[ingenero] invoking mechanics that dont change the fictional situation
happysmellyfish:
How frequently do you envision these conflicts being played out? And how varied should they be?
I ask because, a while back, when playing a hack and slash RPG, my group had this weird urge to narrate every action in rich detail. This sounds like a good idea - for a while. But we were playing a hack and slash so, all we were narrating was 50 iterations of "I try to strike." Pretty soon, we had nothing in the tank, and the purpler prose was quietly forgotten, replaced with pretty raw dice rolling. Then, inevitably, when we get back to the village, and there's a chance for 'proper roleplaying' everyone is bored of all that storytelling crap, and the scenes fall flat.
That's happened a few times to me, over the years.
That's not what I think will happen with your game, but I do think it could be a risk. So just as a ballpark figure, how long should these conflicted scenes last? And at what point do you think people are going to start running out of narrative juice, particularly if the mechanical aspects are more or less static?
Oh, and one last question, how much control do players have of the game world? I'm not using the correct Forge lingo for this, but what I mean is - do players just control player characters? Or do they also control certain aspects of the scene as a whole? Can they narrate that a bus load of sexy college girls happens to drive past, and if they mess this up, they'll lose a lot of Soul? It seems like, if the players are able to narrate more than just their own character's actions, they'll be able to produce more varied Body/Soul instances.
Paul Czege:
Hmm. Maybe the additional requirement of players narrating what they're risking is a creative problem for the players. Is the narrating of the additional risk creatively inspiring? Or is it just additional complexity and work?
What I might do is have some thresholds on those Body and Soul points:
If you're down more than one Soul point, you have to get another character to do something for you that's really your responsibility.
If you'd down to just one Soul point, you won't take action on your own behalf until someone else gets angry and argues some sense into you.
If you're down more than one Body point, you act after the opposition in your next physical conflict.
If you're down to just one Body point, you don't act at all in your next physical conflict until you've been harmed by the opposition.
Something like that.
Paul
stefoid:
Quote from: happysmellyfish on March 28, 2011, 03:33:29 AM
How frequently do you envision these conflicts being played out? And how varied should they be?
I ask because, a while back, when playing a hack and slash RPG, my group had this weird urge to narrate every action in rich detail. This sounds like a good idea - for a while. But we were playing a hack and slash so, all we were narrating was 50 iterations of "I try to strike." Pretty soon, we had nothing in the tank, and the purpler prose was quietly forgotten, replaced with pretty raw dice rolling. Then, inevitably, when we get back to the village, and there's a chance for 'proper roleplaying' everyone is bored of all that storytelling crap, and the scenes fall flat.
That's happened a few times to me, over the years.
That's not what I think will happen with your game, but I do think it could be a risk. So just as a ballpark figure, how long should these conflicted scenes last? And at what point do you think people are going to start running out of narrative juice, particularly if the mechanical aspects are more or less static?
Oh, and one last question, how much control do players have of the game world? I'm not using the correct Forge lingo for this, but what I mean is - do players just control player characters? Or do they also control certain aspects of the scene as a whole? Can they narrate that a bus load of sexy college girls happens to drive past, and if they mess this up, they'll lose a lot of Soul? It seems like, if the players are able to narrate more than just their own character's actions, they'll be able to produce more varied Body/Soul instances.
The basic mechanical options for the players are (in combat language) offensive, defensive, or try for advantage. a contest will last for about 6 or 8 iterations if both opponents are skilled, or maybe just 2 or 3 iterations if unskilled.
In challenge phase (where these rules comes into effect) it is 100% in character point of view.
I have to playtest more to work out if things get too hard to narrate or too repetitive.
stefoid:
Quote from: Paul Czege on March 28, 2011, 08:28:23 AM
Hmm. Maybe the additional requirement of players narrating what they're risking is a creative problem for the players. Is the narrating of the additional risk creatively inspiring? Or is it just additional complexity and work?
Good questions. I havent been able to determine if its a creative problem or simply forgetting/familiarity with the rules.
It seems to me that it should be extra creatively inspiring reward for the extra work. But I cant back that up yet.
Quote
What I might do is have some thresholds on those Body and Soul points:
If you're down more than one Soul point, you have to get another character to do something for you that's really your responsibility.
If you'd down to just one Soul point, you won't take action on your own behalf until someone else gets angry and argues some sense into you.
If you're down more than one Body point, you act after the opposition in your next physical conflict.
If you're down to just one Body point, you don't act at all in your next physical conflict until you've been harmed by the opposition.
Something like that.
Paul
I can see that, but its a separate issue. The issue is with the risking of body and soul in the first place having no basis in the fiction, even though the rules say 'hey, you know you should kinda try to remember to base the risk action in the fiction, please'
With regard to the consequences of having lost body or soul, I dont want to have any more bean counting during conflict than there already is. By all means play 'ouch!' or 'dammit!' when you take a hit, but there are no mechanical effects.
with
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