Relationship map as core mechanic

[Clay]

I've been tossing the idea around for a year or so to create a game where the relationships between characters (PC and NPC) is a core mechanic.  My models are detective fiction, Buffy the Vampire Slayer (the series, not the movie), and an online fiction series that I wrote with a friend after college.

Conflict is settled by choosing the largest counter out of the pool of counters.  Current design has me using dealt cards for the counters, but play tests indicated that some people preferred rolled dice.

Characters are defined by two things.  

The first is a set of descriptors, such as "Bad Mother ****er" or "Wild Driver".  Each descriptor gets a score, based on the number of meaningful words in the descriptor.  So "Wild Driver" has a score of 2, and "Bad Mother ****er" has a score of 3. These scores contribute to a pool for resolving conflicts.

The second is a relationship list.  For each person with who the character has a significant relationship (that's going to show up in the story), a relationship strength value is assigned.  This value is added to the score from the relevant descriptor when that person is involved (either as the opponent or a third party).  The score doesn't reveal the nature of the relationship so much as how strongly the person feels about it.  The nature of the relationship can be seen by examining the strength from the other side.

For instance, in Bob's relationship with his boss, Bob has a strength of 1.  His boss' relationship with Bob has a strength of 4.  Bob's Boss owns Bob. So if Bob is late for work and his boss is a clock watcher, Bob gets 2 cards for "Wild Driver" and another card for his clock-watching boss.  His boss gets 2 cards for "Clock Watcher" and another 4 for his contempt of his slacking employee Bob.  So whoever gets the high card from their hand will be the one who succeeds.  If Bob gets the high card, Bob gets to work without his boss noticing that he's late (or 'too close' to on time). If his boss gets it, he catches Bob slinking in guiltily.

Is this completely whacked? Does anyone see problems?

[Mike Holmes]

I'm assuming that you've seen Isolation? Discusses a lot of the same sort of ideas (but in a very different way).

Mike

[Clay]

I'm assuming that you've seen Isolation? Discusses a lot of the same sort of ideas (but in a very different way).

I hadn't seen it until you mentioned it. I haven't had a chance to read in detail, but on the surface it looks like probably a hyper-kinetic variation on my idea. Or to get things in the proper order, my idea looks a little like Isolation on valium.

[Mike Holmes]

my idea looks a little like Isolation on valium.

I'd say your idea looks like Isolation without the, well, isolation. Which is cool; I've been waiting for something like this to come along which took more of a long view on relationship mechanics. Isolation seems cool, but only for limited applications that are readily obvious. Your game would hopefully have a broader application.

Do you see using it for a particular setting, or is it intended to be generic?

Mike

[Henry Fitch]

Two of my semi-baked ideas have systems like this; the older one is incredibly simple and intended for larp, and is about immortal people, and the new one is much rulier (though still lite) and is focused on shojo manga like Ranma 1/2. Cool to see other people think it works!

[Ron Edwards]

Hi Clay,

Dav's Violence Future comes very close to this idea, although I don't know what's up with this game - it seems to have stalled at the 99% level of production and release. I'll do some digging.

The basic idea is completely sound, though. I was hoping that Clinton's Panels would be exactly this.

Best,
ron

[Clay]

My initial plan is not only for a specific setting, but a specific adventure. The first story-arc from the online serial I mentioned as inspiration. It's a complete adventure with characters and introductory scenes and the rules. Additional inspirations for this product include the How to Host a Murder series, and the thread elsewhere about "gateway" games. I don't know if this would be a gateway game, but I thought it might be fun to apply my system ideas to a complete package that someone could download and play with about as much prep required as the average board game.

I don't forsee this as a generic system, in that it really only works for certain types of stories. It wouldn't, for instance, be a good replacement for the types of games where Traveller or Call of Cthulhu really excels, where plot is paramount. When character and relationships drive the plot, this system will reinforce them. Where plot rules, these mechanics are going to be very unsupportive.

[Mike Holmes]

My initial plan is not only for a specific setting, but a specific adventure. The first story-arc from the online serial I mentioned as inspiration. It's a complete adventure with characters and introductory scenes and the rules. Additional inspirations for this product include the How to Host a Murder series, and the thread elsewhere about "gateway" games. I don't know if this would be a gateway game, but I thought it might be fun to apply my system ideas to a complete package that someone could download and play with about as much prep required as the average board game.

I think that's another really cool idea. I've been saying that someone needs to do something like this for a while. My theoretical example was a Scooby Do RPG where you play the characters. But you've even gone one further, and included a single scenario to play. Nice. I think that might just have some of that "Gateway" potential. Since the game is presented as "how to run this scenario" players will get a general introduction into how to run scenarios in general. Good idea.

What's next?

Mike

[Clay]

What's next?

First, complete the writeup on "How to Play."  Specifically, I'm giving them a few starter scenes to play out, but they need to know how to navigate between them.  I also need instructions so that the narrator/players can create their own scenes, because I'm pointedly not interested in railroading them down a certain story path. My hope is that every group that plays it will play it to a different conclusion.