No peace for the heathen — Tables: Flexible specificity or unfulfilled potential
Game Design Log #17
I have been thinking a lot about tables.
I have been writing them for “No peace for the heathen”, thinking of them as a good way to introduce the details of a world without having to write awful text walls of lore. But also I wanted to design them so they give space to the creativity of whoever is playing the game.
That was my motivation to use tables, introduce the specificity of the world through them without constraining it excessively.
But I have always had the fear that this flexible specificity could end up as an unfulfilled potential. That the things I introduce trough tables, I could instead actualize them further, ditching the tables, and writing fix, monolithic, but well-thought-out places, objects, characters, and relations.
I don’t have the answer to which is better. I think that it’s an issue of taste. For me, as a GM, I love tables because I love the felling of discovery they allow me to experience. But I guess that for some people, when exploring a new setting, they need to see the entire concept already constructed and put together to feel it as something that could be “real”. I would love to know what do you think, which kind of style do you enjoy more and why.
For “No peace for the heathen” I went on the rout of large-scale things being setted on stone, and the others, the spaces between the large concepts, as small bits that can be moved around (they still have an imprint of the world in them, but the place where they fit and how they connect to each other is up to the GM/players).
I want to show you one example of “No peace for the heathen”, still a work in progress but something you could read and use in your game if you would like, and that may help you have a feeling of what I'm talking about (if you would like to have a larger picture of the world, in this post I talked about it):
SAN COR AND THE WASTE SLOT
San Cor — War Lands
A vast city of your people that rises pretentiously on war-land, above multiple naturally connected plateaus. It is said that a great ruler of Isla Grande once lived here and buried their heart on the tallest plateau at the core of the city (dead hero’s ground).
San Cor stands as a reflection of the jealousy and desire of those that have come to understand power and violence, those that call themselves children of the future.
San Cor is considered a free, neutral city by conquistadors and inquisitors, but in reality is just an extension of their power on the island. It is a transit harbour for holy wheeled towns.
The people of San cor have been bathed on sweet words of pride by the kings of the north. They feel with the right to govern over the rest of the island.
Attached to San cor, a walled city of inquisitors, called Cavum Sanctum, is where the real rulers of San cor live and oversee everything that happens on San cor.
Waste slot — War Lands
As a wound on the earth, the Waste Slot opened with a large earthquake a few decades ago. It extends below San cor, and beyond into war land.
This deep earth wound has become a broken town of ledges, bridges, and hanging houses. This is the home of sell-swords and tomb robbers on the service of the highest bidder. Most of the people here are orphans of the War lands, that have been pushed out of San cor for being considered unfit for a life of “learning, diplomacy and peace”, as the words of those of San cor like to repeat, without knowing the kind of slaves they have become.
The people of the Waste Slot have come to learn from the people who say these words, that to survive in the world of conquistadors you have to become useful to them.
Streets of San Cor (for all tables, roll for each column)
Common rooms
Common rooms are open to everyone. People from San Cor volunteer to keep these sites in service. All of them have a large area where people can gather. Here, food is provided by the volunteer service of the day. Around the large central area, small nooks are maintained for shelter. Connected to the large central area are the libraries; spaces maintained by other volunteers that facilitate the loan of all kinds of items. Attached to these spaces, small sheds are used as open workshops.
Although open to everyone, the people of the city's upper districts (Zone 3 and 4) don’t look with good eyes to them.
The guards of the city raid common rooms with the excuse of being the centre of reunion of criminal organizations. Usually, in these raids, guards seize some of the items that these places maintain in their libraries. Under the pressure of the city guards, and the words of those of the higher zones of the city, common rooms are constantly pushed to take out some items from their libraries for being too dangerous to be freely available.
Stores
Zone-1 works on library economy provided in common rooms. Zone-4 has no stores.
People of San Cor
Inquisitors
Inquisitors belong to one of seven orders: Lunate, Hamate, Triquetrum, Pisiforme, Capitatum, Carpalia, and Phalanx. Being Phalanx the order that oversees all the others.
In each order, there are six specialities that can be fulfilled by its members, being Oculus the one that oversees the order within itself:
Spina: Entry rank multi-functional inquisitor.
Valde: Posted to manage a village and its affairs.
Vulnus: Specialises in warfare and military missions.
Penetravit: Infiltration and secret missions.
Combustia: Commandant of large operations and specialises on witchcraft, its uses and restrictions.
Oculus: Oversees the order.
Above all the orders is the Phalanx Dei, who is thought to be the direct finger of the god-man-king on earth, and to whom all inquisitors answer to.
Prime, Holy wheeled towns, Sledging villages, Green Waters etc…
Some places and terms in tables (mostly the ones written in cursive) are broadly defined in this post.
For a lot of them I’m still working on the details, but I may show you how they go in the next post (possibly I would like you to have a look at Sledging Villages and Death wheeled holy towns, that is where, I believe, a lot of the fun of the game resides. But also Prime because it is the cultural reference imposed by colonization upon the people of San Cor).