I was thinking about group structures I have experienced which ran amazingly well, and one I remember most fondly is the one GM, two player model. Real odd couple stuff- complete with AND THEY FIGHT CRIME thrown on the end.

It made me want to formalize this play structure, to create a metapersonality mechanic to maximize the sort of allience through adverisity which arises when things are running really well in the mode. Like giving each character in the pair a set of foibles and quirks, and when the other character agravates these ("You put out your cigar on my new leather sofa!") it convertes into game currency which can be used to buy success against mutual adverseries.

You see it in buddy cop movies and odd-couple action movie pairings: the more a team of two get to each other, the more ass they kick. Its juxtaploitation- the narritive gimick of pairing unusual characters together for internal conflict.




Has anyone played with this sort of mechanic?

Are there any existing systems which actively encourage the GM & 2 players group structure?

Any thoughts on how to institute something like this?


-Ben

The only game I can think of that even addresses the idea of two players is Sorcerer and Sword, as a reference to the source material (ie: Fahfrd and the Grey Mouser). Other than that, I don't recall it ever beng mentioned (though others who have read more game systems than I have may be able to correct me).

I'm huge a fan of these types of stories (cliched as they are). Lethal Weapon, Money Train, 48 Hours, Midnight Run. The source material is endless. I think there's potential here.

I like the idea of the tension between the two PCs fueling the game engine. Riggs and Murtaugh get on each other's nerves so often that they build up enough game currency to get them out of nearly any situation, whether it's a toilet bomb or chinese thugs setting the house of fire.

One question I had is how 'scripted' do you want this? I'm really loving My Life with Master right now, and it seems to me that buddy movies follow a formula just like mad scientist movies (if not more so). One idea I had was some kind of 'critical mass' mechanic, when the two characters get on each other's nerves so much that they split up. That could spark off some kind of endgame-esque thing: It doesn't take too long before the PCs realize that their effectiveness is limited on their own, so they get back together for the big showdown against the main bad guy.

The other idea I had is that maybe it's not the fact that these two guys are stuck together that makes them kick ass. Perhaps their effectiveness runs on annoyance, and the two of them just happen to be stuck together and have personalities that annoy each other. But annoyance can come from external sources as well, such as comical sidekicks. So Murtaugh can generate game currency from his main point of annoyance (Riggs) and also to a lesser degree from other points of annoyance (Leo Goetz, his daughter's boyfriends, etc).

Maybe each character should have a short list of traits, things that annoy that character. That would put the responsibility of generating potential conflict squarely with the player at character creation. Then the other player and the GM can offer that player a chance to earn currency by presenting them with the objects of their annoyance. Maybe there could be some kind of Munchausen-like mechanic. Offer a token to activate the other PC's point of annoyance, or something like that.

Also, the act of listing something as a trait is a tacit statement "This is what I want to see happen to this character". Obviously, anyone would get annoyed at, say, someone always taking your parking spot. But by listing that as a trait, you're specifically saying that you're looking that have that come up, possibly as a running gag.

-- The Other Ben

This is an interesting idea, and it brings up my buried desire to play around with meta-game mechanics. Are you specifically discussing a system in which there can be only two players (three if you count the GM)? Just want to clarify that...

Thomas