I have been enjoying my deep dive int Coyote & Crow, but NUNA is heating up on my backburner.
Some things I have in mind:
Culture as superpower
Place as the source of that power
Do I really need to do Kickstarter?
Work is starting to settle into a routine so I will be speeding up RPG work.
T
Wow!
Writing this blog has been quite a rollercoaster. Most of the time it just putters along, read by a few stalwarts. Sometimes, however, it seems to strike a nerve.
The first was back in 2013 after I started, when I began writing about Weird Japan, and how to play in an authentic Japanese game, instead of just D&D in funny hats. I was pleasantly surprised when I started getting double then triple digit reads. The post were eventually taken up on Reddit, and even last week I got invited to speak about Japanese ghosts on a horror podcast.
After that, my work on sociological game design and Japanese D&D both got some attention. Most recently, my Stormbringer Redux series generated a ton of interest, and culminated with an invitation to appear on the Breakfast in the Ruins podcast to discourse with the affable Andy about all things Moorcock.
I truly am grateful and still a little stunned by all the attention, and validation that what I find interesting appeals to others. Returning to Canada has allowed me to celebrate my indigenous identity, reconnect as both individual and scholar, and now through NUNA and this blog, find a community
Nekumek! Thank you all for over 1000 reads.
Now, let’s dive back into the world of Makasing.
The next section begins with indigenous humour. All the Inuit I knew in Labrador were full of smiles, sarcasm & jokes, and having seen Wab Kenew’s The 8th Fire, I can say that a humourous worldview is definitely part of many indigenous people’s daily life. As my wise nan used to say, if you don’t laugh you’ll cry, and many times I saw her laughing with tears at the same time.
The authors move on to short poetry, and theatre as an outgrowth of fable telling. I dislike their use of the word ‘modern storytelling’, as it brings us to our world where stories are weaponized everyday. I would rather they say longform plays or tales. Once again, I am reminded of Japan and the seasonal kagura dances, where a mythic hero slays a giant snake, a reference that might have resonated with the authors.
We move on to sports, which is depicted as a more friendly rivalry than our sometimes cutthroat pro sports world. The authors state, “Beyond the elite professionals, sporting play and more friendly levels of competition run deep in all societies across Makasing.” I remember the leg kicking and other competitions of my youth and can attest to this, and as a sociologist I also know of sports as a way for cultures to train their youth in necessary physical and interpersonal skills for survival.
The list of sports, like festivals in the previous sections, gives lots of dimension to the gameworld and Makasing society, especially the lethality of some sports and the ubiquity of betting on them. It gives me Star Trek holodeck vibes, and really sells the indigenous futurism angle. Storytellers should make the effort to bring all this to life in their games.
(Once again, there is a cryptic yet enticing reference to yutsu technology used to reduce gravity for some games. I hope there is a pay off to all this build up in the rules section later.)
The reference to sports taking the place of war is a nice touch, and also reverberates with George Orwell’s dictum that sports are just war without guns. There are lots of adventure seeds in here, from escorting an athlete to a big match, to investigating a manager for fixing a match. This is contrasted with casual fun, such as board game bars, Sky’s Voice karaoke, and storytelling competitions. I love this indigenous exploration of nerdy fun, especially considering the Nerdy Native Creations movement right here in Vancouver
Makasing’s people are obsessive about dancing, and Cahokia boasts lots of clubs. I appreciate the genres of music they introduce here - Love Music; Thunder / Rapid Fire indie punk or metal, replete with drugs and violence; Lung music choir for elderly; and Psychedelic music for drug trips. This is very atmospheric and turns the associations of music and substance abuse on its head. There is also the Bragging Song, a kind of rap or Slam poetry, and the War Song, which I imagine is like the Maori Hakka. All this variety humanizes indigenous music, defusing the associations used in media to depict native drums as code for savagery. This is a very deep choice, and reflects multiple aspects of indigenous culture, such as pride, love, joy of dance, and psychological preparation for war.
Beyond music, Smoke Lodges act as a kind of social club, while sweat lodges cement trust & connection like the Japanese baths I enjoyed for years. Japanese would call bathing together ‘skinship’, and I really like its appearance in Coyote & Crow. Once again the idea of hierarchy is flipped, and we are given the humility of the sweat leader, who is both leader of the event and servant to participants. Sweat in Makasing is a kind of therapy, just as in real world where indigenous people now reclaim traditional healing as an alternative to colonial systems of medicine and law that don’t always lead them to recovery.
