head games
stefoid:
Just beat me to it. I was just going to say, Paul, that if you think the PCs attempts at headgames were 'silly' (to sum up the various negative vibes you describe them with) then chances are the NPC would also, and the reaction would likely be simple and direct -- basically 'cut the crap' in one form or another.
Paul Czege:
Quote from: stefoid on March 04, 2011, 07:10:05 PM
I was just going to say, Paul, that if you think the PCs attempts at headgames were 'silly' (to sum up the various negative vibes you describe them with) then chances are the NPC would also, and the reaction would likely be simple and direct -- basically 'cut the crap' in one form or another.
Now that, is good advice. Because of the way the mechanics enable players to sometimes force a favorable tone on outcomes from the resolution system, I may be over indulging some of the bullshit. And there's no reason I should. I can reject wimpy victimization of the NPCs via head games, as you suggest, and still accommodate the sometimes "favorable tone" mandate from the resolution mechanics. I think.
Needs some thought.
Paul
Renee:
As a player in the game (but not one whose scenes were cited in this example), I think we should probably talk about whether or not the people involved are having fun or not. If they are, then I'm not sure there's a huge downside here; perhaps you didn't find these scenes dramatic or creative, but they haven't been the only un-dramatic or non-creative scenes we've had. God knows, I've had more than a few scenes that were much more blase than either of the scenes you describe (both of which I kind of liked), and did the exact opposite of playing "head games"...I engaged the conflicts head-on, in ways that were obvious and, I think, expected. Point being, not every moment is going to be gold for everyone.
Matt is sitting right next to me and I just asked him what he thought. His response: "How was that scene undramatic? It was awesome." So what I think we have here, at least in part, is a question about fun...what is fun, and whose fun gets prioritized during play (moment-to-moment, scene-to-scene, session-to-session, campaign-to-campaign, etc.). Sounds like a creative agenda issue to me. Not an irreconcilable one, but one that may require compromise.
Best,
Renee
Renee:
Oh, and one addendum to my previous post:
From a game design perspective, I'm not saying design a game that produces play you don't like. Just that as an actual play topic, functional play is going to depend on players with different agendas and/or aesthetic concerns occasionally stepping back and appreciating each others contributions. I immediately got a tone in this thread that one style of play was "better" than another, and I don't think that's true.
Matt Gwinn:
Paul, what do you think "would" have been dramatic in those scenes. Was there something you expected to happen?
Maybe my character should have really ate the seed, or just handed the seed to the NPC, but those were pretty obvious choices and to be obvious isn't dramatic at all. I'm not even sure doing either of those things would have brought about a satisfactory solution to the situation. For one, the NPC was waffling about whether he wanted the seed or not. Based on what my character knew and my view of the situation I didn't think forgiveness from the woman was a guarantee or even useful in solving the NPC's emotional problem, especially since there was a pretty high probability that the spirit in the seed was bat shit crazy. My character took the initiative and tried to remove that risk and actually help the guy. I tried to do something different, non-cliche, not boring. Yes, my character bullied the NPC around and maybe that's mind games, but so what? I found it compelling and I think the other players did too.
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page