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Erik Marsk's avatar

I don't know if that's the earliest source either, but I've seen this "each player owns a setting element" idea in Archipelago (https://norwegianstyle.wordpress.com/2012/09/20/archipelago-iii/), which predates Dream Askew by six years.

(You can read of bit of its history at https://norwegianstyle.wordpress.com/2014/07/03/a-history-of-archipelago/).

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Eily Awen's avatar

Thank you for this. I wasn't aware of Archipelago, though I am a fan of Jason Morningstar's work.

You're absolutely right. The concept of players owning and playing parts of the game world wasn't unique to Dream Askew / Dream Apart at the time.

As far as I understand it, this book introduced the use of playbooks for the setting elements that were equal to a character's playbook, giving them wants, desires and personalities.

Thank you for reading! I will do a bit more research and publish an edit soon.

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gestaltist's avatar

I really like your concept of the Darkness. You paint it in such a vivid way, and the struggle it introduces into the world sounds like something I'd love to explore as a player.

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