01-19-2012, 07:13 AM
The sub-creating in this game was fun. Role-playing my abbott was helped by historical fiction of the sort that Ellis Peters wrote, as in her series on Brother Cadfael, or, using her name Edith Pargeter the 4-volume Brothers of Gwynedd (the role call of titles of Llwellyn ending with "the first and only true Prince of Wales") and the Heaven Tree Trilogy. Her ability to bring history alive was amazing.
Combined with some fairly general church history, the Abbott drew on the news and knowledge of travellers who stayed the night in the guest quarters, including the mendicant friars to learn of the latest church building techniques and to hire a French glazier. The result was something like the Great East Window in Exeter Cathedral, on which I based the Abbey's equivalent.
The main elements of sub-creating I've used were to be able to imagine and write about the environment - landscape, flora and fauna, buildings, and to create a number of interesting characters. In an abbey these would often be the other brothers including those with ambitions to rise in the abbey at the expense of competitors, lay members, travellers, local aristocrats who might potentially leave endowments, alms for the destitute, almshouses for the homeless, orchards, etc. History based games needn't exclude fantasy, either.
The beauty of this is that each player can develop different aspects to sub-create, its a very individual thing. Its also less likely in games that power-struggles are more important than role playing. So it is probably very much a small minority interest in PBM.
Combined with some fairly general church history, the Abbott drew on the news and knowledge of travellers who stayed the night in the guest quarters, including the mendicant friars to learn of the latest church building techniques and to hire a French glazier. The result was something like the Great East Window in Exeter Cathedral, on which I based the Abbey's equivalent.
The main elements of sub-creating I've used were to be able to imagine and write about the environment - landscape, flora and fauna, buildings, and to create a number of interesting characters. In an abbey these would often be the other brothers including those with ambitions to rise in the abbey at the expense of competitors, lay members, travellers, local aristocrats who might potentially leave endowments, alms for the destitute, almshouses for the homeless, orchards, etc. History based games needn't exclude fantasy, either.
The beauty of this is that each player can develop different aspects to sub-create, its a very individual thing. Its also less likely in games that power-struggles are more important than role playing. So it is probably very much a small minority interest in PBM.
