[Design Riff inspired by Zak Arnston's Deplorable] Dark Nar/Game Supers

[Bailywolf]

This design riff is inspired by Zak Arston's lost gem Deplorable... in fact, 'inspired' isn't really a strong enough word.  This is more an extrapolation on what Zak was going with Deplorable- an attempt to turn it into something larger.  I've tried to get a nod from Zak on playing with his ideas this way, but can't seem to get hold of him, but I'm really excited about the way this thing seems to be taking shape, and wanted to float the concepts here for discussion.  But before that, I wanted to make sure everyone knew where the roots of these design concepts run, and that I didn't originate them so much as elaborate on them.  Ground effects lighting and a pimp sound system mounted on an already better mousetrap.  Anyhow...

Basic Design Concepts

This thing is intended to play out in episodic fairly linier adventures- like pulp stories or Victorian serial adventures.  Players get a lot of control within scenes to have things go the way they want them to go, and based on certain sliding factors, this will have a greater or lesser effect on advancing the Plot.  Players will also have the power to declare scenes, based on a mechanical framework, and to insert their characters (or their characters' influence) into the scenes of other PC's.  It could easily support a competitive style, with PC's opposing each other, or a collaborative one.  In this sense, it owes a great deal to Trollbabe.  It is even conceivable that it might run without a GM at all- though this might take some jiggery-pokery.  This, of course, is a direct nod at The Shab Al-Hiri Roach, which was the first GM-free RPG I ever really groked. 

Assuming a standard GM/PLAYER split though, things run thusly- the GM outlines the Adventure.  Literally outlines it.  Along a Plot Line, with major things and points running from 0 to whatever (say 20), and with key Scenes noted at various stages along the way.  Say, 'Confrontation with John Wong' at 10 and 'Fight in Flour Factory' at 15'. 

Success and Failure

Players get to pick their level of success or failure within a given scene, and based on the degree of Danger they are in, this advances the plot more or less.  When Danger is low, success advances the plot better.  When Danger is high, failure advances the plot better.  But success/fail is all within the hands of the players all the time.

Scenes & Frames

Scenes have one of four Frames, each with its own internal economy and general impetus.  Each scene is Complicated by one of the character's two Menaces (either his Exposure or his Danger), meaning that this factor makes the scene more complex and challenging for the character.  It then Soothes the other Menace, reducing it by a certain amount.  Finally, based on the level of success chosen by the player (success/mixed/fail) the scene Spawns the next scene Frame the player can create.  Sometimes, choice of success is based on the next scene the player wishes to frame.  Sometimes, based on the pacing of the game. 

Romance- dealing with intense and meaningful relationships.  The formation of them, the breaking of them, and actions directly inspired by them.  Romance scenes are Complicated by a character's Exposure, Soothe Danger, and Spawn (Action/Peril/Mystery).

Mystery- dealing with discovery, investigation, or  revelation.  Mystery scenes are Complicated by Exposure, Soothe Danger, and Spawn (Peril/Romance/Action)

Peril - dealing with unexpected risk, threat, or menace.  Death traps, accidents, or trials of nature.  Peril scenes are Complicated by Danger, Soothe Exposure, and Spawn (Mystery/Action/Romance)

Action- dealing with the active and usually physical pursuit of immediate goals... ideally with lots of well described choreography.   Action scenes are Complicated by Danger, Soothe Exposure, and Spawn (Romance/Mystery/Peril)

edited to fix formatting at author's request - RE

[Bailywolf]

Characters

For this basic rundown, characters have a Score called Control and have a Human aspect and a Monstrous aspect.  Under their Human aspect they will have traits- backgrounds, experiences, skills, reputations... stuff they can do.  Under their Monstrous aspect, they will have scary, inhuman, or dangerous traits.  Further beneath each Aspect there is a Menace scale with 3 levels- the first level has 3 check boxes, the second has 2, and the third has 1.  The Human Menace scale measures how much personal Danger the character is under, while the Monstrous Menace scale represents how much Exposure the character is subject to.  What this means is, resolving conflicts with Human traits puts you in personal danger, while using Monstrous traits risks revealing your inhuman side and exposing you.  Both are Bad, but in different ways.

Conflicts, Scenes, and Advancing the Plot

A Scene can be declared by anyone at the table- but the GM's pre-plotted scenes get precedence when the come up on the Plot Line , as they represent the key things which need to get done/confronted/explored in order to move the plot forward.  Players can declare their own scenes, linking things along, or exploring their character's personal stuff... creating 'B Plots' and character arcs.  Based on the Frames of the scenes they pick and Frame, it gives them the outline for the next scene they can chose to frame. 

