First Post. Haven't yet played, but hope to soon

[Ayrizale]

Hello,

   As I said, I have not yet had the chance to play, though there is the possibility that I'll be able to run it past a group this weekend sometime and get some feedback or maybe even a bit of a game.  (I'm hoping)

   I would also like to say that I'm really interested in giving this game a try, and I think that it looks like it will be a very interesting game.  My only concern is that the accounting of the scenes will get in the way of the story.  I feel that there may be a one or two session learning curve, especially for players of traditional RPGs, but if they can survive the learning curve then they will be able to get the hang of the acounting and it will be less of a distraction.  This is also something that I'm hoping to find out soon.

   From my first read through of the rules, and in reading the other threads on this forum, I do have a couple of comments.  First regards the layout of the first section of the rulebook.  I'm not sure that I'll be able to express this quite properly, so if it doesn't make sense let me know and I'll try to describe it a different way.

    My main concern is with the placement of the text that concerns the Setting or World Elements.  There is a couple of pages where you describe the framing of the scene and the other elements of a player's turn, and nowhere in there does it mention the creation of the structure within which the scene will take place, such as the world, genre, or setting.  Those components are only mentioned a couple of pages later, and made the first section a little more confusing than it probably needs to be.

   My suggestion for this would be this:  In the early part of the rulebook, where the sequence of the turn is described and detailed, say that the player can either Frame a Scene *or* Introduce a World Element.  Then describe both of those activities right there, with the introduction of the World Element being first since that is the one that is much more likely to happen in Actual Play first.

Most of our games have started with alot more structure. Perhaps that should be made more explicit.

Certain items that should be included at the beginning of every Universalis session would include the various genre conventions to be adhered to and how closely the players are expected to adhere to them. For example in a gritty police drama, Jackie Chan sillyness would be out of place. Players should decide how frequently they will use the Challenge mechanism to clamp down on players who stray from that.

Hmmm. In fact, it might be possible for players to purchase these "mood" and "color" items as Traits that would have to be overcome to be violated. If it is very important to a player to not have a silly game he could purchase "No Sillyness +5" as a game Trait...

   I like these ideas and think that they should probably be better described in the rulebook, with some examples, just as you have here.  It seems to me that the early rounds are some of the most important to a game that is to be more than just round-robin storytelling.  And those early rounds deserve a bit more attention in the book.

Well. To be perfectly frank, our intention was that the players would provide that goal. Universalis is a tool box. If you go to Sears and buy a whole set of Craftsmen tools, its still up to you to come up with a project to use them for. Are you going to build some furniture, remodel your kitchen, what? Sears isn't going to tell you what to do with the tools once you have them, thats up to you.

So, I guess I would say, you're absolutely right. Every game sould have a goal. My first suggestion is that for your next session you and your players develop one and use that as your flag.

That said, I'd LOVE to hear suggestions about how to incorporate player designed goals into the mechanics. Perhaps these goals should be bought as Traits of the game. Mike and I have had several discussions about the idea of a "Conflict Pot" or something similiar that would serve to count down the steps of story resolution, but nothing has really clicked as a possible mechanic.

   One way that I have thought of that this could be done would be to frame a scene very early in the game that is actually the End of the Story.  That way everyone knows how the story will end, and the adventure is in getting there, but that may be a little limiting.  Hopefully, I'll get the chance to try it out sometime soon.

Thanks,

Lael

[Bankuei]

Things that we found helpful in our playtest:

We came up with most of the locations and actors first.  It took half an hour, but also developed the background by doing so.  It neatly defined the conflict and allowed us to concentrate on pure story afterwards.

Afterwords, most of the "bookkeeping" was occassionally adding or modifying traits.  The most traits any character had was like 5 or 6, while most had 1 or 2.

We also agreed on the general style before play began.  This is also helpful in keepin in line with the ideas.  We defined how high we wanted traits to go(maxed out a 6).

Chris