[HENSHIN!] A Back Cover Spiel, Plot Sequence and Whether I Need A GM

[ElliottBelser MKII]

HENSHIN!  ...is a game about teenaged Mystical Guardians who defend thier friends and loved ones from the supernatural, at the cost of totally screwing up any chance of a normal relationship with said friends and loved ones.  Think Sailor Moon, Buffy: The Vampire Slayer, and (Ultimate) Spider Man.

First part of this post:  Possible Back Cover Spiel.  What do you think of it?  Does it well emphasize the "In saving them, you screw up your relationship with them" theme I so want?  Why do I feel that it's too stuffy and not teenagery or silly enough?

You have a duty beyond that of a normal teenager, Guardian.  And it sucks.  Monsters, magic, craziness of all description, descending on your town, your friends, your loved ones with implacable force - and you have to stop them before they hurt the ones you love.

I know it's hard.  You should be out on dates, not lying to your boyfriend about why you stood him up, all the time wanting to scream "because I was defending you from an eight foot tall preying mantis!"  Your grades are suffering because instead of studying calculus, you're studying Things Girls Weren't Meant To Know, and your teacher wants your head on a spike.  Your parents see your bruises and your scars, and they worry, as they should.

You can only hope that someday they'll understand why you're doing this.

So until then.  Patch up things as best you can. Grab your wand, henshin, and fight the good fight.

You're the Guardians.  And you're doing this for them.


Righty-oh.  Second part!  The plot sequence I had in mind for this game was as follows:

Act 1: NORMAL LIFE.   Wherein the normal life of the Magical Girls is demonstrated.  A good point for the players to suggest and introduce a possible theme for the session, Mr. Sluagh suggested, and I agree.

Act 2: THE THREAT REVEALED.  Wherein a monster or other supernatural threat rears it's ugly head, and attacks!  The players will drive it off momentarly at cost!  What cost?  This is determined by how they roll during the fight, what relationships they strain to get dice to roll (the core mechanic of the game), and what stakes they set!

Act 3: NORMAL LIFE SHATTERED.  The Magical Girls/Mystical Guardians get scenes with the relationships they strained in order to get more dice for the final fight and to see how the relationships were affected or transformed.  This gives them clues.  QUESTION: Should these clues be Schrodingers Catted into existence by the players (Mr. Sluagh, paraphrased for effect: "Aha!  The witch was wearing a pendant on her neck THE WHOLE TIME!")?

Act 4: THE THREAT CONFRONTED.  The Guardians attack and defeat the monster - but do they undo the damage to thier Relationships?  That depends on how they roll and what stakes they set in the fight.

Act 5: NEW LIFE.  A scene or set of scenes featuring the "I learned something!" moments, perhaps new or well/badly transformed relationships.  QUESTION:  I feel I need this, do I need this?


As for the GM question.  I originally thought I needed a GM to create monsters and play as opposition.  However, I'm not so sure this is true anymore.  Mr. Sluagh said, "The monster (supernatural threat) is a bet.  You don't need a GM to bet in poker."  But I feel that monsters made by a GM would be stronger and more interesting somehow.  Maybe I've played too much DitV?

[andrew_kenrick]

Hey Elliott -

I'm not entirely sure I can answer all your questions, but I have an opinion on a couple of them.

First part of this post:  Possible Back Cover Spiel.  What do you think of it?  Does it well emphasize the "In saving them, you screw up your relationship with them" theme I so want?  Why do I feel that it's too stuffy and not teenagery or silly enough?

I liked it. I think it gets across what the game is about and what sort of things you can expect to happen. It's not just about beating up monsters, it's about what you sacrifice to do so. The vibe actually reminds me of a military training manual ("Listen up Guardian! You have a duty to do!"), but as someone who has written a whole book in that style, I don't think that's a bad thing.

QUESTION: Should these clues be Schrodingers Catted into existence by the players (Mr. Sluagh, paraphrased for effect: "Aha!  The witch was wearing a pendant on her neck THE WHOLE TIME!")?

