[FLFS] Character, Prop, Set

[Josh Roby]

In Full Light, Full Steam the Game Master prepares situation "Cogs" which can be Characters, Props, and Sets.  Said Cogs are then built into a Situation and engaged with the PCs.  For those who've read the "People and Furniture" thread -- Characters are people, Props are furniture.

The Question: I'm thinking those are the only three classes of Setting elements that need (or can be) created for play.  Am I forgetting anything?

[dindenver]

Hi!
  I dunno, subplots? Plot twists? Events? Conflicts?

[Josh Roby]

Events are juxtapositions of characters, props, and sets.

A conflict is an object of desire (character, prop, or set) and an obstacle to that desire (character, prop set).

Plots and subplots are not designed prior to play; they are the result of play.

[Arpie]

I suppose you're treating distance as an obstacle or bit of furniture, then?

Sometimes people separate distance into its own category, as distance is also used to establish new scenes (as well as serving as an obstacle to desire.) But, then again, so is time (The Next Day or Six Years Ago are treated as a type of distance as well as progressions of time, for instance.)

[Troy_Costisick]

Heya,

How about a Wrench?  Something that complicates the Situation.  Wrenches could be Color that makes the other three components more compelling.  For instance an Enemy Combatant (character) could have the Wrench- Arch Nemisis.  Thus the character becomes more interesting.  It's just something more to help the GM construct the Setting for the players.

Peace,

-Troy

[Josh Roby]

Well, distance is not something that appears in a very signficant way in Full Light, Full Steam, but that's mostly a stylistic choice on my part.  The distance between any two things is relatively irrelevant except as color -- I'd expect lots of games will run roughshod over where the planets really "should be" in their orbits and the like.  However, in a scenario where distance is important, I think I'd frame it as an element of Sets -- either as a characteristic of Sets (the Vale of Sorrow is ten miles long) or as a set of relationships between Sets (the Temple of Artemis is ten miles from the Mouth of the Vale).

You confused me for a moment there, Troy -- I immediately said to myself, "Well a wrench is a prop, you hold it in your hand, duh."  But you're talking more like a monkeywrench, in regards to the story.  By your Enemy Combatant having "Arch Nemesis" I take it you mean that the character is my arch nemesis, rather than the character has an arch-nemesis, yes?  That sort of thing is really big in my design, but it's more a characteristic of a character, rather than something independent of and outside the character.  In FLFS, some Cogs including characters are made foils to the player characters during the situation design phase, and arch nemesis and rivals certainly fit the bill.

[Troy_Costisick]

Heya,

You confused me for a moment there, Troy -- I immediately said to myself, "Well a wrench is a prop, you hold it in your hand, duh."  But you're talking more like a monkeywrench, in regards to the story.  By your Enemy Combatant having "Arch Nemesis" I take it you mean that the character is my arch nemesis, rather than the character has an arch-nemesis, yes?  That sort of thing is really big in my design, but it's more a characteristic of a character, rather than something independent of and outside the character.  In FLFS, some Cogs including characters are made foils to the player characters during the situation design phase, and arch nemesis and rivals certainly fit the bill.

-Yeah, you got it.  I didn't mean to be so cryptic.  I was refering to Wrench as a "Wrench in the Works" sort of thing.  Having the Wrench be color that adds dimensions to the other cogs may help the GM design better elements.  But if you already have that built in, that's awesome!

Peace,

-Troy

[Ice Cream Emperor]

That sort of thing is really big in my design, but it's more a characteristic of a character, rather than something independent of and outside the character.  In FLFS, some Cogs including characters are made foils to the player characters during the situation design phase, and arch nemesis and rivals certainly fit the bill.

Though it sounds like you may have this covered, I do think what you describe and what Troy suggested (as best I understand it) are a bit different. Or at least, I can imagine a GM preparing a set of Wrenches that are not linked to characters beforehand, but are instead used by the GM during play to ramp up the importance of a situation.

For example, it may be that one of the PCs is an orphan, with much mystery or angst surrounding his parentage. A GM might prepare the Characters, Props and Set, and then a Wrench: "Is (The PC)'s Father". At this point, the GM doesn't have to assign this trait to a character -- where it might potentially never come up, or be somewhat anticlimactic when introduced. Instead, the GM can wait until an appropriate moment presents itself in the gameplay, and then 'toss in the Wrench' -- assigning this trait on the spot in a way that ratchets up the tension, or otherwise jumpstarts a lagging scene.

[Josh Roby]

That would be really neat, ICE, sort of like Dogs' proto-NPCs in that specifics can come up in play.  I'm not sure if it would be appropriate in FLFS, with its emphasis on equity between players and GM -- giving the GM that discretion and not matching it with something on the players' side doesn't seem like a good 'fit'.  But I can certainly see where it'd be neat in other situations.

It is more of a story element, rather than a setting element, though.  It is, as Dave suggested, a plot twist.  Which begs the question, can you construct stories with pieces in the same way that I'm building situations with pieces?  Probably a different thread (and a different project), but if everyone had cards with stuff like 'introduce a character,' 'plot twist,' and 'climax!' that they could throw out there, maybe marked up and customized, maybe not, that would be an interesting play experience.