Tying fan mail to index cards

[chrisn]

In my last game I tried something new. I labeled some index cards with phrases like "shocking twist", "telling detail", "unexplained phenomenon", (and, particular to this Land of the Lost remake) "a reminder that dinosaurs are a real threat." I let the players draft cards of their own with things that they like in games. One put "role reversal." Another put "detail from prior play." When I added fan mail to the pool in conflict, I'd put some of the tokens on the cards. These particular fan mails could only be given to other players when they satisfied (to the giver's satisfaction) the label on the index card.

It succeeded in encouraging three things:
1. My players to give each other fan mail (I often have to remind them)
2. Specific storytelling moments that satisfied players
3. Helping the Producer (me) meet his goals

[Matt Wilson]

Cool idea!

When I'm done moving, I might finally try and put up a collection of these great variant ideas up on their own page somewhere. Maybe Doyce will let me do it on Randomwiki.

[Filip Luszczyk]

Looks like an interesting variant.

I've been working with something similar in one of my projects some months ago, where the group was determining a number of Motif cards for the game, each connected with some recurring aesthetic theme. These cards were later awarded as "fanmail" resource, for including the Motif in narration. We had only one playtest of the game, and the system broke down in general - however, this particular mechanic seemed pretty workable.

[BlackSheep]

Reminds me of the cards Russell Em used in his Time and Space playtest:

http://emprint.livejournal.com/93993.html#cutid1