The authors also mention Yawpon drug tea houses to expand the mind, but also mention unsavoury shops that are open for abuse. Once again, they may not have the homeless and addicted sleeping in the streets like our world, but their people are just as flawed as ours.
I really appreciate that the authors leave in references to social problems. This makes the setting more real and avoids the trap of the ‘noble savage’ trope that has plagued indigenous depictions. Instead, we have indigenous people who are flawed individually like us, but who have a high context cultural underpinning that is more supportive and collaborative than our current system.
Sign me up!
It makes sense, considering the huge decline in North American medical care in both Canada, where most medical consults have gone virtual, and the US, where medical bills for routine procedures routinely put families in crushing debt, that Coyote & Crow would explore a radically different idea of medicine. Here is how they start their section on medicine,
“In Makasing, the lines between physical, mental, and spiritual wellness blur or simply don’t exist at all. While there are certainly specialists, most practitioners of healing in Cahokia recognize that their area of expertise is not necessarily the only path toward helping a patient.”
I know western doctors who have also travelled to Africa and Asia to add traditional medicine to their repertoire, and this is the norm in Makasing, where care is holistic, with experts in mind, spirit, and body all pitching in. This lacks the competitive nature of our current healthcare, and is more a whole body cure.
There are four streams of medicine.
First, free care is offered by the state, and focuses on prevention. This reminds me of Cuba, where dental care is advanced because they focus on foods that don’t destroy the teeth and toothpaste with ingredients that promote health.
Next there is paid care, which gives more comfort and status, with no significant change in outcome.
Here is where it gets nuanced. Third we have traditional medicine, herbs and prayers, that eschews technology but permits the use of Adanadi powers. In opposition to this is Cahokian modern medicine, which ignores traditional medicine to focus on science and use the Adanadi. In Japan, these also existed as the kanpo or herbal medicine system, which was equally respected and used for minor ailments and preventative cures. The authors also note that Makasing people also eschew prosthetics, preferring to accept their body in its natural form.
One intriguing section is the mention of a section of society which mistrust the Adanadi and see it as the root of all sickness and evil.
Adventure Seed - A group of exiled have created their own tribe which prizes cybernetics and technological advancements over traditional or Adanani gifts. These cause trouble by taking resources and could be a great set of antagonists, especially if some are unjustly exiled.
Adventure Seed - A cult of anti-Adanadi seek to remove the powers from the world. They may be working on some horrific ‘cure’ to what they see as a disease, and the PCs have to stop it.
There are some very interesting things here. Making sexuality an implicit part of the setting instead of an explicit message to players is a great choice, and doesn’t set off the whole knee jerk reaction some people have towards safe lists and trigger warnings. There is also the option of coming from a village with unique sexual norms, making the setting even more dynamic while giving players background choice.
Once again, the population boom of Makasing makes the setting a dynamic, changing society, and I really appreciate the efforts the authors have made. Child birth is mostly a choice, ensured by reliable by birth control. Introducing Ceremonial sex is also an interesting choice, and reminds me of the practice of rish from Larry Niven’s Ringworld books. It is a natural ‘alien’ sex practice, which contrasts with our world which prudishly hides all things sexual behind closed doors.
(Personally, I avoid sex in my games, but this might be worth exploring, if players are onboard.)
I appreciate the prevailing attitudes of the peoples of Makasing, who think “That's just what they do in that tribe. No one's getting hurt, so who cares?”
Minding one’s own business was a staple of my youth, and sometimes I wish more people today would practice it. I appreciate the reminder that “while the people of this world have the same ancient history we do, they also have different customs and perceptions, even from real world Native Americans.” Actually, just yesterday at work I heard a presentation from indigenous creator Anthony Johnson, a two spirit person who told us of the homophobia and violence in the real world community he grew up in. It is nice to see C&C redressing that situation by offering a glimpse of a kinder, more accepting world.
There is a summary on gender that says it all:
“To the people of Coyote & Crow, gender isn't just a spectrum, it's also less important culturally. Part of that is because gender roles are not as strictly enforced, but also because traditionally, those that do not conform to standard binary labels of man or woman have often been considered blessed or in possession of a greater connection to the spirit world… There's no real stigma around a person changing their gender identity at any point in their lives.”
If you do some Googling, you’ll find this is a very real historical precedent, and that countries like Thailand still accept very fluid notions of gender.
