[FLFS] HMS Superb - Lingering Scenes

[Josh Roby]

For reference, prior posts include Reward System At Last! and Scrip Format.

My LAGames group (redivider, alejandro, Judson) got together for our second session, first session of roleplay, for our playtest of Full Light, Full Steam.  One of the things that FLFS lacks is a scene-framing mechanic, which as I playtest I am coming to see as more and more important to giving the game a robust structure.  This is especially the case as we saw the reward system actually interfere with a satisfying narrative in this last playtest.

In short: there are a number of scraps of paper called scrips equal to the number of players.  Every time you reference another character's central concept (as described in Thematic Batteries), you pass them the scrip.  Each time you pass the scrip, you score spoils points which translate into XP.  The scrip also becomes more valuable as it is passed.

On the good side, the second scene of the night entailed the characters in a mess hall talking back and forth about the mission they'd been sent on.  This scene saw the scrip passed back and forth a great deal, and since the situation is always created off of the character batteries, this created a scene which both introduced the characters and developed the situation in ways that I frankly haven't ever seen in a game before.  (It probably didn't hurt that redivider is a quirky political history freak and the situation involved some utopian socialists.)

However, most of the other scenes in the game had some serious pacing issues.  Judson put it best when he described scenes as starting off really well and then trailing down and lingering but not quite ending until very literally nothing was happening.  Players would jump into a scene, do what needed to be done, and then eye eachother over the table as they figured out how to squeeze one more pass of the scrip.  So each scene ended with ten to twenty minutes of character banter that was no longer introducing the characters, just performing reiteration that was not, strictly speaking, necessary.

We identified the escalating value of the scrip as the problem -- not only was there more points to be gained by doing endless character-reinforcement, but there was an exponential advantage accruing.  So if I held onto the scene for one more minute, I could score three points now and increase the value of the scrip for every pass afterwards in following scenes.

As a solution, we're going to try a decreasing incentive to pass the scrip in our next session.  For each scene, the first pass of a scrip to each player is always worth three points, but following passes are worth only one.  If you pass a scrip that's already been passed to every player around the table, you can elect to end the scene and frame the next one.  If you pass a scrip to a player whose character is not in the scene (it's easy to reference somebody who's not there, actually), you can elect to end the scene and they frame the next scene with that character in the scene.  So there's always an incentive to end a scene because the scrips refresh and become more valuable.

I really like the solution.  I do see one slight issue with it, in that not all players always have characters in every scene.  The requirement of everybody being passed the scrip before a scene can end is therefore problematic.  That's why I have the second scene-ending condition, but it is still possible (if you're not paying attention) to pass all the scrips to players who aren't in a scene and not elect to end the scene.  Should I worry about this?  Or is there a more straightforward means to avoid this problem?

[Ben Lehman]

Hey, Joshua -- have you considered using the scrip-passing as a pacing mechanic?  For instance, in the game Tenra Bansho, there are three bennies given out per scene.  Once these three are given out, the scene needs to come to come to a close.

So maybe after a piece of scrip has been passed (say) four times, the scene needs to end?  I don't know the exact solution, but it seems like there's a good solution somewhere in there.

yrs--
--Ben

[Josh Roby]

Okay, first off, I thought you had said the game hands out three berries every scene, and I was all, "Crazy-ass Japanese RPGs, sheesh!"

As I've reconfigured it above, it is a (weak) pacing mechanic.  It doesn't dictate that the scene is over, but it does reinforce that the scene should be over soon -- if you've got a full scrip, you can pass it for one point and keep scoring a point at a time or you can pass it for one point and start scoring three per pass again if you end the scene.  Here's hoping that flexibility is a saving grace rather than a weakness -- I'm thinking if you're in, like, the climax of the session you can not change the scene cause it doesn't make narrative sense and that sort of thing.

[redivider]

There was an upside in all the gossip and false-praise that flew around during some of the scenes. it gave the game a sort of seedy drawing room vibe that was a nice counterpoint to the gleaming steampunk setting.

But I agree that it will be nice to try out a variant of the script that allows a lot of passing back/forth but provides an incentive to move to the next scene.

It would also be nice to rotate new thematic batteries in occasionally so that the references to other characters don't grow predictable.

Charging & discharging the batteries worked really well.

Alex, who likes games that allow for some level of immersion, raised concerns over the passing back & forth of the script being a game in its own that kept him from being in character. (Alex if you're reading this correct my paraphrase)

Finally, the utopian socialist thing was nice, especially since I coincidentally had a book in my bag to look up funky information in....

"Fourier wanted 'every woman to have, first of all, a husband with whom she could conceive two children with; second, a breeder (geniteur) with whom she could have only one child; then, a lover (favorit) who has lived with her and retained this title; fourth and last, mere possesors (possesseurs) who are nothing in the eyes of the law."

[Josh Roby]

God bless you, Fourier!

I think the scrips will be a little less prominent with the decreasing incentive scheme.  Here's hoping.