Playing world building

Came across Neel Krishnaswami's Lexicon role-playing game today. Here is his introduction:

The basic idea is that each player takes on the role of a scholar, from before scholarly pursuits became professionalized (or possibly after they ceased to be). You are cranky, opinionated, prejudiced and eccentric. You are also collaborating with a number of your peers—the other players—on the construction of an encyclopedia describing some historical period (possibly of a fantastic world).

The game has twenty-six turns (one for each letter of the alphabet). Read Neel's article for a full description of his original rules, but here is my summary of them:

Entry			Cite
1st	—	A,	Cite:			two entries B-Z
2nd	—	B,	Cite:	one A entry	&	two entries C-Z
3rd	—	C,	Cite:	one entry A-B	&	two entries D-Z
4th	—	D,	Cite:	one entry A-C	&	two entries E-Z
:		:	etc.
23rd	—	W,	Cite:	one entry A-V	&	two entries X-Z
24th	—	X,	Cite:	one entry A-W	&	two entries Y-Z
25th	—	Y,	Cite:	two entries A-X	&	one Z entry
26th	—	Z,	Cite:	three entries A-Y

• Each scholar writes one entry each turn (beginning with an A on the first, and a Z on the last) of approximately 100-200 words, citing # of other entries (either previously written or yet to be written).
• It is an "academic sin" for a scholar to cite an entry he has written (or write one that she has cited).
• For each new letter, B thru Z, any previously cited entries must be written.
• A scholar may disagree with his colleagues interpretations or conclusions, but must accept their basic facts.

Probably best played on a private Wiki, in-person, or via email. Sounds like it could be a lot of fun with the right group of people...

—Michael A. Cleverly
Saturday, January 08, 2005 at 20:32