Kol Noth: The Rise and Fall of Ledera

Microscope Solo Actual Play + Write-up

Feb 16, 2024

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I turned my terrible roll20 map into a less-terrible Hexmap! Look upon the state of Kol Noth after The First Era! If interested in how this came to be, I played the game Foundation and wrote about it below:

Kol Noth: The First Era

Write Firster

January 31, 2024

Read full story

Now that we have an established world, it’s time to dive more deeply into it. The Paid Subscribers voted that I should play Microscope as the next world-building game, and I’ve found some solo rules to accompany it. I’ll give it a try and we’ll see how it goes!

I’m going to chronicle the rise and fall of the Ledera Empire. They came from across the ocean, raiders arriving suddenly, establishing settlements and becoming a force to be reckoned with. They fought a holy way against Saiwa and won, as Saiwa crumbled from within. Ledera claimed to be fighting for the Light against the dark sorcerous machinations of Saiwa.

They allied with the small island state of Witu, fighting against the Sinu Nomane nation, a combined power of successor states that had once been a part of Saiwa.

The last thing that happened with Ledera was the establishment of a secret order of holy warriors who swore to hunt down and kill dark sorcerers and magic users of any kind.

The First Era ended, at this point, as my game of Foundations ended, the fate of Ledera a question mark.

Let’s play to find out what happens.

The game we are playing is Microscope, by Ben Robbins. I’ll also be using Lens, a solo-hack for Microscope made by reddit user CodenameAwesome. Playing Microscope involves creating “Periods" of time, “Events” within those Periods, and “Scenes” within those Events. To keep things organized, I’m going to use the online app/website Utgar’s Chronicles that allows you to play Microscope online, here. It’s very cool!

Step 1: We begin with the BIG PICTURE. A single sentence summary of the history you are going to be figuring out when playing. I’ll use one of the examples from the book since it fits so well.

The rise and fall of an ancient empire

Step 2: Bookend History

We begin by making two Periods, the time our History begins and the time it ends. Something must have driven the people of Ledera to cross the ocean into Kol Noth, so we will begin with that. I’m adding in a detail, considering the war that comes and Ledera’s views toward magic, I decide whatever they fled from across the ocean was some kind of magic calamity.

The Beginning

The people of Ledera flee from a magical calamity, across the ocean, arriving in Kol Noth.

Tone: Light

The End

Ledera crumbles and falls due to infighting and war.

Tone: Dark

Step 3: Palette

This is a list of things players want to include or exclude. Since I’m playing solo, I can decide on the fly whether to include or exclude something, so I’m going to skip this step.

Step 4: First Pass

At this point, players each make one Period or Event of their choosing.

Considering I know a few things that happen based on the Foundation game, I’ll pick one of those to add.

The Holy War

Ledera goes to war against the Saiwa nation. They claim to be fighting “For the Light”, against the “Dark magic” of the Saiwa.

Playing the Game

At this point, players would begin taking turns. During a turn, you declare a Focus and each player creates a Period, Event or Scene that has to do with that Focus. Once everyone has made History, the next player chooses something that was made as a Legacy, creates an Event or Scene related to that or any previous legacy, and then determines the next Focus. A Focus can be as broad or specific has the player would like.

Since I’m playing solo, it’s a bit different. First, I’m going to choose a Mood Rank (0-9) that I’ll roll against to determine if the tone is Light or Dark. I’m going with 5 for now. I also choose a Cohesion rank to roll against to determine if I take another Turn with the same Focus or not, which I will also set at 5.

Mood: 5, Cohesion: 5

Now, I really begin. I start by choosing a Focus. To start, my focus will be “The Rise of the Empire.”

Mood: d10 = 8 vs 5, Tone is Light

I create a new Period.

Settlement of Northern Zuid

Tone: Light

Cohesion: d10 = 4 vs 5, I get another turn

Mood: 6 vs 5 → Dark

I make an Event to go in the Period I just made.

