Narrative Mechanic Ideas

[New Fire]

Greetings, all. I am currently designing a fantasy RPG set in a fictional world based on Aztec, Maya, and other Mesoamerican mythologies (here is a link to the game website: www.newfirerpg.com, and while it is coming along wonderfully I am still experimenting with ideas for different types of magic. I was wondering if I might be able to get some ideas and feedback from you fine folk?

One of the kinds of magic I'm working on is known as Glyph Magic. The basic idea is that the magician uses the pictographical writing symbols to create magical effects, writing them down using blood for ink and causing the world to change based on what she writes. I think the concept sounds great, and the glyphs I'm talking about are extremely cool looking, but I'm having trouble figuring out specifics--what sorts of effects could this generate?

A little bit of background on my thought process so far: the game is played like a traditional RPG--players make characters and play under a Game Master, who writes stories and sessions and strings them together into a campaign. However, to give the standard arrangement a bit more flavor the Game Master is known instead as the Giver of Life, a title found in many Mesoamerican poems and stories. Giver of Life refers to God, gods, and the divine force of the universe that creates things and destroys them. Life and people are described as paintings in the book of the Giver or Life:

"With flowers You paint,
O Giver of Life!
With songs You give color,
with songs You shade
those who will live on the earth.
Later You will destroy eagles and jaguars:
we live only in Your painting
here, on the earth.

With black ink You will blot out
all that was friendship,
brotherhood, nobility.

You give shading
to those who will live on the earth.
We live only in Your book of paintings,
here on the earth."

So the Game Master is the Giver of Life, and the players are those who live on Earth, in the Giver's book of paintings. This explains how the Game Master is allowed to control and create the world, and gives a bit more character to the omnipotent GM/referee/story writer. There are a few other mechanics that serve to make the GM more of a character than in most RPGs, but suffice it to say that this arrangement is part of the flavor of the game and the setting.

The idea I had for Glyph Magic was to allow those who use it the ability to also write in the book of the Giver of Life--that is, they get to use some GM powers (in a very limited sense, of course) to influence the story and the world. Now, most of the game uses mechanics that reflect events in the game world--if you want to shoot an arrow at a target, you roll your archery skill against a difficulty in order to hit the target. But perhaps Glyph Magic allows the user to instead use more Narrative Style mechanics--rather than influencing things within the game world, she influences the story flow and the game world itself!

However, I am not incredibly familiar with narrative style mechanics. Can anybody help me understand them, and give me a rundown of how they typically work? What would be some good narrative games to check out for ideas? And if you have any thoughts on the matter, what would be some good ways to incorporate the "writing in the GM's book" idea into an actual game?

[stefoid]

Sounds like you have been coming up with some great ideas without external influence.  Personifying the GM in-game as a godlike character sounds cool to me.

So, do these mesoamericans typically pray or sacrifice to their gods?  Why not just do that in-game to influence the story?  use historical methods to get historical results, whatever they may be - victory in battle, good fortune, or whatever.

Think about what the characters have to sacrifice, give up or promise in order to get their requested boons.  Most gods are like "you do this for me and I do this for you". 

[Warrior Monk]

If we're speaking about mesoamerican cultures, there's a sacrifice of blood, or even the heart of a warrior to appease the gods. However, the Giver of life shoud be able to say if the sacrifice pleases him or not, so you could say each player gets to roleplay how their characters make a sacrifice of their own in exchange for a small favor or even a sort of miracle. So sacrifices could either be stats, items, a quest etc. defined by the player. As the sacrifice is completed, the Giver of life rolls a dice to see how pleased he is by the sacrifice.

So results could vary from 'nothing happens' to 'The giver of life is displeased and punishes the offerer' or 'The Giver of life is proud of his servant and grants him his wish'. Of course, the Giver of Life is wise, ans thus his gifts are always intended to teach something to his servants. Let's say, every gift not only has a price but imposes a burden or responsability to the one it's granted to.

[Abkajud]

This explains how the Game Master is allowed to control and create the world, and gives a bit more character to the omnipotent GM/referee/story writer. There are a few other mechanics that serve to make the GM more of a character than in most RPGs, but suffice it to say that this arrangement is part of the flavor of the game and the setting.

I have yet to see an example of a game in which the GM (or anyone else, really) needs to justify his or her in-game authority with fictional content. I think that the notion of giving the GM a central character is really cool, but that's very different from trying to "make it okay" for the GM to have the power s/he does.

But perhaps Glyph Magic allows the user to instead use more Narrative Style mechanics--rather than influencing things within the game world, she influences the story flow and the game world itself!

One thing to keep in mind is, Only make the players roll once to do one thing. Have you heard of the Burning Wheel expression, "Let it ride"?
Basically, to use your archery example, either the player pulls off the shot with a good Archery roll, or the player makes the shot happen by first using Glyph Magic, then taking the shot, and of course it happens because it was painted in the Book of Life.
What do you have to do to practice Glyph Magic? What does it demand of you with each use?

Basically, here's what I'm seeing, with regard to "narrative mechanics": without Glyph Magic, the players are at the GM's mercy. So, they'd all want to have it, so that they can have more authority and agency unto themselves. Great! That does mean that "mundane" abilities aren't all that important, because they aren't very effective.
It feels like there's a missing piece here - just give the players the ability to affect the plot/etc. in a GM-like fashion. The concept of Glyph Magic sounds like you're giving yourself an excuse to let the players have more agency. If that's what you're tinkering with, just hand it to them

"Narrative mechanics", or maybe we call them Story Now mechanics, rely heavily on the players being able to make decisions that matter and are respected. No fudging dice, no changing dice throws to attain the "best story outcome" or the "more interesting result". Also - players need to be able to affect the game-situation (or "the fiction") so that they can potentially accomplish exactly what they set out to do.

Let's go back to the archery example. A lot of games will just cover the "what" - "Do I hit him?" A more Story Now/player-empowered game also asks "Why?" And Why is a very important question, moreso than What.
Game A: "You're trying to hit the bell in the tower, to warn the villagers? Okay, roll Archery. [she succeeds] Okay, you hit the bell. Now I, the GM, must decide whether you also warned the villagers."
Game B: "You're trying to hit the bell in the tower, to warn the villagers? Okay, roll Archery. [she succeeds] Okay, you hit the bell and warn the villagers, as established."

In game B, see how a player, doing a fairly standard player-thing (roll to hit), advanced the plot without needing the GM's permission to do so?
That's only half of (the specific concept known as) Story Now play - the other half is addressing some kind of moral quandary.
First half: giving the players the power to affect the plot directly.
Second half: putting a moral conflict into play that the players resolve through play. Each "side" of the conflict must be reasonably credible (i.e. someone would choose it) - so, an invasion by Spaniards is not a moral decision per se, but if we have to make hard choices (seek peace vs. fulfill my duties), NOW we're getting somewhere!

I would add that the First Half does not have to come as a package deal with the Second Half, but the reverse is not true. If the players are going to successfully engage the moral conflict head-on, they're going to need to be empowered to have real impact on the plot. But if you're more interested in exploring the setting, or overcoming challenges, or what-have-you, then player-empowerment can work just fine on its own to do those things.

Here's hoping this is helpful and not pedantic!
-- Zac