Creating a Game (Part 3) - Interlocking systems
I've made single page games, I've seen other people make single page games.
More often than not, these games give you some kind of system that can be used to resolve actions, and some kind of goal or motivator for the characters. In some ways, I guess that's the absolute basic essence of a roleplaying game. The "role" is defined by some kind of goal (that may align with the goals of other characters, or may bring them into conflict). The "game" is defined by a system of dice, cards, "Rock-Paper-Scissors", or other element that helps you resolve how well characters are achieving their goal, or who comes out on top in a conflict. The "playing" in the middle is the grey area where players' imaginations share the narrative, drawing on the goals and systems to help maintain the flow.
There are other descriptions...far more elaborate than this one. But then again, there are far more complex games than the single page RPGs I just described. One of the more influential structures of theory work about RPGs comes from Vincent Baker, who designed Apocalypse World and subsequently spawned the "Powered by the Apocalypse" games. It can be found here (and here) if you're interested. The theory basically states that it's not really a roleplaying game uness the story influence the play of the game in some way, and the game play influence the story. There needs to be that feedback loop. Playing Monopoly and pretending that you are all real-estate investors or corporate bankers doesn't influence the way the game is played, the roles are completely independent and the story is generally made up after dice are rolled. The story doesn't impact what dice you roll.
D&D can be played like that, and there are lots of players who do exactly this. "Character goals?? what character goals?? I just maximise my character fr optimum damage and then roll dice to show that my build is better than anyone else's". Many RPGs can be played like this, and the question of whether the game is being played as written, or being played as intended is a dilemma that has often raised it's head over the decades of the RPG hobby. Much like the split between "Roll"-player (who focues on the game side of things), and "Role"-player (who focuses on the characterisaton and story). D&D tries to be everything to everyone, and in some ways that makes it miss the mark in many different ways. A good DM will bring their own flair and ideas to the game, focusing it, fine-tuning it, ignoring the its they don't like in much the same way that a good chef will look at a cookbook and pick the recipes they like for a well-balanced meal (often adding thir own flavours to make the result their own).
(I've actually had an idea for a "game developer's cookbook" in the back of my head for a few years tat explains the process of modifying and running games in these terms for a few years...one of those many projects I've been meaning to get back to...)
Let's go back to looking at some of those other systems I mentioned previously, and see how they address the idea of linking the story to the game (if they do so at all).
BRP. I'll quote from on the early pages of the text...
The book you hold in your hands is a roleplaying game, a rules framework that allows players to enact stories of adventure, acting out the parts of the main characters. The game rules provide guidelines for what can or can’t be done, and dice rolls determine whether the characters succeed or fail at what they attempt to do.
So basically, nope. There's a little bit later explaining how the GM interprets the players actions and die rolls, flowing their effects back onto the world and back into the story. But my overview of the systems doesn't really show a lot about how the story informs the rules. When do task checks get called? It's all left up to the GM.
On the other hand, a BRP variant does have a really good interpretation of a mechanism that links the story back into the rules. Probably the most well known BRP variant is the "Call of Cthulhu"RPG (CoC), and it has the "Sanity" score. There's a few different editions for Call of Cthulhu, and "Sanity" canges sligtly in each of them, so this is enerally paraphrasing the concept across them all. Basically, there is a Sanity score from 1 to 100 (because most things in BRP work off a percentile system), and there is a knowlege of the eldritch horrors existing between time and space (which also exists on a percentile scale). A characters base sanity score isbased on their wisdom attribute (which is one a scale from 1 to 20, showing the echoes of D&D permeating many games n the early 80s). Sanity is five times wisdom... so according to CoC, the wiser you are, the more level headed and mentally stable you are. That's an interesting implication about the world according to the designers of the game, but we might revisit that later.
Interesting things about the CoC Sanity score are it's functionality as mental stability hit points, Every time your worldview is shaken or you suffer trauma, you roll a die and risk losing a few sanity points (or a lot). You might recover a few sanitiy points if you manage to compose yourself, but serious return of sanity point only really comes with going to therapy, medicinal treatments, hypnosis, or electroshock therapy (if you're taking an even darker tactic in your game). Often sanity loss is permanent.
One of the other ways to lose permanent sanity is to learn about the dangers beyond time and space that are so vast they shatter mortal minds. A characters Sanity plus their Cthulhu Mythos skill score can never be higher than 100. This means that as their knowledge grows, their grip on reality and ability to function in everyday society slips. (Another interesting side effect here is that characters with low wisdom can learn a lot more about the eldritch horrors beyond time and space before they noticeably become unhinged).
That kind of multipurpose interlocking system is the kind of thing I like in games. It helps inform the story while also causing player decisions to have an impact toward their characters potential in the long run. Inrecent years, when elements of the Cthulhu mythos became public domain, a range of new games based on the stories emerged, many of which stripped back the skills and combat systems of play, but kept a sanity effect as a part of the rules because the descent into madness is such a stereotypical part of the genre. Cthulhu Dark is a good example of this.
The next system I'm returning to is the Storyteller system, this time focusing on the first World of Darkness game line, Vampire the Masquerade. This has seen refinement over the years, with some dramatic shifts in the system arriving with it's fifth edition. Notably, within this game is the Humanity rating and the blood pool (or fifth edition's hunger die).
