It's no secret, I don't like villains. Which doesn't mean that I don't appreciate characters doing rotten things, it just means that if we label them as villains, then we tend to see them as evil people, rather than as people who do evil things.
So this game would be about taking a villain and transforming them into a person. It would be a game for two, a Lead and a Fifth Business.
The first step would be to find your villain. The Lead should pick a villain in some kind of cliché situation: from the bottom of the ranks, Random Thug with Gun #7, or all the way to the top, Evil Mastermind. Get them at the end of their story, which could be, thrown out the window by the hero, blowing up with their hidden lair, or even conquering the world.
The second step would be to write down what we know about this character. It could be as simple as, works for the bad guys and has a gun, or as complex as has a hidden lair and an evil plan.
The third step would be to, through the power of flashbacks, answer how and why the villain has those elements. Each flashback will likely introduce new elements as well. In which case you now play through flashbacks to answer those how and whys as well.
The last flashback is played out when the villain is no longer an evil person, but has become someone you appreciate who does evil things.
This idea was inspired by a Story-Games post by Micah Bauer.
20091213
20091212
Intrigue: Conflict
Conflicts, I'm not sure over what they will be yet, as in why characters would want to engange in conflict, but I have an idea of how they would be resolved.
One character would be the attacker, and another the defender. Relationships belonging to any player could be used to support the attack (as long as they were of the necessary form), although there would likely be some favour trading needed in order to convince another player to support your attack. The winner would be the character that had the most numeric support (based off of the strength of the relationships).
As for the types of conflicts, I am seeing them to be of the persuade, coerce, seduce, and investigate type at the moment. I don't really think killing should be on the table. The point is to be involved in intrigue, which to me doesn't mean violence, but rather words. Although certainly it should be possible to persuade someone to kill someone else...
One character would be the attacker, and another the defender. Relationships belonging to any player could be used to support the attack (as long as they were of the necessary form), although there would likely be some favour trading needed in order to convince another player to support your attack. The winner would be the character that had the most numeric support (based off of the strength of the relationships).
As for the types of conflicts, I am seeing them to be of the persuade, coerce, seduce, and investigate type at the moment. I don't really think killing should be on the table. The point is to be involved in intrigue, which to me doesn't mean violence, but rather words. Although certainly it should be possible to persuade someone to kill someone else...
20091211
Intrigue: Relationships
The focus of Intrigue, would be relationships.
The character sheet would be a giant map detailing the relationships between your character and other characters.
Each relationship is composed of a form and a strength. Forms are things like fear, love, friendship, enemies, employee, and they determine what kind of conflicts one can use that relationship in. Whereas strength would just be a number and it would indicate how useful they'll be in a conflict.
The character diaries would be one of the ways in which Leads can modify their relationships.
There would also be a master map, with all the relationships written on it.
The character sheet would be a giant map detailing the relationships between your character and other characters.
Each relationship is composed of a form and a strength. Forms are things like fear, love, friendship, enemies, employee, and they determine what kind of conflicts one can use that relationship in. Whereas strength would just be a number and it would indicate how useful they'll be in a conflict.
The character diaries would be one of the ways in which Leads can modify their relationships.
There would also be a master map, with all the relationships written on it.
20091111
Intrigue: Character Diaries
[Note: This was originally published as Unassigned, but it turns out unassigned mechanics are going to bug me until I add to them making a more complete skeleton, so this was changed to a game called Intrigue. The text however will remain unmodified and possibly slightly confusing. Hopefully reading other Intrigue posts will create context and clarity.]
Back when I played Amber, the Leads, between sessions, would write up character diaries that retold the events of the session from their character's viewpoint.
They were great for helping the players get a feel for their character's voice, but they were mostly just fluff afterwards with little, if any, impact on the overall fiction created at the table. This tends to feel like busy work to me, and not something I really want in my activities (or, for that matter, in my life).
What I'm seeing now is a character diary, not focused on the play, but rather focused on other aspects of the characters lives.
Like, after the session, look at one of the characters relationships that have changed as a result of the events from the session, then write up an entry from before with the two characters in question highlighting how the relationship used to be, and one after showing how it is now. Most likely between the two entries there would be some kind of mechanic whereby you codify the change.
This kind of thing would still help get a feel for the character's voice, but would also show how the world changes as a result of the events that take place on screen, and would still yield an artefact for others to look at.
Hopefully, a much shorter one.
Back when I played Amber, the Leads, between sessions, would write up character diaries that retold the events of the session from their character's viewpoint.
They were great for helping the players get a feel for their character's voice, but they were mostly just fluff afterwards with little, if any, impact on the overall fiction created at the table. This tends to feel like busy work to me, and not something I really want in my activities (or, for that matter, in my life).
What I'm seeing now is a character diary, not focused on the play, but rather focused on other aspects of the characters lives.
Like, after the session, look at one of the characters relationships that have changed as a result of the events from the session, then write up an entry from before with the two characters in question highlighting how the relationship used to be, and one after showing how it is now. Most likely between the two entries there would be some kind of mechanic whereby you codify the change.
