One of my favorite moments in years of running games came in the form of a momentary slip in reality. At the climax of a game session, in the aftermath of a truly dramatic scene, I entered portraying a panther. I walked into the kitchen area slowly, remembering my acting exercises about embodying animals (thank you, abortive production of Animal Farm the Musical in college) as one of the players came in. She looked at me quizzically, and I indicated "a panther has slowly entered the building." She called out to the other players, "Guys, there's a panther in the kitchen!" And they came to see. And there was a surprising air of disappointment in the moment. I heard later from my friend Jeffry that at the time, he had been so engaged in the moment that he had expected there to be a real panther, and that seeing it was just me, there was a moment of let down, and then a moment of amusement at the fact that he had expected an actual panther. I viewed that as a success, a moment of engagement so deep that a player got caught up it it.
But what is engagement? What does it mean in a game for a player to be engaged? And are there truly different types of player to engage with? And what are some methods for engagement? Let's pick one of these to start, and let's start with the hardest one. What is engagement?
In my experience, engagement ties into what performance studies scholars call a flow state. The basic idea is that when performing an activity, one can reach a state in the performance of an activity to the point where it is engaged with automatically. Essentially, you stop thinking about doing something and simply do it. Reaching a flow state can be linked to things like the phrase "time flies when you're having fun." Engagement is essentially reaching a state of flow within the game space, losing the distance between self and character, between action and game. To give a pair of contrasting examples, a character experiences a moment of loss. A player who is not in a flow state (aka disengaged) would think about the situation, think about how the character would react, think about how to manifest that, and then take character actions to represent that. A player who is in a flow state (aka engaged), would react directly to the situation as the character.
So, essentially, engagement is about getting into the headspace of game. In a game that is running smoothly, the players are moving between thought and action without having to think about it too much. As a note, the idea of a flow state is often used in athletics, with better athletes able to enter a flow state where action comes without need for thought. I think that divide exists in the world of LARP as well, with better play coming from greater engagement.
Engagement for Players
As a player, it is generally desireable to reach a state of deeper engagement with the game. When engaged, game becomes more immanent, more direct, more emotionally investing. Here are a few tips for how to get better engaged as a player in game.
1. Find something to do physically. Many modern acting techniques use physical action as a way of breaking down the overthinking process of acting. Because as humans we can't fully multitask, if we're thinking about some physical action our character is doing, we aren't thinking about words or emotional reactions.
2. Take some time to get into the headspace of the character before entering game space. I've had a lot of success with music as a way of getting into a character's headspace, but taking a moment to pull yourself out of your everyday mode and into your character's headspace can work wonders.
3. Take time between game to do character work. Think about how your character approaches problems in life and how they would approach them in game. Spend some time monologuing in character, having pretend conversations can help when you have actual conversations.
4. Give careful consideration beforehand to your characters goals and the stakes of their involvement in action. Knowing what counts as winning and losing to them within their framework can make engaging in problem solving or strategic action much more fluid and easy.
5. Costume. How many times am I going to tell you to costume? As many as it takes. Wearing what your character is wearing helps other players not have to think about what your character is doing.
Overall, engagement strategies should be about finding your way into the characters ways of doing things.
Engagement for Storytellers
So, how does one actually encourage engagement? Well, engagement happens on the player level. While there are things a Storyteller can do to facilitate that, an important thing to remember when thinking about engagement is that it can't happen without the complicity of players involved. That said, there are some things that can help set the stage for player engagement.
1. Pre-Gaming. Engagement in game starts before the game itself begins. While it is important to have the important action on stage, there is a place for action that happens before game. This is especially true of action whose main purpose is to set a character in motion. Sometimes, leading into game it's good to establish some contact to set context to help a character enter game in narrative motion. Characters in motion are more likely to be engaged.
2. Opening Rituals. Some games start gradually and in fits and starts. Game begins and some people are in character, some people are out of character. I don't like doing that. I feel that really hurts engagement. In my games, I like to start with some sort of opening moment, whether it's showing opening credits, setting the stage of events, playing some music and doing a short character exercise or something similar. This puts a border between real world and game world and helps people begin the process of engagement. After that, I like to have people enter the space in character, symbolicly arriving to the event. Overall, a hard open like that primes the game for engagement.
3. Setting the Space. It's easier to pretend you're on a ship in the middle of the ocean if you are standing on a stage set from a pirate movie rather than in a hotel conference room. I don't think anyone will argue that. But we don't always have that luxury. However, by setting up the space of a game, even with minor things like defining what section is what part of the fictional space. Make sure that people aren't standing in the game space but not in the game space, having to ignore those who aren't actually in the game makes things harder. For an ongoing game, getting a space that can be used as is can go a long way to helping things.
4. Walking the Space. This is the skill that is one of the most important for running a game, being able to walk around the space and get a sense of moments of disengagement. Realizing who is sitting in the corner bored and checking their phone. Noting who is having an out of character conversation out on the patio. And then figuring out ways to potentially put those characters back into motion. Finding ways to nudge the game to keep things going is a subtle art, but phone calls with information, the arrival of relevant NPCs, or just the 'you notice this thing' gambit all work to help draw someone back into the action in some way.
5. Story Pacing. Keep your game world in motion. One thing that can slow down a game is if the players do not have a sense that things are moving forward. If the world around them seems content to not change until they get around to changing it, then complacency can set in. Additionally, on a session by session basis, space out the action of a session so that not everything is happening at once. Let events play out so that there is always at least one thing going on rather than ten at once.
6. How to End a Session. The energy of a game will wind down. It may be that game starts at 7 and ends at 10:45, but if it's 10:15 and everything seems do be drawing to a close, then call game wrap. On the other hand, if it's 10:45 and everything is still at its height, wait 10-15 and wrap at 11. Either way, never let the energy of a game completely wind down by the end of a session. Leave them wanting more.
Is There a Triad?
One theory of engagement postulates that there are Actors, Immersives and Gamers and that you engage with them differently. I don't quite agree with this. I think that it is better to think of Acting, Immersing and Gaming as methods of engagement. Acting is engaging with the game as a performance, Immersing is engaging with the game as an experience, Gaming is engaging with the game as a set of challenges. Now, it is true that certain players take to certain experiences more easily. But I feel it is limiting as a player to only attempt to engage on the game at one level. At its best, these methods of engagement can feed into each other, as one immerses one's self in a character's perspective to approach an in-game challenge, one creates an engaging scene. To that end, I don't necessarily plan for different styles of people, but try to make sure there are multiple levels of engagement available at each event in order to facilitate multi-level engagement.
Overall, engagement is a tricky thing. Players ultimately choose whether to engage themselves in game, Storytellers can only make it easier for them to do so. But by recognizing methods of engagement and providing easy avenues for involvement in the action of the story, it is possible to set up a game that is more engaging. A game that allows multi-level engagement is the holy grail of gaming, only not. Because it's totally achievable.
Friday, September 26, 2014
Tuesday, September 23, 2014
Avoiding the MurderHobo: An Argument for Crafting Context
A short one this morning, inspired partially by my recent acquisition of the first graphic novel of Rat Queens. This is primarily a tabletop issue, but is one that has implications in LARP as well. One of my favorite critique terms for the genre of Dungeons and Dragons is the term MurderHobo. The idea behind the critique is that many D&D parties simply wander aimlessly through the world and kill things, some of which are arguably sentient and innocent. I am not here to argue that this doesn't happen. One might even say that the Murderhobo is a kind of natural savagery that D&D parties devolve into without guidance. But I say that it is ultimately a failure of context crafting, a part of worldbuilding that is often ignored.
