Plug and play
When you start playing a game that uses a point buy system, it's a bit like playing with a pile of Lego. There are numerous ways to put things together, and you can probably make a wide variety of things that work with the constructions of the GM or the other players, but there is far more opportunity to make something that just doesn't make sense in the GMs intended story, or just doesn't work with the constructions devised by the other players.
That's where the "session zero" comes in. Everyone gets on the same page, characters are developed from a mutually understood set of ground rules. A part of the session zero is the choice of game being played, so this post is assuming that choice has been made and all the players are on board. But more of what I'm thinking about at the moment is the development of a series of template fragments that might be linked to a specific story concept. To follow the Lego analogy that started the post, it's equivalent to getting a set of instructions that make a module which isn't a complete model, but can be used to build a complete model.
These are the things I'm thinking about as I rebuild Walkabout. I want internally consistent characters that make semse in the context of a spiritual post apocalypse, but I don't want to force too much about these characters. I want the very beginning of character generation to reflect the choices that drive the narrative in the game. This is a setting where characters aren't heroes, some people see them as avatars of chaos and destruction; they aren't necessarily chosen by the spirits, but they do the work of the spirits in the mundane world, restoring the balance by ripping down the structures of oppression, corruption, and disharmony... but these structures may have beneficial side effects to powerful people, or the truth may simply be complicated and may bring massive collateral damage to those who rely on the structures being addressed.
Walkabout was always intended as a blend of Mad Max, Tank Girl, Nausicaa, and maybe a bit of Reign of Fire... with a heavy additional of Australian Aboriginal spirituality built into it. In the years of it's gestation, nothing has changed, Fury Road came out, and that continued as a pitch perfect story for the setting. This is the kind of story with difficult choices that needs yo be told in the game... a wanderer (or group of wanderers) comes into an imbalanced scenario and their very presence is a catalyst for change. The aim of a Walkabout story is to ensure that any change is for the better, and the world shifts closer to a natural balance as they head off into the sunset. But we need to know the types of characters who will be making these changes...
The idea here is that a few cultures have formed across the world, and most characters will derive from one of the cultures. As their stories are told, characters may remain stalwart followers of their culture or may shift toward another that fits their ideals better. Throughout this narrative, they may work through recognised occupational paths, or forge their own destiny. Cultures and occupations will form the plug and play template fragments, those who choose their own path get a series of building blocks to assemble however they want, but they may need to find some additional components through the story before they can become the character envisioned.
I've rambled a bit here, it's basically an attempt to get my head back into the right space for where I see things heading.
I'll aim toward a few more specific concepts in the next couple of posts. Hopefully those posts will be coming a bit more regularly from now on.
That's where the "session zero" comes in. Everyone gets on the same page, characters are developed from a mutually understood set of ground rules. A part of the session zero is the choice of game being played, so this post is assuming that choice has been made and all the players are on board. But more of what I'm thinking about at the moment is the development of a series of template fragments that might be linked to a specific story concept. To follow the Lego analogy that started the post, it's equivalent to getting a set of instructions that make a module which isn't a complete model, but can be used to build a complete model.
These are the things I'm thinking about as I rebuild Walkabout. I want internally consistent characters that make semse in the context of a spiritual post apocalypse, but I don't want to force too much about these characters. I want the very beginning of character generation to reflect the choices that drive the narrative in the game. This is a setting where characters aren't heroes, some people see them as avatars of chaos and destruction; they aren't necessarily chosen by the spirits, but they do the work of the spirits in the mundane world, restoring the balance by ripping down the structures of oppression, corruption, and disharmony... but these structures may have beneficial side effects to powerful people, or the truth may simply be complicated and may bring massive collateral damage to those who rely on the structures being addressed.
Walkabout was always intended as a blend of Mad Max, Tank Girl, Nausicaa, and maybe a bit of Reign of Fire... with a heavy additional of Australian Aboriginal spirituality built into it. In the years of it's gestation, nothing has changed, Fury Road came out, and that continued as a pitch perfect story for the setting. This is the kind of story with difficult choices that needs yo be told in the game... a wanderer (or group of wanderers) comes into an imbalanced scenario and their very presence is a catalyst for change. The aim of a Walkabout story is to ensure that any change is for the better, and the world shifts closer to a natural balance as they head off into the sunset. But we need to know the types of characters who will be making these changes...
The idea here is that a few cultures have formed across the world, and most characters will derive from one of the cultures. As their stories are told, characters may remain stalwart followers of their culture or may shift toward another that fits their ideals better. Throughout this narrative, they may work through recognised occupational paths, or forge their own destiny. Cultures and occupations will form the plug and play template fragments, those who choose their own path get a series of building blocks to assemble however they want, but they may need to find some additional components through the story before they can become the character envisioned.
I've rambled a bit here, it's basically an attempt to get my head back into the right space for where I see things heading.
I'll aim toward a few more specific concepts in the next couple of posts. Hopefully those posts will be coming a bit more regularly from now on.
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Comments
I think they'd all give you some ideas.