I had a break-through moment much like when I realized that in Riddle of Steel, SA's are about what get's the player excited, not the character.

We were negotiating a Duel of Wits between the lovers in my King in Gray game. It was the Elven Queen, guiltily mourning the loss of her husband, and the King's Champion, proclaiming the king a weakling.

The players were having trouble coming to terms concerning the victory conditions. The moment happened when I said, "These negotiations are going on between Mario and Jevon, not between the Queen and the Lord Protector."

Ah-ha.

After that it took all of a minute to figure out terms. They stepped out of the dramatic, Grief-ridden skins of Burning Wheel Elves and just talked like freakin' people.

Its obvious but its important.

I feel this is the most important thing I've learned here in the past few years. The importance of the people who control the fictions, rather than focusing on the fictions themselves.

And that's all.

as a wise man once said, "YEAH, BABY!"

it seemed like the impossible dream a couple of years ago. hell, even I said it couldn't be done and shouldn't be done! but once we got into it, it was head-smackingly obvious. A social conflict resolution can't really be about the characters, because the characters don't have any freaking goals or wants or needs or get angry or excited. it's got to be about the players. the characters are merely the filter through which we apply the mechanics.

rrawk
-L