[Today] Rules Redesign

[Eric J. Boyd]

I've been working on my October 2005 Ronnies entry "Today," trying to grapple with the parlor narration problem Ron identified. The next iteration of the game can be found here.

For those unfamiliar with the game, characters are defined in terms of their Pain, manifestations of their Pain (behaviors or feelings stemming from their Pain that they must grapple with), and six important people in their lives, three associated with their Pain and three associated with their Fight, or will to move past their Pain and live well. The game play is meant to take place during the day that the characters must confront their Pain and either defeat it or be consumed by it.

The system has been changed to emphasize setting meaningful stakes that put pressure on the relationships and harmful behaviors of the characters. Each character starts with a Self Pool of 3d6 and a Pain Pool of 10d6. There is no GM, so one player is responsible for role playing the adverse people besetting the character, managing the Pain Pool, and setting the stakes for failure.

In setting these stakes, the adverse player can grant the character bonus dice for making a test by choosing to include damage to their good relationships or having their manifestations of Pain get out of control. The nastier the result they want to include, the more bonus dice they must grant.

The character's player sets the stakes for success and can choose to cancel the result of a number of dice to reduce the Pain Pool, reverse the damage from previous adverse stakes, or to try and improve their adverse relationships.

Once the stakes are set, the player's character gets to roll a number of dice equal to their current Self Pool plus any bonus dice they have (Self dice and bonus dice are supposed to be different colors). Whether a test succeeds or fails is determined by looking to the highest result (1 to 6) on the dice. A number of highest results equal to the number of cancelled dice is disregarded. From the remaining dice, the highest result determines whether the stakes of failure or success win out. In addition, high and low results modify the number of dice in the Pain and Self pools.

If the player doesn't like the result of his roll, he can choose to narrate a flashback scene involving the development of his Pain and featuring behaviors or people associated with it. In exchange, he can reroll up to 3 dice. The color of the die used to determine the test's result determines who narrates the resolution of the test  (either the character's player, the adverse player, or the player playing the friendly NPCs).

Here's an example to illustrate how the rules work (you can also read the full game):

Example: After George starts awake and stumbles to answer the door, Rose sees the dirty and dilapidated state of the house's interior and a heated verbal exchange begins.  The player to the right (who plays all friendly NPCs) requests that Alice be allowed to enter the scene.  George's player approves, and Alice comes downstairs in her pajamas, happy to see her grandma.  Play continues until Rose tries to take Alice out of the house.  It is time for George to make a test. 

The PL (adverse player) sets his side of the stakes.  He says that if George fails the test, George will forcibly kick Rose out of his house and she will threaten to go to court to take Alice from him.  This is the specified bad ending that all stakes must include.  In addition, the PL chooses to put pressure on George's drinking manifestation and his relationship with Alice.  If the test is failed, George takes a drink to steady his nerves after Rose leaves, granting George's player one bonus die.  In addition, if George fails the test, his anger causes Alice to try to leave with Rose and George hurts Alice's arm while preventing her from doing so, granting George's player three bonus dice. So George will get a total of 4d6 in bonus dice for making the test. 

Since George's PL has set his side of the stakes, now George's player can set the stakes of success.  George will have 7d6 (3d6 starting Self Pool plus 4d6 bonus dice) to make the test with.  George's player wants to succeed, but feels like cancelling two dice is not too much of a risk.  One of the cancelled dice is designated to reduce George's Pain Pool by 1d6 and the other is designated to improve his relationship with Rose.  George's player sets the stakes:  If George succeeds, not only does he convince Rose that taking Alice is unnecessary, but he calms Rose down by offering to let her spend some time with Alice later that afternoon (setting up a future scene).

George's player takes the 7d6 (as discussed above) and rolls them — 6, 5, 3, 3, 2, 1, 1.  Because he chose to cancel two dice, the 6 and 5 are disregarded.  This leaves 3 as the highest result, which would result in losing the test and the stakes for failure occurring. 

George's player isn't satisfied with that, and chooses to narrate a flashback scene.  He describes a night at the hospital shortly before his wife Gina died.  George and Rose are in the hall sitting on uncomfortable chairs, while Alice is sleeping wrapped in George's jacket.  Rose glowers at him over a Styrofoam cup of black coffee and says, "Gina's concerned for you, for your job.  How can you provide for Alice and take care of her too.  I think she should stay with me for a while, just until you get things worked out."  George waves her off angrily, "I don't think that's necessary; I know what's best for my own daughter.  I've got bereavement time from work and I'll be able to get a sitter or find daycare before I have to go back."  Rose shrugs, feigning disinterest.  George gets up and goes to the door of Gina's hospital room, looking at her through the window, seeing her attached to all those machines.  He grips the flask hidden in his pants pocket for reassurance. 

Everyone enjoys the flashback that heightens the tension over whether George will fall back into drinking in the face of Rose's current hostility.  George's player rerolls the 2 and two 1s — he gets 5, 3, 2.  The 5 is a die from his Self Pool, so George's player narrates the resolution of the scene based on passing the test and winning the stakes of success he set earlier.  George's Self Pool gains one die (now 4d6), his Pain Pool is reduced to 9d6, and the relationship with Rose gets a Soothe marked on the character's sheet.

At the end of the game (usually a single session of around 6-8 scenes per character), the player will look at the final Self and Pain pools and the state of their manifestations and relationships to narrate an epilogue that reveals whether the character triumphs against their Pain and where they go from their fateful day of confrontation. There is no set content for these epilogues; each player gets discretion to interpret the character's final game mechanics state as they like.

So the big question, does this new rules structure deal with the parlor narration problem? Does it give players the chance to make meaningful decisions?

Any other thoughts or advice would also be greatly appreciated.

[Eric J. Boyd]

In revising my Game Chef entry The Committee for the Exploration of Mysteries..., I've also found myself returning to Today and reconsidering some of the mechanics and setting the proper incentives for active play while still avoiding parlor narration. I'm thinking that rather than allowing a character to gain Self dice through good die rolls, such a result should only be possible through cancelling dice (thereby increasing the chances for failure). Thus, self-improvement only comes with risk.

So I'm hoping to have a re-revised version available for playtest in the next month or so. I'd be eager to hear any input on the mechanics I've discussed, the parlor narration issue (and if I've got it beaten), and whether Ron's earlier concern about "loser" or "victim" characters being uninteresting is overcome by focusing the game on the chance at redemption and self improvement. I realize this is a niche game even for the Forge, but if anyone has interest in doing a play test, please PM me as well.