Go to Part 1

WORLDS OF THE CONCORDAT

Although the Concordat sprung up out of the seed of the Ten Worlds it has since expanded far beyond that, encompassing in its modern form a total of thirty-three systems and thiry-one planetary governments. They are a widely varied lot, but all are bound together by their ideological commitment to the virtues of the Concordat.

Originally known as Alhera this world was the brightest and best of the original Ten Worlds. Under the leadership of House Britannia it was one of the first worlds to join the Concordat and became the capital of the new government. Following Sartra’s disappearance and assumed death it was renamed in honor of him. Today it remains the shining star of the Concordat – it’s communities are ergonomically designed and architecturally splendid, with plentiful parks.

The technological hub of the Concordat, Cyberna has earned the nickname of “Chrome World”. Its politics are dominated by the massive interstellar conglomerates which control the vast majority of business throughout. The vast majority of this world is rocky wasteland, and so its cities are tightly compacted bunches of skyscrapers and apartment complexes with the occasional archipelago, all built around technologically-assisted agricultural hubs.

In many ways a showpiece of the justice and idealism which the Concordat represents, Kyreen was originally the homeworld of the K’i’Reen, an insectoid race who was displaced onto reservations during the time of the Second Republic. Few of these reservations were located in the worlds which are now the Empire of Known Space, but in the Concordat they were much more numerous. The more liberal ideals of the Concordat restored their homeworld to them in 4615. The K’i’Reen opted to remain members of the Concordat and share their planet with the humans already living there. Since the K’i’Reen live primarily below the surface an interesting relationship has developed between their revitalized civilization and culture and the human settlements which still dot the surface.

 Unan is a generally unremarkable place. With a fairly even division between industry and agriculture it is one of those rare planets which moved beyond the specialization of its early colonial days and became a largely self-subsisting community. Despite this, however, Unan has distinguished itself as a major tourist attraction as a result of the daily meteor showers. The entire Unan system is full of debris which is constantly peppering the upper atmosphere, creating impressive light shows in the night sky. These displays are particularly impressive near the equator and this fact, combined with the large, peaceful, equatorial seas of Unan, has lead to several booming resort towns and floating gambling complexes in that area.

When it was first explored during the early years of the Second Republic, Mecca was known as Milton – a minor colonial world with poor resources. About two centuries before the Republic collapsed, however, vast archaeological discoveries began to be made on the planet. Many, if not most, of these discoveries were prominently Anunnaki gargoyles. As the fame of these gargoyles spread their religious significance turned Milton into a major pilgrimage site. Eventually Milton changed its name to Mecca and became a major center of Church politics.

After the beginning of the Dark Ages, a council of clergyman formed an organization known as the Cathedrals of Mecca. Although this group recognized that the true center of Church power rested elsewhere, they also recognized the practicality of their current situation. The Cathredals of Mecca became the de facto leaders of the Orthodox Church for the Ten Worlds. They were one of the loudest and most influential of the anti-Sartrans, but eventually lost their conservative battle. Today Mecca remains the last true bastion for religious fundamentalism. The Cathedrals of Mecca still maintain control of the Orthodox Church in Concordat space (although how this will change now that the gates to Holy Terra have been reopened remains to be seen), and the vast majority of Meccans still adhere to the Orthodox faith.

Poa’pal and Tua’kal are two planets which circle a single star in an identical, but opposite, orbit. When they were discovered during the Second Republic it was widely believed that they were artificially placed in their orbit by the Ur races, for reasons unknown. They were each home to an identical species, one of which referred to themselves as the Poa’pal and the other as the Tua’kal according to archaeological records. When they independently discovered spaceflight they also discovered their other half. Religious doctrine apparently convinced the two species that the other was the source of evil and war ensued. By the time humans arrived on the scene, the two species had already wiped each other out. Poa’pal and Tua’kal became colony worlds. Today they are proud members of the Concordat, under the rule of a single, joint government.

