Psychological randomness
szp:
When I was stuck in Korea last summer, I had come up with an idea for a game about dreams and psychological healing that I finally got around to committing to words. I admittedly was majorly inspired by Inception -- the idea of operating as agents in someone's dream was intriguing. However, the main catch of the game is that the player characters are dream-constructs that do not really exist outside the dreams.
The main conflict of the game would be in how they deal with the tiny universe within someone's head that they are stuck in. The way I'm seeing it now, there would be a higher level conflict in resolving the dreamer's mental/emotional trouble that gave rise to this phenomenon in the first place, with their repressed urges, unconscious agendas, emotional backlashes and whatnot. Because of the ephemeral, non-concrete nature of the game's setting, I would like to make this game as rules-light as possible -- with immediate conflicts being resolved via the players' creativity guided by a handful of stats. If the player characters are able to warp the (semi)reality around them, it would seem silly for their actions to depend on simple probability.
However, it is true that dreams are often random and chaotic and the system would be better for reflecting this. Of course, I'm at a loss -- trying to find a randomizer that is not as concrete as numerical dice yet provides enough wiggle room to simulate the unpredictability of dreams is harder than I wanted it to be. :(
If I may ask, what would be an ideal solution for this? I'm looking for a randomizer (I think there was a Greek-sounding word for this...) that can reflect the capricious nature of dream reality. One idea I had was Rorschach tests -- the player whose actions are being tested will attempt to guess what the Dreamer (with GM acting in character) sees from the blotches. It entertained me at first for a while since it seemingly captured the idea of psychological randomness I was hoping for... But the fact is that there's still too much ambiguity. If the GM really wanted to punt the player in one way or another, they could simply decide that the player's guess was or wasn't close enough for the PC's action to pass the testing.
There was also that it would be really messy to do in actual tabletop play. :[
szp:
Blimey. It doesn't seem that I'm able to edit my previous post...
As the rules thread asked, here's a link to the page for Waking to Dreams -- as of 04/18/11, this contains only a bare fragment of what I've toyed with in the last 9 months. Being as crunch-weak as I am, the actual rules part will more than likely change quite violently. :|
DarkHawkPro:
There is a game system that came out a while back known as MURPG. It's a superhero system, originally, that used what was an "Action Resolution" system. Where the character had a pool of energy and could put as much energy into a single task as their skill in it. it removes the randomness from the situation and bases it solely on ability and willingness to complete the task.
the system died a long time ago and after talking to the company they don't mind me making it more generic and "rereleasing" it as a free product so I've been working on that, rewriting and using it in many different genres, So far i've done Fantasy and Anime with great success. here is the basics.
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_122324284490415&view=doc&id=161300523926124
szp:
Now that you've pointed me back to entirely diceless, I've got an idea I'm still kicking around...
I don't know how effective this will be, but could the source of randomness and unexpected results come from the player's lack of knowledge about their characters' exact capacities?
With how I see the game right now, the stats of the characters will be something that changes every now and then, midst the scene and action. And while the players can definitely lead the character's immediate development to a direction or another, how the GM interprets the character is played will play a role in how the stats -- and what they can safely allow -- will change as well.
I'm thinking that this could work because low stats don't stop anyone from doing anything -- it just means that doing so will be riskier. If the players had direct access to the character sheets in a system as simple as I see it (basically 7 stats total with no resource system), the risk might not mean much. Though if the players did not know how much their characters' sheets changed since the last time they saw it, they might be motivated to take some risk (since it's the only real way for the characters to grow, narrative-wise and stat-wise)...
...but, of course, this might not make any sense when I'm not in my mind. Help? D:
Baxil:
Hi, sz! Welcome to the forums. :)
Quote from: szp on April 18, 2011, 03:36:12 AM
However, it is true that dreams are often random and chaotic and the system would be better for reflecting this. Of course, I'm at a loss -- trying to find a randomizer that is not as concrete as numerical dice yet provides enough wiggle room to simulate the unpredictability of dreams is harder than I wanted it to be. :(
If I may ask, what would be an ideal solution for this? I'm looking for a randomizer (I think there was a Greek-sounding word for this...) that can reflect the capricious nature of dream reality. One idea I had was Rorschach tests -- the player whose actions are being tested will attempt to guess what the Dreamer (with GM acting in character) sees from the blotches. It entertained me at first for a while since it seemingly captured the idea of psychological randomness I was hoping for... But the fact is that there's still too much ambiguity. If the GM really wanted to punt the player in one way or another, they could simply decide that the player's guess was or wasn't close enough for the PC's action to pass the testing.
I am struggling with what you want out of "random". Dreams are "random," i.e. "chaotic" and "capricious"; but NOT in the same way that a die roll is. Dreams have "psychological randomness" (??) like a Rorschach test, but are NOT "ambiguous" like a Rorschach is. Let me sum up what I think you're asking for:
You want a resolution mechanic that
- clearly identifies success/failure, but is not limited to success/failure
- can introduce new elements to the scene (like what a player says about a Rorschach blot)
- is beyond the interpretive control of any single player or GM (unlike, e.g., a Rorschach blot)
Anything else?
If that's correct, I have a suggestion, but I'd like to make sure I'm not shooting in the dark here.
Different topic: Reading through your rules, is there a compelling reason to make a distinction between Ego and Drive? Right now, Ego controls "actions that a real person could do," but high Ego "intrinsically challenge(s) what is capable with one's being", such as eating Saturn in a single bite. Drive "covers things that are explicitly impossible ... by a real person". This looks like a single spectrum to me, and trying to draw a bright line between them doesn't seem useful.
I do like the idea of Drive as measuring "break(ing) out of the role they are assigned", but it sounds to me more like an on/off switch - and one already tied to Alignment. Lucids have this quality called "Drive" that allows them to act in ways besides fulfilling their intended role. If your Alignment gets too high, your Drive switches off.
- Bax
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