[Polaris] But only if it wasn't my fault
Callan S.:
Ron, I have to say I just didn't read any note in your post to say that you'd changed any mechanics? If you changed some mechanical element, yeah, it was a mechanical change. I Just didn't catch the note on the rule change (still missing it on the rereads, for what it's worth).
Frank Tarcikowski:
Ron, I think to require exhausting an aspect for “but only if” might lead to a lack of any “got to” conflict phrase to keep the dialogue up. Maybe contrary to some other peoples’ experience, my experience with Polaris conflicts has generally been that they did not devolve into some sort of power struggle, but rather, would ramp up the drama and tragedy and make the fiction all the richer for it. “But only if” is the easiest way to do this, without having to worry about aspects or running into a wall where the conflict cannot go on by the rules even if you’d want it to.
Maybe my mindset when playing Polaris is different from the mindset of some other players? I’ve always played Mistaken in such a way that the Heart would appreciate my contributions (or so I hoped). When she’d say “you’re such a bitch”, that would be a compliment, without an edge of frustration. Very often, my first “but only if” would simply be answered with “and that was how it happened”. And when I played Heart it’s been much the same.
“I run that treacherous whore right through with my starlight sword.”
“But only if, as you slay the demon, you also slay your unborn child.”
“Fantastic! And that was how it happened.”
- Frank
Bret Gillan:
Yeah, your But Only Ifs really spun out of control. Suddenly there was no need for the fiction - the entire game was being played out in the But Only Ifs. I'm not really sure of a solution for it though apart from the group growing comfortable with the rules and with one another.
But Only Ifs have been sticky whenever I've played, too. In one particular instance, a player was extremely overprotective of his character. He would routinely say things to the effect of, "But only if nothing bad happens to me," or "But only if all the negative consequences fade and have no impact whatsoever."
Ben Lehman:
There is one rules point here which I think is quite important. Actually two rules points.
First, all things which you state in the future (outside the scene) with a key phrase (that'd be But Only If and And Furthermore) have to be written on the sheet as a Fate. This puts them absolutely "up for grabs" during play. "But only if, a month from now, you kill your father" doesn't mean that the character is magically locked into killing their father in a month, but rather that the topic of their killing their father in a month has now been introduced into play and can be the subject of more aggressive key-phrase use at a later date. This is pretty explicitly stated as a rule (I will look up a citation when I get home tonight) and I think is probably one of the most commonly overlooked rules in the game. In hindsight*, I would have stated it in much larger type, including on conflict reference sheets.
Secondly, experience is solely at the discretion of the Mistaken. This means that, unless you're willing to let the Heart bowl you over with weaselness, such cowardly statements as "but only if there was nothing I could have done" are completely ineffective in negating the moral decisions at the core of the game. This is another "in hindsight, I wish I had stuck more in the book about it" thing, but when I play, I simply don't allow such statements to affect my experience judgement. If anything, attempting to heartlessly weasel out of responsibility results in more experience. (Think about it: how terrible is it to not care whether someone lives or dies, but only whether or not it's your fault? I consider this even worse than a reasoned decision to let them die: it shows not merely contempt for a person's life, but an insane level of selfishness and narcissism. Such a decision merits hatred of a person and callousness, so two checks at the least.)
The conversation about "but only if" getting too convoluted is excellent, but I have little to add to it. I love the houserule that you must restate everything that's been said before in order to use the phrase, and will use it the next time I play.
"I kill the demon and the demon is actually my mother in disguise but only if she tells me she loves me as she dies." Yes, nice.
yrs--
--Ben
* At the time of first writing, it wasn't really necessary to state this: of course play was mostly linear in time and statements about the future were necessarily misty. It's only now, with a bunch of designs in which binding negotiation of future-play is actually acceptable, that this emphasis becomes necessary.
Callan S.:
Quote
Think about it: how terrible is it to not care whether someone lives or dies, but only whether or not it's your fault?
? It's the player saying "but only if there was nothing I could have done", not the character, isn't it?
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