I began this project with the promise to do these things:
Be true to Egyptian cosmology. I wanted the game’s mechanics to mirror the various parts of the soul, the concepts of Ma’at and Isfet, to explore Ab, Ba, and Akh, and to see how these could be applied directly to storytelling mechanics.
Keep the focus on creating stories. The CALENA framework has been proven over and over again in workshops, online gaming, storytelling conferences, and gaming events. I wanted to take everything I had learned from CALENA and bring it to bear on Duat:LVotP.
Be true to the genre of psychological horror. From the themes of the Episode cards, to Events, to Narrative cards (level 3), and even the edits to the Character and Activity cards, I wanted Duat to provide a playground for creating disturbing, unsettling stories around the table.
Setting that is modern and familiar. I chose something everyone knows and many have enjoyed—a cruise liner. But not just any cruise liner, one that is of extreme luxury and traveling the Mediterranean, heading for Alexandria, Egypt. I wanted the name of the ship to have meaning, so I picked the MS Pharos of Alexandria in honor of one of the seven wonders of the world, the Pharos lighthouse, which stood as a beacon to bring sailors home to Egypt.
Collaborate whenever possible. I wanted to collaborate with other psychological horror, Egyptian cosmology, roleplayers, writers, and storytellers to craft a truly unique and expansive game that could be expanded and extended for years to come.
On the collaboration front, we recently added an outstanding Ohio poet David Hershhorn who shares a fascination with Egyptian culture and the unsettling nature of horror. Learn more about David from his website https://www.davidhershhorn.com/. We welcome his contributions to the project!