TRADITIONS
This is a game experiment about the facet of culture that makes traditions. Peculiar things those... so many of them are things that had more concrete purpose at one time, and still exist as an echo long after the sound of the utterance is really remembered. And yet they provide a shared experience that draws people together even when other parts of life fall apart... they can sometimes be hollow... and sometimes, they can be the hope that fills the hollows that life carves out of us.
The players will each take turns fleshing out a set of traditions for a fictional society. The starting point for the society can be chosen in any fashion, but should be very simply framed, (e.g. "a society of nomads on the vast steppes of the east", or "a society of an island nation, in the midst of a technological revolution", or even "a river society ascending from the chaos of a century of war". A general idea of place, and time period is sufficient, though some brief hint of circumstances might be included.
The traditions that the players will deal with in turn are the following:
- Birth
- Childhood
- Becoming recognized as an adult
- Romance
- Marriage
- Religious participation
- Facing conflict
- Death
For each tradition, players will take turns, each player choosing one question to answer, and answering the questions that describe the tradition.
The questions are these:
1) What is the tradition? Does it have a name, or an idiom associated with it?
2) How did it start?
3) How does it strengthen the community?
4) How might it weaken the community?
5) How does this tradition change? What causes the change?
Not every question need be answered, but the more that are, the clearer the tradition will be understood. Note, where the tradition starts and where it finishes might be very different indeed. Over time, a tradition that begins with a hard practical purpose may become a symbolic habit that no longer has practical use, but nonetheless, still brings the community together. The interest is in exploring how that happens.
Detail is important. Try to engage multiple senses in the description of the practices.
