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Dynamic 14: Games
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9. To Exchange (Spirit Broker - Wizard)
environment = a kingdom of munchkins & spirits, you trick people or do something for them in exchange for their souls & sell them to demons.
Inc 2 loc = Hong Kong; Pyramid = Catskills The price of wealth is enslavement. To survive is to depend on the commitment of others
Time = an hourglass with sand running down.
Details: You are a spirit broker (looks like a sort of card shark / pawnbroker) in a land of rolling hills and cottages etc., a fairytale like mid-evil kingdom including a castle with a king etc. The people are munchkin-like. You can see the spirits of dead munchkins toiling away but nobody else seems very aware of this. There are also demons who others can't see. You are fantastically crafty and trick people into signing away their souls in blood in exchange for things and then you sell the contract to demons (the people will work for them after they die) who give you services in exchange. At the start you collect 7 souls and sell them to demons in exchange for 7 wondrous miracles (performed by the demons) which astound the people and make the king shower you with riches etc. Sliding downscale, you try to do less for the people in exchange for their souls so as to keep more of the power for yourself and you have missed withholds about the true nature of the deal. The people get hints from spirits who have died etc. You get bored with the village girls and start in on sex with succubi & other spirit forms. You get withholdy & arrogant. The spirits get tired of working & start protesting & trying to break their contracts and the demons get upset. You get in trouble with the king and start blasting people with energy weapons (wands) purchased from the demons etc. People trick you with false contracts signed with chicken blood etc. The demons drag you before the demon god (big devil statue) & he divides you against yourself. Eventually you die & imps drag you from the grave & toss you in a volcano under the castle & the spirits of munchkins & demons you cheated torture you forever.
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10. To Play (Chinese Children)
environment = houses on stilts over tidal flats. Only a very old few are adults. The games become deadly. Bodies nearly indestructible.
Inc 2 loc = Shanghai, China; Pyramid = Santiago, Chili. The price of joyful exuberance is perversion. To survive is to depend on the games of others
Time = shadows of sun moving over a village of houses on stilts.
Details: You are a child in a mud village with houses on stilts. There are adults (old looking Chinese) but they are no bigger than the children. There is the impression that you will be a child forever & there are only a few old people. The village floods whenever the tide comes in. You alternate playing in the mud with sailing around in little boats depending on the tide. The bodies are nearly indestructible and might be some rubbery form of doll body rather than real meat bodies. At start it is all glorious fun, nothing bothers you, you're not cold or hungry or hurt by drowning etc. The games are very rough but you can't get hurt. You get trapped in an underwater cage during high tide & your only protest is that its dark & boring & you want to be out playing. Sliding downscale you hurt others emotionally & by inhibiting their playing. The games are often mean & viscous. Parents are rarely seen but their orders are to be obeyed but this interferes with playing so you deceive them & become missed withholdy. Also, monsters come in with the ties and sometimes they hurt someone or carry them off. Adults sometimes use you for sex, this is pleasurable but also strange & fearsome & a bit frustrating (no climax). The games become more harmful & eventually a child dies. You hadn't known this could occur & are horrified & fascinated by it. Eventually you organize a terrible game with the monsters & perverted sex & entrapment & many die. So the others take you into the temple where the serpent god divides you against yourself as a punishment. Then you age but the adults find you loathsome & you can't play with the children anymore. You die & are buried in the mud & later carried off to hell in an undersea volcano by snakes & tortured there by the children you killed etc.
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11. To Compete (Coach / team leader)
environment = sports arena, human style doll bodies. A vicious cross between soccer, football, & hockey with a steel ball. About 40 players per team (many teams in shifting alliances on each side) & attacks launched against repair dugout & coach's fort as part of game. Referee delivers implants.
Inc 2 loc = Toronto, Canada; Pyramid = Frankfort The price of competition is loosing. To survive is to depend on the encouragement of others.
Time = digital clock on scoreboard. Energy = steel ball smashing into grandstands. Cheat = tripping an opponent. Detestation = fan throws food at a player. Admiration = cheering crowd.
Details: You are a coach / team leader. you instruct & plan the plays & are generally in a fenced off enclosure guarded by some of your players (but opponents can storm the enclosure & attack you & you can venture out & play as needed). Vast grandstands around you are filled with plastic spectators. In the game, you generally can't touch the last person to touch the ball or touch a goalie but you can beat up everyone else according to a fantastically complex set of rules. The bodies are very tough but can get smashed, especially by the steel ball. Players go off to the dugout for repairs, but everything is fair game. Players attack the dugout & the coach enclosures & try to attack the referees (who are well protected) to distract them while rules are being broken etc. Players can die by being smashed to small pieces and broken beyond repair. At start the game is tremendously exhilarating - the sensations of play & motion are fantastic. You plan & execute 7 brilliant plays & are cheered etc. Sliding downscale, you carelessly let players get broken, find ways to cheat, have trouble with your own men, & grow weaker. There are other coaches on your side of the game & you start working against them. They try to demote you but you lead your players against one of the other coaches on your side & destroy his enclosure. The opponents gain strength & score goals as you fight your own side. Your own side grabs you & takes you to the referee who hits you with a beam that divides you against yourself (your shirt then shows black stripes which are ridges of black energy). Now everyone ignores you during the plays and eventually you are trampled & your body is broken into tiny pieces. They call time out & bury the pieces in the sand of the arena with a flag planted over the grave. The flag has a Maltese cross on it to keep you in. Later, enraged fans drag your soul out & throw it into a volcano under the grandstands where the spirits of the fans & players you betrayed throw things at you forever.
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12. TO MANIPULATE (Penguin Banker)
environment = a wall street like business district with fancy dressed two legged animal bodies. You are a Penguin in a fancy coat who owns a bank.
Inc 2 loc = Zurich,Switzerland; Pyramid = NE Greenland coast The price of wealth (profit?) is oppression To Survive is to depend on the trust (confidence) of others
Time = clock on the wall of a bank
Details: At start you make 7 fantastic business deals, taking over companies etc. and outsmarting the other tycoons. Sliding downscale, you are irresponsible about the side effects of your deals and others get hurt. Homeless people (bears etc.) get angry, picket, tear down businesses. You retaliate, call out police, etc. Also you incite riots against competitors. Eventually you are dragged into court & a god in the form of a computer sentences you & divides you against yourself. Your business connections dry up, your bank goes bankrupt, & you kill yourself by jumping out of a window. The body is taken to a mausoleum. Eventually, devil bears rip your soul out & throw you into a volcano.