So, what do I mean by context crafting and how does it fit into gaming in general and the MurderHobo in particular. Part of crafting a game is crafting a game world, the fictional universe in which the game takes place. Part of this is imagining the way in which different elements interact, how do the elves feel about the dwarves? Who lives in the old swamp? How does interstellar travel work? Was there an ancient empire who left ruins everywhere? These questions create a world, but one aspect that escapes many people in the process of worldbuilding is creating a context for the action of the story. It's all well and good to have a war between the halflings and the gnomes, but where do the PCs fit into that context.
Crafting Contexts for Action
This is part of why I recommend a degree of working backwards when it comes to worldbuilding and methods for avoiding the MurderHobo problem demonstrate this very well. So, at the heart of the MurderHobo issue is the idea of unmotivated travel and a default attitude of violence. Adventure stories tend to be about travel, so the story tends to move from place to place, and characters built for violence, as I would argue D&D PCs tend to be, tend to look for opportunities to use their abilities. The way to avoid a game devolving into a MurderHobo Jamboree is to create a context for the game that incorporates travel and violence(or investigation or social politicking, or whatever your specific game is about) and build that into the world. Think about what type of people historically travel from place to place and what kind of contexts freelancers are acceptable in(note, the term freelance actually comes from historical mercenaries a Free Lance refers to a knight that does not have a lord). And think about what the stakes are for which the characters are willing to use violence.
Here are some examples.
All of these contexts provide a stage on which the action of the story can take place. They may be the action of the story all by themselves. They are all contexts that incorporate the fundamentals of the D&D adventuring per the MurderHobo paradigm, travel and violence, while giving potential reasons that the populace doesn't just rise up and kill these people who wander from town to town and create trouble.
Creating Eventfulness in LARP
This is more applicable to LARP than it might appear at first blush. While the type of context being created is very different, many LARPs fail because they do not create a context in which it makes sense for the action to take place. In a LARP, the question is less about what sort of people travel, but more of a question of what sort of events draw people together and provide for the sort of politicking that makes up LARP. This is especially true in ongoing LARPs, because the excuse of , we hang around every second Saturday makes less sense when the city as a whole hates each other.
I find that in a LARP, the creation of a ritual calendar, or sense of regular eventfulness can be an action driving context. Even the idea of a leader holding court on a regular basis can be relevant context for disparate groups and individuals to gather and interact. Part of this is the creation of stakes. If there is something in the gamespace that cannot be gained by characters in other ways(if gamespace is the only time territory is handed out, or if gamespace is the only time that one can gain social status, or if gamespace is the only time that a secret society can meet unobtrusively), then characters have a context for game attendance.
This problem actually has a player component as well. While the Wolverine character may feel like an interesting choice, being a grumpy loner almost never works for a LARP. Such characters seek out ways of being alone, and coming to a social gathering, no matter how mandatory, is anathema to their ways of being. In this case, part of context creation falls to players, creating characters that fit the context.
Altogether, by crafting a context for the action of the story, Storytellers can make better games. When thinking about the world that is made, think about how that world creates opportunities for the story of game to include the characters. Because otherwise, they'll wander off and you'll be stuck running a MurderHobo Jamboree!
So, what do I mean by context crafting and how does it fit into gaming in general and the MurderHobo in particular. Part of crafting a game is crafting a game world, the fictional universe in which the game takes place. Part of this is imagining the way in which different elements interact, how do the elves feel about the dwarves? Who lives in the old swamp? How does interstellar travel work? Was there an ancient empire who left ruins everywhere? These questions create a world, but one aspect that escapes many people in the process of worldbuilding is creating a context for the action of the story. It's all well and good to have a war between the halflings and the gnomes, but where do the PCs fit into that context.
Crafting Contexts for Action
This is part of why I recommend a degree of working backwards when it comes to worldbuilding and methods for avoiding the MurderHobo problem demonstrate this very well. So, at the heart of the MurderHobo issue is the idea of unmotivated travel and a default attitude of violence. Adventure stories tend to be about travel, so the story tends to move from place to place, and characters built for violence, as I would argue D&D PCs tend to be, tend to look for opportunities to use their abilities. The way to avoid a game devolving into a MurderHobo Jamboree is to create a context for the game that incorporates travel and violence(or investigation or social politicking, or whatever your specific game is about) and build that into the world. Think about what type of people historically travel from place to place and what kind of contexts freelancers are acceptable in(note, the term freelance actually comes from historical mercenaries a Free Lance refers to a knight that does not have a lord). And think about what the stakes are for which the characters are willing to use violence.
Here are some examples.
- A game about a merchant caravan, where different character classes represent different roles within the caravan. The characters are willing to use violence to defend themselves from raiders or to help people along the way based on the 'Caravan Code' which governs how different caravans interact.
- A game about a judge travelling a circuit. The characters are attendant on that judge and act as bailiffs, summoners, even executioners. They may help with investigations or have to defend prisoners from mob justice. They are authorized to use violence in accordance with serving the law.
- A game about an exiled lord and his household. The characters are the last loyal servants of a lord who have to try and find a new home after a failed coup against the evil(?) king. They wander from place to place looking for a new home, sometimes taking freelance work to pay the bills. They use violence to defend themselves and to earn a living.
- A game that takes place in a country with no standing army, where all military operations are sourced to privateer style adventuring companies. Strong intercompany rivalries exist, but direct conflicts are rare. Instead, adventuring companies are sent to deal with catastrophies normally handled by the military.
- A game set in the aftermath of a catastrophe, where people are isolated in small communities. Adventuring groups travel to ruins to salvage valuable materials and sell them to the communities that produce food and allow them to survive the winter, but those ruins are inhabited by the lingering monsters that were the root of the catastrophe.
All of these contexts provide a stage on which the action of the story can take place. They may be the action of the story all by themselves. They are all contexts that incorporate the fundamentals of the D&D adventuring per the MurderHobo paradigm, travel and violence, while giving potential reasons that the populace doesn't just rise up and kill these people who wander from town to town and create trouble.
Creating Eventfulness in LARP
This is more applicable to LARP than it might appear at first blush. While the type of context being created is very different, many LARPs fail because they do not create a context in which it makes sense for the action to take place. In a LARP, the question is less about what sort of people travel, but more of a question of what sort of events draw people together and provide for the sort of politicking that makes up LARP. This is especially true in ongoing LARPs, because the excuse of , we hang around every second Saturday makes less sense when the city as a whole hates each other.
I find that in a LARP, the creation of a ritual calendar, or sense of regular eventfulness can be an action driving context. Even the idea of a leader holding court on a regular basis can be relevant context for disparate groups and individuals to gather and interact. Part of this is the creation of stakes. If there is something in the gamespace that cannot be gained by characters in other ways(if gamespace is the only time territory is handed out, or if gamespace is the only time that one can gain social status, or if gamespace is the only time that a secret society can meet unobtrusively), then characters have a context for game attendance.
This problem actually has a player component as well. While the Wolverine character may feel like an interesting choice, being a grumpy loner almost never works for a LARP. Such characters seek out ways of being alone, and coming to a social gathering, no matter how mandatory, is anathema to their ways of being. In this case, part of context creation falls to players, creating characters that fit the context.
