Nearing the end of our journey, you might be fooled into thinking that we are closing things off, and yet, this is not the way the Player and Pentacle model works. Instead, we are approaching an opening up, an unveiling of the endless. We see before us, not the final sentence at the end of a novel, nor the credit sequence at the end of a film, but the vast, untapped reaches of a universe of stories, stories that are as alive and active as you or I. By focusing on immersion in both player and world through processes of the folkloresque, we allow for, and encourage multiple perspectives both within and without our games, creating new kinds of emergent narrative in the process.
First, the within:
DETHRONING THE OUTSIDE SAVIOUR TROPE IN QUEST DESIGN
Building a world and a player protagonist intentionally with player-to-game intimacy in mind allows us to completely reformulate how we structure quests and side quests in games, bringing them more in-line with the communal nature of folklore. A trope particular to the fantasy RPG, but one that appears in many narrative and gameplay genres is that of the outside saviour. A variation of the white saviour trope, the outside saviour is typified by the player character arriving in a land, community, or faction foreign to their own, and meeting with some kind of leader of that society. This figure will relay to the player a massive problem their community is facing (Our trade route is overwhelmed by bandits! Our water supply has been poisoned! There’s an assassin in our midst!). They then task the player with completing an objective or several objectives to resolve this problem for them. In the end, the player is celebrated and rewarded as a hero, before going on their way.
This quest model, which derives from the Hero’s Journey structure, explored in Joseph Campbell’s The Hero With a Thousand Faces and popularized by Christopher Vogler in The Writer’s Journey, is one which sees neither the player protagonist, nor the community they’ve helped, win. Yes, the problem has been resolved, but the protagonist continues on, forever an outsider, and the community – well, what are they going to do the next time bandits appear at their gates, or the evil Empire forces horrible and inhuman laws upon them?
The answer is of course, nothing. They’ll wait and hope that the next wandering hero to pass their way is feeling generous.
This approach is rooted in colonialist sense individualism and is a narcissistic force which we can negate entirely in the Player/Pentacle model. We've already laid the groundwork for the player and the protagonist to see the world and those in it as a collective struggling under a corrupt system, so, instead of following that same old structure of questing, why not explore one where the player acts as a catalyst instead of Chosen One? Through this approach, players provoke communities of NPCs into spontaneous self-organization using local stories to motivate, strengthen and push them as a collective into enacting lasting systemic change.
THE COLLECTIVE CHANGE GAMEPLAY LOOP
Regenerative Listening
The gameplay loop begins with the revelation of a story with great resonance to the NPC community being affected by some kind of systemic corruption. This story can be brought to the attention of the community via the player themselves or even before the player has arrived in their midst. Whichever the case, this story should be expressed via authentic language and heartfelt emotion so as to have/create the greatest impact amongst those who hear it.
Example: The player encounters a community who highly value knowledge, history and tradition. However, the community has fallen into slavery beneath a cruel mercenary leader and his boorish army. This mercenary has forced the community into subjugation, demanding food, weapons, medicine and gold from them. For many years now, the community has lived in fear of this vast and oppressive system. However, the player brings word that the mercenary and his army have just burned to the ground one of the great libraries belonging to the community, located in the nearby mountains. Those whom the player initially informs are furious – how dare these oafs destroy such a treasure trove of information! This outrages them, and they decide enough is enough, it is time to act. But how?
Superpositioning
The player then helps project this story across the community via various different platforms of influence within the story world. These platforms of influence can be characters within the community, social medias or public events.
Example: As the player moves throughout the township, they meet various NPCs from all walks of life who have been negatively impacted by the mercenary group. These NPCs are non-traditional leaders – they are neither heroes nor rulers, rather, they are normal people – peasants, farmers, artists, beggars, prostitutes, merchants, etc. Through collaborating with these figureheads via small tasks or side quests (i.e. reigniting the passionate anger in an ex-soldier turned beggar, who had his family killed by the mercenaries years back, or revealing to a merchant how his business activities fund the mercenary armies), the player activates allies, who then inspire and gather factions around themselves to do battle against their oppressors.
Social Self-Organization
Through this superpositioning of story, wildly varying types of non-traditional leaders should arise as figureheads of movement. These figureheads now open up a variety of interactions for the player, where they work in collaboration for the sake of the community, pushing it as a whole past a tipping point into collective action.
Change-Making
The gameplay loop ends with this step, in which the community collectively takes action against whatever threat is impending on their wellbeing, activating lasting systemic change.
