cycle of scenes around the table, each of us taking up these roles, and creating other supporting characters when needed.
Over the corse of the game the King loses his power to the younger generation, until, Kingdom divided, he fades into history.
Ross Cowman:
Writing games is harrrrd! Here is the core of it...
Introduce Regalia
Place the Regalia before you. Each of the Regalia grants you an authority. When you introduce regalia, place your hand on the object of power and say what follows.
I carry these Regalia, as symbols of my power.
This is my Kingdom, a symbol of my role as protector of my family and my people, The Kingdom grants the authority to frame setting and place. I give up my kingdom when I hurt someone I love.
This is my Crown, symbol of my authority and power. The crown grants the authority to bring characters into a scene and state their purpose. I give up my crown when my trust is betrayed.
These are my Riches, a symbol of wealth and influence. Wealth grants the authority to frame action and set events in motion. I give up my Riches when I give up my sword when my will is defied.
This is my Sword, symbol of the armies and knights who enforce my will with their steel. The sword grants the authority to resolve action and bring a scene to its conclusion. I lose my sword when my followers lose faith.
Ross Cowman:
Ok, here is the first draft, (mostly done) I'm missing some list items. I'm open to feedback / suggestions!
A Serpent’s Tooth
“How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is
to have a thankless child!”
-King Lear
A Serpent’s Tooth is a story game about an old King in the twilight of his life, watching his power give way to the ambitions of youth. We will create the principal characters to portray in our story. You will take on the role of King, who begins the game with vast powers of creative authority, the other players take on members of the King’s family and court, each with their own agenda’s and ambitions.
To play you will need 3-5 players, and about 2.5 hours of time.
We will act out a cycle of scenes around the table, each of us taking up these roles, and creating other supporting characters when needed.
Over the corse of the game the King loses his power to the younger generation, until, Kingdom divided, he meets his end.
What follows are the steps for playing this game.
1. Prepare for stage
Before you play, gather the following
-A deck of cards separated into face cards (A-J) and numbered cards (2-10)
-Pencils
-Chess pieces
-Print out the Regalia cards (preferably on cardstock)
-a set of Regalia,
Sword - a knife, or dagger
Wealth- a bag of coins
Crown - a crown
Kingdom - print out of the Kingdom Map
2. Introduce the Game
Text in italics is intended to be read aloud to the players gathered at the table to facilitate teaching the game.
Welcome to A Serpent’s Tooth, in this game I will take on the role of an elderly King in the twilight of his rule. You will take on the roles of members of my family and court full of youth and ambition. At the start of the game, I wield vast power and creative authority over the fiction we create together, but as we play, my authority will erode as the kingdom is consumed piece by piece. First we will create the principal and supporting characters of our story. Next I will go into more detail about the nature of my authority and how scenes work, then we will play out a cycle of scenes spread out over a year in our fiction. The game ends when I am stripped of the last of my Regalia, and we play a final epilogue scene.
3. Create Principal Characters
We begin by creating the principal characters in our story, right now we know that I am King, the person to my left is either my Queen or eldest daughter, and the person to my right is either my advisor or eldest son. The rest of you are either lords and ladies of other lands in the Kingdom.
I. Relationships
First we will draw cards to determine the nature of our characters. We will each draw four cards and choose two to keep.
Deal three cards face up to each player besides yourself.
The face cards represent relationships with other principal characters, I am the King, the character to my left is the Queen, and the character to my right is the Jack
Aces represent a relationship with a character either to your left or right, your choice. Hearts show you are loved, Clubs show you are trusted, Diamonds show are favored , Spades show you are protected.
II. Nature
Next choose your nature. You are picking a set and then choosing which is your public nature, and which is your private nature. Your perceived nature will be how other’s view you. Your private nature will be how you act in private.
Traitorous / Loyal
Confidant / Jealous
Loving / Hateful
Foolish / Wise
Brave / Cowardly
Insane / Clear Thinking
Honest / Deceptive
Passionate / Indifferent
Noble / Wretched
III. Title
Pass out a notecard, folded in half to each player.
Each of us writes their title on this notecard. If you are sitting to my left or right, you are a prince, princess, or the Queen. The rest of you are Dukes or Dutchesses. Also decide if you are married or not.
IV. Populating the Map
Use the chess pieces to mark important locations and characters on the map.
Castle - the castle of the king King - This is the king
Queen - Queens and Princesses
Knight - Princes
Bishops - These represent dukes and earls.
Pawns - Any supporting cast is represented by a pawn.
Now we’re going to find out more about where people live, and what their relationships are, I’m going to ask you some questions and place these chess pieces on the map to show where the character’s live. Whenever we create a new supporting character I will give them a name and write it down in the Supporting Cast box.
First I will place my castle, if you are the Queen or an unmarried princess, you live here with me.
-Place the castle of the King on the map along with any unmarried princesses and princesses.
If you are an unmarried princess, decide how many suitors you have and where they live.
-Place the suitors on the map
If you are a prince you are off at war, where are you fighting?