The people of Ledera establish settlements along the coast of Northeastern Zuid.

Cohesion: 5 vs 5 → Take another turn.

Mood: Dark

I add another event:

The people of Ledera, due to their experience before crossing the ocean, make laws banning magic.

I think I’ll cap the turns at 3, instead of rolling Cohesion every time. Only having one turn isn’t really enough for a Focus, and I don’t feel the need to go beyond 3.

Now I choose a Legacy. I’ll choose the latest Event about banning magic. I decide to make a Dictated Scene.

Mood: 4 vs 5 → Light

The Question: “What happens to magic users in Ledera?”

The Scene: A mother and her son stand on the docks by a boat. "I have to go," he says. "I can't stay." The mother is crying but she says "I know. Go. Be safe." He walks onto the boat, along with a handful of others, all looking scared. The ship takes the son away and the mother never sees him again.

The Answer: Those who can use magic are not ill-treated but are forced to leave, live somewhere else, and never return.

That is the end of my first ‘turn’. I can now adjust the Mood or Cohesion by 1. As I said before, I’m going to stop using Cohesion and just aim for 3 turns per Focus. For Mood, I’m going to adjust it to 4.

I’m going to go random for this new Focus.

Focus: d6 = 2 → Environment

I add a new Period, after the War.

Ledera finds a way through the mountains, establishing a route into the mainland of Zuid. Tone: Light

For my second turn, thinking about the focus, I turn to the first Period and add an Event.

Many ships and people are lost due to the turbulent weather and dangerous conditions of the great ocean. Tone: Dark

At this point, I’m deciding Light/Dark instead of rolling for it. In the original game, the player whose turn it is decides the Tone. I’m going with what makes sense to me and if I’m unsure, I’ll roll for it.
It’s also at this point that I feel I should introduce some randomness into the game. I’ve looked online and a few people created other “players” and emulated them, but I don’t love that solution. Instead, I’m going to use a series of rolls and oracle results to determine the next turn.

There are currently 5 Periods, so I’ll roll a d6. If I get a 6, I’ll make a new Period.

d6 = 4 → Ledera expands…

Since there’s no Event, I can’t add a scene, so this will be an event. For an abstract oracle, I’m going to go with the Ironsworn Action+Theme tables as they always seem to work so well, especially with a fantasy/iron age type of setting. I get “Control Land.” Makes sense!

I add an Event: Ledera creates a settlement in mainland Zuid, called Leuk, coming into conflict with the Ibrida who live and roam there.

The Ibrida are an animal-human hybrid people (I’m leaning towards Gnolls myself) who roam as tribes among the grasslands of mainland Zuid.

Let’s randomize the tone this time: d10 = 9 → Dark

That’s 3 turns focused on Environment so I think we’re ready to move onto the Legacy. I can choose the previous legacy I like this new conflict between Ledera and the Ibrida, so let’s make a scene in the latest event, the establishment of a settlement in the area. First, I need a

Question: How do the Ibrida respond to the establishment of this settlement?

//Sharl led her cackle of hyena-headed Ibrida to the top of a hill, overlooking the beginnings of a new town, houses being built, a wall being raised, men and women of Ledera working.

“We should attack,” one of her pack spoke, a male named Tusk. “While they are weak.”

She turned and backhanded him across the face, knocking him down. She didn’t bother to respond but looked back at the quickly-growing village. “We return to the clan,” she said. “Now is not the time.”//

Answer: The Ibrida decide to wait and see.

Tone: d10 = 7 → Dark

Time for a new Lens! d6 = 5: Religious

Random Period: d6 = 4 → Ledera expands…

Event: Ledera sends missionaries in an attempt to convert Ibrida to their religion.

Tone: 7 → Dark

I also decide it would be good to figure out where their light-based religion came from, so I go back to the first Period, the time they crossed the ocean and add an event.