Example: With multiple factions now ready to create change, the player can now take the fight to the mercenary leader and his army. Here, the player works as a cog in each figurehead’s strategy rather than as the leader. The merchants cut of supplies to the mercenaries, causing them to grow weak with hunger. When threatened for their actions, they are protected by a small guerrilla army fronted by the ex-soldier turned beggar. As the mercenaries are increasingly struck by famine, their leader sends for local prostitutes to raise their spirits. Entering the camp, the emboldened prostitutes are able to get close to both the mercenary leader and his men, and empowered by the previous steps, they assassinate the mercenary leader and several of his top generals, causing the army to break apart and flee the village in disgrace.
Essentially what we are creating here with this kind of gameplay loop is a non-linear decentralized and emergent movement, directed not by the player, but by the community that the player is in interaction with. By creating multiple potential figureheads within a community – more than what is required to reach the change-making step –we then have a diversity of combinations that will rewrite aspects of how that final step plays out. To use the previous example, perhaps the player doesn’t rally the support of the local prostitutes, and so, instead of a series of assassinations putting an end to the mercenaries, perhaps famine kills them instead, or starvation causes them to raid the village, resulting in the beleaguered community fighting back with unmatched fury. The idea is that these emergent systems when triggered, can interact with each other, and create unique conclusions to quests, encouraging multiple playthroughs.
Emergent systems interacting with one another like this are nothing new. In Nintendo’s The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild when it rains, rocks grow slick and hard to climb, the player character’s footsteps become quieter and stealthier. Arrows, set alight by fire will be snuffed out, and human characters not under cover, will shield their heads and run towards the nearest building. Areas with sunken terrain might flood, and certain creatures that prefer wet weather will be easier to find. This kind of weather model is a trademark of a story world where different mechanical systems within the game interact creating unpredictable and fascinating results. What the Collective Change Gameplay Loop advocates for is using these kinds of interactions to express narrative progress through spontaneous leaderless movements inspired by folkloric storytelling.
Now, the without…
NARRATIVE SUB-ROUTINES
Fans love mysteries, and one of the strongest ways to foster a rabid fandom is through the creation of one, or several! One such way to do this, is through the use of Narrative Sub-Routines (NSRs). These are short stories hidden within larger narratives. They are mostly imperceptible - subtle hints that require some work on the audience's behalf to find them and figure them out. They can be plot threads that are not immediately obvious, but run through a portion of the greater story, or they can be a set of signs and symbols that gradually accumulate to take on a greater meaning. NSRs can also be subtle threads that lead the Player OUT of the game-world experience and INTO a different piece of story content that may exist on a different media platform.
Simply put, NSRs display your narrative in an entirely new light, increasing replayability and online discourse around the game's world in public forums such as Reddit. NSRs can be about anything, however they are defined by their placement as almost imperceptible clues that require work on the part of the Player to uncover. They remain almost permanently sub-textual. The process of discovering and sharing them is like sharing a secret. Digestion and understanding of an NSR should recontextualize the main story in a new light. To illustrate this further, let's look at a few different examples of NSRs across four storytelling platforms – as well as an example of my own.
THE HISTORICAL EXAMPLE
In the low rain forests of Guatemala, Belize and Southern Mexico, there once existed a now fairly well-known civilization. The Mayan Empire is thought to have begun circa 2600 B.C.E.1 and peaked as a culture around 800 A.D. The Mayans didn't really become a prominently studied society until the 1940s when Historical anthropologists began to research the imposing ruins of their empire. Initially, it was believed that, unlike their contemporaries (The Aztecs and the Incans), Classical Mayans were a predominantly (and unusually) peaceful society, choosing instead of warfare, to dedicate themselves to non-violent pursuits such as astronomy and architecture. It wasn't until archaeologists began to dig deep into translating the hieroglyphics within the ancient city of Tikal, that their perspective began to radically change.
Unlike their neighbours, the Mayans never unified as a single Empire, rather, their communities were formed out of several city-states connected by language, trade and other cultural similarities. However, these city-states were very regularly locked in violent conflict with each other over resources as well as political power. Furthermore, they were discovered to conduct vicious human sacrifices as part of their religious rituals. Nowadays, the Mayans are considered by Historians to have been an extremely violent society - something they would never had concluded, if they'd not discovered evidence that recontextualized everything they thought they knew about this fascinating culture.
THE HIDDEN MICKEYS OF DISNEY LAND
Our second example takes us away from the historic, and to the magical world of Walt Disney's theme parks with the mysterious "Hidden Mickey" symbols. Essentially, a Hidden Mickey is the classic Mickey Mouse symbol we all know - the head with two circular ears. This representation of the famous cartoon character can be found hidden in the designs of rides, attractions, stores, products and even movies and TV series. The symbols can be simple painted representations, or more complex - they might be made up out of rocks, plates or other such objects. They come in all sorts of sizes and forms, but it is what they represent that is of interest to us. These Mickeys are more than just design choices, you see. The symbols are located throughout the parks in certain locations referencing the lore and mythos of Walt Disney himself. These references in many cases will lead you from one part of the park to another, allowing the intuitive park-goer to follow a trail through the different rides as they learn more about the park's creator ad his favourite rides.