What do you mean by Schrodingers Catted into existence? As in, the clues/interpretations the players suggest/invent are taken as truth? If so, definitely. I always find my players can draw far better interpretations/conclusions from a set of clues than I can as a GM. Likewise, players always get far more out of an investigation if they get to make the clues up as they go along, rather than hunt around for the clues you've left.

Act 5: NEW LIFE.  A scene or set of scenes featuring the "I learned something!" moments, perhaps new or well/badly transformed relationships.  QUESTION:  I feel I need this, do I need this?

It would certainly fit the genre. You could almost have it as a formal 'getting xp/levelling up' phase of the game, but done in character rather than after the game has finished.

As for the GM question.  I originally thought I needed a GM to create monsters and play as opposition.

I think for this style of game it might be quite fun to have a GM to play as the big bad and all his minions. You could almost make it competitive, and have the GM out to win against the players? Rather than have the GM in the traditional role of telling the story, why not have him as another player, except his character is the PCs' nemesis? He could even get his own scenes.

[Mr. Sluagh]

First off, unless you're fanatically rules-wedding this to anime and anime alone, do not use an obscure title that only severe otaku and Japanese speakers will understand.  If you're drawing on Western influences like Spiderman and Buffy, you want to cater to their audiences, too.

I think for this style of game it might be quite fun to have a GM to play as the big bad and all his minions. You could almost make it competitive, and have the GM out to win against the players? Rather than have the GM in the traditional role of telling the story, why not have him as another player, except his character is the PCs' nemesis? He could even get his own scenes.

We have to try
We'll pay the price
It's do or die
Hey, I've died twice
--Once More With Feeling, "If We're Together"

Something Elliott and I discussed that needs clarifying: in any given story arc, the monster will win the first fight and lose the second fight.  This is a foregone conclusion; the question isn't whether the hero will succeed, but what she will sacrifice to succeed.

The difference between failure and success is the difference between two of the best episodes of Buffy: the Vampire Slayer: Hush and Once More, with Feeling.  Both episodes ended with a monster's defeat.  In both episodes, the stakes determined in the first two acts were high.  Both episodes had similar themes of discovery and secrecy.  However, in Hush, the PCs won the stakes, whereas in Once More, with Feeling, they lost.

By the end of Hush, Buffy and Riley had learned one another's secrets, Tara and Willow had met, and Xander was growing accustomed to Spike.  The characters renewed and strengthened old relationships and gained new ones.  On the other hand, in Once More, with Feeling, Giles left, Tara discovered Willow's transgression, and Buffy broke it off with Spike.  In this episode, relationships were strained, destroyed, and devolved.

In Hush, the PCs rolled well.  In Once More, with Feeling, they rolled badly.  I understand that Truth and Justice has a similar system, where taking damage in combat damages relationships.  The difference here is that combat rolls only affect relationships, not the outcome of the fight.

[Clyde L. Rhoer]

Hi Mr. Sluagh,

I'm not sure your mechanic will create what you are saying you want to happen. If the question is; what will you sacrifice? Why would I be willing to sacrifice anything knowing I will win? Perhaps I missed something obvious. If not, I'd like to suggest that you might create more tension in sacrificing by making the outcome skewed to the bad guy so the players are less likely to win without sacrifice. This will likely require balancing via playtesting as too much advantage for the bad guy may just engender frustration in players, where as too little will not make sacrificing worth considering.

Also as a big Buffy fan I think a mechanic that would reward players for incredibly cool quips would be awesome.

[Mr. Sluagh]

Hi Mr. Sluagh,

I'm not sure your mechanic will create what you are saying you want to happen. If the question is; what will you sacrifice? Why would I be willing to sacrifice anything knowing I will win? Perhaps I missed something obvious. If not, I'd like to suggest that you might create more tension in sacrificing by making the outcome skewed to the bad guy so the players are less likely to win without sacrifice. This will likely require balancing via playtesting as too much advantage for the bad guy may just engender frustration in players, where as too little will not make sacrificing worth considering.

Also as a big Buffy fan I think a mechanic that would reward players for incredibly cool quips would be awesome.

