[Forget] Reward Cycle

[coffeestain]

Forget is a game about discovering your character in play and exploring strong co-ownership of characters and setting.  The premise is simple and takes cues from movies such as The Bourne Identity, The Long Kiss Goodnight, and Dark City.  Players create characters and their initial setting/situation using a handful of adjectives.  "I'm a tall thin man" for example and "I'm in a dark, musty room".  None of them can remember a thing about who they are, where they are, or why.  They're being pursued by someone or someTHING that only they and their relationships can meaningfully interact with or see.  From that point forward, all traits and descriptions regarding the characters are made with the input of other players and through a reward mechanic.

The player of the first character your character meets is able to physically describe you, and vice versa.

During play, players will:

* Define the characters, the antagonists, and the setting.
* Provide other players with interesting scenes and complications.
* Create, pursue, and resolve goals through scenes and conflicts.
* Create and unravel the mystery behind their condition.

The reward mechanic is based around Memory Tokens (inspired largely by Brennan Taylor's Mortal Coil):

* The players are rewarded for providing interesting things for the other players to pursue (scene framing for other players, providing them with goals, etc) by providing them with Memory Tokens.  A player earns this reward if another player finds their contribution interesting and chooses to use it. 

* Players may then spend Memory Tokens to say things about their character (traits, relationships), about the world (locations, NPCs), or about other characters.  When a player says something about his character, another player (the GM by default) can also say something about that character.  When a player says something about another player's character, that player can also say something about his own character.

* Once a player spends a Memory Token, it passes on to the GM, who may discard it from play to define the antagonists of the setting and to further define the players.

I've got two questions, initially:

1 - How can I tighten up the reward mechanic to encourage the players to engage?
2 - How can I make the initial situation more grabby?

Regards,
Daniel

[matthijs]

As an answer to question 2: An easy way would be to place the characters under some sort of threat. Either a different one for each character, or one that they all have in common.

[coffeestain]

Hi, and thanks for your reply!

As an answer to question 2: An easy way would be to place the characters under some sort of threat. Either a different one for each character, or one that they all have in common.

I've addressed this to some degree by having part of the initial situation include the characters being pursued by someone or something only they and their relationships can interact with.  Do you mean a situation in addition to this or further development of this idea?  Do you think this initial situation is enough to carry the players through a few scenes until they're able to contribute goals to one another?

Regards,
Daniel

[Nathan P.]

Hey Daniel,

Here's a thought, and it's coming straight out of my recent play of 1001 Nights (early draft of the rules). What if players could bid Memory Tokens on generating something (a fact, a peice of setting, a character trait, a relationship, etc), and then if another player brings that thing into play later, the bidding player gets a reward - maybe their investment + 1, or something like that. Or maybe it rewards both players.

So, like, I say "I have flashes of a memory of men in dark hats with needles." I write this down on a card and put 2 memory tokens on it. Later, you say "You're getting off the subway car, and you see the glint of a needle in a mans hand. He's wearing a dark hat and about to stab the woman next to you." I get 3 memory tokens back, and maybe you get 1, or something.

Also, it seems like there maybe should be multiple currencies happening? If you start out with a certain pool of memory tokens, and whenever they go to the GM they eventually get discarded from play, that's getting awfully close to zero-sum territory. Which may be what you want! But I guess the question is really about, what do you want the rewards in the game to be - are they simply about using memory tokens to define setting and relationships, or is there also character effectiveness, or plot-affecting, or other stuff like that?

I hope some of that helps.

[coffeestain]

Nathan, thanks for your reply!  I think the idea of investing in goals is a spectacular one and I'm going to mull it over for a while because I can see a lot of potential uses for it.  In the case of Forget, I feel it'll have to mechanically reward both the person who invested in the goal and the player who chooses to pursue it.  Fantastic!

Initially, I was considering a zero-sum reward system.  Create situation for someone else to gain Memory Token > Spend Memory Token to add to your character > GM spends Memory Token to create adversity.  I see Traits, Relationships, and Goals as mechanical devices to win conflicts and obtain narration rights.

For example: Frank and Joe are the players.

Joe suggest that Frank's character, who was recently knocked unconscious, wakes up in a dank cell but that the door is already unlocked and there's a dead guard outside on the ground.  Frank likes this idea and accepts it as his next scene, so Joe receives a Memory Token.

During a later conflict, Joe spends his Memory Token to give his character a Trait: Handy with firearms.  That Trait allows him to participate more effectively in the conflict and says something about his character's past.  Since Joe spent the Memory Token to say something about his character, the GM can also say something.  So the GM gives Joe's character a Relationship: He now remembers he's got a daughter and that relationship can be used to modify conflicts as well.

Finally, the GM now has possession of Joe's Memory Token.  He can spend it to add a Trait to the opposition or to give Traits to the players, etc.

Does that clarify what I'm trying to do with the reward system?

Regards,
Daniel

[Josh Roby]

Wait -- where's the GM fit in, here?  Cause I was reading the OP and nodding, and then it started talking about the GM.  Given that the players do the four things that are listed out, what's left for the GM to do?

[coffeestain]

Wait -- where's the GM fit in, here?  Cause I was reading the OP and nodding, and then it started talking about the GM.  Given that the players do the four things that are listed out, what's left for the GM to do?

Man, I was waiting for this one.  I thought it was the Morningstar question, though, so you hit me out of left field.

I think the GM plays the adversary/opponent.  If not, they get cut and I find some way to encourage the players to make each other's lives more difficult.

Regards,
Daniel

[Clyde L. Rhoer]

Could providing challenge or adversity be counted as an interesting thing that gets a player a token? Just a thought if you do decide  to ditch the Gamemaster.

[Josh Roby]

I think the GM plays the adversary/opponent.  If not, they get cut and I find some way to encourage the players to make each other's lives more difficult.

I think you've already got that in there:

During play, players will:
* Define the characters, the antagonists, and the setting.
* Provide other players with interesting scenes and complications.
* Create, pursue, and resolve goals through scenes and conflicts.
* Create and unravel the mystery behind their condition.

Player 1: I go through the door and I find Joe on the other side!
Player 2: Joe looks you up and down, takes in your rumpled shirt and messy hair, and rolls his eyes.
Player 1: I say, "Uh... hi."  And then something big crashes into the dumpsters down the alleyway!
Player 2: And there's a screech of metal on metal.  Joe grabs you by the shoulder and shoves you into the car.

And so on.