[Sor, Dice] "Levelling" dice for dif power levels.

[greyorm]

So I am to come up with no events, NPCs, storyline/timetable of background events (that the PCs may or may not even use), nor am I supposed to introduce any elements into the game that relate to the kickers, but rather have the PCs come up with all of these themselves?

Andy, You missed a very, very important part of what I said. I quote: YOU have backstory. That's all you have.

So, if referring to my statements, Ron may be misreading what I'm saying when he mentions explanations of Narrativism being swung too broadly away from traditional forms of gaming, as I am specifically not referring to any sort of off-the-cuff improvised play weirdness. Prep is important.

My advice was to stop the other bits you are doing: specifically your stated habit of advancing the plotline when the game isn't even being played.

So go ahead and develop NPCs, a storyline of background events, and introduce elements into the game that relate to those Kickers. Just keep in mind all this must be created or altered according to/in-line with player Kickers, becuase the players have to give a crap about what is occuring or its all futile: the players, not the characters, and not 'they should give a crap because...' and that is what Kickers do, they tell you what the player wants and what engages them.

But NO EVENTS. You do not plan events.
Once the backstory is established, that's all you get. The characters provide the impetus for the backstory to develop further, they become the story's inertia, interupting the stasis of the developed backstory and moving events towards a conclusion of some sort.

When you've a little more experience, then I'd say "go ahead and 'plan' some 'events'" but at the moment, it is my feeling (and my experience) that such will drop you back into traditional-play mode (unless you are particularly careful and realize the difference between planning an event and planning a plot are) and foul you up.

You have to respond to events in game and make any obvious changes to the relationships from that. Don't have NPCs doing things to one another unless either the backstory establishes that as already occuring or the players were involved in some way in that change in relationship, providing the catalyst for the event.

That's the thing, though: How come there are stats for the Nameless Ones in Charnel Gods, rather than a blurb saying "any interaction with them will utterly destroy you"...How can I accept "the odds of winning shouldn't matter", when I see how the odds are pitched in the mini-supplements that list sample NPCs

Whoa, Andy, I was responding to YOUR statement, not to material in Charnel Gods, Schism, or anything else: your specific statement that the outcome of a situation didn't matter to you.

[Jared A. Sorensen]

How can I accept "the odds of winning shouldn't matter", when I see how the odds are pitched in the mini-supplements that list sample NPCs (like Schism's gang members and Charnel Gods' Critters, Ancients and Nameless Ones), seeing clearly that they would have an impact on the characters' kickers, actions, thoughts and deeds?

The characters listed in Schism are examples of varying types of Cabals/Psychogens and really aren't meant to be NPCs. In most cases, the characters will end up being up against normal people or themselves.

[Andy Kitkowski]

Good points, all- Even though we got off my original question a lot, I really appreciated the Narrativism tips/clarifications.

Jared: Oops, sorry to misrepresent you there: I couldn't sworn I added a few attributes on some character or other and came up with more than 10, signifying a background/NPC character. Looking back on the Sorcerer mini supplements I have, I see that only CG has "bigger" or "more powerful" NPCs written into the guide. Maybe looking to hard at CG was one of my problems.

I was rereading parts of Sorcerer & Sword the last few days, and what I guess I'm aiming at is some sort of new mechanic to handle these New Types, like CG's boosted attributes, or Ron's "Necromancy Token" system.

Thing is, I needed to be a lot more descriptive and exacting of what I was aiming for, with specific examples. Tell y'all what: Give me a few weeks to do some more playtesting and thinking. If I haven't come up with my own solution then, or need a little help with one, I'll post here with Actual Play examples, background, etc that will help explain what I'm trying to do much better than I've been doing in this thread. In any case, I'll just drop an update in this thread on the solution if it's still on the first page or so, or create a new thread if this one is dead for longer.

Sorry to lead everyone around on a wild goose chase of a thread, only to close it with a "More Later. Maybe.", but it'll be a lot more practical that way.

[Nev the Deranged]

I think I have an idea of the concept you are trying to get across... something like the characters from Black Mask, right?  Who's normal, everyday physical abilities are far beyond what any unaltered human could achieve, regardless of training or effort. Thus they are routinely capable of effects (IE rolls) that normal characters cannot achieve even at the utmost of their abilities.  Is that pretty much it or have I missed the mark?