Altogether, by crafting a context for the action of the story, Storytellers can make better games. When thinking about the world that is made, think about how that world creates opportunities for the story of game to include the characters. Because otherwise, they'll wander off and you'll be stuck running a MurderHobo Jamboree!
Tuesday, September 16, 2014
Five Sense Storytelling in LARP
One of the reasons that I love gaming, especially LARPing, is that at its best, it is a form of Storytelling that is deeply immersive. In the climactic moments of games, I can be totally overwhelmed by the rational and emotional reality of the scene in a way that is greater than in books, or television, or movies, or any other form of story. And as a Storyteller, one of my goals is to help players achieve that immersion, to experience the story more deeply.
One of the methods that I've come to use over the years(in fits and starts) is what I call Five Sense Storytelling, trying to find ways of using sensation to deepen immersion. Different circumstances call for different methodes, but each of the senses can be engaged for game. More importantly, I have found that the more senses are engaged in a given game setting, the deeper the overall immersion. Here are some of the ways that I've found useful for deepening immersion.
Sight
Sight is probably the most important of the senses to engage and the one that is also the hardest to fully engage. It is inevitable that in game situations there will be some difference between what you see and what is represented in game. However, there are a few things that can be done to help narrow the gap between reality and experience.
Lighting-Lighting is one of the most underutilized methods of space transformation. While a lot can be achieved by choosing the time of day(horror is harder on summer weekend afternoons), there is a lot that can be done with lighting tools like colored light bulbs and simple lighting equipment(I use Hampsters). Just changing the way a room is lit will change people's experience of that room. Done correctly, it can take a boring conference room and transform it to a creepy conference room.
Decoration-That's where decorating comes in. Props and added decorations can help make that conference room into a truly different space. Things that interrupt the way people interact with space or that change the sight lines of a room are especially good in this regard.
Costuming-This is one of the most important things. Require some degree of costuming. DO NOT ALLOW NAMETAG COSTUMES. If someone wants to play a high powered business deer, then either require that they wear a suit and antlers, or talk to them about playing a high powered business deer who wears jeans and a t shirt and a human mask. As a player, make character choices based on what you can costume, if you only have red tunics, don't make your house colors blue.
Touch
Touch is one of the more complicated senses to engage in LARP, but also one of the easiest. For instance, Costuming and Decoration often invoke tactile responses, either through the feel of the material or the weight of the costume. Beyond the side effects however, Touch can be very important.
Props- The most important way to engage touch is through the use of reasonably convincing props. The weight of a briefcase with ten thousand dollars in it(lighter than you think) or a million dollars in it(only barely possible). The feel of a sword at your belt. The visceral creepiness of a human heart sticky with blood(or honey). Props can really invoke reactions based on touching them.
Hearing
Despite being relatively easy to use in game, Hearing is more rarely invoked. However, Hearing can be very helpful for filling in gaps, adding to the general background of a gamespace by creating a pervasive soundscape. Music can also be used as a pre-game exercise, a way of setting a scene, and music is not the only way of using Hearing.
Music In Game-One difficulty in running games set before 1877 is that there is no ability to have sourced music unless you pretend to have hired musicians. However, you don't need a source for music in game to have music in game. Ambient music can help set the scene as a musical score does in a film or television series. Having special music for climactic moments can make those moments even more climactic.
Music Pre Game- I am also a big fan of music being used out of game as well. I make soundtracks for characters, soundtracks for games, soundtracks for factions, I make soundtracks for thematic elements. These can be very useful for getting into the headspace of game, establishing the mood of a game in your mind before doing game planning or other game work.
Sound Effects- And don't forget sound effects. It's one thing to tell characters that a terrible rain storm is happening outside. It's another to have the sound of rain pervading the entire space. If you're running a game on a starship, have the sound of a warp core idling. Soundscapes can make environments more immersive.
Taste
This is not the first, nor will it be the last time that I advocate having food at game. Not only does food help ease people in to social interaction, but different foods can help set the mood in interesting ways. Tea and cakes set an easy genteel atmosphere, while meat cooked over a fire well befits a postapocalyptic showdown. This is also where I recommend wine at game. Make sure that your players don't over indulge and that the presence of drink does not lead to recklessness(man, I sound like a temperance crusader), but having some wine can make players feel more refined and if there is a Trader Joe's near you, a case of two buck chuck is only 36 dollars.
Smell
Finally, the least utilized sense in terms of game creation, smell. I mean, if you've been to the fourth day of a four day gaming convention, you may have experienced the use of smell in game, but I'm talking about positive usage. The repeated use of small amounts of burned herbs or incense or of a specific perfume or odor spray can invoke sense memory, helping people return to the headspace of a game. Alternatively, using a specific scent as a specific character can help you enter the headspace of that character.
Regardless of how you choose to do it. Engaging the senses in game can go a long way towards immersion. And immersion is the fast track to engagement.
One of the methods that I've come to use over the years(in fits and starts) is what I call Five Sense Storytelling, trying to find ways of using sensation to deepen immersion. Different circumstances call for different methodes, but each of the senses can be engaged for game. More importantly, I have found that the more senses are engaged in a given game setting, the deeper the overall immersion. Here are some of the ways that I've found useful for deepening immersion.
Sight
Sight is probably the most important of the senses to engage and the one that is also the hardest to fully engage. It is inevitable that in game situations there will be some difference between what you see and what is represented in game. However, there are a few things that can be done to help narrow the gap between reality and experience.
Lighting-Lighting is one of the most underutilized methods of space transformation. While a lot can be achieved by choosing the time of day(horror is harder on summer weekend afternoons), there is a lot that can be done with lighting tools like colored light bulbs and simple lighting equipment(I use Hampsters). Just changing the way a room is lit will change people's experience of that room. Done correctly, it can take a boring conference room and transform it to a creepy conference room.
Decoration-That's where decorating comes in. Props and added decorations can help make that conference room into a truly different space. Things that interrupt the way people interact with space or that change the sight lines of a room are especially good in this regard.
Costuming-This is one of the most important things. Require some degree of costuming. DO NOT ALLOW NAMETAG COSTUMES. If someone wants to play a high powered business deer, then either require that they wear a suit and antlers, or talk to them about playing a high powered business deer who wears jeans and a t shirt and a human mask. As a player, make character choices based on what you can costume, if you only have red tunics, don't make your house colors blue.
Touch
Touch is one of the more complicated senses to engage in LARP, but also one of the easiest. For instance, Costuming and Decoration often invoke tactile responses, either through the feel of the material or the weight of the costume. Beyond the side effects however, Touch can be very important.
Props- The most important way to engage touch is through the use of reasonably convincing props. The weight of a briefcase with ten thousand dollars in it(lighter than you think) or a million dollars in it(only barely possible). The feel of a sword at your belt. The visceral creepiness of a human heart sticky with blood(or honey). Props can really invoke reactions based on touching them.
Hearing
Despite being relatively easy to use in game, Hearing is more rarely invoked. However, Hearing can be very helpful for filling in gaps, adding to the general background of a gamespace by creating a pervasive soundscape. Music can also be used as a pre-game exercise, a way of setting a scene, and music is not the only way of using Hearing.