The three worlds of Barre, Jandi, and Ayto are collectively referred to as the “Heartland”. The Heartland is the source of the majority of the agricultural output for the Concordat, and is also one of the more conservative regions of the republic, with a particular focus on traditional (or “Sartran”) virtues. Surprisingly, however, this conservatism does not spread to their religious convictions – which are generally nonexistent, and usually non-Orthodox even when they are.

Progenitor, like Mecca, once was possessed of a different name: Lonbette. Once a fairly successful colonial world of the Second Republic, Lonbette fell into backwater savagery during the Dark Ages after its jumpgate was sealed. Then a generation ship from the time of the First Republic appeared in the system and colonized the world. Their civilizing presence restored not only the technological foundations of the world, but formed a strong central government for the world. Eventually their jumpgate reopened, and they found themselves in direct contact with the Concordat, which they quickly joined.

During the Dark Ages four planets (Adde, Polyani, Hannal, and Jelen) bound themselves together and sealed off the rest of the universe. Unlike many worlds which followed their course these four managed to maintain a high level of technology and pushed towards not only maintaining, but improving the technology they had inherited from the Second Republic. Unfortunately, this zeal for progress was ultimately their downfall. Using their own terraforming engines as a basis for experiment they made leaps of massive discovery, but eventually their experiments caught up with them. The terraforming engines on three of the planets began to seriously malfunction. Adde, Polyani, and Hannal became known as the Fallen Worlds as their populations were driven into exodus on Jelen. Billions died, but those who survived renamed their new homeworld Haven.

 Go to Part 4: More Worlds of the Concordat

Tagline: Very clever? Indeed.

The first question which must be addressed here is: Why is The Very Clever Pipe Game so expensive?

Those of you unfamiliar with Cheapass Games are probably doing a double-take. Expensive? But, Justin, you listed a price of $7.50! Did you leave a couple digits out or something?

Nope. Cheapass Games has earned itself a cult following in this little industry by producing highly intriguing game concepts on cheap materials. Instead of packaging their game in cardboard boxes, with glossy cardstock, and customized playing pieces, they present it in a handsomely decorated white envelope, with playable cardstock, and expect you to provide your own playing pieces (haul out that Monopoly or Sorry box from the closet and use the pieces from that). As a result they can charge a fraction of what other companies would for the same games, while still maintaining a level of professional quality (crisp artwork, clear presentation) which many others in this industry should aspire to.

So $7.50 is a little bit out of their normal price range (which seems to average in the $4-5 range). The reason is simple: The Very Clever Pipe Game features some highly detailed, computer-rendered art. They need a glossier cardstock for the images to be effective. Plus there are 120 cards in the deck (more than normal), so that adds to the cost as well.

But what is this game? I’m glad you asked. Let’s take a peek at the caption text: “Yeah, yeah, yeah. You’ve seen pipe games before. But not like this one.”

What’s different? Again, I’m glad you asked. The Very Clever Pipe Game, at its first level, is like every other pipe game you’ve ever played: Each card is marked with white and black pipes. One player is “white” and the other player is “black”. They play cards in an alternating sequence, with each player attempting to “close off” a pipe sequence of their color (while, obviously, preventing the other player from closing off pipes of their color). They do this by connecting the pictures of pipe on each card end-to-end (by matching color) until they can apply an end-cap or loop the pipe around on itself. In other words, if you imagine water flowing through these two-dimensional pipes, and that water has no place to escape, then the pipe is closed off. Closed off pipes are removed from the game, and the player with the most cards at the end of the game is the winner.

That’s Level One: “Basic Pipes”. But then The Very Clever Pipe Game adds three more levels. (Excited yet?)

Level Two is known as “Basic Fields”. In the background of each card (behind the pipes) is a field – think of it kind of like the floor of the factory through which these pipes are installed. There are “light” fields and “dark” fields, and once again the players take one of each. Playing in alternating turns they attempt to form closed sets of fields by surrounding one of their fields (which can, of course, spread across multiple cards), completely with fields of the other color. A closed field is removed, and like with the Level One game, the player with the most cards at the end of the game wins.