You might ask why bother with this focus on accepting gender. I have known trans people who have been put through the wringer by outdated beliefs and prejudices, and I am happy to see a gameworld that reflects a leap away from this. Just as women were accepted as equals in the original fantasy RPGs, I am happy to see all genders equally welcome in this one. The sections ends with the introduction of Tahood, or the third gender to include non binary and LGBTQ. People would accept this in sci fi fantasy, more than as a message in the real world, so I find its inclusion admirable.
Moving away from gender, marriage in Makasing is also broad, and diverse terms are communally accepted. It is non hierarchical and non permanent, and reviewed every few years. I have some younger friends who have very fluid conceptions of polyamourous coupling, and their marriages are non contractual, with mutually decided obligations.
Wish I had had this option!
Between the freedom of pairings and conditions, and lack of unwanted pregnancies, we can see Makasing as a world where family is a much broader concept. Add to that the acceptance of and lack of stigma around casual sex, and there is no home breaking or prudism. There were hints of that in my upbringing in Labrador, some people who practiced a more dynamic view of love and sex that escaped the imposed moral system of missionaries. In this fantasy world the missionaries never came, and love & marriage have naturally developed in their own ways. I appreciate the authors’ statement, “Many variations of love, partnership, sex or lack thereof, and marriage exist and are the norm”
This view of marriage also has ramifications for family life. The authors write, “The broad interpretation of marriage, as well as the intergenerational family living arrangements common in Makasing, allow for a person to work a job where they have to travel far from home, knowing that their spouse and children are being looked after while they are gone.”
I am so onboard with this. As a youth I saw many shared extended families caring for each other, but all this has fallen apart as many families transitioned to becoming Canadians and lose their indigenous identity. I am without support myself, and sometimes feel alone as a single dad. But in Makasing, this system of extended family care permeates all of society. We are told,
“Few people are raised by total strangers and no one would refuse to take in a child who was vaguely related… There are orphanages and elder homes in Cahokia and across the continent, but they are the exception, not the rule; strong social and medical support from the Cahokia government enables families to care for aging and disabled individuals within the home. Because of the governmental structure of Cahokia, no family goes hungry or without a roof over their head. While the land may be controlled by the city-state, there is no shortage of over-all space and most families have room to spread out and plenty of resources.”
Living in a city where I see many homeless, some entire families, and many who have gone through the orphanage to prison pipeline, I am all in with this gameworld.
This extension of family as social service also results in a very strong inter-family work ethic, with multigenerational homes being the norm. Moreover, the importance of lineage, which is stronger in Cahokia than reality due to dynamic family practices, cannot be understated. Even now, a trip to Labrador will involve an interrogation over lineage, and revelation of some distant connection. This extended family and social service of Makasing reminds me of rice planting and harvesting in Japan with my in laws. It was just as much work as reification of our connections.
Adventure Seed - Stop a monster ravaging crops and then help harvest them, with celebration and new connection as reward.
Makasing also has a matrilineal structure for record keeping of individual lineage. This reverses the Indian Act here in Canada, which was bureaucratically enacted genocide via erasing matrilineal indigenous identity, and made generations of lost indigenous, like myself, who had access to neither generational wealth of settlers nor the communal wealth of indigenous peoples, and are the most at risk Canadians according to researcher Heather Dicks. In Cahokia / Makasing, they were never lost, but in the real world they are slowly finding their way back to their lineage, and this game could be a great way to prepare for that.
Makasing isn’t our world, whether we are indigenous or not. It is an alien land that lets us see what would happen if our issues, such as homelessness and gender, were nothing burgers, where people don’t rally against others to score political points, and where live and let live is the order of the day.
It is refreshing, and if it were a sourcebook for a totally alien civilization, I think people would eat it up. Reading and parsing this section takes time, and I am looking forward to finishing it so I can see how the mechanical underpinnings support the setting.
SOURCE
Before I begin, two things.
In my last post, I criticized the organization of Coyote & Crow’s setting chapter, which is long and may appear scattered to the eyes of readers accustomed to tight chapter headings and discrete info dumps about a gameworld that are characteristic of most RPG products. There was nothing negative intended in my analysis, I was just acknowledging the difficulty some readers might have with this firehose style of exposition. On the other hand, it is a wonderful example of indigenous storytelling, with all things connected and jumping between viewpoints in a story. In that respect I consider it an innovative success.
Also, major props for the flight of fancy, and I don’t just mean the Adanadi superpowers. The C&C team’s imagining of an indigenous world outside of our current one is a feat of wonder. The great Ursula LeGuin once said the following.
We live in capitalism, its power seems inescapable — but then, so did the divine right of kings. Any human power can be resisted and changed by human beings. Resistance and change often begin in art..
