Evolving Braunstein Tech: Initial Situations

 

I have decided that the Non-Stop Braunstein is my thing.

That means all players meet regularly, in an evolving conflict, scheming between sessions in a rigorously enforced time schedule. The Judge sets up the intial conflict, maintains fog of war and enforces the general shape of the conflict. 

But there’s not just one kind of conflict. Below are the kinds of conflicts I have found. “Law” is defined as caring for the weak and group cohesion, best exemplified in monarchy. “Chaos” is defined as the triumph of the strongest individual, best exemplified by dictatorship.

If this is your first time being told monarchy and dictatorship are opposed, you got some serious reading to do.

Why Define Them?

Because implications choke communication, long-term. If you use these terms as the beginning of your conversations, to describe, rather than to restrain, everything will work smoother. If you find the game is changing its central kind of conflict, talk about it!

Anyone using this terminology as a straitjacket is not using these terms as intended.

Types of Conflicts… So Far

This list is hardly exhaustive. This is going to go in the Crescendo Core Rulebook. If you know of other types of conflicts, please suggest them!

Law Purifying

All the players are part of Lawful factions, with Chaos pressing in. The players will need to prove who is the most lawful, who takes care of the weak and the group the best. 

Chaos, managed by the Judge, provides a foil and canon against which the lawful prove themselves. If the lawful aren’t doing their jobs, chaos will figure it out quickly and punish the players.

We're currently running this kind of conflict for The Fall of the King of Sota.

Chaos Degenerating

The forces of Chaos have won. The strongest have prevailed… and now we play out Law trying to return. The players get to ride the elevator to Hell, with gusto. It’s a grand catharsis!

The Judge plays out the forces of law attempting to rebuild, with military and culture and civilization trying to renew in the face of the wasteland that is Chaos.

Law vs Chaos

This is really straightforward. Players are divvied up between the two alignments evenly, and whoever wins, wins. The Judge sits back and ensures fair play.

Judgment Day

An end of everything has come. The players are divvied up evenly, and the Judge tries to destroy them, openly.

Red Tape vs Secrecy

From the conversations setting up Rylothstein. A large bureaucracy against a small insurgency. The bureaucracy must survive its red tape so it can find the insurgents, who are flexible but must not be found.

Free for All

From the conversations for the Streetstein. A bunch of equal factions who are trying to win.