Moving on to Level Three: “Pipes & Fields”. Basically you follow all the old rules, but you mix-and-match players between playing pipes and fields (you can now have up to four players in toto).

(At this point there is also a Level 3.5, which is basically a team variant for Level 3.)

Finally, Level Four: “Deck Tuning.” In the first three versions each player was dealt a hand of 20 cards from the 120 card deck. These are shuffled and hands of five cards are dealt off the top of each individual deck (and its from this hand that you play your cards). At this level, you are dealt a much larger deck at the beginning of the game (depending on how many players are playing). You then strip this deck down into the 20 card version you will finally play from.

(And, actually, there’s a Level 4.5 as well: “Playing for Keeps”. Which is exactly what is sounds like. This version has my favorite line in the entire rulebook: “Players have all the time in the world to assemble their decks. They pick from whichever cards they own, even duplicates, and bring their pre-built decks to the game. If they’re particularly clever, they will pick a single extra-powerful card, use 20 copies of it, and win every time. Particularly clever, in our opinion, because it means someone had to buy 20 copies of this game.”)

And that’s the game. How does it play? Addictively… like so many other Cheapass Games. The first weekend I cracked this game open, my family just kept cycling back to the gaming bar in various pair-ups to play it over and over and over again (my deck is looking a little ragged). Honestly, most of us found the basic pipe game to be the most fun (but the mix of fields and pipes made for some absolutely fascinating diplomatic relations in four player games). It was easy to learn the additional levels, because each tends to add only a single layer of complexity (while adhering to all the rules of the levels before it). Even if you don’t like the advanced options at all, this is probably the finest pipe game you’re going to find. The artwork, computer-generated as I mentioned, is simply wonderful.

Even if The Very Clever Pipe Game is a slightly more expensive Cheapass Game, it is still worth every penny and more.

Style: 5
Substance: 5

Author: James Ernest
Company/Publisher: Cheapass Games
Cost: $7.50
Page Count: n/a
ISBN: n/a

Originally Posted: 1999/10/23

Fifteen years later, this game still periodically cycles into my rotation as a very pleasant diversion. Its primary limitation is that it’s best with only two players, which somewhat limits its utility for me. (I frequently have difficulty getting as much play out of 2-player games as I would like.) If you can find a copy, though, I still recommend it.

For an explanation of where these reviews came from and why you can no longer find them at RPGNet, click here.

He sees you when you’re sleeping
He knows if you’re awake
He knows if you’ve been bad or good
So you’d better be good for goodness’ sake…
– Haven Gillespie, “Santa Claus is Coming to Town”

This lyric is deliberately ironic wordplay and incredibly clever.

First, you have to understand that “for goodness’ sake!” is a euphemistic replacement for the curse “for God’s sake!”. (Similar to the also common “for Pete’s sake!”)

The immediate syntax of the line itself, as you note, carries the meaning that you should be good for the sake of doing good (“do good for goodness’ sake”).

The juxtaposition of the line with “he knows if you’ve been bad or good”, however, calls that interpretation into question and reveals the ironic nature of the line: It’s not “do good for the sake of goodness”, it’s “for God’s sake, do good because the fatman knows what you’re doing!”.

The ironic use of the phrase “for goodness’ sake”, however, also calls attention to the fact that the euphemism is replacing the identity of God. We note, therefore, that this conception of Santa Claus as an omniscient arbiter of morality to whom we perform certain rites and rituals (writing of letters, leaving out a sacrifice of milk and cookies, etc.) raises him to a sort of primitive godhood. As the lyric replaces the identity of God, so does Santa Claus replace the identity of God. Our “worship” of Santa Claus is, in fact, a form of idolatry.

And the prohibition against idolatry is, in fact, why we use euphemisms like “for goodness’ sake” instead of God’s name.

