From owner-dq@dq.sf.org.nz  Thu Sep 23 08:37:23 1999
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From: Martin Dickson <martind@peace.com>
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Jim Arona wrote:

> As for holidays of the 'Powers of Light', then I suggest that these
> things are unnecessary to be added to the current abomination of a calendar.

...

> Perhaps it would be just wiser to leave this wretched, insipid and
> uninteresting calendar completely alone...

Don't hold back now Jim, tell us what you really think.  :)

(If I hadn't been cultivating a turtle-like exterior I could have been really
offended).

The calendar was designed with a few principles in mind.  It was intended for
use on Alusia which is the primary shared world of the campaign and needed to be
different enough from our own to give a sense of fantasy, but similar enough
that the cognitive load on the users was low.  The other principle was to make
it as regular as possible, so that people didn't get hung up on
designing/finding moon charts and the like.

Hence 12 calendar months x 30 days = 364, 13 lunar months x 28 days = 364, 7 day
weeks x 52 = 364.  Quarters of the moon fall on the same day every week
(Moonday), and the 8 major festivals are the solstices and equinoxes and the 4
intercalary days are Samhain/Halloween, Beltane/May Day, Lugnasad/Lammas, and
Candlemas/Coming of Light... Walpurgisnacht managed to sneak in because it has a
really neat name, though technically it is Beltane eve. :)

I am sorry if you find this "wretched, insipid and uninteresting".  It was
designed with a specific purpose in mind, and for general use, rather than the
more inspired but outre confection that I might have used for a single GM
world... or just a single GM area.  It was intended for use as the Western
Alusian calendar and it would be normal (going from our history) to find
different places using different calendars... in fact it would be very 20th
century to think that everyone would use the same.

Kind Regards,
                        Martin


--

 _/_/  Peace Software New Zealand Ltd   Email: Martin.Dickson@peace.com
_/     Martin Dickson                   Fax  : +64-9-373-0401
       Analyst                          Phone: +64-9-373-0400



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From owner-dq@dq.sf.org.nz  Thu Sep 23 11:33:51 1999
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Subject: Help on Don Diago please
Date: Thu, 23 Sep 1999 11:24:41 +1200
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From: "Andrew Withy         (FAL AKL)" <AndrewW@falum.co.nz>
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Don Diago is a Destianian noble who is in exile from Don Carlos. He is a
powerful Illusionist, and has had contact with several guild parties before.

Please could people e-mail me their experiences with him if their characters
are around between the 1st and 8th of Thaw.

Thanks

Andrew
andreww@falum.co.nz

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<P><FONT SIZE=3D2 FACE=3D"Arial">Don Diago is a Destianian noble who is =
in exile from Don Carlos. He is a powerful Illusionist, and has had =
contact with several guild parties before.</FONT></P>

<P><FONT SIZE=3D2 FACE=3D"Arial">Please could people e-mail me their =
experiences with him if their characters are around between the 1st and =
8th of Thaw.</FONT></P>

<P><FONT SIZE=3D2 FACE=3D"Arial">Thanks</FONT>
</P>

<P><FONT SIZE=3D2 FACE=3D"Arial">Andrew</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=3D2 FACE=3D"Arial">andreww@falum.co.nz</FONT>
</P>

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Subject: RE: Help on Don Diago please
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From: "Mandos D Shadowspawn Esq" <mandos@nexus.org.nz>
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Does anyone have a data version of the price list for standard goods they
could Email me?

Mandos
/s

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<DIV><SPAN class=3D014411409-23091999><FONT color=3D#000000 face=3D"Book =
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From: "Jim Arona" <jimarona@ihug.co.nz>
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Martin Dickson wrote:
>(If I hadn't been cultivating a turtle-like exterior I could have been
really
>offended).

    I'm not trying to offend you, Martin. I AM, however, being as honest as
I know how to be about the calendar.