Music In Game-One difficulty in running games set before 1877 is that there is no ability to have sourced music unless you pretend to have hired musicians. However, you don't need a source for music in game to have music in game. Ambient music can help set the scene as a musical score does in a film or television series. Having special music for climactic moments can make those moments even more climactic.
Music Pre Game- I am also a big fan of music being used out of game as well. I make soundtracks for characters, soundtracks for games, soundtracks for factions, I make soundtracks for thematic elements. These can be very useful for getting into the headspace of game, establishing the mood of a game in your mind before doing game planning or other game work.
Sound Effects- And don't forget sound effects. It's one thing to tell characters that a terrible rain storm is happening outside. It's another to have the sound of rain pervading the entire space. If you're running a game on a starship, have the sound of a warp core idling. Soundscapes can make environments more immersive.
Taste
This is not the first, nor will it be the last time that I advocate having food at game. Not only does food help ease people in to social interaction, but different foods can help set the mood in interesting ways. Tea and cakes set an easy genteel atmosphere, while meat cooked over a fire well befits a postapocalyptic showdown. This is also where I recommend wine at game. Make sure that your players don't over indulge and that the presence of drink does not lead to recklessness(man, I sound like a temperance crusader), but having some wine can make players feel more refined and if there is a Trader Joe's near you, a case of two buck chuck is only 36 dollars.
Smell
Finally, the least utilized sense in terms of game creation, smell. I mean, if you've been to the fourth day of a four day gaming convention, you may have experienced the use of smell in game, but I'm talking about positive usage. The repeated use of small amounts of burned herbs or incense or of a specific perfume or odor spray can invoke sense memory, helping people return to the headspace of a game. Alternatively, using a specific scent as a specific character can help you enter the headspace of that character.
Regardless of how you choose to do it. Engaging the senses in game can go a long way towards immersion. And immersion is the fast track to engagement.
Sunday, September 14, 2014
What is the Point of System?
This is the first in an open ended series of posts titled "What is the Point..." where I dissect some aspect of gaming and discuss my feelings on the subject, the good, the bad, etc. While I have two others planned (Experience Points and Plot), I am open to suggestions for things that you want to hear my thoughts on. Please leave a comment if you have something you'd like to hear about.
So, today's topic is "What is the point of System?" Why should (or shouldn't) we use systems within games? A game system can be an enabling tool, a ridiculous straitjacket for descriptive action, a way of splitting narrative focus, a tool for in-character bullying or all of the above at the same time. I'm not necessarily going to advocate one system over another, but talk about some of the general potentials that systems offer and potentially the circumstances under which a system is not a good idea.
But to take a step back, what is a system within the context of game? Does a system have to include miniatures and dice, charts and tables, THAC0 and hit locations in order to be considered a game system? For the purposes of this discussion, a system must have at least one of the following characteristics, but with the exception of very experimental games, usually contains all three.
1. A system must be a way in which narrative disputes are resolved. When two participants describe different possible outcomes of the narrative, the system has a way of indicating which outcome happens.
2. A system must include some way of describing the world and its participants.
3. A system must define the boundaries of the game space and dictates what types of player action affect the direction of the narrative.
Each of these characteristics opens up multiple possibilities for greater understanding of system in game and different answers to the question what is the point. At the same time, I think it's important to point out that by my definition, there is no such thing as a systemless game. Even a game where characters have no sheets and all disputes are discussed between participants has a system, just one based on description and consensus.
So what are some of the opportunities that system opens up? What should one consider when deciding how system incorporates into a given game?
I. Deferred Responsibility and Neutrality
A system that includes a method of narrative resolution has a significant advantage. Basically, it allows the energy of the Storyteller(and players) to be directed towards creative work rather than devoted to narrative arbitration. In a system where resolution is primarily negotiated between participants, including systems where there is significant negotiable variation(equipment bonuses, situational penalties, variable difficulty numbers) a lot of time and energy goes into the negotiation of resolution. This time and energy could theoretically be devoted elsewhere if the system deferred that responsibility.
This is also useful because it allows a greater degree of neutrality. Nobody can achieve true neutrality. Bias exists in every single decision that is made. A system allows the Storyteller to defer decisions to a theoretically neutral arbitration system that does not have the same biases(it may have its own). Additionally, I have found as a Storyteller that systems and randomness can make it easier to say no(which can be a very important skill in running games). If the system does not indicate that something is possible, it is a lot easier to justify saying no.[another future post will determine whether saying no is a good or bad thing in game].
Overall, by taking decision making out of the hands of storytellers, more of the storyteller's energy can be devoted to creative aspects of running the game rather than arbitrative aspects.
II. Matching System to Narrative
One important aspect to system is that different systems match different underlying worldviews. Choosing a system that matches the general tenor of the world of game or at least hits on themes present within game is important. This can be very well shown by example. I was once playing in a game that used the same system for two very different linked worlds. One was set in the universe of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, one in the world of Lovecraft's Chthulu mythos. The system was identical for character creation and resolution, but one simple decision differentiated the narrative feel of the universes. When the results of a roll indicated a tie, final results varied by universe. In the Buffyverse, where plucky heroes defy insurmountable odds, the heroes won on ties. In the Chthuluverse, where the very fabric of the universe conspired against the protagonists, the heroes lost on ties. This minor variation defined the difference between the two universes.
A system choice can be even more defining. In the dramasystem used in Hillfolk, the system defines the emotional and practical stakes of every interaction and defines a system of resolution based on those stakes. Because the story is essentially about the differing agendas of people in society together, the system is about the ways in which those agendas interact. While there is no randomness to the system, the inherent political economy of it emerges in the interaction.
Finally, a system choice can go beyond just the ways in which conflicts are resolved. Some systems are very heavily weighted in the description of the universe to certain types of player interaction. These can be leveraged well in narrative creation if engaged with. So, for instance, in the classic dungeons and dragons system, there are different character roles that engage with different narrative challenges. In story planning, this can be used to naturally shift focus between characters as different sorts of challenges come up. Alternatively, systems may encourage different methods of resolution that shift play style. The game Grimm, where the characters are children stuck in a dark fairytale world, makes challenges significantly easier if characters work together and thus makes challenges about how the characters use their abilities synergistically rather than individually.
III. Randomness as Epiphanic
So, here is where I make a case for randomness. Many contemporary story games do away with random elements, sometimes entirely. While I think that can be useful for telling certain types of stories, I think that randomness has a place as an epiphanic element of storytelling. Randomness has the chance of pulling you out of your comfort zone, forcing you to sometimes find narrative justifications for the unlikely. This can drastically and memorably alter the shape of the story, and that, ultimately, is why gaming is different from writing, because there are parts of the story that pull in different directions. If the dice tell me that David scores a critical hit on Goliath, then that story ends differently from the pre-determined series of events. Epic success and Epic failure push the participant out of the ordained narrative path is the way an epiphany takes you out of your humdrum life.
Overall, system should be a choice. There are a lot of parts and when planning a game, you should take into account the things that your system does to the story. But you should also remember that there is no such thing as a game without a system. Even 'systemless' games have some form of arbitration. By making system an active choice, Storytellers have an opportunity to make system work for them, not against them.
So, today's topic is "What is the point of System?" Why should (or shouldn't) we use systems within games? A game system can be an enabling tool, a ridiculous straitjacket for descriptive action, a way of splitting narrative focus, a tool for in-character bullying or all of the above at the same time. I'm not necessarily going to advocate one system over another, but talk about some of the general potentials that systems offer and potentially the circumstances under which a system is not a good idea.
