Criminal Element: Genre Expectations

[MPOSullivan]

Okay, I’ve taken the time to read over some of the posts related to Genre Expectation and it was some damned interesting reading.  It seems like a lot of thought was put into it; a sort of plotting version of Hero with a Thousand Faces.  It definitely gave me a bunch of ideas, of which I think I’ve distilled the best for below.  

Right to it then, shall we?

The ideas presented in the discussions of Genre Expectations really dovetail well with the ideas I was thinking of for CE.  I have been trying to figure out a way to get all of the different variations of crime genre into my game without making it schizophrenic.  

The one problem I’m seeing though is the game is already of a defined genre: crime fiction.  This automatically creates certain expectations for the game and of the characters.  There will be some violence and gunplay, drugs or money will be involved, morals will not be of high regard.

Also, while i found the ideas of Circumstances, Sequences, Mechanics, etc to be damned cool, i'm not sure exactly how one could go about presenting them in a game like mine, one which isn't meant to be multi-genre.  Some of these ideas are already covered and some questions already answered.  

This leaves me with the idea of Sub-Genre selectors.  Basically, something like Mr. Langford described in his texts wherein the basic precepts of the game plotting and style are laid out in a number of different kinds of sub-genre for the players and GM to select from.  

This presented a problem as well.  It would be somewhat limiting to have one set-in-stone sub-genre for players to enjoy in game play.  Instead, the game will provide a number of basic one or two word descriptors, with corresponding defining of the ideas, that the players then take two of and combine to create the sub-genre for their game.  Hopefully this will allow for personalized games, leaving the players feeling like they have contributed more to the design of the story.

At the beginning of a campaign of CE, the players and GM look through the provided sub genre descriptors and talk openly about the kind of game that they want to play.  After coming to a kind of consensus, two descriptors are selected and character creation begins.  GMs may come to the table with an idea for a game already in their heads.  Below are example descriptors that I’ve come up with.  If you guys can think of more, please tell me.  The more the merrier!

·   Violent:  Some have said that violence is not the answer.  In return, it has been said that while violence may not be the answer, it sure as hell can be fun.  While all games of Criminal Element will be in some manner violent, a truly Violent game will be one that doesn’t shy away from the way characters can react violently to situations and explores the themes that arise from these acts of intensity.  Example: OZ
·   Opera: Just as in operas, the characters in this game will all be larger than life.  The campaign will be populated with blustering and thundering characters all locking horns with each other.  Example: Reservoir Dogs
·   Farce: While some games will be steeped in realism and others will have their occasional funny moments, this game will be based around the idea that life can be a damned funny thing, even if you are ripping some guy off at gunpoint for twenty million dollars.  Example: Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels
·   Conspiracy: the underworld is a place built on a framework of secrets, the bricks held together with a mortar of lies.  A Conspiracy game will be one that concentrates on the secrets between people and how they can destroy relationships or even people.  Example: The Usual Suspects
·   Kinetic:  A shark never stops swimming or it will die.  The same could be said of a Kinetic game.  Kinetic games are all about speed, motion and liveliness.  Once the action starts moving, it never slows down and it doesn’t stop until the end.  Example: Hard Boiled
·   White-collar: while some games of Criminal Element take place on the dirty streets and back alleys of the city, White-Collar games instead exist within the gleaming, pure spires of the business districts of the city.  Example: Boiler Room
·   Corruption:  There is nothing that feels quite as good as sin, whether it is your own sins or creating the sins of others.  Games based around Corruption will concentrate on the erosion of morals over time and what drives a character to betray their own beliefs.  Example: L.A. Confidential

I know that isn’t very many selectors but those are the only ones I can think of right now.  I’ll hopefully have a better list together in a bit.  If any of you guys have any ideas for sub-genre selectors, please, fire away.  I’m also thinking of including plotting examples for each sub-genre selector to help a budding GM create a good story with the sub-genre they have created.  

Well, what do you guys think?  Is this a good approach to it?  Are there changes that should be made?  Suggestions please!

Laters,

   -m

[Mike Holmes]

Know what would be cool? To have a rule that varies with each of these. That is, some mechanic that's either designed to be modified with the adoption of any of these, or a mechanic that's only played with when one of these is used.

Just a thought.

Mike

[deadpanbob]

Know what would be cool? To have a rule that varies with each of these. That is, some mechanic that's either designed to be modified with the adoption of any of these, or a mechanic that's only played with when one of these is used.

Just a thought.

Mike

Good thought, Mike.  Is there a way to customize the Vice mechanic to correspond to each of these Sub-Genre's?  It seems to me that the type of sleaze (for wont of a better term), that each sub-genre deals with is different, and central to the feel of the Sub-Genre.

Just a thought.

Cheers,


Jason.

[Ron Edwards]

Hi there,

What a Mike type of thing to say. Get thee aside, Universalis-Man!!

I think, Michael, that you're OK with your selectors, but I also think that you should present them more as a big smorgasbord for people to consider, and from which to emulate or build their own without much more direction.

I also think that the Vice issue is important, and indeed should match up with the subgenre, but I don't think you should provide locked-in options so much as merely list suggestions.

For example, Greed isn't actually a very interesting vice for a character in a Reservoir Dogs kind of situation. Whereas it's awesome for Lock Stock & Two Smoking Barrels. Fine - that's food for thought, and it helps people direct their character creation and whatnot, but I'd hate to see a "Subgenre table" which dictates exactly what Vices are suitable for Category E.

Please excuse my rhetoric and directness, by the way. James V. West can tell you that I took an intrusive, semi-proprietary approach toward his development of The Pool, and I can feel the same thing coming over me regarding Criminal Element. I like it that much. I played a five-hour game with it a couple of nights ago and am working up an Actual Play post (probably will take a while).

Best,
Ron

[Mike Holmes]

I'd buy into simply having a list of appropriate Vices.

Hmmm.

Mike "Isn't a game in existance I can't make more complicated" Holmes