This kind of thing would still help get a feel for the character's voice, but would also show how the world changes as a result of the events that take place on screen, and would still yield an artefact for others to look at.
Hopefully, a much shorter one.
20091104
Buffy: The Main Characters
For the main characters there are two aspects of the show that really interest me. First, the two main characters with power, Willow and Buffy, are members of marginalized groups. They are both women, and Willow is a lesbian. I love the idea of taking people who traditionally have less power than others, and then giving them more than most.
Second, I liked the fact that Giles was part of the gang. There was an adult thrown into this whole teen life metaphor engine. But I also liked that, at least initially, he wasn't really involved with the action.
Which brings us to creating the main characters in a Buffy game. How do we reflect those aspects I like at this point?
First up, easily enough, to have supernatural power, as a main character, said character must be part of a marginalized group. Choose at least one of: poverty, non-heterosexuality, femaleness, person of colour, transgendered, or disability. There will be no cys-gendered, straight, white, middle-class, abled males with supernatural power. That's right, Xander will never learn the dark arts.
Second, the adult main character will belong to the Fifth Business. He'll be statted up just like the other main characters (and no, I have no idea how they would be statted up), but the Fifth Business would control him while controlling all the other non-main characters. I keep saying him. That's because the adult would be a cys-gendered, straight, white, middle-class or above, abled male. Thus he would have multiple areas where he wouldn't understand the world of the other main characters (besides that of age).
Also, his relationship should be one of mentorship (instructor, trainer, or something to that effect) over one (or more) of the supernatural main characters.
Second, I liked the fact that Giles was part of the gang. There was an adult thrown into this whole teen life metaphor engine. But I also liked that, at least initially, he wasn't really involved with the action.
Which brings us to creating the main characters in a Buffy game. How do we reflect those aspects I like at this point?
First up, easily enough, to have supernatural power, as a main character, said character must be part of a marginalized group. Choose at least one of: poverty, non-heterosexuality, femaleness, person of colour, transgendered, or disability. There will be no cys-gendered, straight, white, middle-class, abled males with supernatural power. That's right, Xander will never learn the dark arts.
Second, the adult main character will belong to the Fifth Business. He'll be statted up just like the other main characters (and no, I have no idea how they would be statted up), but the Fifth Business would control him while controlling all the other non-main characters. I keep saying him. That's because the adult would be a cys-gendered, straight, white, middle-class or above, abled male. Thus he would have multiple areas where he wouldn't understand the world of the other main characters (besides that of age).
Also, his relationship should be one of mentorship (instructor, trainer, or something to that effect) over one (or more) of the supernatural main characters.
20091026
Buffy: Fifth Business Prep
The key way the show addresses teen issues is through supernatural metaphor, often embodied by a Monster of the Week. Therefore, the Fifth Business would have to prepare a Monster of the Week prior to play.
The first step would be to come up with an teenage issue, whether problem or aspect of teen life. Figure out what the risks or dangers are (whether real or perceived, I mean, we know that the library isn't actually dangerous, and yet, as teens, we do fear it, why, what is the perceived danger?), and then supernaturalize them. Make it something you can fight, or get rid of or whatever. Finally, find a twist, a complication to the original problem, while hopefully also delving further into the issue.
Example:
Aspect of adolescent life: Dating.
Risks: Date rape.
Supernaturalize it: A boy who seems and acts totally normal, literally transforms into a monster when alone with a girl and attacks her.
Twist: After attacking someone, the monster transfers over to another boy at the school. Which, to me, reflects the societal nature of date rape.
The first step would be to come up with an teenage issue, whether problem or aspect of teen life. Figure out what the risks or dangers are (whether real or perceived, I mean, we know that the library isn't actually dangerous, and yet, as teens, we do fear it, why, what is the perceived danger?), and then supernaturalize them. Make it something you can fight, or get rid of or whatever. Finally, find a twist, a complication to the original problem, while hopefully also delving further into the issue.
Example:
Aspect of adolescent life: Dating.
Risks: Date rape.
Supernaturalize it: A boy who seems and acts totally normal, literally transforms into a monster when alone with a girl and attacks her.
Twist: After attacking someone, the monster transfers over to another boy at the school. Which, to me, reflects the societal nature of date rape.
Buffy
I've always wanted an Entertainment that will give me that Buffy feel. Teenagers dealing with teenage problems either directly in their lives or indirectly through supernatural metaphors.
Would it be nice if all the characters sounded as cool and funny and clever as the characters on the show? Or if they could sing in a musical? You bet, after all, those are also reasons why the show is fantastic. But, let's be honest, the players won't be Joss Whedons, so I'll be happy with an Entertainment that gets us the type of stories, the meat if you will, and for me, that's what I defined in the first paragraph.
Would it be nice if all the characters sounded as cool and funny and clever as the characters on the show? Or if they could sing in a musical? You bet, after all, those are also reasons why the show is fantastic. But, let's be honest, the players won't be Joss Whedons, so I'll be happy with an Entertainment that gets us the type of stories, the meat if you will, and for me, that's what I defined in the first paragraph.
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