Update 0: the baseline rules for Archipelago23

These are the slightly-tweaked rules of Stone Words Walk, summed up here just so they're part of the whole log.

Playing the game

I usually use a <A6-sized writing pad (with plain paper) and write a full spread for each thing I make (monument/island). That makes for smaller drawings and shorter written details.

Step 1: Draw the island

Draw a horizontal line of waves, then draw the island (or fort or ship or other thing) from the North (or South) and again from the East (or West). I decided to draw just the silhouette/the outermost outline like it was seen from a distance, but you could add more detail if you want (this is what I did for earlier SWW playtests).

Step 2: Name the island

Maybe the name's inspired by the shape of the island as seen from a distance, maybe not. Maybe the name's a word you came up with that might inspire what comes next, as you explore and leave the island. Maybe you won't discover why it's called that, on your first visit or maybe ever. Maybe it just gets a designation, an alphanumeric code or a date or something like that.

Consider the power of naming something, too. If something has an "official" name then there may be settlement, for various different reasons (military, missionary, communal, weirder shit etc.). If people already live/pass through there, they (almost) certainly use a different name, and probably won't take kindly to colonial intrusions.

Step 3: Explore the island

Write a list from 1 to 12, then:

1. roll a d6. If that number doesn't have an entry on the list yet, describe one of these features of the island:
   1. an Impression: a general feature (maybe a feeling, a sound, a common object) found all (or almost all) over the island.
   2. a Path: a route for hands, feet, or eyes to take across part of the island.
   3. a Focus: a single specific object in detail, diorama, vignette, etc.
2. if that number does have an entry on the list, choose:
   1. leave the island immediately, in safety.
   2. roll another d6 and add the result to the first, then check the new number against the list as above.
3. if the larger number also has an entry on the list, leave the island immediately, under some kind of threat or danger.

If you haven't left the island yet, go back to step 1.

Step 4: Leave the island

Write two headings, "Reasons to leave" and "Reasons to return". Add at least one reason under each heading.

Optional stuff

Oracles

The original monument-focused playtest doc includes 2 oracles for playing cards: one for details and experiences (with one entry for each card in the deck) and the other for materials and shapes (a mini-oracle: the suit gives you a general material, e.g. "flowing", "rigid", "free"; the rank gives you something about its shape, e.g. "flat", "unbalanced", "exposed"). The idea is you'd pull a few cards before drawing the island or one card before each turn exploring the island. I'm not sure about this, so it's there but it's optional.

Return to the island

You can return to any island you've explored before to re-explore it. If you roll a number you've already rolled on any previous visit, say how that thing's changed, or add something overlooked or formerly hidden. In the monument version, if you ever get to the point of rolling all 12 numbers across all your visits to a single monument, you write what you think it was built to say, but obviously that doesn't really apply to (most) islands and since it only happens later on (and only if you keep going back to islands you've been to before) it's a problem for future me to think about.

My thoughts so far

There's a couple things I think are worth pointing out for now:

1. I think of the 3 things you can add while exploring as being from your actual PoV, which is why they're named as they are; you're not worldbuilding from an omniscient bird's-eye view, you're adding the things a visitor sees and feels.
2. I wanted to avoid oracles/tables being the main mechanism, since in playtests I was adding so little detail per turn of exploration, but if you were writing a lot more on each turn then I could see an oracle being helpful.

And some things I'm not super-happy with:

1. The list numbers make it sound like that's the order of events, but the actual events happen in whatever order you wrote them, and the two orders almost always clash. On the other hand, the dice/list mechanic adds anticipation.
2. Always either leaving earlier (cutting things short) or leaving under threat (because you didn't cut things short) has a specific feeling I don't think works for all islands/monuments/etc. I think the framing needs to be more flexible, but I dunno yet what that'd be. Maybe this kinda framing could be split before and after the exploration instead of only after?