Seeing that God is hidden in the lyric, however, reveals another layer of meaning: The ironic construction of the line is designed to highlight an ideological conflict between “you should do good because it’s good” and “you should do good because otherwise you will be punished by an omniscient power”. And that’s a philosophical criticism which applies whether you’re talking about “coal in a stocking” or “being sent to Hell”.

It’s not just a playful jab at the panopticon mythology of Santa Claus. It fundamentally questions the dichotomy of religious belief in beneficent higher powers that will ruthlessly punish you if your cross them.

Most people, of course, won’t consciously plumb the rhetorical depths of the song like this. But what makes it an effective and memorable lyric is that pretty much everybody can sense the strong ironic tension in it. It may do nothing more than amuse you; but in that amusement the song has caused you to smirk at one of the major underpinnings of most religious faith.

Go to Part 1

GOVERNMENT

The government which was formed under the counsels of Sartra, Duke Daneel, and General Baghera was, naturally, of a constitutional nature; expounding the freedoms of its citizens and laying out a concrete system of governance. Based upon the classical three-tiered system of democratic government dating back to before the founding of the First Republic, the great nationalistic pride which most of the Concordat communities have felt towards this edifice of power has had a general homogenizing effect on many regional and local governments as well. Although there are exceptions the vast majority of Concordatian governments function along this same basic model.

Essentially government in the Concordat is split as a republic into four different levels: the Galactic, the Planetary, the Regional, and the Local. The former, as the name implies, is the government founded under the guidance of Sartra; it rules over the whole of the Concordat. The second, the next step down from the Galactic, takes a variety of specific forms, but adopts the common name of Planetary because it is generally composed of planet-wide governments. Most planetary governments oversee a group of Regional governments, which deal largely in bureaucratic initiatives focusing on specific sections of individual worlds. Finally, Local governments usually take the form of county boards or city councils, dealing with the nitty-gritty details at the most immediate level to the average citizen.

The galactic government, as noted, is a federal constitutional system with a legislative, an executive, and a judicial branch. The executive is composed primarily of the President, who serves a five year term, and his immediate advisors and bureaucratic chiefs. The legislative is formed around a bicameral Congress composed of two houses – the Assembly and the Senate. The Assembly draws its membership proportionally from each planet, serving three year terms. The Senate is composed of three members from each planet, one of which is elected every two years to serve a six year term.

The Judicial system established by Sartra is the most unique element of the Concordat system of government. At its highest level it is composed of a Supreme Court formed of ten Justices. All of these Justices are popularly elected at the Galactic level. Five positions are possessed of a lifetime term; five of a ten year term. At the lower levels cases are heard by a Judicial Panel consisting of six Judges and six Jurors. The Judges are elected officials; the Jurors are randomly selected citizens who serve on a single panel. Unlike previous jury systems, Sartra’s did not have a lengthy juror selection system designed to minimize prejudice within the jury system – instead he saw that the judicial system could be sped up considerably be simply slotting in the first six randomly determined jurors, and then using the six judges to counterbalance any missteps on the parts of the jurors. The judges would counteract the vagaries and prejudices of the jurors, while the jurors would counteract the tendency to corruption or tyranny which might breed within the judges.

Finally a Bill of Rights rounds out the constitutional system, protecting the citizens of the Concordat from infringement by the government on many “basic rights”.

Most Concordat citizens are, rightfully or not, extremely proud of the freedoms and democracy which their government represents. The Galactic Constitution and the principles on which it is founded are regarded as unquestioned virtues.

RELIGION

In the nine centuries since the end of the Second Dark Age the Orthodox Church and religion in general have weakened within the borders of the Concordat. When the Church Elders, based on Mecca, were finally forced by grassroots efforts to recognize and join the Concordat government they lost a great deal of political power. The Constitution as defined under Sartra not only encouraged, but enforced and exemplified a strict restriction on the intermingling of church and state. He respected primarily the freedom of the individual, and knew that the structure of the Orthodox Church would lead to an oppression of minority interests and beliefs if they were allowed access to pure political power.