But to take a step back, what is a system within the context of game? Does a system have to include miniatures and dice, charts and tables, THAC0 and hit locations in order to be considered a game system? For the purposes of this discussion, a system must have at least one of the following characteristics, but with the exception of very experimental games, usually contains all three.
1. A system must be a way in which narrative disputes are resolved. When two participants describe different possible outcomes of the narrative, the system has a way of indicating which outcome happens.
2. A system must include some way of describing the world and its participants.
3. A system must define the boundaries of the game space and dictates what types of player action affect the direction of the narrative.
Each of these characteristics opens up multiple possibilities for greater understanding of system in game and different answers to the question what is the point. At the same time, I think it's important to point out that by my definition, there is no such thing as a systemless game. Even a game where characters have no sheets and all disputes are discussed between participants has a system, just one based on description and consensus.
So what are some of the opportunities that system opens up? What should one consider when deciding how system incorporates into a given game?
I. Deferred Responsibility and Neutrality
A system that includes a method of narrative resolution has a significant advantage. Basically, it allows the energy of the Storyteller(and players) to be directed towards creative work rather than devoted to narrative arbitration. In a system where resolution is primarily negotiated between participants, including systems where there is significant negotiable variation(equipment bonuses, situational penalties, variable difficulty numbers) a lot of time and energy goes into the negotiation of resolution. This time and energy could theoretically be devoted elsewhere if the system deferred that responsibility.
This is also useful because it allows a greater degree of neutrality. Nobody can achieve true neutrality. Bias exists in every single decision that is made. A system allows the Storyteller to defer decisions to a theoretically neutral arbitration system that does not have the same biases(it may have its own). Additionally, I have found as a Storyteller that systems and randomness can make it easier to say no(which can be a very important skill in running games). If the system does not indicate that something is possible, it is a lot easier to justify saying no.[another future post will determine whether saying no is a good or bad thing in game].
Overall, by taking decision making out of the hands of storytellers, more of the storyteller's energy can be devoted to creative aspects of running the game rather than arbitrative aspects.
II. Matching System to Narrative
One important aspect to system is that different systems match different underlying worldviews. Choosing a system that matches the general tenor of the world of game or at least hits on themes present within game is important. This can be very well shown by example. I was once playing in a game that used the same system for two very different linked worlds. One was set in the universe of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, one in the world of Lovecraft's Chthulu mythos. The system was identical for character creation and resolution, but one simple decision differentiated the narrative feel of the universes. When the results of a roll indicated a tie, final results varied by universe. In the Buffyverse, where plucky heroes defy insurmountable odds, the heroes won on ties. In the Chthuluverse, where the very fabric of the universe conspired against the protagonists, the heroes lost on ties. This minor variation defined the difference between the two universes.
A system choice can be even more defining. In the dramasystem used in Hillfolk, the system defines the emotional and practical stakes of every interaction and defines a system of resolution based on those stakes. Because the story is essentially about the differing agendas of people in society together, the system is about the ways in which those agendas interact. While there is no randomness to the system, the inherent political economy of it emerges in the interaction.
Finally, a system choice can go beyond just the ways in which conflicts are resolved. Some systems are very heavily weighted in the description of the universe to certain types of player interaction. These can be leveraged well in narrative creation if engaged with. So, for instance, in the classic dungeons and dragons system, there are different character roles that engage with different narrative challenges. In story planning, this can be used to naturally shift focus between characters as different sorts of challenges come up. Alternatively, systems may encourage different methods of resolution that shift play style. The game Grimm, where the characters are children stuck in a dark fairytale world, makes challenges significantly easier if characters work together and thus makes challenges about how the characters use their abilities synergistically rather than individually.
III. Randomness as Epiphanic
So, here is where I make a case for randomness. Many contemporary story games do away with random elements, sometimes entirely. While I think that can be useful for telling certain types of stories, I think that randomness has a place as an epiphanic element of storytelling. Randomness has the chance of pulling you out of your comfort zone, forcing you to sometimes find narrative justifications for the unlikely. This can drastically and memorably alter the shape of the story, and that, ultimately, is why gaming is different from writing, because there are parts of the story that pull in different directions. If the dice tell me that David scores a critical hit on Goliath, then that story ends differently from the pre-determined series of events. Epic success and Epic failure push the participant out of the ordained narrative path is the way an epiphany takes you out of your humdrum life.
Overall, system should be a choice. There are a lot of parts and when planning a game, you should take into account the things that your system does to the story. But you should also remember that there is no such thing as a game without a system. Even 'systemless' games have some form of arbitration. By making system an active choice, Storytellers have an opportunity to make system work for them, not against them.
Thursday, September 11, 2014
Ambiverts and GNS: Heuristics of Player Needs
It seems inevitable that in a blog about gaming that I should address one of the biggest theoretical frameworks in the scholarship of the role-playing game: GNS. This theory has proven controversial and useful, and while I have significant problems with it, I think it does provide a useful potential heuristic device for examining game design.
So, What is GNS? The idea of GNS is that there is a division between gaming styles, effectively that different people play games for different reasons. The theory divides those reasons into thress separate styles: Gamism, Narrativism and Simulationism. Different games meet those styles in different ways, some addressing individual styles more than others. Gamist style play focuses on the overcoming of obstacles and challenges, the solving of puzzles, the meeting of strategic challenges. Narrativist style play focuses on being part of a story, serving out a narrative role. Simulationist style play focuses on experiential parts of game, playing out a set of experiences in a fictional context.
Now, I call this a heuristic. What do I mean by that? I mean that such a division is artificial and meaningless outside of its own parameters. These styles are a way of analyzing aspects of game design, but are not pure categories. You can't really say something is a gamist game, per se. It is more or less a meaningless category, but I think that it can be a useful meaningless category.
Gamism, Narrativism and Simulationism are best seen as linked aspects of a game. What narrative exists where the characters do not have to overcome some form of challenge to achieve resolution? Can a story exist where people don't engage with the experience of the character? Doesn't an understanding of internal perspective enrich the experience of playing a game in a way that goes beyond the mere challenge? These things are inherently linked. An experience might engage one dimension more extensively than others, but they can't be truly separated and that does, to a certain extent, render them meaningless outside of context.
But that doesn't mean they aren't potentially useful. I get pleasure from engaging each of these categories, whether its playing a tactical simulation, telling a grand narrative or delving into the subjective experience of a different person. Not everyone has the same level of ambiversion that permits them to get pleasure from all three, and understanding how different players engage with the same game material can help you design games that appeal to all three experiential styles and can do so mindfully.
Mindful experience design allows for a number of options. First, because these different styles can be engaged in different ways, you can choose how you engage those styles. For instance, the gamist style of play and experience can be engaged by the inclusion of puzzles or riddles or breaks within narrative necessitating problem solving. It could also be engaged by a robust system and the opportunity for tactical challenges. By choosing one of those styles for an individual game, the Storyteller can be more mindful of the styles of engagement being provided within the game. They can better plan for how to provide those experiences and include increased transparency as to what players can expect.
