More Crunch

[Brother]

Has anyone devised some house rules to give the game more crunch?

I love this game, but I also have a nagging feeling that perhaps it should have more rules during play, at least when it coms to the characters and their abilities. Maybe more edges, or another way of expressing a character's skills. Maybe they could all have some traits that define their physical or mental makeup. If for example, I'm was running a zombie survival series, I would think having guns and a shooting skill would be essential. I was wondering if more specific edges would work.

I'm sure all this can be covered by conflicts, but I was hoping for something more personal (I.e coming from the character) as far as characters are involved.

Any thoughts?

[Welkerfan]

The thing about PTA is that the game is not about what the characters can do.  It's about what they have to compromise to succeed.  Really, the level of skill or strength of a character is irrelevant.  What really matters is the personal issues they have to deal with as they succeed or fail.  It doesn't matter if the ex-marine is great with guns as he fights off the zombies, for example, what matters is what he has to give up to succeed at that.  Is he so consumed by blowing off heads that his loved one is overcome and eaten?  Does he have to sacrifice himself so that the others can escape?  The actual act of popping skulls is probably assumed; it's what's going on around the fight that's really important.  Not having defined levels of skill lets the action be narrated in the best way for the story to continue.

To put it another way, one of the writers of Battlestar Gallactica (I don't remember which), responded to a question of how fast a starship can travel with the (paraphrased) answer, "At the speed of plot.  The ship will inevitably arrive precisely when the plot needs it to do so.  If it must arrive just in time to save the day or just a moment too late, it will."  See, it doesn't matter how fast it flies.  What matters in what the situational consequence of that speed is.  In the same way, every character in PTA has "strength/skill of plot."  They are each precisely skilled enough to succeed or fail as the story demands.

PTA is a game about telling a story of personal issues being manifested and resolved.  Edges are not really barometers of skill but rather tools to help focus the narration on the iconic qualities of the character and his issue.  Having any sort of hard mechanical definition of skill beyond "Crack shot" or "Clumsy" would really only serve to restrict how the players can choose to narrate.

[Brother]

I see what you mean, makes total sense. But to clarify, I was not thinking of adding a lot of stuff, just perhaps, three to five edges maximum instead of the one to two maximum.

The protagonist's 'issues' would still be relevant, would still be intact, and the extra edges would be representive of the protagonist's background, and not so much of the game's setting. I.e, if a History teacher, along with his decipher ancient arcane texts also wanted black belt ju-jitsu, he'd better have a very good explanation for it. One that furthers the credibilty of his character. Thinking about it, I could call for an extra issue per edge chosen, though this would have to be monitored carefully unless unplayable protaginists are created.

The extra edges would serve a more detailed description of the character's identitiy more than complement the game's setting. They would represent facets of the character, not the playing field. At least that's the philosophy behind it all.

[Eero Tuovinen]

I find no problem at all with a ju-jutsu history teacher. Seems like an obvious character concept for many tv shows.

The first edition of the game had characters with more edges and relationships. 2/3, to be exact. The play experience overall was that players couldn't really think up that many meaningful facets to their characters - television characters simply aren't that complex. Also, having lots of traits meant that the trait economy wasn't so constrained in practice - you rarely ran out of traits and usually just used them whenever you could. But still, it's not a difficult change to make if you want to have more traits.

Other than this, I suggest that if a player feels that his character should have more facets, perhaps he should change around the traits he has. For example, if he wants the character to be both a historian and a ju-jutsu master, is that perhaps because the setting of the game has some sort of ju-jutsu historian brotherhood that explains this strange combination? If that is the case, nothing is easier than giving the character the edge "Ju-jutsu historian". In this way one Edge "covers" both facets of the character. And if combining several details about the character under one Edge seems to not make any sense, you can take that as a constructive criticism of your character concept: too complex, try again. We're not creating literature here, your character is not the sole protagonist, and we're not interested in his childhood. Just create something that fits in an ensemble tv show.

[Brother]

So simply by combining a couple of careers (edges) you can cover a lot of interesting skills?

That would work. Let's see:

An ex boxer now working for a UFO recovery team
A CIA agent now making a living as a priest
A Biologist who also teaches Karate
An american footballer now earns his living as a firefighter

Sure some would need more explaining than others, if only for the sake od realism, but there's good mileage here.

Thanks for the tip

[Alan]

The key is that PTA character abilities do not need to be represented as edges or connections at all. If the players agree the character has the ability, then the character can use that ability in action and the player can describe him using them as he likes. He can't affect the card count with them, but he might earn Fanmail from the other players.

In contrast, the player sets Edges and connections as the plot gimmicks he wants to see emphasized this season. They can change after the pilot and after character's spotlight episode.

The Jujitsu master history teacher might have Jujitsu as an edge or not. In either case, the player can still describe cool jujitsu moves.

Jujitsu Master History Teacher
Edge -- Lecture voice
Edge -- Scholar of Zombie Legends
Connection -- The Principal!
Set -- Secret dojo in School basement