The Inside Scoop on Gaming

Idoru is one of the most original cyberpunk roleplaying games I have ever seen, if it is a roleplaying game at all. The basic idea is that you are an Idoru, a virtual celebrity existing only in cyberspace. An entity composed purely of information.

Idoru is one of many games provided at Memento-mori.com by Jared A. Sorensen, a man who clearly has more ideas than are entirely healthy. I would suggest checking out his site even if this particular game does not appeal to you, there is a lot of very diverse stuff there. Most people should find something. For those wishing to cut to the chase the specific URL for Idoru is http://www.memento-mori.com/idoru/

Oh, a little bit of game theory. Idoru describes itself as highly narrativist. I (if one applies such descriptions to players (which I know you shouldn't)) am more simulationist in approach. Stripped of jargon that means that there may be elements of this game where I just miss the point because its not aimed at people who play games the way I do. Idoru is also very close to systemless and appears to be diceless, arguably being more of a storytelling exercise than a roleplaying game. You have been warned.

Premise

The premise in Idoru is simple, you are a virtual entity living in cyberspace. Your are also essentially an entertainment product for millions of people who log in to watch your adventures, the more people watch the wealthier and more powerful you as an Idoru become.

What does it cost?

A small portion of your finite lifespan spent accessing the web page and reading it. Otherwise it is cost free. Those accessing memento-mori.com will see why the lifespan reference is relevant.

Setting

The game opens with a history section, which describes how a group of brilliant programmers known as the memeteers created virtual entities possessed of an existence independent to that of their creators. These entities (the Idoru) thought, felt and lived their own lives. In time, these Idoru created Idoru of their own, so leading to the present population of virtual entities created in turn by other virtual entities. Living beings composed entirely of digits and electrons, devoid of any actual external physical reality.

The present generation of Idoru live in a virtual city known as Briteness landing. They are seen by humanity as glamorous, beautiful and immortal creatures. They envy humanity its physical form, birth, death and real emotions.

The virtual environment is referred to as "heaven" and appears as a beautiful archipelago. A couple of other locations ("Angel Island" for high ranking Idoru and other powerful online entities and "Hell" for Idoru who have "died" in some sense which is not wholly clear) are also briefly described. A GM running this setting, however, would need to put considerable work into expanding the brief details present.

The game includes descriptions of a variety of inhabitants of the virtual world. The memeteers themselves, now aged and reclusive. The teslacops who police the virtual world and take care of tourist issues such as visas and protocol violations ("more bureaucrats than police"). Ghost personalities left over from failed attempts to upload human personalities into cyberspace. The Idoru themselves and the Emperands, the rulers of cyberspace (some of whom appear to be human and others powerful Idoru). In addition to all of these, there are the tourists who are constantly being shown around by virtual tour-guides along pre-programmed routes.

A final type of entity, deserving of a description all their own, are the motes. Motes are tiny sparks of coloured light which represent a number of viewers following a particular Idoru. A popular Idoru will be surrounded by a host of motes representing millions of viewers whereas a less well-known Idoru might have only a few representing the fact that it has only a small offline following. Motes can only be seen by their Idoru and allow an Idoru easily to see quite how popular it is in the wider world. Motes may follow an Idoru anywhere except its private home, which they may enter only with the Idoru's permission (and normally for a corresponding fee).

The number of motes an Idoru has determine the number of tokens it has at its disposal. Tokens are the currency of this virtual world and are used for constructing virtual objects, from modest apartments to grand palaces. Tokens may also be gained by taking patrons and doubtless PCs will come up with additional means not described in the rules. This emphasises a fundamental feature of the game, the characters are entertainment products. They exist to generate revenue through large viewing figures and profit themselves by being given a percentage of that revenue. They exist to entertain.

The final setting point worth mentioning is idolls. These are artificial bodies into which Idoru may download themselves if their desire to become physical becomes too great. It is a one way trip with no return however, and from a game perspective would I suspect effectively equate to retiring a character.

What do you do?