Ultimately, this ties into two upcoming posts. First, the potential for transparency in game. By making mindful decisions, you can be transparent about those decisions and help your players engage with game. Second, the potential for selective gaming. Not every game needs to be for every player. By being transparent about experiential styles, players can make choices as to whether a game will meet their needs for participation. While I will address these ideas in later posts, they are extremely relevant to the idea of using GNS. GNS is best used as a form of mindful design. It is not a useful way of describing a game, but it can be a way of thinking about a game in aspects. In essence, it is a perfect heuristic; useful, but pointless out of context.
Tuesday, September 9, 2014
The Importance of Afters in LARP
What are Afters? So, the term Afters is a non-universal term for what is done after a gaming session. There are a few different types of afters that all work somewhat differently, but I would argue that what happens after a game is nearly as important as what happens in the game itself. Gaming, by its very nature, is retrospective storytelling. The way in which challenges are resolved after the fact means that the shape of the story isn't evident until after the fact. In LARPs, this is compounded by the scale, with nobody able to see everything that happened within the game. These linked problems are why 'Afters' are one of the most important parts of any LARP and I will discuss that here.
So, backstory. When I started grad school, I moved into a new town where I knew absolutely nobody. Wandering around town, I came across a game flyer and ended up participating in a LARP that I would be part of for nearly seven years. However, I found that I wasn't really a part of the LARP, a part of the community that made up the LARP, until I started going out to Denny's after game. It was my participation in the Afters ritual that ended up building my ties to the community and helped me become more connected to the game.
Session Closing Rituals
One type of Afters comes in the form of session closing rituals. The time between the wrap of the action of game and the departure of participants from the game space is handled differently among different groups. Some games simply call a stop and have everybody leave, but in my experience, an organized game wrap ritual can be an important form of Afters. By having an organized game wrap, the Storyteller can help provide players a greater context for the events of the evening within the game. Here's how I handle the game wrap ritual in my current game.
1. 10 minutes before game, I let everyone know that the game is about to end. This allows people to wrap up individual scenes and such.
2. I try, if it makes sense within the context of game, to have an event at game wrap, essentially, the last scene of the night. That scene may set the stage for later games, may encapsulate the action of the night or simply be a cool and dramatic end point.
3. After play has concluded, I gather everyone together in the main game space. I start by thanking them for coming and stating any contextual information about game wrap (i.e. everyone now has a harder time finding silver bullets in the city, but hey, fewer werewolves).
4. We then do "Nods". This is a practice in which people have a chance to call out those who made their game better in some way. While this can take some time, about 15-20 minutes in a game of ~25-30 people, I feel it is time well spent. In my mind, at its best it serves two purposes. First, it is a way of saying thank you and indicating a personal connection between participants. It feels good to be appreciated and this is a form of appreciation that can help fuel connections on a personal or small group level. Second, it can give non-involved people a sense of the greater context, even without specific details. Knowing that dramatic interactions are happening within certain groups and dashing adventure is happening within others can allow more selective engagement within the game context.(i.e. I want to get involved in more adventure plot, I should steer myself towards that group of people). Sure, there are occasional self-indulgent moments, but in the right context, I find that "Nods" provide interesting opportunities for context building, allowing people to have a greater sense of the game beyond their own personal experience.
5. Clean-up. Now, this seems like a weird thing to include here, but I think it's helpful to have a few tasks people can specifically help with in cleaning up a game space. Many people like to pitch in in some way and having a context in which they are able to do that helps give them a greater sense of investment in the work being done at game. Plus, many hands make light work.
After Session Rituals
So, those are the end of session rituals, but there are other rituals that go beyond game. One thing that I've seen in many games is a tradition of going out for food after game, generally to whatever nearby eating establishment can handle a large number of people right after game. I have seen in some cases a traditional after-party, sometimes on a monthly basis, sometimes every few months to a year. These out of game traditions are, in my opinion, every bit as important as what happens within game-space for a few reasons.
1. As I said in the opening, gaming is retrospective storytelling. Afters provide a handy context for the processing of what happened within a group environment. Afters can be a forum for discussion of what happened in a less public context, as it is much easier to get someone one on one at an after party or restaurant.
2. Afters is the context where people can learn each other's real names. And of course, more than just that. I think community building in a LARP should be a priority and Afters is a context in which deeper connections can be made. Part of this comes from how people are socialized. In the context of before and after game, when people are rushing around and preparing for an event, it can be hard to break the ice with other people. But we are all more or less socialized to interact over food and at parties, so they provide a context that eases those processes.
Things that are Important!
So, there are two things that are very important when it comes to Afters.
1. Make sure you have a good relationship with the venue in which you have Afters. This takes a few forms. It can be a matter of arranging reservations, or at least checking to see if they are too busy to handle a large group. Also, tip very well. Handling a group of 20 people who want split checks is a lot of difficult additional work for a server and bad relationships with servers can make it difficult to get a table at a restaurant. Also, make sure that everyone pays. It seems like a no-brainer, but I've seen enough examples where someone failed to pay that I feel it's necessary to call out.
2. Try to avoid excessive cliquishness. What I think is more important about Afters is that it is a chance to break down social barriers. When there is a 'cool kid's table', that just erects more social barriers. Afters should not be the high school cafeteria.
Overall, I think that LARPs build communities when done right. Afters is an important part of that community building ritual and is not without precedent in greater culture. Think about cultural rituals that you know. Weddings, Funerals, Bar/Bat Mitzvahs, Sweat Lodges, etc. What all these rituals have in common is that you generally have food afterwards. If you think of the cultural process at the heart of a LARP, Afters just make sense.
So, backstory. When I started grad school, I moved into a new town where I knew absolutely nobody. Wandering around town, I came across a game flyer and ended up participating in a LARP that I would be part of for nearly seven years. However, I found that I wasn't really a part of the LARP, a part of the community that made up the LARP, until I started going out to Denny's after game. It was my participation in the Afters ritual that ended up building my ties to the community and helped me become more connected to the game.
Session Closing Rituals
One type of Afters comes in the form of session closing rituals. The time between the wrap of the action of game and the departure of participants from the game space is handled differently among different groups. Some games simply call a stop and have everybody leave, but in my experience, an organized game wrap ritual can be an important form of Afters. By having an organized game wrap, the Storyteller can help provide players a greater context for the events of the evening within the game. Here's how I handle the game wrap ritual in my current game.
1. 10 minutes before game, I let everyone know that the game is about to end. This allows people to wrap up individual scenes and such.
2. I try, if it makes sense within the context of game, to have an event at game wrap, essentially, the last scene of the night. That scene may set the stage for later games, may encapsulate the action of the night or simply be a cool and dramatic end point.
3. After play has concluded, I gather everyone together in the main game space. I start by thanking them for coming and stating any contextual information about game wrap (i.e. everyone now has a harder time finding silver bullets in the city, but hey, fewer werewolves).
4. We then do "Nods". This is a practice in which people have a chance to call out those who made their game better in some way. While this can take some time, about 15-20 minutes in a game of ~25-30 people, I feel it is time well spent. In my mind, at its best it serves two purposes. First, it is a way of saying thank you and indicating a personal connection between participants. It feels good to be appreciated and this is a form of appreciation that can help fuel connections on a personal or small group level. Second, it can give non-involved people a sense of the greater context, even without specific details. Knowing that dramatic interactions are happening within certain groups and dashing adventure is happening within others can allow more selective engagement within the game context.(i.e. I want to get involved in more adventure plot, I should steer myself towards that group of people). Sure, there are occasional self-indulgent moments, but in the right context, I find that "Nods" provide interesting opportunities for context building, allowing people to have a greater sense of the game beyond their own personal experience.
