IVORY PATH
A STORYTELLING GAME BY SCOTT MALTHOUSE
Step onto the Ivory Path
Welcome to Ivory Path, a storytelling game for 3-4 players. Ivory Path is a set of rules to facilitate group storytelling in an interesting and structured way. Whether you want to tell stories about intergalactic warriors, detectives in 1920s New York, panthers taking care of their cubs, or anything you can imagine, Ivory Path can make these tales come alive. To play you will need a regular set of dominoes and be familiar with the basic rules of dominoes. You will also need a sheet of paper and a pencil for each player.
Create the world
Each player selects a domino. The one with the highest pips goes first. Redraw on a tie. They decide on the story takes place in. The next player decides on a setting, such as a modern city, an ancient Egyptian world, or a space station. The third player decides where the players begin. The fourth player is the scribe noting down what happens in the story as the game plays out. If playing with three players, the third player decided where to begin and also takes on the role of scribe.
Make a character
Each player takes on the role of a character in the story. Characters are created using three aspects: motivation, personality and secret. The character's motivation should fit in with the rules of the world from when you collaboratively created it. It outlines why the character does what he does. It could be 'to raise money for his sick father's operation' or 'to prove to an authority figure that she is the greatest warrior in the land'. The character's personality should be summed up in one adjective, such as greedy, humorous, or nervous.
The secret must be something the character is keeping from the group that could hurt their standing with the group. It should be dark and negative, such as 'I killed my mother', 'I am a space terrorist' or 'I am a werewolf'. Secrets are used to ramp up dramatic tension within the group. All details about your character should be noted down on a sheet of paper for reference.
Tell the story
Now that you have your world and character, you can begin telling your story. The owner of the dominoes set shuffles and deal out five dominoes to each player (six for 3 players). The player with the highest double number goes first and lays down their domino. Play will continue clockwise from the starting player. Regardless of number, this first domino sets the scene. The player must explain what the characters are doing.
The next player plays a domino with a number corresponding to the one already on the board. They must take note of the new number that is now on the outside edge. This new number determines what happens in the scene and could be interpreted by the player in a number of different ways. The player explains what her character is doing and what happens as a result of the scene. This should ideally tie into her character and/or motivation. Play continues like this, with players adding dominoes and playing out their scenes. If a player cannot lay down a domino then they must hint at their secret in their narrative before drawing a new tile. Players should speak for at least 10 seconds when it's their turn, but if they're struggling to think of anything they are able to
call on the rest of the group to pitch in ideas. Ultimately it is the current player who decides the outcome of that turn. Players may only talk about what they and other NPCs (NonPlaying Characters) are doing they cannot say what other characters are doing. Concluding the story Play continues until someone has used up all of their dominoes. When this happens, it's up to the group to come up with a conclusion to the story.
Pip Chart
Below is a chart showing what happens in a scene when a certain number of pips is placed on the table. 0 -Something good happens to an NPC 1 something bad happens to an NPC 2 the story gains a complication 3 An aspect of the story unravels 4 something bad happens to the PC 5 something good happens to the PC 6 Introduce an NPC
Example The genre is a detective noir set in an alternate jungle reality with dinosaurs. Jen begins play by placing a double-six. Her character is Elda Rowe, a detective. The investigators are currently in their office set up overlooking the Quelerian Jungle. They are hard at work finishing up a previous case which involved a jilted loved using a mind-controlled velociraptor to eat her husband. Mary then plays a 1, meaning she must now incorporate something bad happening to an NPC into the story. Her character is Lilly White. Suddenly a man bursts through the office door, out of breath and bloody. Lilly runs over to help him up after he collapses on the ground. After ten minutes he has managed to
come around and proceeds to tell his story. He and his wife were picking fruit away from the compound when she was shot dead. There was no sign of the killer as they probably took their shot from the bushes. The man wants the detectives to investigate the murder. George, who plays Rum Peach, places a 3, meaning an aspect of the story will unravel. Rum hands the man a cup of hot tea and allows him to calm down. He asks him a series of questions, such as when the killing took place and exactly where they were, along with whether anyone had a motivation to kill his wife. The man responds by saying it happened an hour ago in the orchard. He also thinks perhaps someone had it in for his wife after she became high councillor. Edward, who plays Ethan Fawkes, places a 5, meaning
something good happens to the PC i.e. Ethan. Ethan knows the orchard well, as he used to pick fruit there as a boy, and knows of a spot that someone could easily hide in unnoticed an old hunting spot when dinos were more frequent around the compound. He tells the others that this should be their first port of call. The game continues like this until someone runs out of dominoes.
