#claytalk 5

I need to run to a job, so I wrote this rather quickly: please forgive the sloppiness of thought and execution.

I didn’t expect to post another #claytalk post, but I had unexpected insight, which wasn’t really insightful once I saw it, more of an “oh yeah, of course” moment. I had been intrigued by the notion that name tokens were the only tokens you could spend directly, and I knew that was important, but I didn’t follow the logic all the way out. I knew that name tokens were central to the game, and I knew that creating a better society in the Degringolade (or failing to create a better society) was the end state of the game, but I didn’t put the two together.

Name tokens can be spent, two at a time, for something called “regard”:

“During play you can spend two [name tokens] to ensure a gamemaster character is successful in a planned, future action for which no player minotaur will be present. This is called regard. All you do it tell the character about your confidence in what they plan to do and spend your two [name tokens] back to the gamemaster’s set, and then when that character takes the planned action they’re successful” (105).

See what your minotaur can do there? Influence the outcomes of the actions of human beings. Name tokens have as similar power in the Krater draw, but of course the outcome is uncertain. When a name token is in the pool, possible outcomes include “Your efforts change the mind of the opposition,” “A likely threat or opposition ducks out or doesn’t materialize,” you get “An abiding gift and a [gift token],” and there is a “momentary delay as you and the opposition learn to respect each other.” Name tokens are your minotaur character’s main way to influence the thoughts and actions of others, including those more powerful socially than yourself.

So while you start out a menial laborer, almost a peripheral character in the movings of the gamemaster characters, the arc of the game is likely to take you to a place where your name tokens are piling up, enough for you to create desired Krater outcomes, and enough for you to be able to spend to influence the actions of the gamemaster characters. It’s not a direct power, but it is an important one that lets you exert your own will on the events in the Degringolade.

The post that got me there was a response Paul made to a question about how regard works. You can find the original post here: (https://plus.google.com/101456219798191255548/posts/hVokoncb44S)

I’ll retype Paul’s response to save your having to click over:

”I'll tell you a secret. This is pretty close to the core theme of the game. Getting to the point where you're refreshing more Name tokens than you need for Krater draws, and then what do you do with them?

“I thought calling it ‘Regard’ was explanatory, but your examples suggest the mechanic could be better described as a procedure in the text. I think actual evidence of "regard" is important. So the player minotaur has to be aware of a planned action by a gamemaster character and to somehow express approval. It is a leadership behavior. It can happen from a gamemaster character coming to a player minotaur and informing him of a planned action, and the player minotaur saying "okay, do it" or even just "I won't stop you." Or perhaps the player minotaur finds out some other way and expresses their approval to a third party. And then they spend the tokens so it succeeds.”

I read that and thought, to paraphrase the Dude, “Oh yeah, Maude, my thinking about this case has gotten so uptight.”

Now there’s a whole analysis that can be done about the game’s representation of power and influence and how social power is conferred, assumed, and used, but I’m not the guy to perform that analysis. If you are, please tag me when you post your analysis. I’d love to see it.

(If you are interested in my other #claytalk posts, you can see the previous one here: https://plus.google.com/102721916927145169256/posts/KJLsMtZRytj)