The section on adventuring is very brief. Stories are indicated to be operatic in tone, tales of love and passion, grief and betrayal. Everything is played for the galleries because only those worth watching can gather income. It is suggested that Idoru love to outdo each other in spectacular creative duels and that entire stories are fabricated in their world by them. This is tremendously evocative but, literal minded soul that I am, a couple of example adventures or at least an example of play would have helped me.

No GM?

Yup, Idoru seems to suggest to me (although doesn't really state explicitly) that it can be played without a gm almost as a group storytelling endeavour. Players might play a particular character some of the time and at other times play supporting characters such as a tourist or lesser known Idoru. I personally would have no idea how to implement this in practice and a little guidance (or at least a link to a site describing how to do this sort of thing successfully) would be extremely useful.

The system

Well, there isn't really one. Idoru are apparently "defined by their appearances, personalities and the qualities of" Conflict, Expression and Poise. Conflict, expression and poise appear to be the closest things that the game has to characteristics in the traditional sense. Conflict is used for duelling, spreading rumours, lying and other forms of conflict (there's a surprise). Expression for composing, wooing or communication. Poise for "holding court, performing ceremonies, being insulted". Each quality has five possible descriptors attached. For example, one of the descriptors for Conflict reads "willow: the willow is flexible and defensive, turning conflict against itself", one for Poise reads "rooster: confident and bold, the rooster strikes many as pompous". The descriptors are all Japanese themed reflecting the Japanese origins of the Idoru concept (Idoru being the Japanese word for idol, for those who haven't read the William Gibson novel of the same name). None of these traits are quantified, no dice are suggested or task numbers for resolution. No mechanism for determining the outcome of a conflict situation. As I said, its more of a storytelling game than a roleplaying game in some ways.

Who should play it?

Hardcore narrativist/storyteller type dudes or people prepared to put a bit of work into grafting a system on and who feel the core idea is exciting enough to merit the work.

Summary

So, by this point if you're still with me some of you are doubtless crying out "this isn't a roleplaying game, its a storytelling session or just a setting". To which I would argue, yup, strikes me that way. But, not having the greatest grasp of gaming theory I will leave that aside and say this: If the idea of group story telling appeals this will work well to facilitate that. If you prefer to keep some element of game in your RPGs (as I admit I do), it can easily be used as a setting and ported onto your favourite system. Fudge would probably work well using three stats (Conflict, Expression and Poise). Alternatively OTE or Risus might do the trick. Others will doubtless have their own suggestions.

If I'm suggesting grafting another system on why have I given it a four? Basically, I think this is an incredibly imaginative setting which addresses fundamental themes such as what is it to be human? What is the nature of celebrity and why do we care so much about it? What is it to exist always in the public eye? It addresses basic cyberpunk issues about the cost of technology in human terms and the nature of identity without a cyberlimb or netrunner in sight. It is original.

Why not a five? Well, perhaps because ultimately I don't entirely get it. I love it as a setting but I don't really understand how a game can still be a game with no real system. That may be entirely my failing in which case you can mentally upgrade it to a five. Certainly if you're looking for hardcore narrativism/storytelling it merits a higher grade than I can give it. I suspect though that most gamers are in my boat and that being so I am reluctant to personally give a five out to something I would need to do so much work to before being able to play it. Of course, there is always the possibility that Jared intends to expand the system at some point, if so I can only encourage him to do so.

Anyway, that's it for this one. Its free so check it out and check out memento-mori.com while you're there. More games and settings than you can shake a reasonably twisty shaking stick at, covering a range of themes and genres. The guy behind the site appears to be a genuinely gifted game designer and I would hope that some of these will be commercial releases in time. If not, many of them are more than good enough to become so.

Lastly, if you have tips to share on running this sort of game, please use the forum below to share them. I am painfully aware that I am not entirely the target audience for this game and that I may have missed elements which appear obvious to others. If so, post and let people know. The forum is part of the review and for many the most useful part.

