Joker's Wild - Make-Your-Own-Adventure

The Fool
R. L. McNulty

A mysterious deck of cards leads the detectives on a journey into the unknown where Ace is high and Joker's Wild spells trouble. This experiment with random story generation will add some serendipity into the week. Detectives will create their own secret cards to add to the deck, so the journey we take will be determined by a random draw of cards created by the group and by the leaders.

Each session prior to this final one will add a card based on their week's theme, so this story's potential will grow all summer. This is a new type of Dragon's Eye Venture, so I cannot wait to see how this one evolves! We'll end each summer with a new Joker's Wild and no two will be alike.

Detectives will create their own story cards, sculpt their own set of dice and sew a little pouch to hold everything. The games will be determined by random draws, but rest assured--there is always sneaking in the cards. The group will help create a record of the story, so that an online chronicle of Joker's Wild can begin to grow.

Whimsy & the Roll of the Dice

The 100-sided Die

The 100-sided die carries its own bit of mystique.  Most people have never seen a 100-sided die, and the usual first response carries just a hint of disbelief. "Whaaat?"  Until you've seen the cleverly-engineered sphere with its hundred facets and numbers, the very idea of it remains a bit elusive.  Even then, it takes a quick lesson in finding the zenith to understand how it actually works.

The 100-sided die came as a gift from a child back in the days when Dragon's Eye was the Detective's Club.  Since then, it has been rolled again and again over many years of adventures. In that time, I have seen the number 100 rolled only three times.

I have seen the number 1 only once--and I'm pretty sure I rolled it the last time, because we laughed our heads off.  I was known at the time for my low rolls.

So when a group rolls a 100, followed by my roll of a 1--it is a very rare event.  And yet, this is what happened last week.  A roll of 100 by the detectives, a roll of 1 by me acting as the Empress of Chaos opposing their spell.  We started laughing so hard that it became clear that the driving force of the roll was whimsy.  We celebrated with a whimsy jewel--a rare variation of the dream jewel that produces magic of a whimsical nature.  Whimsy is a gift of chaos--a bit unpredictable yet delightful fun.

I can't give details about the follow-up use of the spell without revealing secrets that might provide forewarning to the next group, but let me just say that the whimsy jewel lived up to its chaotic reputation.  It worked, but in an unexpected way.

A full life emerges from a mix of effort and luck--a combination of planning and serendipity.  This is one reason that we use the dice in Dragon's Eye Ventures.  The heroes must activate the Path of Honor to earn the jewels that power the spells, but in the end, the roll of the dice determines the outcome.  When they fail, the mavens of mystery must dig deep to find another solution--a much-needed skill in life, facing failure without crumbling, continuing the journey even when you think defeat is inevitable.

But once in a blue moon, something delightful happens in the roll of the dice.  A 100 and a 1 appear one right after the other. The result:  Golden laughter.  Whimsy grins with the gleaming grin of a Cheshire cat.

Thank you to the four mavens of mystery for the gift of laughter in our first Maine adventure.  That was a legendary roll in the Dragon's Eye realms--and the story will be told again and again!