-Place the knight on the board
Lastly if you are a Duke, or Dutchess where is your Dukedom?
-Place the Bishops on the map
V. A Bit of History
Now we will learn a bit about the history of my rule, the numbered cards represent events which occurred under my rule, Hearts represent social, Clubs represent politics, Diamonds represent economics, and Spades represent military. I will draw a card for each occupied territory, if the territory is adjacent to the castle, I will draw three cards and selects one. Otherwise I will draw two cards and select one.
Hearts - Natural Events
10 = Flooding devastated your farmland
9 = Fire devastated one of your cities
8 = A drought left many of your cities, short of water
7 = I provided relief when your crops failed
6 = The Black Death swept through your cities
5 = A tidal wave destroyed your shipyards
4 = An earthquake destroyed thousands of homes
3 = An avalanche destroyed roads and homes
2 = A heatwave struck, leaving your cities paralyzed
Clubs - Political Events
10 = …
9 = …
8 = …
7 = …
6 = …
5 = …
4 = …
3 = …
2 = …
Diamonds - Economic Events
10 = …
9 = …
8 = …
7 = …
6 = …
5 = …
4 = …
3 = …
2 = …
Spades - Military Events
10 = You fought on the losing side of a civil war
9 = You were invaded by the french
8 = You contributed troops to our oversea campaigns
7 = …
6 = …
5 = …
4 = …
3 = …
2 = …
Introduce Regalia
Place the Regalia before you. Each of the Regalia grants you an authority. When you introduce regalia, place your hand on the object of power and say what follows.
I carry these Regalia, as symbols of my power.
This is my Kingdom, a symbol of my role as protector of my family and my people, The Kingdom grants the authority to frame setting and place. I give up my kingdom when I hurt someone I love.
This is my Crown, symbol of my authority and power. The crown grants the authority to bring characters into a scene and state their purpose. I give up my crown when my trust is betrayed.
These are my Riches, a symbol of wealth and influence. Wealth grants the authority to frame action and set events in motion. I give up my Riches when I give up my when my will is defied.
This is my Sword, symbol of the armies and knights who enforce my will with their steel. The sword grants the authority to resolve action and bring a scene to its conclusion. I lose my sword when my followers lose faith.
Invoking Regalia
When you invoke your regalia, place your hand on the regalia and say what follows.
Kingdom
When you invoke the Kingdom;
-Say where we are, move the King to that place on the map
-Say 3 details about the scene using at least two senses
During scene -Reveal additional details during the scene
Give up you kingdom when you hurt someone you love
Crown
When you invoke Crown;
-Say who is in the scene
-Say why they are there
During scene -Play the supporting cast
Give up your crown when your trust is betrayed
Riches
When you invoke Riches;
-Say what opportunity arises
-Say what the cost is
Give up your riches when your will is defied.
Sword
When you invoke Sword;
-Say what happens
-Say what the irrevocable consequences are
then -End the scene.
Give up your sword when your followers lose faith in you.
Losing Regalia
When you give up your Regalia, it passes to another character in the scene. Be generous with the losing conditions, don’t try to preserve your power, but don’t give it up too quickly, not more then one regalia in a scene.
5. Prepare the Stage
Each scene is begun and ended by invoking Regalia.
6. Playing a Scene
Play your Part
You job is to play your part by telling us your thoughts, speaking your words, and describing your actions. When you describe your actions, go ahead and tell us how you want them to turn out, but know that until the scene ends, everything we say can be added to, changed, or challenged by the actions of the other characters.
“But when…”
To challenge another player’s action say “But when…” then say something that either escalates the situation, offers stakes, or invokes their nature.
You cannot invoke someone’s private nature unless it has been revealed to you.
For example
Perrin Earl of Cambridge: I cut of your head with my sword
Dorian Prince of Dunharrow (invoking his honor): But when as you draw your sword you realize that I have nothing to do with your father’s murder.
“Never again…”
To take back your action you must forswear something, when you forswear something, say “Never again…” then say what it is you forswear. Then you must abandon your nature. Choose one of your nature’s and cross it off.
For example:
Perrin: The sword falls from my trembling fingers, “Dorian, forgive me!”, I kneel beside you clutching you to me, “Never again will I take up arms against thee.”
Continuing on
You can choose to accept the action as it is and continue on with play. If you do.
7. Ending the Game
When the King loses their final regalia, the game ends after the next scene.
A Serpent’s Tooth
Version 1.0
Designed by Ross Cowman
July 15-25 2011
For Game Chef 2011 Competition
Using the theme Shakespeare
And the ingredients Exile, Forsworn, and Nature
Developed with Orion Canning
Jason Morningstar:
I don't have any constructive feedback right now, but I wanted to let you guys know this looks really promising and cool to me. You've got the theme all up in there and it looks playable.
Ross Cowman:
thanks jason, I am banging my head against the mechanics as we speak. I'm considering doing away with the map and chess pieces, would any of you be broken-hearted?
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