The Second Spawn: Microscope Chronicle
I have received a glorious wealth of feedback from Union playtesters all over. I am giddy with delight.
Now it’s time for the second Microscope spin-off, Chronicle. Both are going to be included in the Microscope Explorer book, but you already knew that.
What is Chronicle? It’s a laser-focused version of Microscope. Instead of a broad scope, you explore the history of a single thing. You could play a struggling colony, that spooky old house on the hill, a radical art movement, or a fabled sword that unites the land…
Chronicle is much less of a departure than Union but it substantially alters the flavor of the game. It’s designed to create a more intimate and personal history and also keep the focus of play a lot tighter. “Wait” you exclaim, “it sounds like I could play any Kingdom as a Chronicle?!?” Why yes, you could. You could explore exactly the same idea but you would have a totally different experience at the table. It just depends what style of play you are in the mood for. Dibs on Starfall.
Is it time for playtesting? Oh yes it is. If you want in, email chronicle-playtest + lamemage.com or leave a comment here with your address in the hidden email field. You have to know how to play Microscope to playtest Chronicle, and as always, only volunteer if you’re going to play and send feedback.
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I hadn’t announced yet but it should be late September. So about a month from now.
Hey, Ben, how long is the playtest going to run?
@Tom Fendt: Okay, that is pretty great. I think the anchor characters in Chronicle could work quite well in short-scale Microscope games. I’m picturing walking around town interacting with the different people in “High Noon”.
Also: bonus points for “firing from the hip”
We did a similar thing already using base Microscope rules to play a blood opera/daylong gunfight in the old west. It was very satisfying and I’d love to playtest something could create that experience with a little less firing from the hip on our part.
I want in!
I’d love to give playtesting a shot!
Hi, I’d love to playtest, our Indy/new stuff group meets on the 24 thy next weekend. Only one of us have played microscope but two others have read it and pined. (Which counts right?)
Absolutely, Albey! Your explanation of your Union game made a lot of sense once we talked about it more. Look for Microscope Chronicle, coming your way!
I’d love to participate in this! Has my feedback on other playtests been helpful, though? I remember in the discussion on the Story Games forum about my game of Union, you seemed to get quite confused by what I had written (although I saved some of the thoughts for the later email). I’m not sure if I’m any good at conveying my thoughts.
First blast of playtest download links just went out…
You’re right, Ben. I will love this. I’ll playtest it for sure, and convincing my group will be easy.
Would love to play test. Would try it this weekend.