USH'S MATRIX GAME 2006- Oracle Predictions and the Philosophy Path
Well, three years on and here we go again.
This thread is here to do two things- to sort out for certain who is on what Path, and to go through the often elongated process of getting these Oracel predictions sorted out!
Here goes then...
Everything begins with choice...
THE PHILOSOPHY AND COMBAT PATHS
Ok, the basic choice you have to make is a choice of Path.
Do try and be sure about this choice. There is a point at which it will become irrevocable, and literally you can change your mind up to that point, but from the start of the game, Philosophy players will be receiving hints and experiences linked to tha Path, possibly in lieu of providing useful combat help.
So if you change Paths mid-game, you will have wasted some time. Not much time, for sure, but enough to make it worthwhile you being sure before we start!
I've talked a lot about what the different Path choices mean in earlier threads heralding this game. Here is a recap:
- It's not about clever or stupid, or throughtful and unthoughtful. The Combat Path needs intelligent play to win, and the Philowsophy Path is not a degree course. It's about style, and what you want from a Matrix gaming experience.
- The best example from the films is Reloaded. Neo is on the Philosophy Path, talking with the Oracle, the Councillor, the Merovingian, Smith and finally the Architect, where his big Philosophy moment comes, He chooses to save Trinity and- it seems- doom Zion. Even though his is not the Combat Path, he sitll gets very significant fights! Difference is, nothing depends on the fighrs except his own life, which is hardly without value, of course.
Morpheus and Trinity are on the Combat Path. They stay with Neo a lot of the way, even get to meet the Mero, but they don't really have to worry about what he says. They get into the biggest set-piece fight- the Highway- and it has a set objective- to protect the Keymaker.
- Absolutely no background in Philosophical learning is needed for that Path. if Neo can do it, so can you, All you need is the ability- or maybe simplky the desire to make the effort- to think about certain concepts and ideas. These ideas will be fairly simple ones, though possibly explored in-depth. Of course, if you do have such an educational background and want to bring it to the table, that's great!
- New players, I recommend you talk it over with those who have done it before. Also have a look at the 'Philosophy Path revealed' thread, which goes through the storyline from the last game as was relevant to the Philosophy path.
- The split doesn't have to be even, but if there is going to be great disproportion, better the Combat Path gets more. You can never have too many fighters.
-----
There is s difference between knowing the path, and walking the path
Ok, now, all of that applies to the Path idea in general, and was exactly followed last game.
Just as a warning, it is a little different this time.
For a start, there will eventually be one unified team objective in this game, unlike last time when there Philosophy Path was there to understand Jericho (a rather personal goal), whilst the Combat Path were out to get the cipher; the two only unifying because the Philos needed rescuing after they got their answer.
Of course, if there is rescuing to do, it's always going to be the Combat Path's job, somply because there are not really many situations in the Matrix where you can actually defuse danger by thought or understanding.
This game is vicious. The Matrix itself is vicious- Morpheus loses most his crew, and only two out of three mian characters survive the films. There is no mass wipeout planned- that's just demoralising- but there is extreme danger. Those standing between danger and disaster will be the Combat Path. That is their job!
The Philosophy Path does have its own section, and there is a specific 'guns down, Philosophy time' element. But it is not at all like it was last time. There is no central puzzle that your characters must solve to proceed, in the same literal way there was with Melitus. There IS definitely a central problem you need to solve by brainpower not brawn, though not is not uncommon in my RP games. But although that problem is an important part of the Path, it is actually 'just' a problem and not a deep Philosophical test, as was Melitus'.
Instead, the Philosophical 'test' for those players this time is continuous. This game is about certain themes, and Philosophy players will be encouraged to consider the reasons for, and consequences of, their actions in regards as to what has been presented to them. This will be presented so generally that there is nothing to stop the Combat Path people considering it also! But the direct consequences, and certainly me looking to whether you are succeeding on the Path- will be levelled at the Philo players.
So... think about all that.
You don't believe in all that fate crap...
One way or another, it seems the Oracle is pretty genuine in the Matrix universe. Make up whatever reason for it you like. Is the Oracle truly mystical and gifted with future sight? Or does she 'simply' understand choices so well that she can calculate all possibilities based on what people can do?
Who can know such things? Only the Oracle...
The Oracle has met every solider of Zion. And when you first met her as a free Human, she made a prediction for you.
That prediction forms your personal plot for the Matrix game, as opposed to the general plot.
It is your job to come up with a prediction; one that I will allow. Here, we shall wrangle through this and make sure everyone has something that works.
Here are some important points:
- They can't all come at once., Some where hinted at last time, but that's all probably forgotten by now. This can be a very long-term project.
- Predictions are short. "You must chose between your Life or Morpheus'". There's an example. "You will find the One," is another. Waffley preictions are bad ones.
- They have purpose. The Oracle is never going to simply tell you you will die next week in a car accident. Why would she bother? She does not randomly dispense the future. She tells people glimpses of what can happen to them, so that people can then help themselves! Oracle predictions are meant to be helpful, though normally indirectly, by encouraging a person to think.
- They should leave you confused. Even "You will find the One" was a whole lot more complex than it seemed, even for a diehard like Morpheus. You do not understand your own prediction, and as it is mine to spring on you, you don't really have a part in saying what it is.
- They are neither utterly precise or utterly vague. If they are too precise, I simply can't bring them into the game. If they are too vague, they aren't really predictions.
- Don't rely on odd interpretation to get out of a bad prediction. A prediction "You must die or all your friends will" will mean that. Neo might be able to come back, but he's The One. If you make a prediction that rather clearly kills either yourself or your friends, then the logic will be followed through, and it will likrly be you.
- This is a single prediction. Some predictions were voided last time becuase they actually broke down into two different things. Just the one, please.
- Some were also voided on being attempts to 'get out of jail', along the lines of "You will make a big mistake but it will be alright." No no, mistakes are mistakes! The Oracle prediction is there to aid role-playing, not actually bring benefit to you.
Ok, folks, make some submisisons, and they will be reviewed in due course.
"As a non-seeker of fame and recognition, you will either find that your role in this will lead to either a great need for your abilities or a personal sacrifice to further others along the way. Of either eventuality, it will be a result of a choice of faith or of responsibility..."
It doesn't sound vague but it leaves a near-endless openning for possibilities, interpret it any way you please Ush!
I'm still thinking about whether or not I'm going Philosophy or Combat.