Martin wrote:
>
>The calendar was designed with a few principles in mind.  It was intended
for
>use on Alusia which is the primary shared world of the campaign and needed
to be
>different enough from our own to give a sense of fantasy, but similar
enough
>that the cognitive load on the users was low.

    I know under what considerations the calendar was designed. I don't
think it succeeds. It reads to me more like one of those wretched fantasy
novels where the writer uses Pre-Interregnum English to generate a sense of
period, then forgets when to use 'thee' instead of 'thou'. It doesn't reduce
the cognitive load, because you have to use a different calendar. That, in
itself, is a job and a half.
    I don't accept that using another calendar generates a sense of fantasy.
Or rather, it might, if it were done well, but I suspect that it would be
pretty hard on players to know where they were. It is very hard to generate
a sense of dread by telling a player that it's coming up on the 4th day of
Heat...On the other hand, if you tell a player that the 31st of Octobers not
far away, then there is a chance that some of them may notice.
    For the new calendar to work, the player has to know that there's
something significant about the 4th day of Heat. On the other hand, a player
may just KNOW that the 31st of October is Hallowe'en. The real calendar lets
the DM foreshadow without having to know everything that has happened to the
character before. After all, if the 4th day of Heat is a day of
significance, but the players just don't know that it is, then you've lost a
lot of tension. You either have to tell them that it's significant, or they
find out why it's significant within the story. Whatever else happens, it is
not something you can use to foreshadow with.

>The other principle was to make
>it as regular as possible, so that people didn't get hung up on
>designing/finding moon charts and the like.
>
>Hence 12 calendar months x 30 days = 364, 13 lunar months x 28 days = 364,
7 day
>weeks x 52 = 364.  Quarters of the moon fall on the same day every week
>(Moonday), and the 8 major festivals are the solstices and equinoxes and
the 4
>intercalary days are Samhain/Halloween, Beltane/May Day, Lugnasad/Lammas,
and
>Candlemas/Coming of Light... Walpurgisnacht managed to sneak in because it
has a
>really neat name, though technically it is Beltane eve. :)

    1) I don't believe that the people fond of tables have been assuaged.
Now, they make tables of calendars.
    2) I just think this is boring and predictable. Where is the lunar
inconstancy, fabled in song, story and lycanthropy? This is just an
accountant's answer to the mystery of the operations of the heavens, and
lacks all poetry, colour and majesty.
    I laud the idea of having a few (as in, not many at all) days of
significance. I believe it to be not only worthy, but pretty much essential.
DMs need to be aware of their responsibility not only to describe their
world to players, but also to leave the world available to other DMs. It is
not a great idea to colour in every little detail. It is more sensible to
user wider brush strokes, and merely sketch, rather than spotlight detail,
if for no other reason than it invites the player to take part in the
description of the world.

>
>I am sorry if you find this "wretched, insipid and uninteresting".  It was
>designed with a specific purpose in mind, and for general use, rather than
the
>more inspired but outre confection that I might have used for a single GM
>world... or just a single GM area.  It was intended for use as the Western
>Alusian calendar and it would be normal (going from our history) to find
>different places using different calendars... in fact it would be very 20th
>century to think that everyone would use the same.

    I agree that an outre calendar is a pain in the arse. I wouldn't wear
one for a wart on my bum. It's a prick to maintain as a DM, and it's a
complete annoyance to keep track of as a player. The more outre the
calendar, the less time the player has to spend on roleplaying. The whole
sorry mess becomes an excercise in calendar management, and bugger the story
or the game.
    I would rather stick needles into my eyes.
    As far as the comment about the calendar being only one of many in the
world, then I suggest, Martin, that this is just not the case. The Guild
runs things by that calendar, which means that, whatever 'real' calendars a
DM might use, the present abortion is the one that has the weight of
'versimilitude'. The calendar the players are forced to use is the one that
has 'game veracity'. To say anything else is an excercise in willful
blindness.

Jim.



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