Le Guin was right, and this failing of imagination is what keeps us trapped in an exploitative system based on inequality. In Cahokia there are no homeless or drug addicts, which is hard for me to imagine walking around Vancouver, a city undergoing decolonization, with land acknowledgments and arts programs galore, but no end to the miserable lying on sidewalks in sight.
For indigenous people in North America, we are living in the post apocalypse and slowly finding ourselves. In Cahokia, the apocalypse never happened, and the pre-colonization values of indigenous society have taken center stage.
What a wonderful fantasyworld! But playing in such a land as Makasing also is a first step towards making a better world a reality.
We finally get to economics, and find there is a free market in Cahokia, as well as a paper currency that has gone largely digital. This reminds me of Japan, where older generations are staunch cash users, walking around with hundreds of dollars on them just in case a party or emergency breaks out, while younger people are starting to use Icoca and other cards for most transactions. Once again, as a Sociologist I really dig the depiction of Cahokia \ Makasing as a society in evolution, not a static gameworld.
Finally there is a mention of the Gats, and we find that they are bio-fueled 3D printers. The text tells us it is an exciting time to be an inventor, but there is still no list of what they can print. On the other hand, I often criticize exhaustive lists in rpgs that limit rather than free creation, so I will not pass judgment. I do appreciate that artisans and farmers are still valued, something we could learn from in the face of the wave of AI slop we are now being fed.
Next is an interesting segue into the law, which is very different from ours. In Cahokia and all of Makasing, land possession is not a thing, so neither is trespassing. Murder and theft are still crimes, but violence can either be a crime or a culturally sanctioned way to solve disputes, and as such murder becomes acceptable in a duel. The idea of a seven day waiting period to let cool heads prevail is interesting, and once again reminds me of feudal Japan or premodern France with its Musketeers.
The legal system is also enticingly different from our own. City judges decide cases with 3 judgments, which can be in succession or spaced out. This gives offenders time to change their ways or reflect on their actions. Once again, the authors give a nice nod to those who oppose the status quo and distrust the judges as corrupted, which both reflects the assault on law of our modern day, and makes Makasing feel much more real. Judges can proclaim banishment in rare cases, but tribes chafe against this authority, a nice tension between the continental government and the local communities they oversee.
We come to details about the Suyata (superpowered marshalls), who can kill to save others, but must restrain those who attack them. This is a nice dramatic touch, and firmly sets them up as heroes. As for those they arrest, criminals lose citizenship and tribal rights, and have to work for atonement. The maximum sentence is 20 years. I am reminded of Norway, which invested in rehabilitation over punishment and is now closing down prisons.
Adventure Seed #1! Some have criticized that they did not know what kind of adventures to run in C&C, but here the authors give us a clear seed - recapturing an escaped convict, or an exile who has returned.
Religion is introduced in a sidebar suggesting ways not to misrepresent it, another necessary reminder for indigenous and non-indigenous players alike. The main tenets of Cahokian belief are Dualism (belief in something more), as well as the Great Spirit and other gods / spirits.
I really dig the many festivals detailed here, and I think this goes a long way towards breathing life into the gameworld. As I noted before, having a loose calendar or none at all is a weakpoint of many games, and this is both immersive and decolonial. They are tied to seasons, and to times of life, and reflect the themes of the gameworld. Well done!
The depiction of organized mass education as relatively new shows Cahokia and Makasing as a society still evolving, which again I think is a wonderful touch for a dynamic gameworld. The rise of a cult of math and connection with sacred nature by a renowned mathematician is a nice historical flourish, and reflects how Galileo and Einstein among others have been essential to sea changes in public consciousness. Again, this level of detail is lacking in most gameworlds and is appreciated. The authors add a critique of the apprentice system and siloing of knowledge, which is very apt, given what I have seen in Japan where knowledge is often passed from older to younger in this fashion.
I had to laugh at the depiction of university as a natural development of opening up of classrooms, and university teaching as just a stage in life. It was for me, and just might be for Dalhousie University faculty, who have just been locked out of their classrooms. Cahokian government funding of university is a welcome change from our world’s transformation of university from a public good into a cashcow degree mill that devalues teachers and students.
The next section is a kaleidoscopic ride through Science, Time, Culture, and Music of Cahokia.
Without capitalism driving technology, scientists are slow moving, individual inventors in an unregulated field. This is an interesting and charmingly steampunk notion of how the field operates. Governments are not driving science, but are instead conservative about discoveries. This is totally different from our world, where the military-industrial complex is a driver of technology. I love it.
