Lost memory, a tactic that might be of some use...

[Hans]

Hi all:

Had another session of Dust Devils on Monday night, and the game continues to fascinate.  I had a bit of brainstorm during the session though, that seemed, frankly, like such a good idea I thought I might share it.

One of the characters was a Texas Ranger, Clem Stone, who began the game in the bottom of a dry well, next to the bodies of his two dead partners.  Clem cannot remember how he got down there, or what happened.  On the spur of the moment, I suggested the following to Clem's player.  Anytime Clem's player felt like something happening in the story should trigger Clem's memory (meeting a particular person, seeing some place or thing, anything), Clem's player could call for a memory conflict.  This had to involve Eye, but the other attribute could be something else that was appropriate.  The stakes where NEVER whether or not Clem would remember something...Clem would ALWAYS remember something in these moments.  The question was really how much Difficulty (representing the physical and psychological trauma of Clem's experience) would Clem take, and who got to NARRATE what Clem remembered.  This technique seemed to work very well to create the kind of flashbacks you often see in Westerns, such as High Plains Drifter, or the Quick and the Dead.

[Matt Snyder]

This is clever, Hans. I love that you specify the conflict is NOT whether Clem remembers, but how much remembering affects him. Nice! I've been tinkering with a Flashback mechanic in Dust Devils Revenged, and it's reasonably similar (but I'm still not happy with it). This helps me re-think it. Thanks!

[Hans]

One important thing to note; I think it would only work when it is the PLAYER, not the Dealer, who can call for the memory conflict.  There were several moments in the game where I, if I had been the player, would definitely have called for a memory conflict, but the player didn't.  Maybe they didn't see the relevance of the detail that had just come up, maybe they did see the relevance but didn't think it was particularly interesting, maybe they just forgot they could have a memory conflict.  Regardless, if I, as the Dealer had been able to force the conflict, though, I think it would have been a bad thing.