So I was thinking that at the beginning of every game session, both as a means to recap on what happened last session, get people in the game mindset, and to serve a mechanics function of generating Legend Points (used to influence scenes, affect Arcana character aspects, etc.) for the Players of Legends that each person could take turns around the table citing the exploits of the PCs, but not as the Player. Instead as NPCs who have either heard about it or witnessed it, be it peasants, scientists, those aided by the Legends or defeated foes. Award one to three Legend Points to each Player. My thought on this was that the Players had to spread the tales of OTHER Legends so that it wouldn't be Players bragging about their own characters. As a means to share the fame by paying attention to the other characters in the game. This could also generate in-story responses from these tellings if the Players can theoretically be anyone they could also be persons who want to invite or avoid or threaten the PCs.

By the way, I already do a version of this for my face-to-face Star Wars group with just the Players talking and it helps a lot, but isn't integrated into the game system via NPC scenes, although I may have to give it a try sometime.

What do you think of this? And where else have you seen it done?

Thanks!
-David-

Dave,
  I like this. What if, each player gives the narration a thumbs up/thumbs down. And for every thumbs up, the legend that the narration is about, gets the LP?

dindenver wrote:
Dave,
  I like this. What if, each player gives the narration a thumbs up/thumbs down. And for every thumbs up, the legend that the narration is about, gets the LP?

Dave,
  I did think about that. But if the points go to another player, then it should engender more cooperation than competition, no? I mean if the points go to the narrator, then THAT is more competitive, because the points are awarded directly power up the player you are voting for...

dindenver wrote:
Dave,
  I did think about that. But if the points go to another player, then it should engender more cooperation than competition, no? I mean if the points go to the narrator, then THAT is more competitive, because the points are awarded directly power up the player you are voting for...

I use a similar mechanic in my own games, without incentives and for a different reason; it shows what the players are remembering about the various characters.
Getting other players to narrate means that players have an audience and a feedback loop for people to tell them what they think about their characters, with the exalty flavour meaning that it's likely positive feedback on the specific good things they were doing, rather than critical stuff.
Getting the player themselves to narrate (how I do it, yes it does include a bit of bragging!) is a signal to the GM of how well they are fitting the game to the players expectations, and a bit of how they see the game, but your mechanic can do that a bit as well; it's a little harder but you can get a perspective on how the speaking player views the game from the way they talk.

One thing I like about this legend thing is that it can act as a more immersive version of table talk, for the reasons I suggested above. Once people understand it's value in that sense I suspect they won't need any points to do it!

I like the idea, though I think cautious groups could end up rewarding every narration with the same number of points, just to keep everyone happy.  If that's the case, you lose the incentive, and then there's no point in having a rule.

You could offer a formal system for running the legend.  Let's say you use a budget of tokens that's spent by players on one another at their discretion.  Here's how it might run...

Legend system

1) Each player gets 5 tokens, which they keep in their hand and a small container which they put on the table in front of them.
2) The GM describes the scene in which the legend is being told.
3) The first player takes on the role of a character in the scene, and describes, as rumour or fact, a deed of another character.  The player whose character's deed is being described can then put some, none, or all of his tokens in the narrator's cup.
4) The next player continues the narration, as the same or another character.
5) Once all the player's have had a narration, the GM takes a turn, and can introduce new characters, can change a scene, or add a foreshadow (see below).
6) Narration continues as before, repeating from step 3, until all of the tokens have been spent.
7) At the end of narration, the player with the highest number of tokens takes 3 Legend Points, the second highest takes 2 Legend Points, and everyone else gets 1 Legend Point.

Now, I don't know if this is what you're looking for, but the 'blind' token scenario, where no one knows exactly who put how many tokens where, might keep the competition non-specific and jovial.  I don't know much about your game yet, so forgive me if this sounds like rubbish.

Foreshadowing

I mentioned foreshadowing above.  I was thinking that major allies / enemies from previous gaming sessions might step into the legend narration, directly or indirectly, to help narration or to foreshadow upcoming events.  See the rough example below to see how this might work.

Example

Let's say Bob is running a game for Rog, Jay and Graham.  The three players take 5 tokens each and a cup.

Bob:  There's a violent duel, ringed by heavy jawed barbarians.  They jostle and shout in an enormous, muggy barn.  At the back, tucked away and lit by candlelight, a handful of well dressed men sip brandy from wide glasses, leaning back in their fur lined chairs, enjoying the sport.  Rog, you go first...

