I have been working on a simple plot for my short game for a while.
Despite wanting something simple there was some complication due to the context in which I'm developing it, that tooks me plenty times to solve, I have hit many walls that only I could answer due to the specificity of that context. Another part is that, while the scenario was design as entertainment first, the constrain made it really hard to just invent stuff to get out a sticky situation.
I kind of solve those point by now, but I have still some aspects that need ironing out.
The main idea of the game is that it is a symbolical coming out of age story that takes place in a myth like island. The setting is a mythical colonial era with plantation (the empire) and maroon (the rebel) and there is demon toss into that to mix tings up.
- The main character is an orphan girl who makes friends with girls flying away from servitude. After getting to know each other, they makes a plan, to create their own clans.
- To realize their plan they need to collect necessary objects at other clans, but with each object collected the main character lose one friend who choose to stay into that place, until she is alone.
- After she lost all her friends, a sorceress came to the clans they reside and tried to convince the clans to let her rules them. The clans refuse and the sorceress cursed all of them.
- When she learn her friends being cursed, the main character decide to save them. She enter the dimension where the places where cursed into, it happen she is immune and she free the people from the curse.
- United with her friends, the clans decide to unite under her clan she made with her friend.
- Going to the lair of the sorceress and defeated her minion, she learn she was souls of the daughter of the sorceress, that's why she was immune to the curse, she discover her body sleeping but to reclaim it she must defeat the sorceress.
- Defeating the sorceress she learn about her story and forgive her, she receive the blessing of the sorceress and reclaim her body.
The main emerging theme is that each clans represent virtues, the character collect virtues and grow up into an adult, with all teh virtue she is able to confront the dark side of these virtues. But on the road to these virtue she met with the corresponding weakness of these virtues. These weakness allow to introduce how the virtue solve the problem weakness introduce. Each weakness is represented as a corresponding colonial plantation opposed to each maroon clan that represent one virtue. The constrain being that it is inspire by caraibean culture, so it must be true to the imagery of that culture.
My problem is to turn this structure into gameplay, most notably "lock and key". The structure is basically a hub (resting place of the girls) and spoke (clans). We can can go to any clan in any order but we know at least one girl is mandatory of that clans (will stay there, therefore will be always present in the path to the clans).
I have identify 6 abstract narrative forms of lock:
- misdirection (ie knowing where to go or what to do to progress,)
- "pivot" (elements that need to move to register progress)
- friction (speed of traversing the path to the goal)
- path length
- test and challenge
- doors (need keys)
Maroon's clan
Poto-Mitan (yellow color)
Poto-mitan are associated to earth, they think that the spirit must dominate the body, they practice a moral ascese who allow them by sheer will to increase their physiocal forces, hence their creole expression « c'est l'espri ko qui met ko » (the spirit is the master of the body). For her, people are like top, a rotating top, «djok», stay straight despite external forces who try to destabilise it, despite only having a small point of support. While the top without movement, «molpi», is unable to have a stable position and is influenced by external forces. The rotation represent will that maintain her stability, the stronger the rotation the more stable and resistant to external forces the top is.
They are recognizable to their straight inflexible posture, and sometimes they have enormous basket on their head, basket that would crush anyone you can't keep their posture. They can be often met close to banana fields which they consume their fruit for their energy value, they can also be met close to sugar cane fields or carrying on their head basket of charcoal. They also practice pottery.
Associate to the plantation of the priest who want to live as if he has no responsibility, weakness about cowardice, alcohol and denial
Matador
Matador are tied to fire, they think mastery of the self is important to not get in the illusion of appearance, appearance is a tools to navigate the harsh social world of the city. That's why they observe a strict rule of conduct that give them mastery of the environment and allowed them to survive.
Those who forget themselves and the social stake for pleasure, the siwotèz, and give too much importance to show off, expose themselves to gossiping and jealously and ending burned. When appearance dominate a person, they lost their identity. That's why matadors use a fan to remind, when they fall in tricky situations they fan themselves to keep their cool and not get caught in the heat of a situation.
Matadors live in city and burg, animating party and mundane reception. They are master of appearance, of conversation and culture. They cultivate artistic refinement in diverse domain like clothing, make up, dancing, music, gastronomy, entertainment and have a great mastery of the social game. They are the guardians of secrets and know everything that happen thanks to their network of informant, the makrel network. They call non initiate «agricol», sometimes dearly but most of the time with a certain arrogance, to mark the difference between their sophisticate but ruthless world and the supposed simplicity of retired life in the field.
Associate to the plantation of the mulatto who want to live as if he was untouchable, weakness about opportunism, greed and envy
Kapistrel
Kapistrel are linked to water, they think that the mastery of their destiny come from freedom of the mind and therefore come from mastery of symbolic representation. They observe that if slaves fear the sight of chains masters rejoice, for one it's the symbol of his enslavement and the power imposed on them, for the other it is the power he imposed toward other. Chain became the fundamental of the representation and power on the world, that's why they use the expression «everything is articulation», the world is a big chain where things are articulation.
But if representation can enslave the mind they don't forget about the link to reality. Things are linked by degree of separation, articulations, it's what they need to understand to have mastery on the world. They have adopted principle from stoicism, that there is things depend on us and things that don't, however they added their own twist about how things that don't depend on you may depend on things that depend on you.
Understanding that things are just links, on which we can act, allow them to escape fatality and to constantly looking for the weak link to exploit in a situation. That's how they repurpose the chain and make it their the instrument and symbol of their power. They have then develop a martial art where they submit the chain as an extension of themselves and weapon against the world, which they express with the battlecry «my chain, unchain and chain up ».
They can be met close to plantation they pillage in impunity by mixing with the slave, they can also be met close to river, swamp (mangrove) and beach. Among the clans they have the less fear for slave hunter and their guns, they go as far as taunting them sometimes.
Associate to the big plantation of the rich settler who want to live as if he was god, weakness about oppression, submission and cruelty
Katrin Pitjan
They are affiliated to wind, they give a lot of value to notion such as rationing out and the passage of time, value learned by cultivating plants in their creole garden, constrained by the cycle of harvest. They observed that nature is made of immutable cycle to which you need to submit yourself. Time impose the cycle of life to everyone, there is a time for each things. They observe that things are limited, which justify a just use of thing without waste but also without deprivation which would weaken the cycle on which things depend for balance.
This vision of the world is visible in their use of the bow and arrow. They limit themselves to use only a recurring fixed amount of arrow, arguing it's necessary for syncing the mind and body with the environment. A random number would allow intuition to anticipate and would distract with the worries of constant checking. A just number optimize and sync intuitively attitudes toward even complex situations. They believe that each arrow pulled must have its reason, hence their expression «all hurt, last kill», also a reference to the passage of time to which they identify themselves.
Associate to the small plantation of the freed black who want to live as if he was rich, weakness about waste, gluttony and mismanagement
Katchopine
They are connected to night, it's a maroon clan that gather randomly people of diverse origin, generally full of revenge thoughts, hate and contempt. Some are sorceress attracted by the prestige of Lady Keleman and came to propose their services. There is no real unity if it wasn't the reverence they have for Keleman who appreciate greatly the attention she get.
My problem is come out with scenes with enough narrative interest but also a reason to lock the progress toward the clan thematically, in a way that's not avoidable.
I wonder if I could get help to brainstorm solutions because I'm stuck for a while (possibly due to exhaustion lol).