THE MARVEL HATCH
Continuing on the Disneyland theme, another NSR was demonstrated outside the Guardians of the Galaxy - Mission: Breakout attraction at Disneyland Resort in 2017. Near the attraction, fans noticed a mysterious Hatch in the ground. The hatch was similar to what one might expect of a bomb shelter entrance, however it was emblazoned with the classic Marvel Avengers logo. The hatch appeared seemingly out of nowhere and quickly gained the attention of fans. Vice President and Executive Editor Rya Penagos wrote online, shortly after the discovery of the hatch:
"There are nods in this attraction to other things we are doing around the world. In true Marvel fashion, hashtag it's all connected, there are nods to the Iron Man Experience in Hong Kong, there are nods to the Marvel Superhero Academy on the Disney Cruise Ship. It's all connected guys. So, we encourage you to be good fans and go on the interwebs and find all the clues and connect it all. That's the fun, it's all part of the same universe. And we're just getting started."2
On top of this mystery, fans at the park also began to notice workers in Hazmat suits operating near the Avengers Hatch, further spurring discussion and excitement.
TRUE DETECTIVE AND THE KING IN YELLOW
Personally one of my favourite shows, and really one of the first real "prestige" TV series of the early '10s, True Detective is an anthology series on HBO that explores dark and gritty mysteries from the perspective of (usually) deeply troubled law-enforcement officers. The first season saw Mathew McConaughey as the existentially pessimistic Detective Rust Cohle and Woody Harrelson as his hot-headed partner, Marty Hart, as they hunted for an elusive serial killer in the Louisianna backwoods.
As they push further into their investigation (which takes place over the course of seventeen years), the two detectives begin to encounter strange references to a figure known as The Yellow King. The King In Yellow is a short story collection by the author Robert W. Chambers, a prolific writer of weird fiction. The King In Yellow, written in 1895, is comprised of ten different stories, which run the gambit from supernatural horror to romance. The first four stories in his collection are tenuously connected by several key elements: A mysterious play in book form called The King In Yellow, which is said to drive insane anyone who reads it in its entirety, A malevolent supernatural entity also known as The King In Yellow, and lastly, a strange symbol known as the Yellow Sign. The content of the mysterious play is hinted at throughout these stories as involving another world (either in a different dimension or on a different planet in outer space), as well as the great city of Carcossa. Chambers book went on to be read by the now famed HP Lovecraft, who included the King In Yellow in his growing pantheon for the Cthulhu Mythos, giving the entity the name true name of Hastur.
True Detective utilizes this mythology to create a subtextual air of cosmic horror, which, when combined with the depressive philosophy touted by Cohle throughout the series (itself drawn from Thomas Ligotti's brilliantly pessimistic The Conspiracy Against The Human Race), places the show strangely within the genres of weird fiction and cosmic horror. Interestingly, despite receiving several clues relating to the Yellow King, Black Stars, and the city of Carcossa, the two Detectives never once uncover Robert Chambers book, The King In Yellow, nor does anyone else. This suggests that the book itself does not exist within the story world of the show, and that the Yellow King is either a real person or entity.
To be clear, the series is not overtly supernatural. It exists in a strange place where tonally, it feels very much like a supernatural horror, but in terms of what literally happens in the plot, we never see anything that breaks the rules of reality. That is, with one potential exception: Throughout the story, we learn that prior to becoming a Louisiana homicide detective, Cohle worked as an undercover cop, helping to bring down dangerous gangs and drug dealers. As a result of taking drugs to keep up his disguise, Cohle now suffers from hallucinations. These hallucinations typically take the form of bleeding lights but can at times be more mystical in nature - such as seeing a symbol formed in the migratory patterns of a flock of birds. These visions plague him through the first part of the story, but in the later years of his life, when he has temporarily given up chasing the killer, Cohle is asked about the hallucinations, which he states stopped happening a long time ago. Only… they haven't or at least, that's what he later tells Marty as they pick up their search once more. These elements establish Cohle as a severely unreliable narrator, and in their final showdown with the killer at the end of the series, Cohle encounters a vast, swirling vortex underground in the ruins of a place that the serial killer they’re chasing refers to as Carcossa. For those of us who are in the know, and understand the references to the Yellow King, this moment is jarring. Is Cohle experiencing another hallucination? Or is this something more? Something darker?
The show leaves the answer ambiguous, but those questions can only be asked by the studious audience member who has followed the NSRs throughout.
NARRATIVE SUB-ROUTINES IN FROM SOFTWARE’S BLOODBORNE
Returning to one of my all-time favourite games and another example of cosmic horror, From Software's Bloodborne does a great job at making use of NSR's to cultivate a folkloresque sense of immersion, that fans and Players still to this day, agonize over online.