The monsters can still do damage before they're defeated.  The way I picture it, you don't risk relationships to fight the monster, you fight the monster to risk relationships.  You don't protect your relationships, you wager them for the chance of advancing them.  Fluctuating relationships create plot.

[Clyde L. Rhoer]

Hi Mr. Sluagh,

I totally understand what you are saying. I think you are looking with the eyes of a game designer, and I'm coming from the position of a player. Let me see if I can better explain my position, and then I'll let the subject drop.

We as game players find ways to work a system. That's part of game play. Some of us may be much more interested in working the system than others, but I would contend that being able to work a system is necessary to do things like create the character you want to play. Also people being people, we're happier when we do something by choice rather than by force, so as game designers we need to use the minimum amount of force to achieve the goals of our design. Those two ideas underlay the rest of my thought, so if you don't agree with them the rest is likely to not be very convincing.

So let me ask a question.

It sounds like you want the game to be this kick ass game where there's a lot of tension created in the final scene as the players face a tough decision as they examine what important value they want the hero(ine) to lose to defeat the monster. The by product of this is that secretly they are actually examing what this principle means to them as players. Am I understanding your goals correctly? If not I may have to add another idea to my queue because that sounds fucking awesome. Also note I'm only talking about the players.

So if that tension is the goal, my contention is that more tension is created when I have to sit there and mull it over and examine the issues importance to me versus my desire to win. I believe that the tension will be greater, longer lasting, and more compelling when I choose to kill my cherished belief to win. This also leaves another very interesting option open. I can choose to let the world burn to hold onto my belief...

[ElliottBelser MKII]

Of course you could choose to say "screw you all - I don't want to fight anymore" and declare, "I can't sacrifice anything else.  I get no more dice and concede the conflict.  Let Sunnydale get swallowed up by the Hellmouth; it's not worth the pain of opposing."

After all, the question this game asks is "What would you sacrifice to protect the ones you love?" and if you can't answer "Not that much" then we've failed as game designers.  (Though we may be reinventing With Great Power.)

As for Henshin being too obscure, maybe Guardians for the title?

[Mr. Sluagh]

You've had some great ideas on this, lately.  Plan on posting them?

[knicknevin]

I love this game idea and, since I know that every game designer craves feedback like a drug, here are my thoughts on some of the issues raised so far:

- Lose the title, totally: it means zip to me and I'm a big fan of the very shows you're using as the basis for the game.

- The game, to me, seems to be about the relationships the PCs have and how these are effected by the secret lives they live: hope I've got your intention right? In that case, knowing that you will defeat the Big Bad at the the end of the story, the first and last acts are pivotal to game play and, indeed, I think they should interlace with the 'monster' story to an even greater degree, with relationships constantly interrupting the PC's secret work.

- Are relationships only with NPCs or with PCs too? For example, the PC's relationship with their mother, father, sister, best friend, teacher, boyfriend, etc may degrade or be strengthened as a result of their actions, but what about the other PCs who are in on their secret world? Can PCs gain relationship dice from each other? And if so, how does that effect long term play, particularly if they get a string of bad rolls? Could PC relationships be 'jokers', expendable not for dice but for extra/automatic successes at the cost of losing trust between PCs?

[ElliottBelser MKII]

Losing the title in favor of "Guardians" or, just to be Pretentious and Meaningful, "The Promise."  I meant it to be a reference to stock footage transformation sequences ("henshin" = "transformation") but that's unneeded Color in the genre.

What I wanted this game to be about (without realizing it the whole time... oh well) was balancing obligations or "promises" youve made, including at least one blatantly supernatural one (everyone must have a variant of "I will guard the ones I love from monsters") and at least one mundane one (for example, "I will not flunk algebra.")  The "strength" of a promise is "how much you've done to keep that promise lately," and is represented with tokens or with points.

So the story is about the relationships the PC's have and how thier secret lives affect it, you have it perfectly down.  Knowing you'll defeat the monster but not knowing the price seems to me essential.  The GM is encouraged to interrupt and frustrate the players ability to fulfull all thier characters promises.

As for relationships with the PC'S, I think that you should be able to make in-game, gives-you-dice Relationships with them, but I'm not sure how to handle them.