Return to Archipelago23

This project was supposed to be more-or-less finished, but I decided to finally fix the one part of the rules that kept bugging me: the specific dice mechanic. I didn't like the fiddliness of it or that it required keeping track of numbers that otherwise didn't have anything to do with the game, and decided to fix this before I finish writing it up to publish.

The New Rules

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: Stat the island

Roll 2d100. The first number is the island maximum altitude in metres (multiply by 10 if the height you rolled feels too short). Put a decimal point between the second pair of numbers—this is the island's area in kilometres squared. You can adjust each number if you feel like it's not right for the island (e.g. move the decimal point to the left or right).

Note: This is optional and I'm thinking of pushing it to a little sidebar or appendix in the published game.

Step 4: Explore the island

Your Complication pool is a pool of d6s. It starts at 2d6. You don't really need to roll these all at once, so you only really need 1d6, but having more dice will be more convenient.

Set a Limit on how many turns long your exploration can be at most. This is a number from 1 to 10.

On each turn of your exploration:

1. First, describe a Feature of the island you find/experience/observe while exploring (see the section on Features below).
2. Second, roll your Complication pool. If the dice show any matching numbers (e.g. 2,2 or 4,1,4), then check the section on Complications below.
3. Lastly, if you've reached your Limit or been forced to leave due to Complications, move on to the final step: Leaving the island. Otherwise, go back to step 1 and start another turn.

Features

There are 3 types of Feature you can add to 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.

These can be physical, biological, or social; a social Focus might be a single person or meeting, a social Impression could be a common behaviour or tradition; a Path could be a route someone takes or suggests you take, and so on. Features can be fixed things (e.g. objects, places, climate) or temporary (e.g. weather, events).

Complications

The first time any of the dice you roll match each other, you start to face Complications. Add 1d6 to the pool, and from now on, every time you add a detail to the island, also include some kind of problem that makes your exploration harder.

The second time you roll a match, end the exploration. A problem comes to a head and you must leave the island. Describe what happened and why you must leave.

Step 5: Leave the island

Write a heading, "Reasons to return". Add at least one reason.

Next?

The first thing I want to do is playtest these new rules—they shouldn't be too different, but I still want to try them to see any subtler differences (particularly things like the Limit, and how Complications are a binary thing in that you're either free of Complications or encountering them on every turn).

Next, I'll be adding a simple oracle. One nice feature of the dice mechanic in these rules is the specific numbers you roll always have the same probability of coming up, which means I can basically make two simple d6 tables of prompts: one for regular exploration turns, another for Complications. If you roll doubles/triples, you could check the Complications table for inspiration, but otherwise you'd pick from the 2–3 different results rolled on the detail table.