help with meta-game for novel

[adeniro]

Hi there,

I hope this is the right place to post these very embryonic thoughts of mine.

I write fiction, and my first novel called Total Oblivion, More or Less is coming out from Spectra in November. (http://www.randomhouse.com/catalog/display.pperl/9780553592542.html). I'm looking to put ancillary materials for the book online for readers. For my short story collection that came out a few years ago, I put together a combo drinking game/reading group discussion guide, which people seemed to like (www.taverners-koans.com/drinkinggames.pdf  if you're at all interested).

So I'm looking to up the ante a bit with the novel coming out and actually put out a concise roleplaying system that isn't based on the setting on the novel per se, but rather would be a RPG characters in the novel  would conceivably play.

This metafictional conceit is tied very strongly to the characters and narrative aspects of the novel. Here's a Cliffs Notes set up of the story (in book jacket speak):

adeniro@gmail.com

[chance.thirteen]

I will say that if the world was truly falling part, I wouldn't see too many poeple wanting to play RPGs.

However, skipping that, or perhaps twisting it, I see a game designed to teach the players choices. How to make alliances, how to just the cost and gain of something. MOst importantly, I think it would be a form of thought shaping, either to support The Empire, or to support individualism and survival skills.

I would use markers of stone, and wood, kept in bowls or in areas on a table or the ground. I might go so far as to have you reach into bag and pull out a handful or pinch of markers (perhaps with a little scoop or a spoon), and have something like divisible by 2, 3, 5 or higher if the markers were small enough (like varied wild rice grains).

I could see some hidden in hands choices for emphasis on differing aspects of a conflict, eg wood for act, stone for resist.

I see it being framed often like most of the narrative style games, the conflicts are defined, either by a GM, or in play, but they are designed to play desirable goals in opposition. Judgement of overall can be by group fiat (which has some nice overtones of conformity and group think issues).

The choices would either be about things relating to survival, or about choosing one course over another within the Empires moral structure.

Nothing more concrete than that.

[JoyWriter]

Sounds like the rpg is acting like a knowledge source, implicitly teaching people how to deal with the world, like some skew-viewed torah! In that sense it probably needs to be reasonably rules heavy, and you might be better of cribbing someone elses game to do the job.

But if your already off to the printers then inserting the name of one of the old-school crunchfest rpgs might not work. Besides, I suspect you want the game to not have too much of a learning curve going into it, and be full of cross-fictional hints. If you want to do that kind of thing really well then you have a stretch in front of you! What functions does the game provide in the story? Because focusing the sim elements on that with a bit of space either side will make producing it a lot more efficient. Having said that you obviously don't want to reduce it to a set of spot rules for all the things it was actually used for, but even so a few solid pieces and a lot of theme can be meshed together via some unified mechanics to hit quite a number of areas.

[adeniro]

Thanks for the thoughts and suggestions!

I do see this as a form of campfire storytelling in this world--a received art form that people use to try to make sense of What Happened (which is pretty senseless; there is no explanation, really, for WHY the novel's premise took place). It is a dangerous milieu but there are periods of downtime, boredom, and even leisure in the midst of the chaos.

Alas the concept of this RPG isn't really in the novel itself--I had only really thought of this idea after copyedits were done. :/ But I do think it hopefully fits in the spirit of the narrator, who is a big gamer.

I love some of the tactile ideas presented. Lots of food for thought. Thanks.