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The Elegant 9
By Corvus | July 11, 2006
There’s something about the number nine which I have always found fascinating. The reasons for this are both mythic and mathematic.
As a person of Swedish descent, I have been fascinated y Norse mythology for as long as I can remember. The number nine is important in the Norse myths. Most significantly Odin, impaled by his own spear, hung from Yggdrasil, the World Tree, for nine days and nights and learned eighteen runes. Yggdrasil itself supported nine worlds on its mighty branches. There are other, less immediately interesting, occurrances of the number nine as well.
Mathematically, the number nine is pretty remarkable as well. When learning the multiplication tables, I refused to memorize them. I preferred to calculate each problem mentally rather than store discreet results in memory. I felt that storing a formula for problem resolution was a better use of brain space.
Believe it or not, math teachers and I didn’t tend to get along.
Regardless, the number nine lent itself well to my preferences. For example: to quickly calculate a multiplication problem involving a nine, multiply the non-nine number by ten and subtract it from the result. Admittedly it’s a two step solution, but for larger numbers it’s simpler to work out in your head than the more traditional route of solving multiplication.
With the problem 37 x 9:
7 x 9 = 63
30 x 9 = 270
63 + 270 = 333
-or-
37 x 10 = 370
370 – 37 = 333
Additionally, if you add the digits of any number until there is only a single digit left, and that number is nine, the original number is divisible by nine. This works for any number, no matter how large.
333: 3 + 3 + 3 = 9
156,348: 1 + 5 + 6 + 4 + 3 + 8 = 27: 2 + 7 = 9
So when faced with creating a simple and elegant noise system for the Drachurae Cycle, there was only one path that had the mythic and personal resonance such a system needed and I based the system on the number nine. There are six primary character elements* which give rise to three key attributes for a total of nine base numbers per character. Each character element has a maximum value of nine.**
The Drachurae Cycle is a scalable system, being as light or as granular as a story calls for. At its simplest, those nine numbers are all a player need keep track of. When faced with a challenge in the world, the player rolls a ten sided die, which is considered to be numbered zero through nine, and adds it to the appropriate element. The storyteller has a target number in mind and if the combined total of the player’s die roll and the character’s element exceeds the target, the action is successfull. This keeps the die rolls to a minimum and makes calculation easy.
At its most complex, I use a multi document spreadsheet with a great many formulas to help keep track of professions and skills and weapon numbers. When (and if) I publish the Drachurae Cycle as a table top RPG system, I’ll be including a CD with software tools on it for those who wish to play at the system’s most granular.
All right, I managed to score a last minute, and much needed, eye appointment this morning. Then I get to do fun things like grocery shop and go earn some money. I suspect that more in depth dice discussion will happen as I discuss more details about the mechanics, but if any dice only thoughts shake loose over the day, I’ll pick up tomorrow. Likewise, I’ll do my best to address any questions you might pose today.
Have a great Tuesday!
*I’ll be discussing character creation in more depth soon, I promise.
**There’s a possible exception to this, but I’ll cover it in a later post… probably in the character creation post.
July 11th, 2006 at 6:54 pm
My favorite number is 27 because its three sets of three threes, form and content are symmetrical. I like where your head is at.