In terms of time keeping, the importance that the number 12 gained as a unit of measurement after a long dark age with no record keeping is interesting, and hints that the Awis not only had supernatural effects, but sociological ones as well. So many rpgs and manga overlook this, and other media have supers plunked down in the real world, but with unchanged calendars and time keeping despite the massive upheavals their presence would entail. The cyclical belief of time of Cahokians is also very akin to Incan beliefs, a nice nod to realworld indigenous traditions.
Finally, the authors present art, especially music, as central in ways to Cahokia that have become lost in our world. On the individual level, art is a daily practice, personal, private, and sacred, and not separated from the commonfolk. Art for art’s sake has developed via intertribal trade, and art is everywhere, on dwellings, clothes, and echnology.
Music is a huge departure from our world’s stifling music industry. The authors explicitly state Cahokia has ‘music not owned by anyone.’ People need tribal or artist permission to transmit or copy music, and all performance is live otherwise. No one programs, pre-records, or lip syncs in Cahokia. The only way to listen to music is via Second Eyes, but these go unexplained.
Aside from travelling musicians there is no centralized music industry to speak of, and of course there is no copyright. This decentraliation of art with local diffusion is a staple of the setting, and is a great antidote to both our realworld exploitative music industry and platforms like Spotify, as well as a rebuke to the dystopic corporate scifi space made by Alien and Aliens.
Cahokian music is dominated by the drums, vocals, and wind instruments, while string instruments are still an oddity. This gives soundtracks for games of C&C a distinctive flavour. Musicians are also presented as healers, and while musical satire is big, transcendental music to connect to bigger feelings of the sublime is also a feature of Cahokian music.
From science to culture to daily life to art, Cahokia is both a fascinating gameworld and an exercise in decolonial thinking. What if we had the time to create art everyday, and what if the homeless and addicted of our world were instead cared for and supported enough to create art?
The mind boggles. This is a game I can get behind.
At the end of chapter 4, the authors give us a very interesting Timeline - vague enough to be useful, but with some intriguing events. First, the primacy of math and STEM skills comes as a surprise initially, probably due to modern media associations of the indigenous with mysticism, which is often contrasted against western empiricism. Yet in our world, indigenous tribes such as the Tsimane in Bolivia can do calculations on base five at much greater sums than their western counterparts, so a uniquely indigenous scientific enlightenment from non-western ways of knowing is quite intriguing. Additionally, there is a mention of 3D printers called ‘gats’ without any details, and such a world changing invention on par with Gutenberg’s printing press needs more explanation, in my opinion.
I appreciate how the Adanadi (ie superpowers) are made into a cultural ceremonial practice, received at the highest the levels of potency and only at the peak of adolescence. This really makes a striking comparison with western supermen and their individualistic origins and appearance.
Other highlights include the positive religious reaction to exploration, and the All Tribes War for resources during the ice age, which was followed by the current peace. Having this peace threatened by growing tribalism is compelling politics, and once again shows the authors’ intent to present indigenous people as human and not magical noble savages.
The C&C creators are going the hard route in terms of setting, trying to make an internally consistent world that feels very different from our own. I really admire their efforts.
But if the Timeline is an appealing taster that whets one’s appetite for roleplaying in Makasing, the next chapter is a flood of information that some may find awe inspiring, but others may feel a little adrift in.
Because Makasing is comprised of the Americas, it is enormous, and so the authors limit the initial setting to the capital city of Cahokia. Although I am impressed by the scope and ambition of all I have read so far, there are two criticisms I have heard about the book, and they become evident in Chapter 5 as the authors introduce their world via Cahokia at length.
First, people have told me that the book’s organization has issues. I can see this in chapter 5, which introduces the world soup to nuts, from geography to culture to snippets of life to technology and economy, etc etc, leaping from one concept to the next with little warning. In a way, it is a worldwind tour that proves more useful as an inspiration to improvisational Story Guides, rather than as a guide to by-the-book GMs. For those used to gameworld atlases with searchable indexes, this chapter may come as a shock.
(The headings I use below are all my own, and I hope that if there is a Coyote & Crow 2nd edition, a few subheadings or other signposts will be used.)
Second, people have expressed vague disappointment that the technology is just a reskinning of our own, and that our realworld innovations are historic and culturally specific, and so Makasing’s progress should be different. Although I haven’t finished reading the chapter yet (old man, I needed to break it up into two sittings), I am surprised at the vagueness of technological descriptions at this point.
