[King Rat] Setting decision and further design ideas

[Przemyslaw F. Szkodzinski]

My September Ronnies entry, King Rat (check out the link in my signature), was pending several game making-or-braking decisions. I have already stated in the Ronnies feedback thread that the game is going to be written with a given setting in mind (although I'm not going to limit potential gamers anyhow - I'm aiming for setting flexibility similar to those of My Life with Master and Dogs in the Vineyard). Now, after some deliberation, I have made up my mind that the game is going to be set in Poland, after the year 1953 (or 1956, when the destalinization era began in the full). I don't want to impose any restrictions on when the game will definitely end (you could even play up to 1989 if you're so inclined). Lengthy campaigns are very much in order. The game's got a sort of an endgame trigger already in place (sort of, because it only signalizes that the end of the story is getting near - I figure that the game could go on for quite long a time afterwards).

The main reason behind my decision is that the setting gives me enough freedom to implement and emphasize several narration styles in the game (from down-to-earth realism through the absurd to the very surreal). I've decided against setting the game in the WW II period after reading several topics in the lumpley games forum, most notably the one concerning SS in the Valley. Too grim to be playable. I've decided against any settings based on pure fantasy because it would make the issues that the game is supposed to raise much more distant (imagine Catch 22 set in the future, with astronauts, aliens and whatnot instead of the US Army).

The main design goal I've set for the upcoming draft of King Rat is fine-tuning the ending (or rather changing it almost completely) and, most notably, introducing the idea of parallel PCs. In short, I'm planning to allow for two general types of King Rats - isolated and political. Isolated King Rats are going to be similar to The King from Clavell's novel, i.e. they're going to be confided in a prison, a prison camp or some such place. Political King Rats are going to be the ones acting more in the open (in the Party, a local committee or in the military), but still restrained to staying inside the borders of Poland. Players could either choose to limit themselves to only one kind of King Rats or select any of these two according to their preferences. That would require having to sets of Global Resources (one for each "sphere"), and, in order to keep all players involved at all times, making the stories and situations of every PC connected with each other. It would also make the mechanic for introducing Friends, Enemies etc. in other players' scenes a wee bit more complicated (but I'm in the process of figuring something out, luckily).

The main question I'd like to ask - has this or something even vaguely similar been done before and to what effect? And, although it could be pulled off, wouldn't it make the generally narrativist game too complicated? Sorry for not being able to give you any more concrete data, but I won't have too much time to spend on RPG design until November the 15th.

Another question - I've been contemplating allowing player's to spend some of their starting Resources in order to improve their starting social/political status. Would it require introducing another numerical value, namely Status, or could it be left up to the players or the GM to decide?

Any random comments are, of course, very much in order.

P.S.
To anyone who might be interested in the game - I loyally warn that it's going to take a really long time to publish the damn thing (and I am planning to publish it). Crap, I'm not even viable for a full-fledged bank account!

[Malcolm Craig]

Fantastic, great to see King Rat moving onwars and upwards.

I think the potential for 'Isolated' and 'Politcal' king rats is great, there's a lot of good stuff there to play with. Am I correct in thinking that within the context of the game, it would be possible for a single player to play both a 'Political' and 'Isolated' character at the same time, the 'Isolated' character perhaps being subservient to the 'Political' king rat in a wider context?

I can't say whether or not something exactly the same (or even similar) has been done before, but I certainly think that King Rat shows great promise as a product in and of itself.

Surely status should be decided between the players after character creation, through discussion rather than any numerical/mechanical means? If I was playing/running, that's very much the way I would like to do it, having someone being the ranking rat by the consent of the others, something which can so easily be overturned in a moment. I'd certainly keep it non-numerical.

Cheers
Malcolm

[Przemyslaw F. Szkodzinski]

Great input, thanks!

I think the potential for 'Isolated' and 'Politcal' king rats is great, there's a lot of good stuff there to play with. Am I correct in thinking that within the context of the game, it would be possible for a single player to play both a 'Political' and 'Isolated' character at the same time, the 'Isolated' character perhaps being subservient to the 'Political' king rat in a wider context?

Not a bad idea, although it would require more effort on the player's part, I assume (twice as much narration). Maybe it could be included as a new, special Relationship of a sort - let's call it, say, a Bond. The 'Isolated' King Rat controlled by the player would have to be connected in some way to the 'Political' one - by kinship or otherwise. It brings about the possibility of many plot twists (for instance the seemingly subservient King Rat could actually know some dirt on his subjugator). Bond that is neither friendship nor hatred - something of a common interest, but not quite. It would also help define the way in which such relationships operate mechanics-wise.

Surely status should be decided between the players after character creation, through discussion rather than any numerical/mechanical means? If I was playing/running, that's very much the way I would like to do it, having someone being the ranking rat by the consent of the others, something which can so easily be overturned in a moment. I'd certainly keep it non-numerical.

Point taken.

Thanks,
PSz

[Malcolm Craig]

Great input, thanks!

My pleasure.

Not a bad idea, although it would require more effort on the player's part, I assume (twice as much narration). Maybe it could be included as a new, special Relationship of a sort - let's call it, say, a Bond. The 'Isolated' King Rat controlled by the player would have to be connected in some way to the 'Political' one - by kinship or otherwise. It brings about the possibility of many plot twists (for instance the seemingly subservient King Rat could actually know some dirt on his subjugator). Bond that is neither friendship nor hatred - something of a common interest, but not quite. It would also help define the way in which such relationships operate mechanics-wise.

That sounds like an excellent and workable idea. It could be good playing games like this on a dual-level; sometimes the focus is on the subservient, lower-level, isolated rat and sometimes the focus can be on the higher-level political rat. There could be interesting opportunities for weaving stories around this and using the higher/lower level rat to further the others aims in their own sphere. If that makes any sense at all.

Cheers
Malcolm

[Przemyslaw F. Szkodzinski]

Sorry for not being able to reply earlier. I barely made it - I believe the topic would fall off the first page tomorrow.

There could be interesting opportunities for weaving stories around this and using the higher/lower level rat to further the others aims in their own sphere. If that makes any sense at all.

Yes, it does make sense - I've been thinking about it myself. That's exactly the reason why I want to include it in the game's mechanics - in order to make it easier to understand and play, but also to prevent any abuse of such dual PCs that could completely unbalance the game.