When a scene is declared, other players can declare that their characters are also present or in some other way influencing action within the scene.  Based on the Success chosen by each party involved, the final outcome is narrated by the scene's Framer, but he can't invalidate the actions of other players, and must instead see that they all blend into something like a cohesive narrative. Everyone is discouraged from seeking mutually exclusive outcomes in these cooperative scenes.  That's just bad form, old man.

It is entirely possible to have overlapping scenes, each with different frames, stakes, and outcomes- this is totally cool, and fairly advanced game-fu.

If there is some kind of conflict- asked for by a player or imposed by the GM- then it flows like so:

1)   The goals/consequences/stakes are established.

   2) Player determines his character's Stance which modifies the dice after they are rolled.  Aggressive stance adds 1 to both Plot and Danger.  Neutral stance takes the dice as rolled.  Cautious stance subtracts 1 from both Plot and Danger.  If this takes Danger below 0, then it reduces the checked boxes on the Danger scale.  Further, an Aggressive stance doesn't Soothe Menace, Neutral Soothes by 1 point, and Cautious Soothes by 2 points.

3)   The Player determines the success he wants and rolls the dice against his Control score(Success 3d6, Mixed 2d6, Failure 1d6).  Dice Equal or Less than Control favor a Human solution, while dice Greater than Control favor a Monstrous solution.  The aspect with the most dice is ascendant, and the player then narrates the results based on which side has more dice.  Ties let the player pick which side he wants to use to solve the problem. 

All other dice- those rolled for the other aspect- add to the Menace scale of the ascendant aspect.  Modify these totals by Stance if applicable.  Based on the Menace scale associated with the scene's Frame, the results may be modified further:

Menace
Level1 OOO    (no mod)
Exposure:  Rumors, suspicious, ill feelings
Danger:  cuts and bruises, minor setbacks 

Level 2 OO      (+1 Progress on Failure)
Exposure:   Accusations, persecution, condemnation
Danger:  gashes and wounds and broken bones, greater setbacks

Level 3 O        (-1 Progress on Success, +1 Progress on Mixed Result, +2 Progress on Failure)
Exposure:  Horrific  Revelation
Danger:  near-death mortal injuries or massive setbacks and loss

If a matched pair of dice are rolled, then Control shifts up or down.  A matched set of dice above Control cause the loss of a point, while a matched set below or equal to Control adds a point. 

If Control drops to 0, the character is consumed with the monstrous, and for a scene, acts out in monstrous fashion without restraint.  While consumed by the monster, the player may pick any success desired, but doesn't roll any dice This adds 1 to Exposure for a Failure, 2 for a Mixed Result, and 3 for a Success.   Once the monstrous scene is over, the character gains 1 point of Control and has to deal with the consequences of the previous scene (taking into account the new Exposure total). 

If Control rises to 6, the character has some kind of personal epiphany which allows him to reduce either Exposure or Danger to zero, and after the scene, dropping Control back to 4. 

4)   The action is narrated, and based on the chosen success, and the Trait picked to further the goal.  If Danger increases by a step, then the results must reflect this increased level of menace, or it must play into any subsequent personal or plot scenes where relevant based on the scene's Frame.



For example...

Danny Fang needs to gain entrance to an enemy's home to rifle it for evidence.  The last scene he was Framed into was a Peril scene, and he had a Success result.  This is what Spawned the Mystery scene he is currently in.

His player opts for the Aggressive Stance, and a Success, and rolls 3 dice getting 2, 6, and 6.  That puts 2 dice over his Control of 3, and 1 under it.  He has to describe how he accomplishes this action with a Monstrous trait (he decides on his 'One with the Darkness' trait).  This is a Mystery scene, complicated by Exposure, but since his Exposure is only 2, he doesn't get any modifier for his level of Menace on that scale.

His Aggressive stance adds 1 to both the Progress and the Menace of the action, brining them to 3 and 2.  The Plot Line advances by 3 steps, but Danny's Exposure increases by 2. 

Further, since Danny rolled 2 matched dice greater than his Control, he loses a point of Control, slipping closer to the edge of real darkness. 

Also, because he chose the Aggressive stance, the scene doesn't Soothe his Danger at all, as a Cautious or Neutral stance in a Mystery scene normally would. 

