In Warmongers, the standalone novel I’m working on, there’s a card game (or a wood chit game—I think the characters would use whatever they have on hand) called…Warmongers! The name of the book came first. When I realized how the game was played, I knew it would be called Warmongers and then I could double up the title resonance.
The existence of the game came up in the first draft of Warmongers, something that our crew of fighter friends played while on the march. I was inspired, in part, by The Blacktongue Thief, which has a game called towers. I’ve always loved books with actual cultural artifacts (that’s why the Magic of the Lost maps are written all over), and Christopher Beuhlman’s attention to the cultural use of the game, including variations among different classes and how the game came about, really made me want to do something similar. I’ve also always loved mini-games in video games, to the point where I’ve bought them to play in real life—see gwent from The Witcher and orlog from AC: Valhalla.
So I had my soldiers play something.
I made up some general cards, and imagined it a bit like poker. Masons, Warriors, Shields, Laurels, and the God-King. I hand-waved the rules for that first draft, and summarized much of the moment.
Then I got to this draft, and a brand new scene. At first, I thought I might just summarize the scene, let the night pass for the friends in a haze of rarely found joy, and that I would get away with the rough gist of the rules again. But the scene needed to be in scene and the game represented too much of a tantalising challenge.
I haven’t written the scene yet, but I have written out the rules for the game, which are still in progress with the help of a few friends. It’s a cross between poker, Love Letter, and probably some other card games I’ve played but don’t remember. Hopefully that makes it a familiar, accessible thing to play. I’m trying to get Orbit to let me put the cards on the cover. Maybe one day I’ll even commission some art to make the cards for real!
In the mean time, it’s constantly in flux as I try to make it something real.
Paid subscribers get to check it out early, but I will undoubtedly unlock it all when the book comes out…in 2028. Or even earlier for play-testing. 😜