[FLFS] Scrip Format

[Josh Roby]

This is continuing in the vein of [FLFS] Reward System At Last! and partially triggered by Eetu's comments in [Polaris] I'm Surprised.

System in question in short: Every character has three Thematic Batteries that are what they are "about".  You get XP by referencing the Thematic Batteries of other players' characters.  This is tracked by the Spoils Scrip, a piece of paper that you hand to the other player when you address their Battery.  When you receive a Scrip, you sign your name onto it, and if there's a 'complete set' of all the players' signatures, you circle the set.  When you pass the Scrip, you score a number of Spoils points equal to the number of circled sets of signatures.  Spoils points then translate into XP.  (If that was too fast, check the link above for a more detailed version.)

So here's my current quandary.  In a recent game of Conquer the Horizon (the AP Report of which I'll get up, someday, I swear), we played online; part of the change of format meant that the players were not recording their discoveries on their own character sheets, but all discoveries were recorded on a central data object that could be referenced by all players and flagged each discovery and exploitation for who got credit for it.  The difference that 'minor' change created was gigantic.  Whereas when you play with a list of your discoveries sitting in front of you, you can reference three or four with every new discovery (racking up bonus dice).  When this list was not in front of the players, we referenced one or two and sometimes none at all.  It's rather obvious, but having the list in front of you as an artifact served as a constant reminder of what fictional elements you wanted to reference.

The reward system of FLFS runs under a similar "reference fictional elements to score points" framework.  However, it requires players to reference the other players' Thematic Batteries, which are recorded on the character sheets across the table from them.  The players do not have any nice artifact in their hands to remind them what to reference.  The simple and obvious solution is to have the characters' Batteries listed on the Spoils Scrip that they've got in front of them.  Which suggests to me that the Scrip should be a short sort of table, with each row containing the player character's name, their TBs, and a long line of checkboxes.  Instead of signing your name, you just check off the next box in the line, and you score points based on how many columns are filled up.

Something like this:

Capt Reid Malenfant	Arrogant, Idealistic, Afraid	X	X	X	X	X	X
John Crighton	Fever Genius, Good Ol' Boy, Moral	X	X	X	X	X
Snuffleuppagus	Loyal, Confused, Habit of Disappearing	X	X	X	X

[/size]

I think this would really streamline play.  Here's the problem: I hate it.  Overall, I want to reduce reliance on forms and tables, which is why the original formulation of the Scrip was just a scrap of paper that gets passed around.  Additionally, I really like the sense of authorship that players will get by signing their name onto the Scrip, rather than merely checking a box.  Circling a group of signatures feels like a group accomplishment.  Sign this paper and pass it on: makes participation in the game tactile, visceral, and immediate.

Additionally, as the game very explicitly fosters characters playing troupe-style and/or players picking up "cameo" roles while their regular character is out of the scene, this sort of configuration falls flat on its face, since the Spoils is an explicitly player-driven system, where the group has to keep involving each other, rather than collectively reference each and every character that's been introduced into the story.

Now, the obvious solution is: "Well Josh, put the main characters' TBs at the top of the page and then just let them sign as normal, sheesh, what's the big deal?"  However, there might be a better solution that I'm missing.  How can I still foster that sense of authorship and group participation while providing that handy reference list?

[TonyLB]

So you've got two types of information, and you don't want them to crowd each other.

Don't most pieces of paper have two sides?

Come to think of it, that's an answer to a question I've been having on how to present things in Misery Bubblegum.  So even if it's totally useless to you, thanks for making me articulate it.

[Josh Roby]

Don't most pieces of paper have two sides?

Unwittingly, you quote me gently chiding my coworkers.  That's certainly a possibility.  I shall percolate.

[LordSmerf]

Joshua,

Quick point of clarification: it doesn't matter whether you reference just one or two or three or whatever Thematic Batteries, right?  So it's not a case of needing to remember all of what is relevant, you just need to remember one thing that's relevant.

Now, not being familiar with Conquer the Horizon I can't say for sure, but the it strikes me that Thematic Batteries are a different beast altogether than what you were dealing with.  Namely: there are but the three batteries for each character, which means that there's not really that much to learn for each character.  I believe I can see where the difficulties might arise assuming that you've got a troupe cast of fifteen or twenty characters (45 to 60 batteries to track).  Is that your worry here?  Because it strikes me that if you're just dealing with the 15 or so batteries of the main characters you're probably not going to have too tough a time...

Thomas

[Josh Roby]

It will boil down to, "Okay, it's my narration, and the Scrip in front of me has everybody's signatures except Laura and Brand, so I'll want to address one of their batteries, which are... (insert their six batteries here)."  That's the only thing I don't like about the use-the-other-side option, since players will need to reference the front (for who needs to be addressed) and the back (for how to address them) and I envision lots of flipping over and over, which could distract from play.

On the other hand, I imagine this becomes a moot point past session two.

[LordSmerf]

I'm just going to toss some ideas out then and maybe something will stick.  Some of these are intentionally strange, maybe they'll trigger something for you.

-"Nametags" with thematic batteries on them so that people can just look at you and see what you've got.
-Little mini-posters (maybe on 6x4 notecards) for each character that lists thematic batteries.
-Some advice in the game text advising you to shout/say/whisper/whatever a thematic battery that you think would be cool here.
-Listing all other characters and their thematic batteries on your own character sheet (in an area similar to Polaris' Cosmos maybe).
-Make a giant poster with character names and thematic batteries that you can hang on the wall.</ul>

Oh, and before you get too worried, I'd playtest them a bit as-is.  It may be that thematic batteries are so memorable and that there are so few of them to remember that no one really has any trouble...

Thomas

[Josh Roby]

Indeed, the proof will be in the pudding.  I'd just rather playtest with a tool that I realize I don't need, rather than playtest without the tool that it turns out I need.

Play opens with everybody going around the table and declaring their TBs, so there is at least that.

The Cosmos option I also like -- I'll see if I can find a way to cram that in there on the sheet.

[Ice Cream Emperor]

My impression is that a significant part of play in FLFS will involve players invoking their own character's Thematic Batteries -- both in order to charge them and then when they are using them to kick ass. Assuming that this involves the player explicitly stating what s/he is doing, it seems to me that this will have a pretty significant impact on how easily the other players will remember each other's Batteries. If the player of Cpt. Malenfant has just made some tremendous diplomatic gaffe due to his Arrogance, throwing the entire ship into peril, then the other players are probably not going to have a lot of trouble coming up with that trait when they are looking to pass the Scrip to Malenfant's player. (It's also interesting worth noting that this will result in players most commonly referencing the TBs that other players have already brought into the action that session, which seems like a valuable feedback process.)

I don't know whether this will be enough to 'fix' the problem you're worried about, but I think the prospects are good -- particularly since, as was mentioned, there are a finite number of TBs to remember, which are the same session to session.

[Josh Roby]

Yeah, I may be making a lot out of nothing, ICE.  I'm sure that after two or three sessions this won't be much of a deal (unless the playgroup goes for super-psycho-troupe play, with a handful of characters each).  Mostly I want to ease that initial 'hump' in the first session or two.

And also, yes, declaring your Thematic Batteries in a memorable way is also very subtly reinforced, so that people will pass you the Scrip, and you can pass it on and score Spoils.