(DitV) Bitterwater
Web_Weaver:
Wow, I have been away from this place for ages, but firstly the first thread that Christoph links to is certainly a good example of what I was getting at.
Secondly I don't think my "do you get in " stake stands up to that much analysis because its not really got any context. But certainly the idea that the stake is really something else can emerge from a contest, and in my opinion as soon as that becomes apparent then giving is the best option. (The point when the stakes are no longer become worth striving for).
The "do you get in" idea was more about the confrontation with the doorman, and the idea is you may not want to constrain the details of the action. The tricky part is that the rules work either way, and the implied stakes can be inherent or even confused in other players' minds.
I would say the absolute best practice is to draw the stakes from the action and focus on exploring the conflict, so a better description of someone barring the door with context would be:
Player: Well I want to confront the Steward, I'll go to his place right away!
GM: You march to his house but there's a burly guard in the way.
Player: Well I barge right past, I'm a Dog!
At this point the GM can decide if its even worth having a conflict, because clearly the meaty stuff is what goes on inside, and from a standard interpretation of Conflict Resolution the real conflict here is "Do you get to confront the Steward?"
But a word of caution. This isn't a standard conflict resolution game, It isn't advisable to start looking at the wider context of the conflict for DitV. Its an action game and you are best staying in the moment. So GM can either say "your authority allows you to barge on past" or "Nope this guy is pretty keen you don't get in let's have a conflict".
And, at this stage, once we know a conflict is on the table then we look at simple immediate stakes that imply consequences but don't prejudge them. Stakes like "Do you get in", can work but as you imply "This guy is clearly delaying you, so: Do you get in to see what's being hidden from you?" can also work.
If you prefer the delay not to be in the stakes, that works too, as long as the delay is explored in the contest and can be addressed by the back and forth of raises etc.
The important thing is that even if the original intent of the conflict wasn't to cause a delay, it might become a tactic in the actual contest, it may arise from the exploration of the contest itself. As could the Dog deciding to go round the back, or shoot the guard, or give and decide the best thing to do is make a scene in the street to draw the Steward out.
These things emerge naturally from the mechanics if you don't place too much emphasis of the consequences of the conflict but instead look at this thing happening now.
To get more detailed, 'Calling the Steward out by making a scene' might be the result of the Dog realising it wasn't worth going to gunfire to get past this guy, so instead he gives and uses the resulting dice to do something else. And this is not going to happen in quite the same way if you are totally focused on "If I win I get past him, If I loose I don't" and plain can't happen if you draw out the implied stakes "If I win I get to talk to the Steward" because changing tack would go against the stakes.
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[*] Previous page