When all hope is gone, the sun shines brightly and land is spotted on the horizon. The people praise the Light and it becomes the focus of a new religion. The people call themselves Ledera, worshipers of Light. Tone: Light

I remember an event from my Foundation game that should be put in here at some point, which is the establishment of a secret warrior society based on finding and killing magic users. I imagine this happens during the Holy War period, so I add an event there:

A secret society of warriors is begun in one of Ledera’s settlements. They are called the Vordir, who train to hunt down and kill all magic users. Tone: Dark

Three turns based on Religion, time for Legacy. I really like the Vordir, so I’m going to go with that and make a scene.

Question: How does one become Vordir?

//A woman in ragged clothing kneels before a man in white robes.

“Are you ready?” he asks, reaching out a hand.

“I am,” she says.

His hand curls into a fist.

The woman’s body contorts and she writhes in pain.

“You must take it,” he says. “Deal with it. You think dark sorcerers care about your physical prowess? Your strength of arms?” He tightened his fist further.

She bites her lip to stop from crying out.

“Good. Feel the pain. Welcome the pain. You must be stronger than they are. You must be faster than they are. You must be more clever than they are. You must hide in the shadows and attack when they least suspect it. Or you will suffer far more than you do now.” He opens his hand.

She collapses onto the ground, gasping for breath.

He kneels down next to her and begins stroking her hair. “There, there. You have passed.”

“How?” she croaks, confusion on her face. “How did you…do that?”

“Do not be afraid. This is not sorcery, not at all. Our power comes from the Holy Light, my dear. For those who are not Lederan, their power comes from the Dark. Unholy. Wretched. Dangerous. That is why they must be stopped. Do you understand?”

She nodded.//

Answer: Training, brainwashing, torture

Tone: Dark

I’ve built up quite the collection of Periods, Events and Scenes at this point. I’ll do one more series of Turns. Lens: Military

I’d like to expand the Period of the Fall of Ledera at this point, so I’m going to add an Event.

The Vordir stage a military coup to gain control of Ledera. Tone: Dark

Let’s add some randomness into the next turns.

Period: d6 = 5 → Ledera expands…

Oracle: Seize Rival

Event: After an incident where a missionary was killed in an Ibrida camp, a military force of Lederan soldiers brutally attacks the Ibrida clan and takes the leader hostage.

Period: 2 → Settlement of Northern Zuid

Oracle: Focus Peace

Event: There is a time of peace as the land is nearly uninhabited and Ledera focuses on growth, expansion and trade. Their military is weak at this time.

Time for Legacy. I add “Vordir attempt a military coup” to my Legacies and then decide which one to expand on. I choose the Vordir society itself. I make an event, during The Holy War period.

The Vordir expands it’s influence, power and wealth in the nation of Ledera throughout the Holy War.

Tone: d10 = 8 → Dark

The End…?

Here we are at the end of the game. A roughly-mapped out rise and fall of an empire. I could have delved deeper, kept going. The game has no definitive end. You could always add more Periods, Events or Scenes. That’s the nature of it.

If you’re doing it solo, you definitely need something to generate some random input, otherwise you’re just writing a history of something by yourself, which you don’t need the game for? Even still, the game provides a pretty cool functional framework for that, if that’s what you want. Otherwise, roll some dice, find some abstract oracles and generate some results you wouldn’t have thought of otherwise to inject into the history.

Also, I can see how fun this game would be to play with other people! Everyone interjecting their own ideas, using the Lens as a focus/inspiration, but jumping around to different Periods or Events, or making up completely new things like “This city implodes. Yeah, that happened” is very cool. There’s no wonder this game is such a well known and well-reviewed collaborative game in the indie TTRPG space for so long.

Let me know what you thought of the way I played or your thoughts on Microscope in general! Have you played it alone or with others? Feeling like trying it out? Sound off in the comments.

Playing With Myself

Kol Noth: The First Era

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