New: Myst Reinterpreted (free, open-ended, email, www, human, modern, historical, abstract)

From: donotreply@pbm.com (PBM List Autoposter)

Date: Wed, 10 Sep 2003 19:13:05 +0000

Name:		Myst Reinterpreted
Costs:		free
Contact:		d.pj@ukonline.co.uk
URL:		http://mystreint.tripod.com
Frequency:		No set frequency
Type:		D'ni - Myst civilization
EEmail:		mystreint-owner@yahoogroups.com
Last-Update:		2003Sep06
Keywords: free, open-ended, email, www, human, modern, historical, abstract

Description:

Myst Reinterpreted is a game based on the D'ni civilization of Cyan's
games and the associated novels. For those of you who have never heard of
the D'ni, here is a brief history. Thousands of years ago there was a race
called the Ronay. Their homeworld was in danger but their God had given
them a gift. This gift was the ability to write books which could
literally transport living things to other worlds. The Ronay split into
several groups going through various books. One such group used a book
which took them into a cavern deep under the surface of the earth. This
group called themselves D'ni.

Not much is known about most of the other groups but the D'ni set up a
system of guilds and a very structured society with various classes of
D'ni. They also tended to be distrustful of non-D'ni. Up to a certain
point the only non-D'ni they had met were natives of the ages they wrote
books for and they considered them to be savages. A mining shaft went up
to the surface and was discovered by a surface dweller who decided to
check it out.

She was captured but eventually won the trust of many of the D'ni and the
heart of one in particular who later married her. However, a chain of
events ensued that ultimatly led to the downfall of the D'ni civilation.

Myst Reinterpreted diverges from the D'ni history after the the relocation
to earth. You could consider it either D'ni prior to the solidification or
the rigid class system and contact with surface dwellers or you could
consider it a totally different group that went to an underground cavern
in a different world who also called themselves D'ni - this is a
possibility given the meaning of D'ni in their original language.

These D'ni are torn in a conflict. It is based on the books they write.

One group, called Artists, believes that the worlds are created when the
books are written. As such they are more protective of letting others
visit ages they have written but also more likely to consider themselves a
God over that world with all the associated rights. They also tend to be
more careful when writing the books because they are responsible for how
the world turns out.

The other group is called Explorers. They believe that the worlds were
pre-existant and writing the book simply creates a doorway to it.
Therefore they do not care how many people visit it. However, since they
believe it to be one of many infinite possibilities they are less likely
to try to help others. Their belief is that if their God made a world a
particular way they shouldn't bother trying to improve it. If their God
wanted it to be better he would have made it that way. Explorers writing
tends to be more shoddy because as long as the book works it is ok.

There is a sub-class of "plunderers" in each group. The Artist-Plunderer
"creates" worlds to loot them of their resorces. They believe te resources
were created by them when the book was written so they belong to them. The
Explorer-Plunderer writes shoody ages that are decaying to grab goods from
them the world is destroyed and it's valuables are lost. They figure the
world is decaying anyway so why not take what you can from it? Each group
turns a blind eye to it's own plunderers but points out the other groups
plunderers as an example how the other's belief is immoral.

In this game you can play an Artist, an Explorer or a native of one of the
ages. Their are no pre-defined characters to limit your creativity. Simply
create a character and submit it to the GM. Once approved you can start
playing. The game is chifly by e-mail and turns are based on how frequent
the posts are mailed to the group but post can be read and written via a
web interface as well.

[ This is a new entry for the PBM List. You can find the list
itself, and instructions for adding games or comments, at
http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/pbm_list/ -- greg ]