From: ray@acsu.buffalo.edu (Erik 'guttural oddity' Ray)
Newsgroups: rec.games.abstract
Subject: very abstract games
Date: 19 Nov 92 04:52:58 GMT
Organization: State University of New York at Buffalo/Comp Sci

In article <BxI9KA.C3v@phage.cshl.org> boutell@isis.cshl.org (Tom Boutell) writes:
>In article <1992Nov10.051058.15154@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu> npalmer@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (Nicholas P Palmer) writes:
>>We're talking no paper, no dice, just a GM and some people starting
>>a story and interacting and seeing what's what???
>
>Yes. I've done this. It's an enjoyable way to GM. The only thing is that the
>GM had better be well-rested and in the mood to think clearly, because 
>it's more challenging; you can't fall back on a module or a random
>monster table.

I was staying at the house of a friend whose mother believed D&D to be
evil and forbade us playing it.  Being imaginative sorts, we invented
our own game which would be as fun, but didn't require dice or tables
and in no way sounded like D&D.  The result was called Mentalia,
played entirely by spoken word.  In fact, the object is to say the
most imaginative, crazy thing.  Here is an example session:

GM:  you are holding onto a greased pole with no bottom or top in
sight.

(typically it starts with something weird like this.  A fresh slate to
get creative juices going)

Player:  I pull out my hacksaw and cut the pole in half.

(but does he have a hacksaw?  such an assumption is allowed.  things
are always mutable and acceptible as long as what you say is
imaginative.  in fact, if a player dies, they can say, "no I didn't"
as long as they have a clever story.)

GM:  Ok, now you've done it.  It was propping up the sky.  A vast tarp
of blue vynil, weighted by cement blocks, comes plummeting down to
you.  YOu're in DEEp trouble.

(part of the fun is in making it sound like the player has done
something blatantly stupid, giving a spectator the impression that
some high-level logic and strategy is happening.  new players believe
there is a higher level of thought they have to attain, like zen or
something, when in fact the main point is just imagination.)

Player: Well, I use the wood from the pole to build a flying machine.

GM: an excellent idea.  You construct the finest steam-engine airplane
history has ever witnessed, and sail away from the pole.  However, the
sky is still flying, forcing you to fly downward before it hits.

(note: there must always be a serious dilemma.  The players think and
think with furroughed brows, often throwing out frantic ideas, even
though the game ends only when people don't feel like playing any more.)

Player: I write to the senator and ask to have the law of gravity
repealed. 

(well, this is clearly a cop-out to experienced players, and kind of
cliched at that, so the GM has to take punative action.)

GM:  It is returned for insufficient postage.  Meanwhile, the ground
is now visible: it is an ocean of lava.  Furthermore, your engine
(which was built of wood, since that was the only building material on
hand) is catching on fire.

...


So that is how it is played.  Some very weird situations develop,
leading to phrases such as "Goethe bites the golden pill, and the sun
bites Glen."  I swear that was said in a Mentalia session.  There is
no logic or concrete strategy at all.  I can imagine zen monks playing
it with relish.


-- 
--Erik Ray
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