A gimmick without a game

[Castlin]

For narrative games where players have token pools they spend to get some control:

Use paperclips as tokens. To spend one, literally bend it into a hook, and figuratively use that hook to grab control of the story.

[Ken]

Hi-

I've recently watch a bit of "The Office", so that was the first thing that came to mind. At first glance, trying to run something set in an office may be tough, but you could add some tongue in cheek horror, sci-fi, or fantasy (or not tongue in cheek). Maybe the players could play clerks in the warehouse of dangerous things, or something. You could mix office politics with some surreal action.

Just off the top of my head. Thoughts?

Ken

[Filip Luszczyk]

Castlin,

Well, it definitely is a gimmick. However, is it just that or do you think it could add something specific to the gaming experience?

Cause, you know, I'd expect such gimmick to be fun for the first time it is used, and then it probably would become boring and just bothersome. Maybe if it was used only at some crucial points in the game, to highlight something for example. However, there's still a question why bother using it in the first place. Unless it would have some actual effect on gameplay, I can't think of any.

[rekyl]

Personally I think it would be worthwhile to ponder an office game where the tokens are paper clips you just stick to your character sheet. I mean your idea, sans the bending (which seems, like Filip said, fun at first then just kinda annoying).

Paperclips are cheap, they can be fastened to the paper easily (you dont lose them as easily as counters) and if you have a game about an office of horror (with all the intrigues that goes on in an office added to that), they tie in to the theme.

Like ehm ... say you have an office, somewhere, where all the players work. This is like an import export company and most work is conserning logistics. Which crate goes where and all that. It also has a legal department, a sales department and a (dont know the english term for "the group of people buying stuff that the company will sell later on") aswell as a personell department from hell trying to make everyone obedient to the company and not asking to many questions. Maybe the warehouse people who pack and unpack stuff. This would serve as a first set of adversaries.
Then comes to personell intrigue, who did what to whom during the christmas party? Water cooler gossip and store room drama. Everyone knows everyone like a small little village but in reaity no one really knows anyone since they all just meet during work hours.
After that comes the fact that the company ships... say horrible antiquities that contain demons and Things That Should Not Be, maybe drugs or humans... any nefarious thing people do in the real world will do aswell. The players are supposed to defend that company, or defeat it from the inside or whatever the characters morality tells them.

The paperclips, maybe post-its(?), preprinted acquisition forms - all could be tied in to the system making it an all encompassing "office experience of horror"...

/Jens