If you've been reading about the Nth Society game project, you might been wondering, well what is it going to be like to actually play. You're not alone in asking this question. We too are wondering. In fact it's the wondering that is so critical to project as an experiment - we just don't know.

To read what we do know, check out my last post, Nth Society explained at 5 levels of difficulty.

To help figure out the unknown I'm asking writers, imaginators and pensmiths to get involved. I want you to imagine the gameplay from the perspective of the game character and write a short story about it. In other words, I am asking the community to crowdsource ideas that can inform the design process.

Narrative is important. Even though the game will (probably) have no starting narrative, you will weave your own by playing. This is the essence of role-play.

Before you start

You really must read about the Nth Society or you will be lost and produce a story of no relevance.

Probably the most important concept to be aware of, even if it doesn't feature directly in your story, is that the Nth Society is a game which is designed to explore voluntaryism.

So read the most recent explanatory article for sure, and some of the others too if you want. To see a list, and to chat to other people interesting in the game about this competition and in general, join the Discord.

Ideas for stories

Questions to get you thinking

• The first thing I would do in the game
• Things I'm afraid to do in society today
• Something I would like to explore if I could live in a voluntary society for a day
• What social order would you prefer in a voluntary society?
• If I left an unfree society, what would I leave?
• Which would be the three rules in your voluntaryist society?

Actual seed ideas

• Building a business
• A child's view of a voluntary community
• The wandering philosopher
• Crime and punishment with the NAP (non-aggression principle)
• The day the raiders came
• Farming is hard
• How did I end up in a bureaucracy?

Judge and prizes

I'm stoked to announce that @tarazkp has agreed to be the judge for the competition 😎 I've been a fan and collaborator of his on occasion and I'm really happy he's going to take the time to review all submissions with me.

The best three stories will be awarded 8 SBD each to the author.

Three honorable mentioned stories will be awarded 4 SBD each.

And I am paying @tarazkp 15 SBD for his time and effort.

The rules

First a note: anything which does not fit the rules will not be considered for the prizes but it does not mean they will be disregarded. The prizes are just a motivation and a thank you. All contributions to the Nth Society project are valuable in their own right.

So for the purposes of the prize these rules will be strict, please read them carefully.

1. Short stories must be in English.
2. Your entry must be made in a post with first tag #nth-society and second tag #narrative.
3. The closing date is March 9th at 00:00 hrs UTC
4. Short stories must be between 400 and 600 words.
5. Short stories must be original, and never published before.
6. One entry per person.
7. Let me repeat that rule 2: use these tags in this order or your entry will not be considered: #nth-society #narrative
8. If it needs it, you should use the #nsfw tag. Failure to do so on a clearly NSFW story will disqualify you

Basic suggestions for good stories

Consider this to be good advice:

1. Spell check
2. Check grammar
3. Proof read
4. Consider the topic and write something relevant

Thank you and have fun!

@tarazkp will make a post, I'll update this when he has.

Edit: updated to make clear I am looking for stories from the perspective of the character in the game, not the person playing the game at their computer!