Observations of the Fox

OK, so somehow I used the wrong prompts on the last post. I ended up using the prompts for days 16 (Composure) and 17 (Intensity), instead of the ones for 13 and 14. Today I'll go back to those last ones and play catch up. So that brings us to... 15 (for which I'm using the prompt from day 13) . Strain I could tie this back to DURF and its encumbrance system, and that was actually the first way I thought of taking this particular prompt, however I'm going to go in a different direction to link things with my three-way tension and vector theory models of TTRPGs. For this purpose I'll go with the definition of strain as a physical, mental, or emotional pressure. From an engineering perspective, strain is the result of stress, and this basically applies to narrative as well. It is under moments of strain that new properties are revealed in a material, and it's similar to the prompt pair I mentioned in the last post . Strain opposes stress, up to a point. Once stress ex...

Almost halfway through the month, and most of my posts that have been due every second day have generally been on time. Let's keep going...   13. Composure The state of being calm, self-contained and in control of your feelings, especially during stressful, difficult or unexpected situations . I like maintaining a facade of composure when running games, I also like seeing the breaking point when composure starts to crumble in the situations where the players find their characters. When the players and characters find themselves at the point where they can't maintain composure, we start to see their true motives and agendas revealed. When the GM starts to lose composure, the game has a tendency to lose focus (which can make for positive or negative experiences, depending on numerous other factors). When characters too composed, we see the way they want to present themselves to the world, and when they aren't composed at all they don't have a chance to control their own n...

  11. Tact My first thoughts here relate to the high school gaming club that I ran for a few years. Tact is one of the most important lessons that we were teaching our students through the club, especially with regard to respecting each others communication with the group, allowing people the chance to say their words, and trying to push the story forward in ways that will not cause problems for the other players (even though the ramifications of those words might cause problems for the characters within the liminal space of the game). A lot of the students who were drawn to the club were often lacking in tact, and my decades of experience running games at conventions and in various home groups tend to suggest that this can be a widespread issue across the hobby. Is this simply because TTRPGs tend to attract neurodivergent folk? This is probably a stereotype...but stereotypes exist for a reason. I'm trying to be tactful in what I'm typing here... 12. Loss Tragic backstories are...

  9. Privilege Since I'm getting into a  bit of a groove of responding to these prompts in the context of the three-way tension model, let's consider the idea of "privilege" from that perspective. What is a privilege in a TTRPG, and how might it impact of the dynamics of the session? My first thoughts here linger on the notion of "niche protection". A player who is portraying a cleric or healer has a privilege on their actions when it comes to removing wounds from other characters. This privilege might be diegetic or non-diegetic. Now I'm trying to work out which of these options is more diegetic, and which is more non-diegetic....but here's where my current thought patterns lie. Non-Diegetic (existing outside the narrative): The player who has a privilege with regard to this sort of action is the one who has a bonus on their skill rolls (or whatever mechanisms is used for randomising an action result). It is also known among players that this person...

  I really wish I knew what happened to the files mentioned in this blog post . It sounds like it could have been really useful for something I'm currently working on. The current project still uses the 102 level Bronzewing building, because I've found the three booklets that have the raw maps in them... I've printed put one of the booklet sets and have started handwriting in it. Interesting places, evocative names, no real stories unfolding in the tower at the moment, but some prompts that might initiate some ideas when play unfolds. To add to this, I've generated a couple of random tables...but I was wondering if there was anything useful from my past attempts to use the Bronzewing maps...and I saw that post. Anyway... the whole idea at the moment is to use it in a Cyberpunk 2020/Red campaign. That's left me with a bunch of tables where I roll 2d10 and add a fifth of the floor level to the result. This basically means certain types of place and encounter are more ...

  7. Mercy What does it mean to have mercy? The first idea that comes to mind here is to not be too harsh or too hard with punishment when mistakes happen. There are some game systems that have very little mercy, especially when it comes to combat situations. I particularly think of this when it comes to low fantasy "gritty" games. On the other hand, many "slice-of-life" and "cosy-fantasy" games are far more merciful and forgiving. Is one style of game better than the other, is it better for a system or a GM to be merciful with the players? I've always tried to be a fan of the idea that different types of games and different styles of play are a better fit for different groups of players. Having a degree of mercy in the game turns down the immediacy and the tension in a game, but some games do better when they have some breathing room. Personally I often try to begin my game with an exploration phase where the players have lower stakes and a higher deg...