Idoru
Idoru Capsule Review by Balbinus on 09/04/01 Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 4 (Meaty) The game of playing virtual intelligences in the entertainment industry. Great setting but light on rules. Check it out. Product: Idoru Author: Jared A. Sorensen Category: RPG Company/Publisher: Memento Mori Theatricks Line: Cost: Free Page count: N/A Year published: ISBN: SKU: Capsule Review by Balbinus on 09/04/01 Genre tags: Science Fiction	Idoru is one of the most original cyberpunk roleplaying games I have ever seen, if it is a roleplaying game at all. The basic idea is that you are an Idoru, a virtual celebrity existing only in cyberspace. An entity composed purely of information. Idoru is one of many games provided at Memento-mori.com by Jared A. Sorensen, a man who clearly has more ideas than are entirely healthy. I would suggest checking out his site even if this particular game does not appeal to you, there is a lot of very diverse stuff there. Most people should find something. For those wishing to cut to the chase the specific URL for Idoru is http://www.memento-mori.com/idoru/ Oh, a little bit of game theory. Idoru describes itself as highly narrativist. I (if one applies such descriptions to players (which I know you shouldn't)) am more simulationist in approach. Stripped of jargon that means that there may be elements of this game where I just miss the point because its not aimed at people who play games the way I do. Idoru is also very close to systemless and appears to be diceless, arguably being more of a storytelling exercise than a roleplaying game. You have been warned. Premise The premise in Idoru is simple, you are a virtual entity living in cyberspace. Your are also essentially an entertainment product for millions of people who log in to watch your adventures, the more people watch the wealthier and more powerful you as an Idoru become. What does it cost? A small portion of your finite lifespan spent accessing the web page and reading it. Otherwise it is cost free. Those accessing memento-mori.com will see why the lifespan reference is relevant. Setting The game opens with a history section, which describes how a group of brilliant programmers known as the memeteers created virtual entities possessed of an existence independent to that of their creators. These entities (the Idoru) thought, felt and lived their own lives. In time, these Idoru created Idoru of their own, so leading to the present population of virtual entities created in turn by other virtual entities. Living beings composed entirely of digits and electrons, devoid of any actual external physical reality. The present generation of Idoru live in a virtual city known as Briteness landing. They are seen by humanity as glamorous, beautiful and immortal creatures. They envy humanity its physical form, birth, death and real emotions. The virtual environment is referred to as "heaven" and appears as a beautiful archipelago. A couple of other locations ("Angel Island" for high ranking Idoru and other powerful online entities and "Hell" for Idoru who have "died" in some sense which is not wholly clear) are also briefly described. A GM running this setting, however, would need to put considerable work into expanding the brief details present. The game includes descriptions of a variety of inhabitants of the virtual world. The memeteers themselves, now aged and reclusive. The teslacops who police the virtual world and take care of tourist issues such as visas and protocol violations ("more bureaucrats than police"). Ghost personalities left over from failed attempts to upload human personalities into cyberspace. The Idoru themselves and the Emperands, the rulers of cyberspace (some of whom appear to be human and others powerful Idoru). In addition to all of these, there are the tourists who are constantly being shown around by virtual tour-guides along pre-programmed routes. A final type of entity, deserving of a description all their own, are the motes. Motes are tiny sparks of coloured light which represent a number of viewers following a particular Idoru. A popular Idoru will be surrounded by a host of motes representing millions of viewers whereas a less well-known Idoru might have only a few representing the fact that it has only a small offline following. Motes can only be seen by their Idoru and allow an Idoru easily to see quite how popular it is in the wider world. Motes may follow an Idoru anywhere except its private home, which they may enter only with the Idoru's permission (and normally for a corresponding fee). The number of motes an Idoru has determine the number of tokens it has at its disposal. Tokens are the currency of this virtual world and are used for constructing virtual objects, from modest apartments to grand palaces. Tokens may also be gained by taking patrons and doubtless PCs will come up with additional means not described in the rules. This emphasises a fundamental feature of the game, the characters are entertainment products. They exist to generate revenue through large viewing figures and profit themselves by being given a percentage of that revenue. They exist to entertain. The final setting point worth mentioning is idolls. These are artificial bodies into which Idoru may download themselves if their desire