Lexicon is a computer-assisted role-playing game invented by Neel Krishnaswami and popularised by the

indie role-playing game An indie role-playing game is a role-playing game published outside traditional, "mainstream" means. Varying definitions require that commercial, design, or conceptual elements of the game stay under the control of the creator, or that the gam ...

community. As originally proposed, it is played online using

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. Players assume the role of

scholar A scholar is a person who pursues academic and intellectual activities, particularly academics who apply their intellectualism into expertise in an area of study. A scholar can also be an academic, who works as a professor, teacher, or researc ...

s who write the

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

and background of a particular fictitious time, setting, or incident. As the game goes on, the players collaboratively create an elaborately interwoven account. Each game is a series of 26 turns, keyed to the letters of the

alphabet An alphabet is a standardized set of basic written graphemes (called letters) that represent the phonemes of certain spoken languages. Not all writing systems represent language in this way; in a syllabary, each character represents a syllab ...

from A to Z. On the first turn, each player must write an Encyclopedia-style entry beginning with the letter A, citing and linking to two entries that are not yet written. These are called "undefined" entries. Undefined entries must begin with a letter later in the alphabet. The 25 subsequent turns proceed consecutively through the letters of the alphabet, one letter per turn. In a turn, each player writes one entry that begins with the turn's specified letter. If one or more undefined entries are available that begin with the letter, a player must choose and write an undefined entry before any new entries can be created under that letter. A new entry must create and link to two undefined entries, and must also link to an entry written on a previous turn. Near the endgame, when sufficient undefined entries exist to occupy all players for the remainder of the game, no new undefined entries may be created. Many variants exist, such as covering two or three letters per turn, or starting each player on a different letter. Some games permit other players to post comments or expansions of earlier entries. The optional "Rule of X" treats X (or any other appropriate letter) as a wild card; entries for the X turn may begin with any letter. "Telephone pad" is a shorter variant with 8 turns (corresponding to the letters on a telephone keypad) instead of 26 turns (one per letter of the alphabet).

References

External links

Lexicon: An RPG
— the original idea for Lexicon.
Lexicon Rules and Variants
— A collection and clarification of the original rules, combined with a compilation of almost every variant.
An (old) list of Lexicon games

The New Metamorphoses: A Lexicon
Collaborative fiction Indie role-playing games Universal role-playing games Role-playing games introduced in 2003 {{rpg-stub

See also

References

External links