Players: Martin (Facilitating), Larry, Tim

The Kingdom: The Library. We are the keepers of knowledge for a glass dome-covered city after the majority of the Earth has become uninhabitable. In addition to thousands upon thousands of books from the past, we also have a vast electronic storehouse and our own secret research lab to test some of the science in the old texts. Of course, we also keep track of the information for our current society, including running the communications nexus for the entire dome.

Threats to the Kingdom: Dangerous secrets (whether to keep or destroy them, how best to use them or not); Outsiders Seeking Membership (The Library is essentially a closed society, due to the sensitivity of the knowledge that we hold); The Library Mystique (whether we see ourselves as a sort of elite--even mystical--class or are just holders and dispensers of knowledge); Limited Resources (where best to allocate them); Political Cooptation (at what level should we be influenced or controlled by the political powers that be); and The Possible Knowledge of Other Domes (or just "Other Domes?", if we acquire this knowledge, what will we do with it).

Locations: The physical Library (rather obvious, really), The Secret Lab, The Fishbowl (a librarian drinking haunt), Central Command (seat of political power in The Dome), Outside the Dome, and The Communications Nexus.

The Characters:

Ainsley Hughes (Power): Head librarian. Her wish is that the library will become the nucleus for a new civilization. Her issue is that she is one of the World Wreckers (People that were alive before the world became the desolate wasteland it is now, and who are therefore considered responsible. Due to the technology of that past age, many of these people--Ainsley included--have essentially stopped aging, which helps her to keep her secret). Her primary locations are the library and the command center. And what she relies on Jack Shirtz for is to keep her secrets and reveal the secrets of other people to her.

Jack Shirtz (Perspective): Information Coordinator and Distributor (the man that everyone in the library goes to for hard-to-find information). His wish is that the kingdom will learn from the mistakes of its past; he fears we will repeat them. His personal issue is that he has grown bitter from predicting the outcome of events and being ignored, and that he is viewed as a crank. His favorite locations are The Fishbowl and the communications nexus. He relies on Jim to pass info on to the general public (specifically what they "should" know, as opposed to full disclosure).

Jim Christiansen (Touchstone): Senior Member of Circulation and Serial Drinking Buddy (in the sense that he is Everyone's drinking buddy). His fear is that the kingdom will withhold information from the people. His issue is that he is a Pleaser. His favorite locations are The Fishbowl and the physical library. He relies on Ainsley to keep his world running (he has been in circulation for more than 20 years).

The Crossroads:

(1) Shall we support Demetria Carlson's bid for Dome control. Answer: Yes. Perspective-predicted Result: We will make enemies of other factions in the city (most specifically The Emancipists--who value equal democratic representation).

(2) Do we tell the Emancipist emigrants about Sunset Dome (Another dome that we have become aware of, but are currently the sole holders of that knowledge). Answer: No. Possible Perspective-predicted Result: the information could leak anyway, and cause a civil war (retracted by Perspective during Crossroads resolution).

I liked our concept, and we had some interesting scenes. Speaking for myself, I had an interesting character arc (as Jim Christiansen) that I enjoyed. After we backed an absolutist ruler for the Dome, the Emancipist protesters were demanding that we release information to help them leave the city and build a new civilization. Jim found out from Jack that we knew about another dome, and decided to seize the information (and therefore Power) to help the Emancipists move to a new life. However--here's the part where we cheated--my character backed out of doing it at the last minute, since Martin put forward the "I think you would do it even if doing so leaked the information to Demetria Carlson (our new, far-less-than-equitable ruler)" proposition. I decided to see this as an ultimatum, so Jim kept the information, but never used it or gave it to anyone. The Emancipists left with some arguably useless information on water-collecting, and that is all. Even so, our game did have a role switch, as I decided that my character had become a lonely drunk and so no longer knew the will of the people. Instead, he became another Perspective (Oh, and it was also put forth that he would likely soon be considered a "malcontent" by Carlson's people...so, you know, not really a great future ahead for him).

As I understand, you aren't actually supposed to back out of a role seizure midway. So, sorry Ben, but we have officially cheated at Kingdom.

This is probably godsawful long at this point. All in all an enjoyable game, and my first attempt at role changing in Kingdom. Perhaps the other players will comment with their viewpoint.

I like that setting! Our table also did a sub-organization instead of the city as a whole. Synchronicity!

The Fishbowl (a librarian drinking haunt)

Heh.

So, sorry Ben, but we have officially cheated at Kingdom.

That's the secret of Kingdom! That's how you win!

Yeah it sounds like you were still using a few of the rules from the playtest version (the "even if" rule). Also, you only need three threats, regardless of how many players there are.

So, we were an exceptionally threatened Kingdom. Although, looking at the order we came up with the threats, it was actually a good thing we kept going, since two of the three that we utilized most to inform the trajectory of our story were the final two we created. It would have been a very different game if "Political Cooptation" was not such a defining force.