To be blunt, I am totally onboard with a high tech indigenous society. However, I would love to insert existing indigenous technologies, such as the Incan & pre-Columbian stonework that was based on corn kernel distribution. This non-standardized brickwork has resisted time and movement for centuries, and the buildings at Machu Picchu were examined by Japanese scientists after the Kobe earthquake due to their stability and durability. Similarly, Tenochitatlan boasted an intricate yet robust water system, while the Incan civilization used a knot-based writing style that was destroyed during Colonization. Reviving indigenous technologies destroyed or disappeared during Colonialism would have been a nice touch here.
As we shall see, the authors touch on many indigenous technologies, but I feel more could have been done to connect these to lost realworld examples.
I was initially a little surprised at the urban focus, probably due again to western media depictions of indigenous people as nomadic, and the impression that indigenous cities were more of a south American phenomenon. But I decided to give it a chance, and the more I read the more I agree with the authors’ instincts.
Cahokia is detailed as having 2 million inhabitants, making it equal to Houston TX. Defining Cahokia as a sovereign city-state is interesting, and seems pre-industrial in a way, like many fantasy RPG settings. The authors further state, “Cahokia is a sprawling, energetic city, but not a hurried or crowded one.” This differentiates Cahokia from modern cities and their urban sprawl and social decay, and aligns with many utopian fantasy locales.
Again, I consider this depiction of Cahokia as deeply Decolonial. The authors write, “Without the poverty and inequality present in our real world cities, there is not as much petty crime. But that doesn't mean that Cahokia is a safe place or that there aren't dangers. Clashing belief systems, political and spiritual, are always simmering below the surface. There are secrets around every corner and new threats lurking in every shadow.” To me, Cohokia seems like Tokyo from a James Bond movie, safe on the surface but with dangerous depths, and that is precisely how I would run it.
The city map and descriptions are beautiful, both works of art. Once again, there is mention of 3D printers called ‘gats’ but they haven’t been properly introduced so are perplexing. On the other hand, the etymology of Cahokia is interesting, and reflects the loss of original place names under colonialism.
I am glad to see references to comedy clubs and restaurants, but it is a bit perplexing. If there is no colonialism (and capitalism), why is there up and down scale? I guess humans are the same everywhere.
I do appreciate the inclusion of comedy as part of healing, and later food. This helps step outside of the western medical tradition, and reflects the more holistic indigenous view of health and well-being. In our world, several restaurants in the U.S. focus on indigenous cuisine and healing practices, with the most prominent being Owamni by The Sioux Chef in Minneapolis. This restaurant is part of the North American Traditional Indigenous Food Systems (NATIFS), a group that emphasizes the revitalization of Native American culture and health via food.
In the description of shops I felt there is a bit too much focus on what each district offers for sale. For a decolonized indigenous setting, I would add free gardens, pick it yourself fields, etc. This was part of my upbringing in Labrador, filling pails of blueberries and cloudberries in summer, and I would have loved to see guerilla gardening as a staple of Cahokia.
The chapter shifts to a brief mention of Cahokia’s market socialist government and gifting economy, although there is an Economics section later on. The authors detail how there is no owning of land, just individual stewardship based on shared rights and responsibilities, which suits the game perfectly. Next they shift into a brief introduction to governing councils, notably how Council members caught between social good and benefit to their lineage, once again underlining the humanity of this world’s inhabitants.
From there the text introduces Suyata, 10, 000 marshals who go around righting wrongs, which has a very Dogs in the Vineyard feel to it. Citizens have to give two years of social duty (peace corps army style). One interesting tidbit dropped in this section is that the success rate of Adanadi (super powering process) is only 20%, which has produced 400 K supers in total. This means under a quarter of the population of Cahokia has powers, but that only 1 in 200 is on patrol at any given moment.
Basically, Suyata is the indigenous version of One Riot One Ranger, with the Adanadi taking on the mantle of outnumbered agents for the Council.
Although the previous section introduced Cahokia’s multigenerational homes owned by diverse bands, a detail very in keeping with the indigenous setting, the text next focuses on the architecture of Cahokia. The description of Cahokia as a largely underground city, with its half buried mound homes, is very interesting, and similar to Inuit winter lodges. Ditto the decolonial description of the lack of power grid, which is replaced by self-generating green homes.
This clear picture of Cahokian home life contrasts with the nonchalant reference to flying ‘yutsu’ barges and mini trains. Like the previously mentioned ‘gat’ printers, an explanation of the word and its social significance first would have been nice. Maybe they’re trying to ramp up expectation, but it is just frustrating to hear these key terms and have no idea what they are. Another nice touch is the description of tribal decoration as part of technology.