When describing the scene's action, Danny's player needs to take into account the loss of Control, and the gain in Exposure which takes him into the second rung of the ladder with 4 points- he moves from suspicions and rumors into the territory of accusations and persecution... but since the scene Spawned by a Success in a Mystery scene is a Peril scene (complicated by Danger) he won't have to immediately deal with the consequences of his action. 




Other bits and bobs

Strategy... why ever pick anything less than Success?  Who wants to look like a chump?  Sometimes failure is more interesting than success, and conspiring against your character is its own reward.  Also, as Menace increases, the plot advancement favors Failure- sometimes, you have to get knocked out and captured to move things along.  Finally, picking one result over another lets you decide which scene you can next Frame for your character, and so taking a Failure in a Peril scene might be worth it to you because it allows you to frame the cool Romance scene you have in mind. 

Players know the count for major events along the Line beforehand even if they don't know what they are (baring some kind of foreshadowing), so they can look at their Danger totals, their Control, how far they seem to be along in unraveling the plot of the episode, and the count till the next major scene and decide how fast they want to get there.  Nursing early failures gives players more room to call for their own personal scenes or pursue their agenda... advance the plot too quick, and your personal character arc might get lost in there somewhere (and thus, you won't have the chance to moderate your Danger totals). 

To keep things funky, I was thinking that you couldn't use the same Trait twice in a row.  If you use your 'Ghastly Proboscis' to resolve one scene, you can't use it in the next one, relying instead on your 'Insectiod Grace' or 'Predatory Senses'.  Just as a spur to creative improvisation. 

The dichotomy thing could be used to do all kinds of adventury games- Zak's Victorian Supers is actually my favorite, but I didn't want to rip off his actual game so completely, so I genericified it to Human VS Monster...  it would be a pretty neat fit for my heartbreaker game On the Threshold where the struggle is between the mundane and the magical, and too much magic gets you in Trouble.  You can port most of the nWoD lines into the same framework too. 

It all depends on the structure provided by the Plot Line- and on the episodic nature of the thing.  The Line keeps things moving to a conclusion.     


[/b]Example Character [/b]

Danny Fang
Concept- half-demon cop
Control 3
Human Aspect
Last Honest Cop in Hong Kong
Warrior Poet
Friends in Low Places
Danger
1 OOO
2 OO
3 O
Monstrous Aspect
Inhuman Speed
One With the Shadows
Unnatural Strength
Exposure
1 OOO
2 OO
3 O

[Bailywolf]

I was looking at this thread, and I realized that the reason nobody had responded, beyond this thread already being a massive infodump, is that I completely failed to ask the questions I wanted answered and to point to the bits I thought could most benefit from feedback... "Oh noes! why hasn't anyone responded?  Cause you just trailed off there at the end, and didn't ask anything, braindog. 

So, what I was most hoping to get some feedback on was the scene economy- how scenes spawn followup scene types.  Is the concept itself sound?  Are the scene types and those they spawn logical enough to pass muster?  Would something like this- a gamey system to guide scene framing- something you would consider valuable- or better yet- fun?

Thanks,

-Ben
 

[Anders Larsen]

Hi

I have looked at this a couple of times, and thought I should properly give you some response, though I do not really have much to say.

I is hard for me to get an good overview of how the game will work, but from what I understand of it I can not see any real problem, and in general, it look like it could be a fun game. The way the scenes are structured seems to be an interesting idea. The only thing I am uncertain of, is what the point with it is. Is to create a certain type of story?

My recommendation is just: Play-test it.

- Anders

[Bailywolf]

Hi

I have looked at this a couple of times, and thought I should properly give you some response, though I do not really have much to say.

I is hard for me to get an good overview of how the game will work, but from what I understand of it I can not see any real problem, and in general, it look like it could be a fun game. The way the scenes are structured seems to be an interesting idea. The only thing I am uncertain of, is what the point with it is. Is to create a certain type of story?

My recommendation is just: Play-test it.

- Anders

The purpose of the scene-spawning thing is two-fold.  One one hand, yes, it is intended to produce a certain kind of play, with a certain requirement to do 'other stuff' before working back around to an action scene or whatnot.  On the other, I thought adding an element of game to the way the story itself is structured could be fun.  It might provide another level on which to enjoy the thing.

And you are of course right- to be sure of anything, I need to get some players to break it.

-Ben