Without the political power to puritanically enforce their religious views, the Orthodox Church found its constituency base begin to splinter apart. Although true alternatives to the Omega Gospels and the worship of the Pancreator do not really exist, the way in which the Pancreator is worshipped and the Omega Doctrines interpreted have begun to diversify. As the Church has found itself broken apart by differing interpretations and modes of belief, religious fervor in general has suffered: It is easier to believe in unprovable religious truths if the religious community is unified; if it is fragmented it is easier to simply dismiss them as whole.

ORTHODOX CHURCH: The Orthodox Church is still the primary religious institution in the Concordat, with fully 25% of the population under its auspices in one capacity or another. With that being said, however, it is necessary to admit that the church is little more than a shadow of its former self. Although the official doctrine still supports the belief that the Patriarch of Mecca is the spiritual leader of the Church, the average churchgoer is far more relaxed in his beliefs – accepting official Church doctrine only when it suits them.

As noted the Orthodox Church structure is still based primarily on Mecca, a planet which assumed religious prominence due to the abundance of Ur gargoyles and ruins on its surface. When the Concordat sealed itself off from the rest of the galaxy the church leaders on Mecca seized political control of the planet and asserted their leadership on the church structures of the Ten Worlds.

LIBERALISM: About two decades after Mecca finally capitulated and joined the Concordat the unified facade of the Church began to crumble under the religious teachings of Uther Fairchild. Fairchild preached that belief in the perfection of the Patriarch was a fallacy. Instead of looking to the Church for leadership the faithful should instead look to it only for guidance – the truth of the Pancreator was not to be found in edicts, but through the exploration of a personal truth reached through personal interpretation. Each individual should strive to interpret the Omega Gospels in their own way and to find the truths within it which are meaningful to their own lives. The structure of the Church, Fairchild said, was only useful in so far as it served to educate and to guide the faithful through their own spiritual journey.

Such convictions quickly found fertile soil in the fresh nationalism which was spreading through the freshly formed Concordat. The Church, stripped of its power to politically silence Fairchild, could do nothing more than excommunicate the rebellious teacher. It has long been argued whether or not this was an even greater mistake by the Church – the highly public excommunication of Fairchild, and Fairchild’s own embracing of this new reality, served not as a warning, but as a clarion call that the Church’s ability to tyrannically enforce its view of faith was broken by the realities of the new system of government.

Today nearly 15% of Concordat citizens are members of the Liberalist church – making it the strongest competitor with the Orthodox for the faith of the people. It also remains at bitter doctrinal and political odds with what it perceives to be the archaic, restrictive, and false tyranny of the Orthodox religious teachings.

THE SAINTED ORDERS: The Sainted Orders date back to an amalgamation of different religious sects in the 46^th century. The basic structure of the belief differs depending upon which Order one is analyzing, but the central tenet is that the Prophet was actually the living incarnation of the Pancreator, with all or some of his eight followers sainted and/or deified as well.

Although initially a great populist success the Sainted Orders have faced a general decline for several centuries. During the past hundred years or so this trend has been accelerated because the Orders have tended to be a haven of religious extremists. The loose collection of slightly differing religious beliefs within the Orders makes it easy for radical cults to spring up and mass suicides, murders, and religo-terrorist actions have become semi-regular events.

REJUVENITES: At one point during the early scientific renaissance of the Human Concordat a popular theory held that the dimming of the suns was simply part of a long galactic cycle which would, eventually, reverse itself. In short, there was nothing to be particularly worried about – the problem would take care of itself. Although this theory has since been discredited and now is largely ignored, the idea seemed to find ideal fermentation within the religious community. The Rejuvenite faith maintains the Orthodox position that the suns are fading because of the sins of mankind, but they differ in one important respect: There is no hope of rekindling them. They are a sign of the end of an age, at which point the Pancreator will “clothe himself within the confines of the flesh” and “walk among the people of the Galaxy” to “pass judgment upon the deeds of his servants, faithful and unfaithful”.

