We played Microscope, but instead of mapping the story out in time, we mapped it out in space. Instead of Periods, we set down Locations, then Events and Scenes took place at those Locations.

We set our story on an island in an inland sea. Notable Locations included:

• Fog, a port town plagued by mists so dense they needed lighthouses powered by the ritual sacrifice of children to make navigation safe.
  
• The Ember Vault, a telepathic volcano which compelled victims to jump inside
  
• The Sanctuary, where the Order of the Sun retreated to study natural philosophy and invent in solitude
  
• The Citadel of Gates, a stronghold founded by exiles of the Sanctuary as their seat of imperial expansion
  
• The Sundered City, a haunted ruin originally constructed as a camp where Red Order highwaymen came to trade and abduct travelers
  

We had two main story lines.

1: an anthropological expedition to the island, led by Dr. Lovett. Spoiler alert, they died horribly (eaten by shadow monsters in the Sundered City).

2: The schism of the Order of the Sun. Traditionalists wanted to keep their knowledge out of dangerous hands. Interventionists wanted to teach outsiders medicine and engineering. Years of turmoil ended in the branding, blinding and exile of the interventionists. Some of them survived, teaching their sciences to the cities which took them in. What do you know, they held a grudge and became a crushing military force. Their armies coupled strength in numbers with their engineers' superior firepower. A massive war erupted between the Exiles, the Order, the elemental spirits of the land, and an invasion force from another continent. The Exiles brokered an alliance with the earth spirits to destroy the Order and the invasion force, but the introduction of warfare drove the spirits blood-wild and insane. Pretty much everyone got wiped out.

The game went grim, but man was it awesome. The Exiles were a great faction. They X-branded their faces just like the Order branded the original Exiles, just to keep the grudge strong. Watching their civilization crumple under three enemy fronts and make one last hail-Mary grasp for survival was sad to watch. Good game.

I loved that the Order of Sun started off seeming like good guys, but almost immediately our sympathy shifted to the Exiles. Did they overact to the rebellion? Maybe just a wee bit. It’s also interesting that we never played any scenes with the Order, we talked about them from afar. Again, makes perfect sense since we totally took the Exiles point-of-view.

Drawing the icons on the cards was great. That’s definitely a perfect fit for a location-based history.

Thanks Terry for the Geo- hack!

Here's the link to the other location-based Microscope hack I mentioned during the game. It switches entirely from time to place to build a city for a campaign game.

City Building with Microscope (Lowell Francis)