More details reinforce both the green tech and socialist nature of Cahokia. Beetles and fish are used to filter waste water, there is no homelessness, and visitors to Cahokia stay with extended family over hotels. In addition, there is a Keynesian freedom from work, and high taxes to support all the communal infrastructure. In other words, SOCIALISM! This is a brave choice for US based authors, where socialism is often used as a slur or bugbear by demagogues trying to protect their exploitative free market system.
At this point, there is a sudden switch to a 3rd person narrative of a woman welcoming visitors for a meal. This would have been less jarring set apart as fiction, but it does its job of emulating the feel of Cahokia life & social interactions well.
Realworld indigenous tech such as The Three Sisters (ie growing corn, beans, and rice together) are finally introduced as cuisine, then agriculture. I really dig the idea of seed exchanges, greenhouses, and trade for ungrowable things as part of the Cahokian food economy. This leads into another big decolonial notion, the lack of lifestyle diseases due to healthy diet. The authors stress the freedom from struggle for sustenance, but also the connection to food and land via social life (ie berry picking). Chefs are also finally introduced as healers.
Overall, I feel this chapter is brimming with innovative, decolonial ideas, but organizing by theme would help the reader be ready for roleplaying better, which is the point after all. Personally, I would rewrite the chapter as a lesson taught by older Suyata to young initiates from all corners of Makasing, who would be brimming with questions as they walk through the city for the first time, kind of a Socratic dialogue that brings readers along for the ride.
Worldbuilding is tough for anyone, and doubly so when trying to imagine an indigenous world that never was.
The C&C team has done a great job of it.
First, the C&C team set up their world as a divergent history, where a mysterious meteor struck 700 years ago. This came to be known as the Night of the Awis, and marks the start of an alternate timeline to ours. No Europeans ever make it to Makasing, their cognate for North America, and the Awis causes a brief ice age which forces the peoples of the land to band together, but leaves powerful gifts that enhance human abilities. Makasing is thus a wholly indigenous land without capitalist or western cultural influences, and the authors list some of the important differences:
Some other things that don't exist in this world: Alcoholic drinks (alcohol exists, but not as a part of the culture in any relevant format), fossil fuels, culturally embedded shame over nudity and sexuality, wheat and wheat products, industrial meat farming. The list is long.
The gameworld itself thus acts as a mental exercise in decolonialism, urging the players to imagine a world where none of the destructive ‘innovations’ (ie alcohol, body shaming, and gasoline) exist. I find this very liberating, especially more than the corporate RPG sphere where orcs and other ‘pest’ races have shamans, coding them as primitives fighting against the civilized races of (western) men
The retreat of the mini ice age’s existential threat poses the twin problems of internal dissent and fear of external unknowns. Facing these twin challenges is where our enhanced heroes come in. In C&C’s world, Colonialism never was, but indigenous peace and prosperity are just as complicated.
This is a converse approach to NUNA, where a mysterious event in our future cuts the region off and forces the Inuit back to the land, where they thrive and lead other peoples in survival. In NUNA, Colonialism happened, but it was just another drop in the river of time and the world is moving on in mysterious ways, with remnants of our time scattered about. Survival is a key theme, as is conflict between the Inuit, Vikings, and Whalers, all of which are futuristic echoes of the region’s history. There is also an alien technology used by the awakened Scientists, as well as supernatural threats from Inuit folklore, and Lovecraftean Ice Leviathans, to keep adventurers on their toes. In NUNA, culture is a superpower, whether it be Inuit knowledge of the land, Whaler knowledge of technology, or Scientist access to weird science.
Every fantasy gameworld needs its own form of magic, and Coyote & Crow provide a unique origin for theirs.
C&C presents the Gifts of the Adanadi, supernatural powers stemming from the Night of the Awis, which are cultivated and bred, treated as sacred, and linked to animal totems, but rest beyond the knowledge of mundane biology. I appreciate that the authors don’t fall into the trap of trying to scientifically explain their magic and mystery, an all too common tendency that has hobbled other franchises (mitochlorians, anyone?). As the authors put it,
This is also a world where legend meets science. In our world, this is often seen as a battle between right and wrong or good and evil. It is the idea that one has to be fundamentally correct and by necessity, the other wrong. This viewpoint comes primarily from a western European way of thinking. In Coyote & Crow, an advanced piece of science can still have spiritual value. A supernatural experience doesn't have to be dismissed because science doesn't easily explain it. For most folks, the mystical and the logical exist side by side on a daily basis.
