# Rest

## Definition

> [**Objects**](https://srd.mousehole.press/components/object) **are not in continuous, unbroken use. There is invariably some period of downtime between** [**Agents**](https://srd.mousehole.press/components/agent)**. This is Rest.**

* During a Rest, **the Object is inert**.
* To represent Rest in the game, **players are asked to wait in silence** for a time proportional to the [Object's](https://srd.mousehole.press/components/object) wait.
  * This is usually in the range of **seconds to a few minutes**, but it might represent **years or centuries** of time passing for the [Object](https://srd.mousehole.press/components/object).
  * The player chooses how much time the [Object](https://srd.mousehole.press/components/object) will Rest.
* As part of a longer Rest, players may be asked to **choose a prompt** about the passing of time.
  * This is chosen from one of two [Tables](https://srd.mousehole.press/components/tables): one about how the passage of time **affects the** [**Object**](https://srd.mousehole.press/components/object) and one about how the **world around the** [**Object**](https://srd.mousehole.press/components/object) changes.
  * After choosing a prompt, the player is asked to [Change](https://srd.mousehole.press/components/change) something about their [Object](https://srd.mousehole.press/components/object).
  * The longest periods might ask players to choose multiple times from the [Tables](https://srd.mousehole.press/components/tables)
* Atmospheric music can be provided to listen to instead of silence.

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### Intention

While there is little to focus on in the Rest periods between [Agents](https://srd.mousehole.press/components/agent), **making space for it mechanically helps to solidify that we're experiencing this story from the perspective of the** [**Object**](https://srd.mousehole.press/components/object). Whether it is reflective, meditative or boring, we get some small window into the experience of the [Object](https://srd.mousehole.press/components/object) during its long wait.

It also gives the idle minds of the players some space to look backwards & forwards to contemplate the shape of their story, which can be hard to make time for when writing continuously.

Finally, it's nice sometimes to have an excuse to sit quietly!
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### Example

**In** [***Artefact***](https://mouseholepress.itch.io/artefact)**, players Rest after resolving each Keeper (**[***Agent***](https://srd.mousehole.press/components/agent)**)**.

When they Rest, **they choose from six periods of time to wait for**. They might choose *A Century*, which would have the player Rest for *two minutes* in. A [soundtrack is provided](https://christophermichaelroberts.bandcamp.com/album/artefact-deluxe-edition-soundtrack) to (*optionally*) listen to during the Rest. **They would also choose one prompt from a** [**Table**](https://srd.mousehole.press/components/tables) for this time period.

If they want to explore the world changing around them, they would choose from ***Shifts & Currents***, e.g.:

* *Your name passes into common speech as a phrase, with a meaning somehow connected to your history. What is the expression and what does it come to mean?*

Or, if they instead want to explore more direct consequences of time passing, they would choose from ***Dust & Rust***, e.g.:

* *Gold and silver dull. Iron rusts. Colours fade to a sepulchral grey. What would your creator say if they saw you now?*
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### Advice

**Providing music is optional, and not always feasible, but it's a really valuable addition to the game if possible**. Most people seem to find it much easier to listen to a song, however sparse the arrangement, than sit in silence. If you're able to provide original compositions, the tracks should match the periods a player could be asked to Rest and can be named as such (e.g. [*'A Century'*](https://christophermichaelroberts.bandcamp.com/track/a-century)*, a piece of music two minutes long*). Otherwise, providing an appropriate playlist of songs to stream, or even just suggested genres, is fine.

[***Artefact***](https://mouseholepress.itch.io/artefact) **tends towards decline as a theme during Rests, and the** [**Tables**](https://srd.mousehole.press/components/tables) **reflect this**. This is not the only way to consider time passing though—you might want to show how technology develops or society flourishes with utopian ideals. In general, though, it's interesting if the changes that occur during a Rest are out of step in some way with the [Object](https://srd.mousehole.press/components/object) — it is becoming outdated, incomprehensible, taboo, etc.

Finally, it might be worth recognising explicitly that **meditation is hard**, and can be a difficult or isolating experience. This is also touched on in [Safety](https://srd.mousehole.press/components/safety).
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