I crit his guts out
Abkajud:
Ah. Heh, sorry I misunderstood you, Rustin!
It seems like Callan is following you - - if I may give it another crack, I'd say that the closest I've come to observing a supportive non-true-believer, so to speak, would be the act of just trying to pursue an unfamiliar Agenda and giving it your best, for the sake of something new.
I got my first shot at Step On Up play through a one-shot of Storming the Wizard's Tower - my Story Now instincts were on full alert, trying to make something more out of my character class and the GM characters I "bought" at character creation. When the game treated such things purely as tools, and not much else, and then again when we first entered combat, I started to get how things were supposed to work. It became clear that there wasn't enough meat in the setting material to really dwell there without a lot of effort.
I have seen Storming drifted into other territory, though - we were playing Etruscan pirates who were supposed to hunt down another group of pirates (dirty foreigners! This is our turf!), and my friend Allison and I ended up focusing on and playing off of one another's character-centered repartee - - we participated in the adventure, yes, but we used one another as the main springboard of conflict - she was clearly much more interested in focusing on the intra-group drama, and I was happy to get in on that too - - it pushed my Story Now! buttons pretty hard, and we had so much fun focusing on that, that the GM ended up ditching the final Big Bad altogether. Using Charged Conversations on each other, Allison and I explored a plot about a jealous, clueless father (me) and the tomboy shielding his pregnant daughter from discovery (her). The pirate adventure became a backdrop for this plot, totally something of our own design. I had played Storming before, and Allison had not - so I was consciously drifting play with her to explore where she wanted to take things.
Does this follow with what you guys are discussing? The rewards that came from drifting Storming the Wizard's Tower only existed in what we got out of our interaction; the rules had nothing to reward us with but the suspense of dice rolls ("Ask if the person's lying!").
Rustin:
Abkajud,
Thanks for the reply. (Sorry, I had written a response, but wanted to sleep on it a second night-- I hope you did not feel ignored. This is just a reply to your first post, I haven’t reflected on your latest).
When I say “support” I’m meaning a positive reaction from a player because a technique presented in play spoke to the question of creative agenda. (Presumably not from the player responsible for the technique).
From the Narrativism: Story Now Adept Press 2003,
Techniques do not map 1:1 to Creative Agenda, but combinations of Techniques do support or obstruct Creative Agendas.
I’m curious about this combination of techniques. Wherein we have a standard, traditionally technique (e.g., critical hit chart) plus a very specific type of technique which I've called “support” meaning: enthusiastic, engaged reaction. I’m not saying a rule does this support, per se. This support is a social communication to others which tells them you are engaged, happy and have had a cathartic release in regards to one of the three questions (creative agendas) because of that technique.
Maybe what I’m saying is: If you want to achieve a specific creative agenda, you might need to prime yourself, so you can support a technique at the right time. Moreover, would it not help -- that part of that support specifically identified what Creative Agenda question it answered for you and how?
Callan S.:
In terms of my hypothesis, priming yourself wont connect you to the groups play as a whole. It's as if you were gaming with people who actually believe in some religions god, and it has something to do with play. Unless you somehow believe that god exists, you can't prime yourself to connect with other players who genuinely do think it does. Here, instead of the notion of some deity, there's the notion of...I dunno how they'd put it, but some sort of yeah, that really critted him right in the guts, yeah!
Or if I'm wrong on that hypothesis, well somehow in your account they are all supporting the technique at the right time. How/by what method are they organising themselves? Could you ask them?
Or am I not reading you right? I'm getting the idea that your not clicking with that moment they all seem to click at, and your looking for a fix. Or am I reading that in and your just talking about making some new game and that part of playing it is getting ready to prime yourself so when the technique comes your ready? If it's just that, I'd say that seems a good idea - I'd just suggest having some text at the front of the game instructing players that advance priming is part of this particular game. But just looking at the idea of priming - it sounds like it'd be good and effective!
Abkajud:
Rustin, like Callan said, it makes sense that new and unfamiliar Agendas could require a little practice to get right. One caveat, though, is that various games will use differing techniques to support a given Agenda, so such practice needs to involve a variety of games.
What's key about this approach is that you'll learn what does and doesn't work, and you'll get a much firmer grasp on how different Agendas... differ. And, of course, get out there and play!
Rustin:
Callan,
I gave your posts some thought.
I wrote my first post with a particular issue in mind (basically some reflections on the Big Model).
You saw a different, though no less interesting issue, and replied to that.
As for my main reason for posting, I’ve pretty much reached the conclusion that most Big Model observations come to: Meh, that’s actually pretty obvious when one thinks about it.
The issue you’ve touched on is more interesting.
You’ve made some pretty bold claims about how and if we can “plug into” any Creative Agenda, be it Story Now, Gamism or Right to Dream.
Yeah, I could go to church, watch the rituals, eat the crackers, drink the wine, etc. . . do all the ritualistic stuff--- but unless I’ve got the conviction, I won’t really get the catharsis or aesthetic release the “true believers” have. Are you saying this is analogous to just Right to Dream, or does it apply to each Creative Agenda?
Am I following you? Have I correctly summarized your points?
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