to become physical becomes too great. It is a one way trip with no return however, and from a game perspective would I suspect effectively equate to retiring a character. What do you do? The section on adventuring is very brief. Stories are indicated to be operatic in tone, tales of love and passion, grief and betrayal. Everything is played for the galleries because only those worth watching can gather income. It is suggested that Idoru love to outdo each other in spectacular creative duels and that entire stories are fabricated in their world by them. This is tremendously evocative but, literal minded soul that I am, a couple of example adventures or at least an example of play would have helped me. No GM? Yup, Idoru seems to suggest to me (although doesn't really state explicitly) that it can be played without a gm almost as a group storytelling endeavour. Players might play a particular character some of the time and at other times play supporting characters such as a tourist or lesser known Idoru. I personally would have no idea how to implement this in practice and a little guidance (or at least a link to a site describing how to do this sort of thing successfully) would be extremely useful. The system Well, there isn't really one. Idoru are apparently "defined by their appearances, personalities and the qualities of" Conflict, Expression and Poise. Conflict, expression and poise appear to be the closest things that the game has to characteristics in the traditional sense. Conflict is used for duelling, spreading rumours, lying and other forms of conflict (there's a surprise). Expression for composing, wooing or communication. Poise for "holding court, performing ceremonies, being insulted". Each quality has five possible descriptors attached. For example, one of the descriptors for Conflict reads "willow: the willow is flexible and defensive, turning conflict against itself", one for Poise reads "rooster: confident and bold, the rooster strikes many as pompous". The descriptors are all Japanese themed reflecting the Japanese origins of the Idoru concept (Idoru being the Japanese word for idol, for those who haven't read the William Gibson novel of the same name). None of these traits are quantified, no dice are suggested or task numbers for resolution. No mechanism for determining the outcome of a conflict situation. As I said, its more of a storytelling game than a roleplaying game in some ways. Who should play it? Hardcore narrativist/storyteller type dudes or people prepared to put a bit of work into grafting a system on and who feel the core idea is exciting enough to merit the work. Summary So, by this point if you're still with me some of you are doubtless crying out "this isn't a roleplaying game, its a storytelling session or just a setting". To which I would argue, yup, strikes me that way. But, not having the greatest grasp of gaming theory I will leave that aside and say this: If the idea of group story telling appeals this will work well to facilitate that. If you prefer to keep some element of game in your RPGs (as I admit I do), it can easily be used as a setting and ported onto your favourite system. Fudge would probably work well using three stats (Conflict, Expression and Poise). Alternatively OTE or Risus might do the trick. Others will doubtless have their own suggestions. If I'm suggesting grafting another system on why have I given it a four? Basically, I think this is an incredibly imaginative setting which addresses fundamental themes such as what is it to be human? What is the nature of celebrity and why do we care so much about it? What is it to exist always in the public eye? It addresses basic cyberpunk issues about the cost of technology in human terms and the nature of identity without a cyberlimb or netrunner in sight. It is original. Why not a five? Well, perhaps because ultimately I don't entirely get it. I love it as a setting but I don't really understand how a game can still be a game with no real system. That may be entirely my failing in which case you can mentally upgrade it to a five. Certainly if you're looking for hardcore narrativism/storytelling it merits a higher grade than I can give it. I suspect though that most gamers are in my boat and that being so I am reluctant to personally give a five out to something I would need to do so much work to before being able to play it. Of course, there is always the possibility that Jared intends to expand the system at some point, if so I can only encourage him to do so. Anyway, that's it for this one. Its free so check it out and check out memento-mori.com while you're there. More games and settings than you can shake a reasonably twisty shaking stick at, covering a range of themes and genres. The guy behind the site appears to be a genuinely gifted game designer and I would hope that some of these will be commercial releases in time. If not, many of them are more than good enough to become so. Lastly, if you have tips to share on running this sort of game, please use the forum below to share them. I am painfully aware that I am not entirely the target audience for this game and that I may have missed elements which appear obvious to others. If so, post and let people know. The forum is part of the review and for many the most useful part.