Rog:  One guy says "Did you hear about that foreigner?  Came into town with a bull on his back... Scared the watch no end.  Think he'll be trouble?" Then the other one replies, "Trouble?  TROUBLE? Cost me a warehouse!  A bloody warehouse!!! Thing was burning down in the middle of the night.  Spencer was there to set it right, thought it was the old guardsman falling asleep.  Then that Oak Armsman, or whatever he calls himself, bursts out of the flames with a maiden in each arm.  What were the maidens doing there in first place!!"

->> Jay, who played Oak Armsman, laughs at the telling of his exploits, and drops some tokens into Rog's cup...

Bob: Right Graham, you're turn...

Graham:  Ok, so, the guy is outraged.  The first one laughs at him, "hahahaha!"  The other one slams his drink down, looking all pissed off.  Then calms down and smiles, "Don't know why you're laughing so much... Oh, didn't you hear?  Apparently he's got a Gloveman with him?" "A Gloveman?  Ridiculous!"  "Oh, we'll see who's ridiculous when the Talon Brothers get wind of that...

ETC.  You get the point...  Rog, Graham and Jay tell yarns or truths about one another, according to their exploits, until it's the GM's turn again.  Let's say Bob wants to add some foreshadowing.  It might go like this...

Bob:  Just as he puts down his drinks, a shadow looms over the table.  The men stop silent.  All of them shrink away and duck into the crowd, leaving one, pot bellied, quivering fop.  "Wha.. wha... What are you doing here?" asks the frightened man.
"You knew of Armsman?"
"...." replies the fop.
"What use are you if you cannot at least speak?"  The figure makes a sudden movement, but the noise of it is drowned by the roar of the crowd.  At the end of the duel, when the crowd disperses, the fop reclines lifeless in his chair, his throat severed by animal claws... THUNDERFLASH. Dah-Dah-Dahhhhh!

Ok, CHEESY, but you get the idea.

JoyWriter wrote:
I use a similar mechanic in my own games, without incentives and for a different reason; it shows what the players are remembering about the various characters.
Getting other players to narrate means that players have an audience and a feedback loop for people to tell them what they think about their characters, with the exalty flavour meaning that it's likely positive feedback on the specific good things they were doing, rather than critical stuff.
Getting the player themselves to narrate (how I do it, yes it does include a bit of bragging!) is a signal to the GM of how well they are fitting the game to the players expectations, and a bit of how they see the game, but your mechanic can do that a bit as well; it's a little harder but you can get a perspective on how the speaking player views the game from the way they talk.

One thing I like about this legend thing is that it can act as a more immersive version of table talk, for the reasons I suggested above. Once people understand it's value in that sense I suspect they won't need any points to do it!

Sebastian wrote:
I like the idea, though I think cautious groups could end up rewarding every narration with the same number of points, just to keep everyone happy.  If that's the case, you lose the incentive, and then there's no point in having a rule.

You could offer a formal system for running the legend.  Let's say you use a budget of tokens that's spent by players on one another at their discretion.  Here's how it might run...

Legend system

1) Each player gets 5 tokens, which they keep in their hand and a small container which they put on the table in front of them.
2) The GM describes the scene in which the legend is being told.
3) The first player takes on the role of a character in the scene, and describes, as rumour or fact, a deed of another character.  The player whose character's deed is being described can then put some, none, or all of his tokens in the narrator's cup.
4) The next player continues the narration, as the same or another character.
5) Once all the player's have had a narration, the GM takes a turn, and can introduce new characters, can change a scene, or add a foreshadow (see below).
6) Narration continues as before, repeating from step 3, until all of the tokens have been spent.
7) At the end of narration, the player with the highest number of tokens takes 3 Legend Points, the second highest takes 2 Legend Points, and everyone else gets 1 Legend Point.

Now, I don't know if this is what you're looking for, but the 'blind' token scenario, where no one knows exactly who put how many tokens where, might keep the competition non-specific and jovial.  I don't know much about your game yet, so forgive me if this sounds like rubbish.

Foreshadowing

I mentioned foreshadowing above.  I was thinking that major allies / enemies from previous gaming sessions might step into the legend narration, directly or indirectly, to help narration or to foreshadow upcoming events.  See the rough example below to see how this might work.

Example

Let's say Bob is running a game for Rog, Jay and Graham.  The three players take 5 tokens each and a cup.

Bob:  There's a violent duel, ringed by heavy jawed barbarians.  They jostle and shout in an enormous, muggy barn.  At the back, tucked away and lit by candlelight, a handful of well dressed men sip brandy from wide glasses, leaning back in their fur lined chairs, enjoying the sport.  Rog, you go first...