5. Clean-up. Now, this seems like a weird thing to include here, but I think it's helpful to have a few tasks people can specifically help with in cleaning up a game space. Many people like to pitch in in some way and having a context in which they are able to do that helps give them a greater sense of investment in the work being done at game. Plus, many hands make light work.
After Session Rituals
So, those are the end of session rituals, but there are other rituals that go beyond game. One thing that I've seen in many games is a tradition of going out for food after game, generally to whatever nearby eating establishment can handle a large number of people right after game. I have seen in some cases a traditional after-party, sometimes on a monthly basis, sometimes every few months to a year. These out of game traditions are, in my opinion, every bit as important as what happens within game-space for a few reasons.
1. As I said in the opening, gaming is retrospective storytelling. Afters provide a handy context for the processing of what happened within a group environment. Afters can be a forum for discussion of what happened in a less public context, as it is much easier to get someone one on one at an after party or restaurant.
2. Afters is the context where people can learn each other's real names. And of course, more than just that. I think community building in a LARP should be a priority and Afters is a context in which deeper connections can be made. Part of this comes from how people are socialized. In the context of before and after game, when people are rushing around and preparing for an event, it can be hard to break the ice with other people. But we are all more or less socialized to interact over food and at parties, so they provide a context that eases those processes.
Things that are Important!
So, there are two things that are very important when it comes to Afters.
1. Make sure you have a good relationship with the venue in which you have Afters. This takes a few forms. It can be a matter of arranging reservations, or at least checking to see if they are too busy to handle a large group. Also, tip very well. Handling a group of 20 people who want split checks is a lot of difficult additional work for a server and bad relationships with servers can make it difficult to get a table at a restaurant. Also, make sure that everyone pays. It seems like a no-brainer, but I've seen enough examples where someone failed to pay that I feel it's necessary to call out.
2. Try to avoid excessive cliquishness. What I think is more important about Afters is that it is a chance to break down social barriers. When there is a 'cool kid's table', that just erects more social barriers. Afters should not be the high school cafeteria.
Overall, I think that LARPs build communities when done right. Afters is an important part of that community building ritual and is not without precedent in greater culture. Think about cultural rituals that you know. Weddings, Funerals, Bar/Bat Mitzvahs, Sweat Lodges, etc. What all these rituals have in common is that you generally have food afterwards. If you think of the cultural process at the heart of a LARP, Afters just make sense.
Thursday, September 4, 2014
LARPing and the Penelope Effect
So, this blog is not just about D&D5, though I will probably return to that once I start actually playing some.
Today, instead, I would like to talk about the Penelope Effect, which I consider to be a huge problem in LARP design and ways that I try to circumvent it. The Penelope Effect is my name for what happens in a LARP when a portion of a game 'leaves' the game location to investigate some plot point and the rest of the game is left with minimal Storyteller attention to wait for the others to return. This is something I have encountered in many games, both as a player and as a Storyteller, and there are a few ways that I have developed to deal with it, some of which I've picked up from other games.
But first, why is it a problem? As far as I've seen, it appears to be standard operating procedure for most LARPs, how can something that everybody seems to do be a problem. Well, let's talk a little about the Penelope metaphor. In the Odyssey, Odysseus is making his way home, having adventures and sleeping with all the mystically inclined women he seems to come across. Meanwhile, Penelope was stuck at home, and had so little to do that she had to weave and unweave the same tapestry. And while she is a cunning character, tricking her suitors while keeping the home fires burning, she is given very little story time. And that is ultimately why Penelope is a good metaphor for this effect. The people left behind are simply not getting story time.
Let's assume that in a game of 24 people, you have 3 Storytellers. While everyone is on site, there is effectively an 8:1 ratio of Storyteller to player and story attention can be divided fairly easily. Then let's assume that a group of 4 people leave on a mission. Now they have a 4:1 ratio and the remainder of the game has a 10:1 ratio, less potential Storyteller attention available for each of the remaining players. Another group of 4 pulls another Storyteller away and then the remainder has a 16:1 ratio of Storyteller to player and chances are multiple people may want the Storyteller at once. If another group of 4 then pulls off Storyteller number three, then half of the game is literally sitting at home without a Storyteller to run things. They've been Penelope'd.
As a Player, I've been Penelope'd many times. Sometimes it's people going off site, sometimes it's 'important' meetings with NPCs that only a few characters are allowed to join. Regardless, I've been left behind in the main game space with nothing to do. I've dealt with this in multiple ways.
Player Strategies for Avoiding the Full Penelope Effect
1. I've had many a philosophical discussion, waiting for adventurers to return, playing the simulationist game while others are off doing the narrativist thing.[I'll talk about my feelings on GNS in a later post]. But in my experience, that can only get you so far. In most cases, save narrative attention that places a great deal of attention on moral choices or transformational moments, you can only really have that conversation once between characters. Anything more is unweaving the tapestry, covering the same ground again. Generally speaking, I like these conversations. I think the chance to discuss character perspectives is a real joy of gaming. But unweaving the tapestry and then reweaving it gets dull after a while.
2. I will give myself things to do. I have taken to playing bards in LARPs, mainly because during down moments, I can pick up the guitar and strum a few bars while I wait. I've played characters who've done crossword puzzles, or played on their computers in character or done any number of things that fill downtime. I once brought a copy of the old Basic D&D to a Vampire game in character and tried to get other characters to play it in character[one day, I'll succeed at game within a game]. This passes time, but isn't always the most fun thing.
3. Inserting myself into Meetings/Adventures. I have gotten good about inserting myself into things. Barging into meetings, tagging along on adventures, etc. Sometimes, it's a dramatic insertion into a meeting. Sometimes it's a stealthy tag along. Sometimes it's a 'you should bring along a bard to tell the story of what happened'. Regardless, it's a skill I've had to develop to avoid being Penelope'd.
Really though, the Penelope Effect should be a Storyteller Problem. Storyteller planning and effort can reduce the Penelope Effect. And Storytellers should do this, because Penelope'd players are disengaged players. Being left behind is not particularly fun and as a Storyteller, your goal should be to make an event that is the most fun for the most people.
ST Strategies to Prevent the Penelope Effect
1. Unity of Place and WYSIWYG: More and more, in games I run, I try to follow the concept of Unity of Place and WYSIWYG[What You See is What You Get]. Making it so that characters have incentive not to leave the game space, either through external danger or internal reward means that people are not left behind. I roll the WYSIWYG effect into this in that by having the game space be the same as the physical space, you disallow a common Penelopeing strategy I call the 'not findable'. In this, if you want to be hard to find, you need to find space within the space that is hard to find and if people find you, they find you.
2. Eventfulness: This is a larger point and may get its own blog post at some point, but every LARP session should have a reason why the characters are gathering. If people don't have a reason to be in the space, then they will wander off. Part of eventfulness involves having things for people to do within the space either on a group or individual level. These activities do not have to consume the entire game, but they should provide a fallback. One quick way to do this is to provide food and drink. People are used to food and drink at events. And people are culturally conditioned to socialize over food and drink. This helps people interact.
