Unwritten: System Reference Document/The Great Art of Writing
Contents
Age Aspects[edit]
Age Theme[edit]
Every Age has a theme. This is like the High Concept for characters. It encompasses the basics of the Age and what the writer was trying to accomplish when they were developing it. Like a High Concept, the Age’s theme is not the end-all-be-all of the Age. However, it provides a touchstone for the rest of the details.
Themes will generally fall into two different types: environments and principles. Environments are aspects that describe the physical nature of the Age. The scope of an environmental theme will vary according to the nature of the aspect. Humid and Murky Swamps might be just what is in the ‘Written’ parts of an Age, or it might be the entire planet. An aspect like A Planet of Rolling Dunes Driven by the Wind would be less ambiguous.
Principles are descriptions of the underlying forces at work. These may govern geological or cosmological forces. For example, aspects like Cataclysmic Natural Forces could describe an Age full of volcanoes, earthquakes and raging storms. Alternatively, a principle as a theme may indicate design principles that the writer was using as a guide for the Age. An Age designed to be an example of ecological interdependence might have a theme of All Life Depends on Each Other, while an Age written to be a source of resources may have a theme of Endless Natural Abundance.
Other Age Aspects[edit]
Besides the theme, an Age can have other additional aspects that embody important details about an Age.
- Important Natural Features
- Unusual Flora or Fauna
- Notable Resources
- Indigenous Populations
- Key Settlements or Installations
Writing Systems[edit]
Reading Books[edit]
Any Writer can understand the gahro-hevtee in a book. Getting a general feel of the nature of the Age it describes is relatively simple and should not require a roll. Given the complexity of the Art, however, any deeper understanding takes time and effort.
Basic information should simply be provided to the investigating character, such as the Age’s theme aspect. Those who have stunts or aspects in specific areas should get a little more information relevant to that area without rolls (e.g. a Geology stunt gets you a Geology-specific clue).
Further information requires digging deeper with discover actions. The passive opposition should be based on the complexity of the Age. Additionally, Ages that were written in ways to be intentionally deceiving (such as Books written to be traps) would have higher opposition values. Note that some skills that might not be useful in Writing Ages may be useful in deciphering Descriptive Books (especially those involving deductive logic or finding patterns).
A character that does not have the Art of Writing stunt, but has some knowledge of the D’ni language, might be able to investigate a Descriptive Book. This is up to the GM to decide. If the GM does allow it, no details should be given without successful discover actions, even the Age’s theme aspect.
Writing Linking Books[edit]
Creating a Linking Book requires no rolls—the Writer just has to have the appropriate materials, a little bit of time, and be in the place the book will link to. That’s it.
Writing Descriptive Books[edit]
Writing Descriptive Books is another matter. Writing a viable Descriptive Book is a long process and never happens ‘on stage’.
Before a new Age is linked to, writing an Age is a process of layering Age aspects. The first aspect attempted is always the Age theme. Additional aspects can be more thematic aspects, or aspects that describe specific areas or elements.
Stunt: The Art of Writing[edit]
A character with this stunt is a Writer (one who can Write Ages, not a member of the Guild of Writers). This represents a basic grounding in the methods of Writing and a working familiarity with the gahro-hevtee. Given the proper materials, the character has access to all of the systems listed in this section. As a side effect, this stunt implies that the character can read and write the D’ni language at least passably well.
Before The First Link[edit]
More aspects can be added to the Age in subsequent journey rolls, as long as no one has linked into the Age. Before that first link, the exact nature of the Age on the other end of the link is theoretical. But once someone links into the Age, it is no longer ‘under development’. The forces put into place by the writing of the Age move forward. Additional changes to the Descriptive Book fall under Writing changes to the Age.
The Writing Journey roll[edit]
The Writer uses a Journey roll to create an aspect in the Age, using the following steps:
- Describe the aspect to be created
- Determine opposition
- Roll
- Determine the outcome
Describe the aspect to be created[edit]
As noted above, Age aspects are broad brushes that describe the Age. This is especially true of aspects that are written into an Age. Aspects that reflect sentient beings are far too complex for any Writer, much less anything reflecting cultures or individuals.
Aspects can be divided into two general types: explanatory (or ‘how’) aspects and declarative (or ‘what’) aspects.
