[Dreamation: Capes] Eyes on the prize

[TonyLB]

So I ran a tournament of Capes.  Formulae for victory, and how to earn points, and all that jazz.  Winner got a shiny new folder of sticky click-and-lock modules.  I was a bit nervous coming in ... y'know... roleplaying games are (I am informed by many sources) supposed to be cooperative.  Would the system break under the sheer weight of people vying for the prize rather than aiming for selfless roleplaying?

Tournament play is now my absolute favorite way to play Capes.  It got absolutely everyone into the right mindset from the very get-go. 

We had seven other players, of whom Andrew was an expert (and quickly put in charge of administering rules for the second four-person table), Elizabeth had played a bit before, and the remaining five needed every bit of rules described.  That took a little while.  But they had this wonderful, avid interest ... these were the rules they were going to use to win.  Before play even started, folks were peering over the character sheets, saying "Okay, who's playing what?  I want to pick something that's going to have a lot of connections to what other people are playing."  And once they were playing, people were making some nasty conflicts ... working off of the Exemplar connections, and then improvising wildly above and beyond that.

I had two major regrets:  First, my formula was a bit whacked out.  The formula (Story tokens spend - Debt still outstanding) x (Inspirations spent) undercounted the importance of story tokens vs. debt, and particularly left no advantage (and significant disadvantage) to a person who lost a massively contested conflict in the last page of the tournament (sorry, Elizabeth!)  A large number of people had spent less Story Tokens than they had outstanding debt, and ended up with negative scores despite pretty stellar play.  For the next tournament the formula has to be (Story tokens earned + Story tokens spent - Debt outstanding) x (Inspirations earned).

My second regret is simply that the event wasn't long enough.  Maybe multiple rounds with elimination?  I really saw some people hitting their stride in the system just as we were running out of time, and I was all heart-broken ... I wanted to see them take those budding skills and put them to the test!  No fair!  You can't go home NOW!

[Andrew Morris]

Tony, the Capes tournament was an awesome idea, and I was shocked to see all those players I'd never heard of lining up for an indie game. Rock on!

As to your formula, yeah, it was...odd. It kinda just became a contest to see who wasn't into the negative numbers. Also, as a bit of friendly criticism, it totally went over my head when you explained it. Seeing it written down, I'm like, "Duh...why couldn't I follow that when Tony explained it?" But for future tournaments, you might want to write it out so people can see it and reference it as they play. At several points in the game, I thought, "Now, wait...what do I want, Inspirations or Story Tokens?" In the end, it didn't matter for me personally, since I wasn't playing to win. But a bit more clarity on the formula would be good. At least offer it in different ways (e.g. explain it, write it out, give an example), so that people who absorb information differently won't be left out.

More time would be good. I think our table managed to protect some civilians, and...uhm...I think that was about it. I could be forgetting stuff, though. It was at the end of the convention, and my brain was fried.

Another item to consider is that different tables are going to go at different speeds, which leaves players at the slower table at a disadvantage (having taken fewer turns in the same amount of time). I sorta, kinda referenced this in my thread on pacing.

Funny point: I'd totally missed how Debt on your characters was a bad thing, for scoring purposes. So, I'd created a Debt whore character, planning to just dump him after the Scene. It was literally moments after people realized just how much Debt that character had racked up when Tony announced, "Don't forget, Debt on any characters you used count against you." I said something vulgar, and the rest of the players at the table found my predicament hilarious. Again, I'm glad I was just stirring the pot rather than trying to win.

"Aww" point: That girl Elizabeth wanted the prize so badly. I really felt for her. She absolutely needs to win the next time you have a tournament.

[TonyLB]

Another item to consider is that different tables are going to go at different speeds, which leaves players at the slower table at a disadvantage (having taken fewer turns in the same amount of time). I sorta, kinda referenced this in my thread on pacing.

For what it's worth, I was actively goading the folks at my table by saying "Hey!  While we're sitting here chatting about movies we've seen, the guys at the other table are racking up points."

[Andrew Morris]

Fair enough. I didn't stress the "hey, the others guys are getting ahead of us" point at all.

[Bret Gillan]

Was Elizabeth that young girl you demoed to and who played InSpectres?

Tony, the Capes tournament idea is awesome. I'm planning on running a Capes game at Arcon in Oswego, NY - maybe I'll see if I can run a tournament instead.

Do you feel that the emphasis on competition had any sort of effect on the narrative - positive or negative?

[Andrew Morris]

Was Elizabeth that young girl you demoed to and who played InSpectres?

Eh? Was that addressed to me, Bret? I didn't demo Capes for anybody at Dreamation. And the only "young girl" in my InSpectres game was someone else. So, if it was addressed to me, I'm thinking the answer is "no."

[TonyLB]

Was Elizabeth that young girl you demoed to and who played InSpectres?

Oh ... the daughter of the mother/daughter pair that I hooked on Indie Games as their first ever RPGs?  No ... Anne and (urgh ... Daria?  No ... grrr ... can't remember) her daughter had left the con by the time of the tournament slot.

Do you feel that the emphasis on competition had any sort of effect on the narrative - positive or negative?

Totally positive.  People were digging for horrifyingly over-the-top evil (or over-the-top good) monologues, in order to drag Story Tokens out of other players.  It sparked creativity.  We had supervillains beset by mobs of angry normals, superheroes revealing each other as the evil mastermind behind the narration, all sorts of spectacular and creative stuff.

[Matthew Glover]

Okay, this may be a little off-topic, but I'd like to hear a little more about those "sticky" click-n-locks that were up for grabs.  How were they sticky?

[TonyLB]

Okay, this may be a little off-topic, but I'd like to hear a little more about those "sticky" click-n-locks that were up for grabs.  How were they sticky?

Like this.

[Zamiel]

I had two major regrets:  First, my formula was a bit whacked out.  The formula (Story tokens spend - Debt still outstanding) x (Inspirations spent) undercounted the importance of story tokens vs. debt, and particularly left no advantage (and significant disadvantage) to a person who lost a massively contested conflict in the last page of the tournament (sorry, Elizabeth!)  A large number of people had spent less Story Tokens than they had outstanding debt, and ended up with negative scores despite pretty stellar play.  For the next tournament the formula has to be (Story tokens earned + Story tokens spent - Debt outstanding) x (Inspirations earned).

You know, I'm re-reading this (and tagging it to Del.icio.us for future reference, and it occurs to me to ask ... Did you mean the total points in Inspirations earned, or just the absolute number of dice of Inspirations earned? Either could be meaningful, I suppose. The first makes maximizing the values for big payoffs more important and the latter means going for more numerous and by definition smaller payoffs.