I don’t think this will be as hard to accept as the previous decolonial landscape. Modern people are inherently superstitious, they buy lotto tickets despite being broke, blow on dice for luck, and in Japan they purchase lucky charm amulets to pass an exam then board the bullet train to go to the test venue.
By contrast, NUNA has three types of technology that seem magical. First, there is the near future technology that survived the cataclysm and is used by Southern Inuit, Whalers, and Vikings. Second, there is the traditional Inuit knowledge and skills that almost died out in our world after the Moravian missionaries stopped the traditional migratory Inuit lifestyle, then the sedentary lifestyle that prevailed after Labrador joined Canada in 1949. Because of these two events, many Inuit lost touch with traditional practices, and fell prey to lifestyle diseases, but in NUNA they have refound their traditional path. Finally, Scientists access a form of super science that seems like magic or science fiction, and defies traditional logic, and is inspired by retro futurism. These competing ‘magics’ reflect the setting of Labrador as both home of Inuit myths, Cold War DEW line early warning and US Air Force bases, and setting of post apocalyptic fiction like Joh Wyndham’s The Chrysalids.
Connected to the general magic of a gameworld, heroic characters also need superhuman powers in most RPGs.
C&C introduces the Adanadi as superpowers for its player characters. The pink mark on living organisms left by the Night of the Awis has been incorporated into the indigenous way of knowing, and is used to create heroes. As the authors write,
Introducing more of the Adanadi into the body at just the right point in adolescence transforms the person permanently, improving them physiologically and sometimes granting them abilities beyond normal human parameters. The choice to take a specific form of the Adanadi, concentrated from a specific animal, became known as choosing your Path. While different nations and tribes have an array of ceremonies and customs surrounding this ritual, they all have many common aspects.
This is an inversion of the Steve Rogers supersoldier serum of Captain America, where one test subject is transformed from zero to hero so he can go fight in colonial wars. He is the American dream made flesh, a technocratic silver bullet that can fulfill the promise of By contrast, Adnani powers are rooted in indigenous community, tied to nature and traditions.
The closest analogy in NUNA would be the Scientists, whose knowledge comes to them one day and lets them gain access to godlike technomagic powers, at the cost of fealty to unknown forces. For the Inuit of NUNA, their greatest superpower is the deep culturally ingrained knowledge of their land, both its physical and mystical properties. The Vikings cling to pre-cataclysm technology for survival, as do the Whalers, who also add the mystical powers gained from their hunt against the monstrous deep sea Ice Leviathans. This means that NUNA is a grittier land than Masaking, but with flashes of alien magic.
Finally, players need a good call to adventure in any game, and Makasing has its challenges. As the authors put it,
Now though, with the climate evening out and with nations possessing rapidly advancing technology and the will to use it, the race is on to explore this great new world; to discover new resources and power, to make discoveries for scientific progress, and to meet new people for crafting strategic alliances.
Many now believe that while the change in weather has allowed people to venture out, it might also be opening the door to let things in. And the dangers in this world aren't just external. With a surge in population and an explosion in new technology, old treaties created when the climate was suffering are no longer enough to keep some nations and leaders from looking to expand their advantages over their neighbors.
This is a refreshing change from the ‘kill them and take their stuff’ ethic of older roleplaying games, and once again is deeply decolonial. Additionally, the inclusion of internal strife and political maneuvering avoids the noble savage trope, and paints the people of Makasing as human and inherently flawed. I see the same complex characterization in the hit anime Frieren, where humans have learned magic to fight against the predatory Demons, but after defeating the Demon King, they now have to deal with infighting and political maneuvering. The only issue with this nuanced setting could be that it presents a high bar for Gamemasters, who are used to the low bar of colonial roleplaying tropes (kill + loot). But I think it is worth the effort.
NUNA presents the twin themes of survival and exploration, with the second often serving the needs of the first. Characters may need to search for a Tunit cave or wrecked Iceship Macguffin to save or heal a community. Thus adventuring in NUNA is a much grittier, pressing affair.
I am thoroughly impressed by the ambition of Coyote & Crow. First, they propose an entire continent of adventure, while in NUNA I limit myself to one large territory. Second, they envision a non-colonial setting and gameplay, something that is a challenge for many of us born and bred in a world where exploration & exploitation are considered heroic traits. Still, I am greatly inspired by their work, and confident I can make NUNA an equally compelling game, even if it is not of the same grandiose size.
