Topic: [Polaris]
Started by: Salsa
Started on: 10/1/2011
Board: Actual Play
On 10/1/2011 at 6:11pm, Salsa wrote:
[Polaris]
http://indie-rpgs.com/archive/index.php?topic=29465.msg274363#msg274363
Ben Lehman on March 10, 2010, 09:46:35 PM wrote: I don't like it when conflicts skip big amounts of time. As the Mistaken, I would close the conflict after "but only if he follows the trail of blood and catches up to the assassin three blocks later." with a simple "and so it was that Fornax came across the assassin only to discover it was Dr. Cygnus." Basically, apparently the scene we've set is not what we're actually interested in, so let's just jump to what we want, plus play hand-off with the Moon and get him involved in play.
Although, I'd like to note that the Heart has no "it was not meant to be" option against "and so it was."
I've read this reply by Ben on the archives, and I was wondering. If someone simply cuts off another with "and so it was" that would make "and that's how it happened" kind of useless. Right? Unless, by "and so it was" you mean the beginning of another scene just after the "and that's how it happened". Or that you actually meant "and that's how it happened" instead of "and so it was" in that last sentence.
I was so close to understanding, until I read this. :(
Forge Reference Links:
Topic 29465
On 10/3/2011 at 5:32pm, Ben Lehman wrote:
Re: [Polaris]
"And so it was" ends the scene. No response is allowed against it.
On 10/3/2011 at 8:54pm, Frank Tarcikowski wrote:
RE: Re: [Polaris]
I think the examples in the linked thread are confusing. It kind of looks like the whole scene was played as a conflict, which is not at all how it's supposed to be done. The way the players use every key phrase to turn what the other player has established into something entirely different seems pretty frustrating to me. Rules-conform, sure, but poor play to my taste. As fore the rules question:
My understanding of "and so it was" is that if it ends the scene, nothing is allowed to follow after it. And furthermore, my understanding is that you'd have to resolve a conflict with one of the conflict-ending key phrases before you can end the scene. Correct or incorrect?
- Frank
On 10/6/2011 at 11:50pm, Salsa wrote:
RE: Re: [Polaris]
My thought exactly. So it should be "and that's how it happened" before "and so it was" I never doubted this key phrase ended the scene, but i don't think it's supposed to end a conflict. Which would render pretty much every other conflict-ending phrase useless. I would just need to be quick enough to say "and so it was" and include something in there the player didn't want and he wont be able to respond to it (which is a rules-breaker in my opinion).
I don't think that impairing how one can use the key phrases will do any good either. Of course some would prefer short and small scope "But only ifs" instead of the "time-space modifying" kind but indeed is too hard to get players to understand that and soon they will be complaining about the numerous sub-conflicts within a scene that could have been solved in a single conflict and ending the scene. I prefer the former but I don't think the latter is poor play, some people don't roleplay that much and prefer to describe a series of chained actions.
Anyways, guess i wasn't wrong after all. I could really use an official take on this.