Rog:  One guy says "Did you hear about that foreigner?  Came into town with a bull on his back... Scared the watch no end.  Think he'll be trouble?" Then the other one replies, "Trouble?  TROUBLE? Cost me a warehouse!  A bloody warehouse!!! Thing was burning down in the middle of the night.  Spencer was there to set it right, thought it was the old guardsman falling asleep.  Then that Oak Armsman, or whatever he calls himself, bursts out of the flames with a maiden in each arm.  What were the maidens doing there in first place!!"

->> Jay, who played Oak Armsman, laughs at the telling of his exploits, and drops some tokens into Rog's cup...

Bob: Right Graham, you're turn...

Graham:  Ok, so, the guy is outraged.  The first one laughs at him, "hahahaha!"  The other one slams his drink down, looking all pissed off.  Then calms down and smiles, "Don't know why you're laughing so much... Oh, didn't you hear?  Apparently he's got a Gloveman with him?" "A Gloveman?  Ridiculous!"  "Oh, we'll see who's ridiculous when the Talon Brothers get wind of that...

ETC.  You get the point...  Rog, Graham and Jay tell yarns or truths about one another, according to their exploits, until it's the GM's turn again.  Let's say Bob wants to add some foreshadowing.  It might go like this...

Bob:  Just as he puts down his drinks, a shadow looms over the table.  The men stop silent.  All of them shrink away and duck into the crowd, leaving one, pot bellied, quivering fop.  "Wha.. wha... What are you doing here?" asks the frightened man.
"You knew of Armsman?"
"...." replies the fop.
"What use are you if you cannot at least speak?"  The figure makes a sudden movement, but the noise of it is drowned by the roar of the crowd.  At the end of the duel, when the crowd disperses, the fop reclines lifeless in his chair, his throat severed by animal claws... THUNDERFLASH. Dah-Dah-Dahhhhh!

Ok, CHEESY, but you get the idea.

I run a game for some old timers three times a year, and one of the moots is around the corner.  I'm going to use this tool at the first session.  I'll let you know how it went.

Jason Godesky calls it seperation, the idea that your getting yourself into an alternate world and identity. To my mind the same thing happens when you take off your tie at the end of work, or plop down your schoolbag or whatever. You go "right different mode now".

To put it another way, I'd call it "getting into the world" or something like that. Course the important thing is not that you know how to name it, but that you know how to communicate it to someone else!

I do like the idea of telling a story via bystanders. I was once very taken by the idea of "it's an rpg, but you don't play the hero", before I realised that almost everyone is the hero of their own story, the difference being a change of scale. On the other hand this could actually be a way of doing that; by pushing narrative authority out of the characters and onto that unknown hero, never on screen during conversation, then people can actually play those orbiting guys quite well! Imagine people saying "I heard he was ten feet tall!" "Well I heard he was a very slight man, with mysterious eyes" and then doing roll-offs for who has the better sourced story, or saying "perhaps he was ...." to negotiate, or even leaving the answer unknown and rumorous.

Sebastian wrote:
I run a game for some old timers three times a year, and one of the moots is around the corner.  I'm going to use this tool at the first session.  I'll let you know how it went.

JoyWriter wrote:
Jason Godesky calls it seperation, the idea that your getting yourself into an alternate world and identity. To my mind the same thing happens when you take off your tie at the end of work, or plop down your schoolbag or whatever. You go "right different mode now".

To put it another way, I'd call it "getting into the world" or something like that. Course the important thing is not that you know how to name it, but that you know how to communicate it to someone else!

I do like the idea of telling a story via bystanders. I was once very taken by the idea of "it's an rpg, but you don't play the hero", before I realised that almost everyone is the hero of their own story, the difference being a change of scale. On the other hand this could actually be a way of doing that; by pushing narrative authority out of the characters and onto that unknown hero, never on screen during conversation, then people can actually play those orbiting guys quite well! Imagine people saying "I heard he was ten feet tall!" "Well I heard he was a very slight man, with mysterious eyes" and then doing roll-offs for who has the better sourced story, or saying "perhaps he was ...." to negotiate, or even leaving the answer unknown and rumorous.

Hey there,

I tried the 'Legend System' at a game over the weekend.  I'll post about in the playtest section...

Sebastian wrote:
Hey there,

I tried the 'Legend System' at a game over the weekend.  I'll post about in the playtest section...