Explanatory aspects describe how something works. These descriptions can be of specific phenomena, or they can be high-level thematic aspects that describe general ‘design principles’ of the Age. These aspects are harder for the Writer to Write and they require more detail and consideration. A successfully Written aspect will operate how it says, though the actual details may vary.
Declarative aspects describe what is there, but do not specify why it is there or how became that way. These are easier to write because they only describe the state of things in the Age at the time of first linking. However, the repercussions of that state of affairs are filled in out of the Writer’s control. It is up to the GM to determine what forces lead to that state of affairs, what details that haven’t been specified exist, and the future effects of those forces in motion.
Determine opposition[edit]
All opposition for writing is passive. The value of the opposition depends on the scope of the aspect and on the skill being used for the roll.
Complex or specific Age aspects provide a higher opposition than more general aspects. Basic physical elements of the Age are the easiest, such as basic astronomical and geological details. Describing biological features adds to the difficulty, increasing as the complexity of the biology increases. Flora is much less complex than fauna, as a rule. Describing individual creatures is far too complex for even the most advanced writers.
The knowledge of the Writer has a significant effect on the difficulty of explanatory aspects. The more general the Writer’s knowledge, the more difficult an explanatory aspect will be; general knowledge only gets you so far when describing complex concepts in an Age. Specific applicable knowledge will mean a lower difficulty and the more specific the better (e.g. Biology-related stunts for an aspect about plants, for example).
Roll[edit]
Like all journey rolls, a skill is chosen and bonuses from stunts are applied to shift the result. Character and campaign aspects can be invoked, as well as reserved situation aspects (at the GM’s discretion).
Determine the Outcome[edit]
If the roll fumbles, the Writer has an option to accept the fumble or to succeed at a cost. If they accept, the GM gets to decide what the new aspect is. This will be related to the intended aspect but will definitely have unintended results, probably unpleasant or unhelpful in some way.
If the Writer chooses to succeed at a cost, then they get the aspect they want. However, the GM also adds a secret aspect to the Age. This is guaranteed to be bad for the character and is likely to become a significant plot point.
If the roll ties, the aspect is created but with some minor difference that is slightly annoying or awkward. A slight modification of the wording of the aspect might be needed.
If the roll succeeds, the aspect is created as intended. The GM and the player need to make sure that they are on the same page on what that means. Unintended effects of the aspect (specific results for explanatory aspects or root causes for declarative aspects) should be cosmetic or neutral.
If the roll excels, then the Writer has a choice. They can specify some of the ‘unintended’ effects of the aspect. Or they can choose to let the GM define the effects in some beneficial way and surprise them with it during play.
Now that his friends have secured blank Books and ink, Templeton is finally beginning his first Age. He’s interested in an Age that has lots of natural power - underground steam tunnels, geysers, etc.; lots of power there to be harnessed. He decides that the Age theme will be Endless Geothermal Power.
He attempts his Writing action with Research, reflecting how much study he has put into the Art. He fumbles the action, however. Templeton is afraid of what a serious cost might when Writing an Age, so he accepts the fumble. Gwen tells him that the Age theme is actually Constant Volcanic Activity. Templeton decides he’ll have to work out how to insert some areas of stability and safety into the landscape the next journey roll.
Advanced Writing[edit]
Writing changes into Descriptive Books[edit]
Making changes to a Descriptive Book is hard. The GM should carefully consider whether they want to allow it at all. Even more so than other decisions, how modifying a Book affects the Age it describes is a narrative one and is akin to the level of a plot device.
If you are looking to make some rolls, a character can use Journey rolls to attempt to make changes. The passive opposition for such rolls should is Superb (+5) at a minimum. Fumbling the action will always have some unintended and negative effect. Success at cost should lead to some truly epic drama. Even a tie should indicate that the change didn’t work, but amounted to no ill effects.
No matter what the decision, the process should be long and stressful.
Alternate materials[edit]
The D’ni used a specific set of materials and processes for constructing their paper, Books, and ink. But that’s not the only way to make usable Books. Later Writers like Atrus, Gehn, and Catherine were able to find substitutions of varying degrees of reliability. In some cases, these variant Linking Books require a power source to work properly. There are no hard rules on what sorts of materials could be used and how they work. Rather this is something that has to fit into the specific game and background. Discovering or developing these alternatives would probably fuel an entire set of stories in and of themselves.