3. In-Between Investigation: One major obstacle to a "no offsite investigations during game" policy is that there still needs to be a robust mechanism for information entering game. This is best served by an active in between action system. I've seen this done well in a number of ways. One method is the non-event game session, which I've seen called a downtime session or an interlude. At these sessions, there is no event programming, just a chance to have off site or other conversations/meetings. Part of the art of this process is making sure to prime expectations, so people don't show up expecting another game, but it can be effective. The other method I've seen be effective are structured downtime actions. Every player receives and email asking for in between actions and there is a hard deadline for completion of those emails so that actions can be considered. Theoretically, this allows characters to do things off-site and bring information back to game to be shared.
4. Minimal Storyteller as NonPlayerCharacter activity: This is probably my most controversial suggestion, but one thing I've found is that having the Storytellers focus on being accessible rather than having them play characters within the game allows for much more Storyteller attention to be spread through the game, making it easier to respond to anything and notice areas of concern that might be helped by an infusion of eventfulness. Generally speaking, if an NPC is planned and intended to be more than a single scene, then I recommend using a dedicated player rather than having an ST portray them.
Overall, I've seen many Penelope Effects in game. One of my worst LARPing experiences involved a 2 hour window where players sat around and made the same joke [a riff on the Insane Clown Posse "Magnets, how do they work?" lyric] over and over, because we'd all been Penelope'd. It was such a dreadful experience that I never returned to that game. Please, don't Penelope people.
Today, instead, I would like to talk about the Penelope Effect, which I consider to be a huge problem in LARP design and ways that I try to circumvent it. The Penelope Effect is my name for what happens in a LARP when a portion of a game 'leaves' the game location to investigate some plot point and the rest of the game is left with minimal Storyteller attention to wait for the others to return. This is something I have encountered in many games, both as a player and as a Storyteller, and there are a few ways that I have developed to deal with it, some of which I've picked up from other games.
But first, why is it a problem? As far as I've seen, it appears to be standard operating procedure for most LARPs, how can something that everybody seems to do be a problem. Well, let's talk a little about the Penelope metaphor. In the Odyssey, Odysseus is making his way home, having adventures and sleeping with all the mystically inclined women he seems to come across. Meanwhile, Penelope was stuck at home, and had so little to do that she had to weave and unweave the same tapestry. And while she is a cunning character, tricking her suitors while keeping the home fires burning, she is given very little story time. And that is ultimately why Penelope is a good metaphor for this effect. The people left behind are simply not getting story time.
Let's assume that in a game of 24 people, you have 3 Storytellers. While everyone is on site, there is effectively an 8:1 ratio of Storyteller to player and story attention can be divided fairly easily. Then let's assume that a group of 4 people leave on a mission. Now they have a 4:1 ratio and the remainder of the game has a 10:1 ratio, less potential Storyteller attention available for each of the remaining players. Another group of 4 pulls another Storyteller away and then the remainder has a 16:1 ratio of Storyteller to player and chances are multiple people may want the Storyteller at once. If another group of 4 then pulls off Storyteller number three, then half of the game is literally sitting at home without a Storyteller to run things. They've been Penelope'd.
As a Player, I've been Penelope'd many times. Sometimes it's people going off site, sometimes it's 'important' meetings with NPCs that only a few characters are allowed to join. Regardless, I've been left behind in the main game space with nothing to do. I've dealt with this in multiple ways.
Player Strategies for Avoiding the Full Penelope Effect
1. I've had many a philosophical discussion, waiting for adventurers to return, playing the simulationist game while others are off doing the narrativist thing.[I'll talk about my feelings on GNS in a later post]. But in my experience, that can only get you so far. In most cases, save narrative attention that places a great deal of attention on moral choices or transformational moments, you can only really have that conversation once between characters. Anything more is unweaving the tapestry, covering the same ground again. Generally speaking, I like these conversations. I think the chance to discuss character perspectives is a real joy of gaming. But unweaving the tapestry and then reweaving it gets dull after a while.
2. I will give myself things to do. I have taken to playing bards in LARPs, mainly because during down moments, I can pick up the guitar and strum a few bars while I wait. I've played characters who've done crossword puzzles, or played on their computers in character or done any number of things that fill downtime. I once brought a copy of the old Basic D&D to a Vampire game in character and tried to get other characters to play it in character[one day, I'll succeed at game within a game]. This passes time, but isn't always the most fun thing.
3. Inserting myself into Meetings/Adventures. I have gotten good about inserting myself into things. Barging into meetings, tagging along on adventures, etc. Sometimes, it's a dramatic insertion into a meeting. Sometimes it's a stealthy tag along. Sometimes it's a 'you should bring along a bard to tell the story of what happened'. Regardless, it's a skill I've had to develop to avoid being Penelope'd.
Really though, the Penelope Effect should be a Storyteller Problem. Storyteller planning and effort can reduce the Penelope Effect. And Storytellers should do this, because Penelope'd players are disengaged players. Being left behind is not particularly fun and as a Storyteller, your goal should be to make an event that is the most fun for the most people.
ST Strategies to Prevent the Penelope Effect
1. Unity of Place and WYSIWYG: More and more, in games I run, I try to follow the concept of Unity of Place and WYSIWYG[What You See is What You Get]. Making it so that characters have incentive not to leave the game space, either through external danger or internal reward means that people are not left behind. I roll the WYSIWYG effect into this in that by having the game space be the same as the physical space, you disallow a common Penelopeing strategy I call the 'not findable'. In this, if you want to be hard to find, you need to find space within the space that is hard to find and if people find you, they find you.
2. Eventfulness: This is a larger point and may get its own blog post at some point, but every LARP session should have a reason why the characters are gathering. If people don't have a reason to be in the space, then they will wander off. Part of eventfulness involves having things for people to do within the space either on a group or individual level. These activities do not have to consume the entire game, but they should provide a fallback. One quick way to do this is to provide food and drink. People are used to food and drink at events. And people are culturally conditioned to socialize over food and drink. This helps people interact.
3. In-Between Investigation: One major obstacle to a "no offsite investigations during game" policy is that there still needs to be a robust mechanism for information entering game. This is best served by an active in between action system. I've seen this done well in a number of ways. One method is the non-event game session, which I've seen called a downtime session or an interlude. At these sessions, there is no event programming, just a chance to have off site or other conversations/meetings. Part of the art of this process is making sure to prime expectations, so people don't show up expecting another game, but it can be effective. The other method I've seen be effective are structured downtime actions. Every player receives and email asking for in between actions and there is a hard deadline for completion of those emails so that actions can be considered. Theoretically, this allows characters to do things off-site and bring information back to game to be shared.
4. Minimal Storyteller as NonPlayerCharacter activity: This is probably my most controversial suggestion, but one thing I've found is that having the Storytellers focus on being accessible rather than having them play characters within the game allows for much more Storyteller attention to be spread through the game, making it easier to respond to anything and notice areas of concern that might be helped by an infusion of eventfulness. Generally speaking, if an NPC is planned and intended to be more than a single scene, then I recommend using a dedicated player rather than having an ST portray them.
Overall, I've seen many Penelope Effects in game. One of my worst LARPing experiences involved a 2 hour window where players sat around and made the same joke [a riff on the Insane Clown Posse "Magnets, how do they work?" lyric] over and over, because we'd all been Penelope'd. It was such a dreadful experience that I never returned to that game. Please, don't Penelope people.
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