At its simplest level, "Humanity" is a vampire's ability to blend in with the mortal world. A higher humanity score allows characters to look mortal (and in 5th edition retain mortal traits like an elevated body temperature, and natural healing), while lower humanity renders the character more monstrous (and limits the size of the dice pool that may be applied in social situations). As a character does horrific things to survive in the world, they risk losing their humanity. Little things like hurting people might reduce the Humanity of characters whith high scores, but lower Humanity characters would shrug them off. Nastier actions like torture or killing people, might have more significant efect on high Humanity vampires, but will still tend to have an effect no matter what the Humanity score. Humanity is like a soul, so pacts with demons might reduce it too. If a character's humanity ever reaches zero, they become monstrous predator who has given in to their darkest urges and hellish nature, the player loses control of the character and it becomes an antagonist or dies. In the game Humanity can be easy to lose, but very hard to regain and it requires significant story effects to do so. It's a bit like a reflection of CoC'c Sanity score in some ways.
This reflects vampire fiction (just like Sanity reflects the stories of the Cthulhu Mythos), as older vapires are often jaded and monstrous creaturesno longer sharing much in common with the mortals they prey on.
Another key element of Vampire fiction is the need to feed on blood, and the presence of supernatural powers. The earlier versions of the game had a blood pool system, where you drank points of blood from mortals, then spent those blood points to awaken each night or fuel powers. Draining blood tends to hurt mortals (where each point of blood is a wound to the victim), unlessspecific elaborate steps are taken. Doing it quickly is always a horrific process, and typically results in loss of higher humanity levels.
There is a downward spiral here. The more you do, the more you risk. Those who came befoe you have had decades, centuries, even millenia to build their power base, and you're just a cog in the machine unless you can make a difference quickly. But if youmake a difference quickly, will you lose your soul in the process, and will it just play into one of the other power structures of a different elder.
The latest iteration ofthe game has swapped out the pool of points for a hunger die that reflect the bestial urges that linger in the back of the predator's mind unless they are fully nourished. However, the same general effect applies... you risk losing humanity when you feed, but you need to feed to survive and to rebel against the elderswho have driven the world into decay, stagnation,and corruption.
All of this feeds into the horror and darkness of the setting, informing the narrative while simulating the environment and desires that drive the characters. These are not blood driven super heroes, they are tragic immortals caught between vastly powerful godlike elders, and mortal hunters who only see them as abominations. Their actions have consequences, and the mechanisms of those consequences are embedded in the rules.
So how does this help the new design?
We're basing a game about animated scarecrows on Led Zeppelin lyrics. Using the Vampire model, we need something to fuel the animation of the scarecrows, which will also fuel their powers. The May Queen is apowerful spirit in faerie folklore, so it make sense that some kind of fey magic is empowering the characters, but why? I like to apply a bit ofinternally consistent logic when developing games. These are elements where people see the reality, and the fantasy, and they accept a push further toward the fantastical elements and suspension of disbelief because other parts of the system just make sense.
Why would somone animate scarecrows in the world? Maybe because they can't work in the world themselves. Maybe they need tasks completed in the world, but they can't do them themselves. What kind of tasks woud they want done?
I've declared this game to be "Scarecrow-punk", meaning it's about the countryside, farmlife, rebellion. Scarecrows have been a part of farm life for centuries, millenia, but are becoming less common. Folk magic has been a part of rural life for centuries, millenia, but is consideed antiquated and superstitious. It feels like a natural connection can be made here, so I'm going with the idea that magic is dying. Magically enchanted scarecrows were once common, protecting humanity from the darkness and the monsters that lingered within it. The rise of technology has seen people forget the enchanted ways, the encroachment of cities on the rural lands has caused ancient places of power to be stagnated and corrupted. There area few with enough power to animate the ancient protectors, but those ancient protectorsneed to fulfil their duties otherwsie their awakening is for nothing.
Suddenly the chatacters aren't completely left to their own devices. If the players want their charaters to keep waking up for new adventures, they hve to fulfil the goals of those who have awakened them. This gives the characters a directon within the story. It doesn't mean they can't have their own agendas as well, itjust means that sometimes there will be difficult choices to make when they agendas come into conflict with one another, or with the forces that give them life.
Characters will have the specific territories where they were built by farmers, lands to protect. but they'll probably have to travel beyond those lands to take the battle to their enemies doorstep. I'm toying with the idea that the further they travel from home, the harder it might be toaccess their powers, but the less risk there will be from the home territory becoming despoiled by re-emerging monsters of the night, and evil property developers (which pulls our whole "punk" angle back into the picture).
I'm also thinking of an idea where a scarecrow will exist on a continuum from mundane to supernatural. A bit like a blend of the Sanity score from CoC and Humanity from Vampire. At the mundane end of the scale a scarecrow can blend in with humanity, people just percieve them as someone a bit odd but don't think much of it. Such characters might have a bit more trouble accessing magical powers, but it's easier for them to engage socially with the mortals, discover clues, and avoid detection. Atthe supernatural end of the scalea scarecrow is clearly an inhuman construct of straw, twigs, fabric, and other materials. They are more attuned to the powers of the fey that enchant them, but this drives a subconscious fear in those they encounter. Such characters will be more easily able to channel their magical energy, but may find themselves beacons to the monsters in the dark, and on the run from supernatural hunters with torches and pitchforks, or guns and flamethrowers.
The fey enchanters will call on a range of characters when they need their dutes performed... some to uncover the clues, some to piece together the puzzle, and some to kick-ass when the truth is revealed. This gives us a nice split to allow different characters a time in the spotlight too. No-one is good at everything.
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