Category: Moderation

Just a reminder to any lurkers who might be interested in participating: this scenario is designed so that new players can still join the game in progress (and several have).

If this sounds like something you’d be interested in, check out the rules for instructions on how to join.

From the Annals of the Oasis Kingdoms:

Lop Nur, beset by conflicts, was at that time nearly leaderless: the royal family was secluded and unable to be reached, the governance of the country being overseen by a council of ministers, who squabbled amongst themselves.

The player of Queen Konuma of Lop Nur unfortunately had to withdraw for now. Thanks for your participation!

If you’ve tried to leave a comment in the past and it didn’t work, it was putting them in the wrong place. I think I’ve fixed the problem.

All of the players should have their contact lists by now. If you have not received it, please check your spam folder (and add your contacts to your address book). If you still don’t have it, email me at towerofcallisto@gmail.com and I’ll resend it.

You can (and are encouraged to) change your website user account name to reflect your character name, either completely or as Jane “Empress Theodora” Doe or something like that.

If you’re using an email address just for this game, I also recommend putting your character name in the sending field in your email headers: http://www.cnet.com/how-to/change-your-name-in-gmail-yahoo-mail-and-outlook-com/ so its easier for everyone to keep track of. (Also helps if you’re using a pseudonym in general).

• You can be as short or as lengthy as you like.
• Do let the ref know if you have questions, or you feel overwhelmed by all your mail, or you feel neglected because you haven’t received any.
• Don’t feel like you have to invoke your narrative authorities every time. It is better to keep the conversation going than it is to strain to justify everything.
• Do share your character’s opinion on the news that you hear. Maybe your character saw something related to it, or was told something about it? You don’t have to be physically present to comment on it, after all.
• Don’t be afraid to be boring. That is, even if you can’t think of something exciting or super-creative to say, the fact that it is coming from your character will have some meaning. The things that seem obvious to you might take other players by surprise.
• Do ask the other characters for advice or solicit their support, particularly if you can’t figure out how to accomplish something that you want to do. Don’t feel like you have to wait for their response or follow their advice, though.
• On the other hand, don’t ask permission or wonder if you should act. Just do it! None of your characters need anyone’s permission to take action. If you have an idea for what to do, go ahead and describe how you did it.
• If you don’t know the answer to the question, make one up. Even if it isn’t in your area of narrative authority. Another player might even put it in the news later.
• Each cycle of the game will be about a week of real-time and two months of in-game time. Your character can accomplish quite a bit over the course of a season.

Veteran players, feel free to add more advice in the comments.

Since we have several new players, and the format of the game can sometimes be intimidating if you haven’t played before, here’s an introduction for new players.

Once you have your character sheet and contact list, how do you actually start to play Callisto?

The simple answer is: you send an email to another character.

But who do you send it to, and what should be in that email? Look at your character sheet. Read your name, what your role is, and what your immediate problem is.

Now look at your contact list. Does it sound like any of those characters will be able to help you with your problem? If so, that should probably be the first character you write to. If none of them sound likely to be able to help, go ahead and pick one that at least sounds like someone your character would like to talk to.

Now, write them a letter. Introduce your character. Use the details from your character sheet, and make some more up. Ask for help, or news, or for directions to the next town. Ask who they are, and what you can do for them. Tell a story, describe what your character has recently witnessed.

Sign it as your character. Put [Tower of Callisto] in the subject line, plus whatever you want the subject to be. Put their address in the “to” field, put towerofcallisto@gmail.com in the “cc” field. Send the message.

That’s the basics. Once you’ve sent the letter, the other player will read it, and may even respond to it. Don’t be too discouraged if they don’t write back right away. It’s nice to get a response, but just as importantly, the ref will read your email. As the ref, I’ll be checking to see if any of the things you said in the letter fall under one of your Narrative Authorities.

Narrative Authorities are the things in the fictional game world where you have control of the facts. If you say something that falls under your Authority, it is definitely True. If you say something that isn’t under your Authority it might be true.

When I read something that falls under your authority, I’ll write a news post about it. The news posts are public, so other players will eventually learn about what you’ve said, and you’ll learn about what they’ve said. You probably won’t know what other players’ narrative authorities are until after the game is over.

The last Callisto game I ran, Colony of Callisto, had the letters compiled into a book once the game was over. The book is available for download if you’d like to read it.

If you’re curious about how playing the game looks in practice, it illustrates it quite effectively.