Shock 1.1 changes (and reasoning)

[drnuncheon]

I was explaining Shock to a gaming buddy several states away (it's simplicity seems to be very suited for online games) when I went to look up the rules for continuing a new story with an old Protagonist...which led me to the changes in Antagonist credits...which made me curious about why the changes were made.

For those that only have the new edition, in 1.0 the amount of credits available to the Antagonist was variable, depending on how long the game was to last - anywhere up to 27.  In 1.1 they are set to 13.  Also, in 1.0, when you moved on to another story as a Protagonist, you took all features you weren't keeping and converted them into Credits, which was dropped entirely from 1.1 (except for a mention in the glossary.)

Has anyone played both versions?  I never got to do either a "novel-length" play of 1.0 or a continuing Protagonist, so I don't know if the extra credits involved make it drag or inflate or what.

J

[Joshua A.C. Newman]

The "novel length" thing really made for weaker stories, frankly. It made things less punchy. It dragged out into several evenings what could have been done in one.

Instead, playing several short stories in a row is much more enjoyable. You can use the same Protags if you like — take your favorite three Features, keep the Links if you like, maybe keep the Praxes or move them around to indicate a change in the character, and you're ready to roll.

Dammit! It's still in the Glossary! Fuckin' fuck! Yeah, Protag Credits seemed to only ever confuse players. If your experience winds up different, please let me know!

[drnuncheon]

Yeah, Protag Credits seemed to only ever confuse players. If your experience winds up different, please let me know!

I may try it out - I know the guy I was talking with is very motivated by game-mechanical character growth (by which I mean he likes to go up levels and get new toys), and I was going to tell him about them an

For the "multiple linked short stories", do you find yourself changing the sorts of story goals you have?  For the short story we ran, people seemed to choose pretty final goals (and all negative, oddly enough).  I think mine was the most positive, and it was along the lines of "ends up in control...and completely alone", while one of the others was "get murdered using one of his own creations".

[Joshua A.C. Newman]

> I think mine was the most positive, and it was along the lines of "ends up in control...and completely alone", while one of the others was "get murdered using one of his own creations".

Leave the irony to the Antagonist. It's hir job! If you put too many qualifiers on it, you'll be bending over backwards to make it take place. Plus, what's the point of Planet of the Apes if you know about the Statue of Liberty scene from the beginning? (This is one of the things I hate about peoples' perception of SF from that period, by the way: "You blew it up, you maniacs! Soylent Green is people! Zardoz is the Wizard!" People know the twist endings, not what gets you there, so it seems all hokey and put on and meaningless. But I digress.)

Story Goals can change from one story to the next. That's the point!

I originally wrote the Protag Credits rule for people like your friend. Try it out. Let me know how it goes!