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Lurking in the PBEM turn tracker threads is an occasional hobby of mine when I have a few minutes to kill between exiting events in my own life. It is fascinating how many different ways the other players can be alerted that a turn has been played and sent, the endless array of baseless threats that players can fling at each other are often humorous and clever, but the rarest gem is to find a bit of story embedded in a tracker thread. I’ve been lucky enough to find a little inspiration and have enjoyed chasing after it almost as much as the games themselves.
Theses tips may help other interested players start stories of their own.
Like most Civ players I have more than a passing interest in history. After deciding what Civ to play a Google search can be a great source of inspiration. I found an Iroquois creation myth and dictionary that I was able to bastardize. When I played the Hittites a few web sites gave me a sense of the variety and importance of their religious beliefs.
The next thing I consider is the civ traits. An agricultural civ may be sedentary and enjoy a slow rural pace or be highly competitive ranchers. If you are seafaring maybe you would color your story with salty colloquialisms or just have been forced by circumstance to eek your sustenance from nature’s most unforgiving environment.. Religious traits may be sincere and devout or righteous and fanatical. For militaristic civs you may look to ancient Rome, Zulu tradition, fascist Germany, or American manifest destiny for material. Commercial cultures will place a high value on financial success so its leaders could portray themselves as powerful business men or thrifty accountants. Expansionism could be explained as a natural gregariousness or as something more sinister. Scientific nations may be aloof theoreticians or mad pragmatists. Industrious types may be good Calvinists or practical minded inventers.
This background should help you develop a sense of the society that you want to portray, but at the start of any game you still won’t have much to work with. I usually look at the map and try to decide how this society would have developed while wandering for all of pre-history in those nine tiles. My Iroquois, in “Rumble in the Jungle”, had a number of desert tiles to start with and I decided that they would be a bit cursed and have a grim outlook. In “Brave New World”, my Hittites had a lush start so I made them more confident and lucky.
The first few posts are the most difficult to fill. I find it best to just write a short paragraph about a particular aspect of the culture without trying to tie things together or make up any characters. I try to write a little about the religious beliefs, favorite foods or preferred recreations. Unless I have a real plan I try not to get too specific. After a few paragraphs I start to feel drawn to a particular aspect and am soon full of ideas.
After that most of my story revolves around what I’m doing in game. I was at first nervous about broadcasting what I was doing to the other players, but I’ve come to the conclusion that that kind of information isn’t much help to anybody else. I’ve also come to the conclusion that I’m not all that good at the game anyhow, so it’s not likely to change the ultimate outcome of the game. Why would your people research writing rather than the wheel? What does it say about them if they build nothing but warriors for 500 years? What would life be like in a city with a bunch of warriors and no buildings or in a culture where the concept of rolling is unknown? I wonder.
I walk my dog twice a day. He is a hound with chronic sinusitis. On average we make about .5 mph (that decimal is not a typo). It can take him 10 minutes to analyze a particular tree or bush, but in the end he only ever has one thing to say and the only emphasis he can manage is whether to pee on it a lot or a little. This makes two points. First is helpful to have some time to think up your story, I would suggest buying a dog. Secondly a good vocabulary is going to make any story better, I find a thesaurus very valuable.
I hope you all get a chance to try some story writing. I’m enjoying it almost as much getting my ass kicked by all you.
Theses tips may help other interested players start stories of their own.
Like most Civ players I have more than a passing interest in history. After deciding what Civ to play a Google search can be a great source of inspiration. I found an Iroquois creation myth and dictionary that I was able to bastardize. When I played the Hittites a few web sites gave me a sense of the variety and importance of their religious beliefs.
The next thing I consider is the civ traits. An agricultural civ may be sedentary and enjoy a slow rural pace or be highly competitive ranchers. If you are seafaring maybe you would color your story with salty colloquialisms or just have been forced by circumstance to eek your sustenance from nature’s most unforgiving environment.. Religious traits may be sincere and devout or righteous and fanatical. For militaristic civs you may look to ancient Rome, Zulu tradition, fascist Germany, or American manifest destiny for material. Commercial cultures will place a high value on financial success so its leaders could portray themselves as powerful business men or thrifty accountants. Expansionism could be explained as a natural gregariousness or as something more sinister. Scientific nations may be aloof theoreticians or mad pragmatists. Industrious types may be good Calvinists or practical minded inventers.
This background should help you develop a sense of the society that you want to portray, but at the start of any game you still won’t have much to work with. I usually look at the map and try to decide how this society would have developed while wandering for all of pre-history in those nine tiles. My Iroquois, in “Rumble in the Jungle”, had a number of desert tiles to start with and I decided that they would be a bit cursed and have a grim outlook. In “Brave New World”, my Hittites had a lush start so I made them more confident and lucky.
The first few posts are the most difficult to fill. I find it best to just write a short paragraph about a particular aspect of the culture without trying to tie things together or make up any characters. I try to write a little about the religious beliefs, favorite foods or preferred recreations. Unless I have a real plan I try not to get too specific. After a few paragraphs I start to feel drawn to a particular aspect and am soon full of ideas.
After that most of my story revolves around what I’m doing in game. I was at first nervous about broadcasting what I was doing to the other players, but I’ve come to the conclusion that that kind of information isn’t much help to anybody else. I’ve also come to the conclusion that I’m not all that good at the game anyhow, so it’s not likely to change the ultimate outcome of the game. Why would your people research writing rather than the wheel? What does it say about them if they build nothing but warriors for 500 years? What would life be like in a city with a bunch of warriors and no buildings or in a culture where the concept of rolling is unknown? I wonder.
I walk my dog twice a day. He is a hound with chronic sinusitis. On average we make about .5 mph (that decimal is not a typo). It can take him 10 minutes to analyze a particular tree or bush, but in the end he only ever has one thing to say and the only emphasis he can manage is whether to pee on it a lot or a little. This makes two points. First is helpful to have some time to think up your story, I would suggest buying a dog. Secondly a good vocabulary is going to make any story better, I find a thesaurus very valuable.
I hope you all get a chance to try some story writing. I’m enjoying it almost as much getting my ass kicked by all you.
hehe
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