[Polaris] Transcending the Rules
Ben Lehman:
Yeah it is in the rules! I think you're the first group (at least, that I've heard of) to ever use the rule in that way. It's on page 76.
Quote
If you are using a protagonist as part if a scene (or even if you aren't), either active player can include that protagonist in their statements, but only with permission of that protagonist's Heart.
Oh, and since we're probably going to be laying out different sorts of relationships with the rules soon (what with the talk here and on anyway), I'm going to name this sort of play (where the rules are present and important but not actually used) as "bank heist play."
I think it's really telling that the experience rules were the primary rules system that got totally ejected. I'm trying to think about why that is, and why it isn't. Here's some thoughts:
* Some rules of the game are inherently passive: They're not there if you don't use them. This is, like, the conflict key phrases. The aspects and such also figure into this.
* Some rules of the game are eminently bypassable. For instance, with the exception of the Heart's guidance of the protagonist, any player can loan any other player a character for a scene or more, so ultimately "who controls what" can be negotiated directly at the table, with the Cosmos divisions as a fallback.
* Some rules of the game are basically non bypassable. These include the general key phrases, the experience rules, the initial aspects, and the initial cosmos rules.
So, what was your relationship with the general key phrases? ("And so it was" being the primary one in a single session sort of game.) My hunch is that you probably still used them, although I couldn't say why.
I'm also really interested in your relationships with the themes and the cosmos. Were the Cosmos active during play (as in: crossing off names, moving names, adding names)? How about the themes (as in: crossing off aspects, moving aspects, adding aspects?) How did you go about these procedures (presumably pretty ad-hoc)?
yrs--
--Ben
oliof:
I'm not going on a tangent with Frank here unless I hear what he and Ben have to say on this.
Ben Lehman:
Quote from: oliof on March 04, 2008, 03:20:38 PM
I'm not going on a tangent with Frank here unless I hear what he and Ben have to say on this.
On what? I'm happy talk, at length, on any of the topics we've touched on but I'm not sure what you're referring to.
yrs--
--Ben
Frank Tarcikowski:
Hi Ben,
Let’s see. Your hunch about the general key phrases is correct, we kept using them. However, at one point a lot of content got established outside the key phrase framed scenes. After 11 scenes of 18 (if I’m counting correctly), we cut from early spring to late summer and discussed what had happened in between, including some major developments for the protagonists. Basically, I just had a flash and suggested what had happened in a “GM narration” kind of style, and the others just nodded along. This was also the point where I turned my own protagonist into a sidekick.
As for themes, we did use them when we used the corresponding key phrases, but as I said, that happened less and less as the game continued. We did add some fate aspects that were established in conflicts earlier in the game. Also, when my protagonist gave the higher starlight weapon of his family to his little sister because she was the one that really ought to be wielding it, I erased it from my protagonist sheet and the player of my little sister added it to hers.
The cosmos was kept up to date for most of the game though I think we did not update it any more in the last couple scenes when it was pretty clear already where the story was going.
So well, we did not abandon the rules entirely, we were just kind of rushing ahead of the rules. I think the reason why we particularly hacked, and later ignored, the experience rules was that they were getting in the way of our pacing.
- Frank
Frank Tarcikowski:
Hi Harald,
Actually, I'd like to save talk about Vincent's article and how that relates to what we are talking about here for later, because it would require me talking about Sorcerer and Poison'd and all kinds of stuff.
- Frank
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page