Particularly within the Old Hunters DLC, we see NSRs at work:
Upon entering the mysterious Fishing Hamlet area of the DLC, players encounter a hideously deformed villager, his face covered, limping through the village, madly uttering the following dialogue to himself:
"Byrgenwerth... Byrgenwerth... Blasphemous murderers... Blood-crazed fiends... Atonement for the wretches... By the wrath of Mother Kos... Mercy for the poor, wizened child... Mercy, oh please... Lay the curse of blood upon them, and their children, and their children's children, forevermore. Each wretched birth will plunge each child into a lifetime of misery. Mercy for the poor, wizened child... Let the pungence of Kos cling, like a mother's devotion..."3
Fairly nonsensical, and even for those who have a rough idea of the plot up until this point, the villager's rambling makes little sense. However, if the Player has previously discovered and collected a special Rune (Equipable symbols that grant the player buffs or give them spells to use), called the Milkweed Rune, they can uncover a NSR that allows them greater understanding. The Milkweed Rune's item description states:
"A Caryll rune envisioned by Adeline, patient of the Research Hall. A translation of the inhuman, sticky whispers that reveal the nature of a celestial attendant. Those who swear this oath become a Lumenwood that peers towards the sky, feeding phantasms in its luscious bed. Phantasms guide us and lead us to further discoveries."4
Equipping this rune around the mad villager then grants the player a secret piece of dialogue as well as a special item that recontextualizes the story:
"Curse here, curse there. A curse for he, and she, why care? A bottomless curse, a bottomless sea, source of all greatness, all things that be. Listen for the baneful chants. Weep with them, as one in trance. And weep with us, oh, weep with us... Listen for the baneful chants. A call to the bloodless, wherever they be. A call to the bloodless wherever they be. Fix your ears, to hear our call."5
The item the Player receives at the end of this speech is the Accursed Brew, which has the following item description:
"Skull of a local from the violated fishing village. The inside of the skull was forcibly searched for eyes, as evidenced by innumerable scratches and indentations. No wonder the skull become stewed in cruses. They who offer baneful chants. Weep with them, as one in trance."6
It is at this point that the Player realizes that this dilapidated village, filled with violently insane fish-people was once a prosperous hamlet who were violated and destroyed by the two major factions of the game - the scholars of Byrgenwerth and the Healing Church of Yharnam, in their pursuit of forbidden knowledge that they believed the villagers held. This is further evidenced by the abundance of Blood Vials found throughout the village. Blood vials are the way in which the player restores their health, but they are also inventions of the Healing Church. Their placement in the village suggests that the Church has already been there prior to the Player arriving.
THORNWOOD PARFUM
Over the past year, during various Covid-19 lockdowns, my partner and I decided to start a small business as a way to entertain ourselves and maybe make a little bit of cash on the side. We turned our sights to another passion of ours – high-end perfumes. For years, we’d saved our coins and purchased small bottles of perfumes for our collection. Tom Ford, Creed, Guerlain, Gucci – to name a few. So, together, we founded Thornwood Parfum, a luxury niche fragrance brand that utilizes narrative design and transmedia storytelling to engage customers. While a professional perfumer worked on our initial set of five fragrances, my partner and I set about developing an expansive story world for the brand. One based in history, but with a bit of a high-fantasy/cosmic horror twist.
At the time of this book’s release, our products should be just getting introduced to the world – so let us know from the future if they’re any good or not! Anyway, I digress. As part of the storytelling for our brand, we commissioned a talented French artist, Mathieu Prost to design and print for us a medieval-style woodcut for each fragrance. At the same time, we worked with a brilliant New York-based Conlanger (a creator of fictional languages) named Jacob Kronenberg to construct a fictional dialect for our world. Combining these two things together, we created our own set of Narrative Sub-Routines: Each fragrance comes with a postcard containing the woodcut print. Within that print’s design are sentences written in the fictional language of a lost culture – sentences that can and will be translated by fans as we drip-feed them clues during the initial release stage. For those dedicated enough to translate those lines, they will receive extra, hidden lore about the world and how it came to be how it is in the modern day.
Canadian Museum of History. "Maya Civilization." Canadian Museum of History. Accessed January 13, 2022. https://www.historymuseum.ca/cmc/exhibitions/civil/maya/mmc01eng.html.
Sciretta, Peter. "Avengers Hatch Appears Outside Guardians of the Galaxy - Mission: Breakout." SlashFilm.com. Last modified May 30, 2017. https://www.slashfilm.com/551222/avengers-hatch-outside-guardians-mission-breakout/.
74 Bloodborne - The Old Hunters DLC. Developed by From Software. 2015. Distributed worldwide: Sony Computer Entertainment, Video game.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.