If the Pancreator finds mankind worthy he will “rekindle the stars with the light of his love” and a golden age will ensue. If not, then he will destroy mankind and start anew. The Rejuvenites hold that just such an event occurred eons ago when the Ur races ruled the universe, and that the Ur races were found unworthy.

Some fringe Rejuvenites believe that each race will be judged in turn, and particular focus has been spent upon the Vau. Some believe that the Vau have found the true secrets to acceptance in the eyes of the Pancreator and that their ways should be emulated. Others imagine some sort of interspecies contest in which only one will be chosen to proceed into the golden age – they would have the Concordat attack and destroy the Vau.

URITIC ORDER: The Uritic Order was initially an order of monks organized around the teachings of Petref Alanna in the 47^th century. Its spiritual roots lie with both the Rejuvenites and the Sainted Orders. Alanna accepted the belief that the fading suns were an indication of the end times, which would culminate in a judgment of mankind which would determine whether mankind would be sent into a golden age.

Instead of believing that the alternatives were either a golden age here in this plane of existence or utter destruction, Alanna believed that in the judgment the Pancreator would send those he chose as worthy into another plane of existence – a Nirvana or a Heaven. Those who were not chosen would remain behind. He said that the Ur races had not failed the test, they had passed it and been sent on into this other plane – leaving the imperfect Ur-Ukar and Ur-Obun, who had failed the Pancreator’s test, behind.

Finally Alanna said, along with the Sainted Orders, that the Prophet was not a mortal man. However, he did not embrace the conclusion that the Prophet was an incarnation of the Pancreator, either. Instead, he said, the Prophet was a reincarnation of the collective wisdom of the Elder Races and focused particular attention upon the role of the Ur-Obun Follower, Ven Lohji.

Since Alanna’s death the ideas of the Uritic Order become more widely popular and accepted. Although the Order still exists as a brotherhood of monks, it is also complicated by an infrastructure of “Houses of the Order” which teach and give a sense of religious community to those who are not brothers, but still embrace the beliefs of the Order.

PROMETHEAN DIVISION: The Promethean Division is, in some ways, not so much a religious sect as it is the opposite of a religious sect. It is based on the belief that the Prophet was, in fact, a False Prophet used as an unwitting tool of the dark spirits. Where the Omega Gospels present a highly structured set of moral beliefs, the adherents of the Promethean Divsion believe that the only true sin is becoming obsessed with sin – particularly over the sins of others.

This should not be viewed as a complete abandonment of moral authority (few Prometheans take it so far), but Prometheans generally believe the proper purview of ethical questions should be calmly reasoned as a tradeoff between infringing individual freedom and allowing the actions of individuals to impinge upon the freedoms of others. “Sin” doesn’t enter into it, and remains the purview of the individual’s discretion. Risk damnation if you want, but it is your decision so long as you do not infringe upon my freedom.

Nor should this be construed as a denial of the Pancreator. The Promethean Division embraces the concept of the Pancreator, but sees the Pancreator as embracing and supporting their philosophy of freedom and scientific improvement. The stars are not fading because of the Pancreator’s anger over the sinfulness of his people, they say, the stars are fading because religious fanatics are obsessing over imagined “sins”.

SATHRAISM: Although religious freedom is almost utterly uninfringed upon and many minor non-Omega sects proliferate, Sathraism is still banned. Members of the Orthodox Church, other sects, and a majority of private citizens believe that the effects of jumpgate travel on which Sathraism are based are physically and mentally harmful. “Public safety” legislation, therefore, prevents the exercise of Sathraism, and so far the Courts are unwilling to challenge it.

ANTINOMY: Like Sathraism, the mysterious rites of Antinomists have been banned. They are considered highly subversive and dangerous by even the non-religious, and the remaining political forces of the religious orders reinforce this conviction.

Go to Part 3: Worlds of the Concordat