Lexicon

Lexicon Game is a way of role-playing out a setting's background. In E-Space's incarnation of Lexicon, players portray scholars from different eras, scholars who do not restrain themselves to being professionals. They are opinionated, eccentric, and confrontational. As scholars, the players collaborate with one another to construct the Macropedia, a widely published encyclopedia of human understanding.

Rules

1. Turns cycle from A to Z.
2. New Entries: Scholars reserve and write one new entry each letter turn.
   1. When writing new entries, scholars shall cite to two phantom entries
   2. After the first turn, entries shall also cite to at least one written entry.
   3. It is academic heresy to cite one's own work, so a scholar may not cite to a work he has written.
   4. Entries should not cite to entries in that turn (e.g. a 'D' article cannot cite to another 'D' article).
3. Phantom Entries: When new entries are written, scholars then complete the phantom entries for that letter turn. For example, when new entries for Turn 'D' are finished, then any phantom entries for Letter 'D' are completed.
   1. Because a scholar cannot cite to an entry he has written, scholars are barred from writing a phantom entry they have previously cited.
   2. Once all turns are complete (i.e., after Turn 'Z'), scholars should go back and complete any outstanding phantom entries.
   3. Phantom entries should cite to at least one written entry. Previously created phantom entries may count as a written entry for this purpose.
   4. Phantom entries should not cite any new phantom entries. That is, if it did not exist before the present phantom entry is being completed, then it cannot be cited. Otherwise the game would never end.
4. Accuracy of Cited Entries: Regardless of how misguided a scholar's peers are, they are honest. Therefore, scholars must treat other scholar's entries as factually accurate. However, a scholar is free to question the interpretation of another scholar, and even introduce new facts to support his argument.

Variations:

Long Game

What we just did. Should produce 204 entries. Should produce around 62 entries per Scholar.

Medium Game

Have fewer turns by combining letters. It is possible to have 16 turns by combining the less commonly used letters. Should produce around 38 entries per Scholar.

Short Game

When reaching a turn that has phantoms, then if there are two phantoms, only one new entry is created (assuming three Scholars). Should produce about 26 entries per Scholar.

Short-Short Game

16 turns with not authoring more entries if there are more than phantoms than Scholars. This should produce about 16 entries per Scholar.

Other Notes

Creating a Scholar

Before you begin contributing, you should first create your Scholar. Essentially, this is a multi-step process. First, name your scholar, and write a paragraph, two to four lines, that describes his background and personality. As described below, at the end of the article, your Scholar should mark his article.

Joining After the Game Has Begun

We welcome contributers! A lexicon is more fun when there are more contributers. So, if we're already playing and you feel like you missed out–fear not! Just follow the instructions for creating a scholar. Well, you'll also need to email the wiki owner for an account.

Writing an Entry

An entry should be around 100-200 words. The aim is to have turns cycle quickly, so as soon as new and phantom entries are finished, the next turn begins.

Protecting the Core:

E-Space has core principles that hold it together, developed by the original contributers. Therefore, an entry that opposes those principles are open for discussion and amendment. The goal is to do so amicably. So, when such an entry is written, then its conflict must be declared to the group. Other Scholars are able to have their say. If the conflict is not resolved through discussion, then it will go to a vote on the discussion list. The resolved entry becomes authoritative.

Core Material

Some material we have already written something for. Those items should be pre-added to the appropriate edition. When we start playing in a pre-populated edition, they are available for citation and discussion.

Editions

There are several editions. It has been agreed to that we should not cite between editions, for fear of corrupting a given edition. However, an entry can refer to an event of a previous edition, providing that event complies with honoring the factual integrity of the previous edition. Additionally, those post-edition events must not be significant to the period in question.

Housekeeping Pages

Pmwiki takes care of some of the housekeeping for us. All we need to do is add the following wiki syntax at the end of articles and scholar's bios:

• Scholars should have the following at the end of their bios ($period is the edition name):

 ----
 [[!Scholar{$period}Edition]]

Here is an of a schloar bio with the notation. This allows pmwiki to list all the authors of a given edition.

• At the end of each article the following should appear:

 ----
 [[!{$period}Edition]] [[!{$scholar_name}Authored]]

Here is an example of an article with the notation. This allows pmwiki to list all of the articles of a given edition, and also list all articles written by an author.

• Each time your Scholar cites to a phantom article, he should create that phantom's page, then put the following at the end of the article:

 ----
 [[!Phantom{$period}Edition]]

This allows pmwiki to list all articles still waiting to be written. There is not yet an example of this.

Lexicon Templates

Lexicons use various wiki-engines, but this one uses PmWiki. Below are a list of templates to help standardize the layout of Lexicons that use PmWiki. Feel free to use them in your own Lexicon.

• Main Lexicon Page

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References:

1. http://www.20by20room.com/2003/11/lexicon_an_rpg.html
2. http://www.gamegrene.com/wiki/Category:Lexicon

Copyright © E-Space Society 2004–2010