Selecting Traits Part Three: Generic versus Brand Name
We have come far, grasshopper, in studying the Trait-fu. We know to pick Traits essential to the core truth of the character – because that’s how we’re going to shine. We’ve learned to be careful that the scope of the chosen Traits isn’t so narrow as to be seldom usable, but also isn’t so wide as to be abusable, usable almost always. Now we focus in on the gravy – picking Traits that enhance the flavor and savoriness of each selected Trait, bringing the overall character to a tasty fruition. Why am I...
commentSelecting Traits Part Two: Looking for Miss Goldilocks
We talked last week about selecting the right Traits for your shiny new PC – traits that embody the aspects of the character that we the audience want to see the PC embrace time and time again. However, there is another critical issue in traits selection that GMs must pay close attention to – the Goldilocks Principle. It’s about Trait utility. Here are two very different examples to demonstrate what can happen if the GM approves Traits that run afoul of this concern. John is a player who loves playing powerful,...
commentSelecting Traits Part One: Traits Are Good
In Dream Factory, it all comes down to the Outcome Check, or as we call them, the OC – win it, and you get decide how things turn out. Lose it, and you give the GM a chance to get creative. Which would you prefer? (grin) The standard way to win an OC – apart from being lucky, of course – is by leveraging (that is to say, invoking or risking) your character’s Traits to get extra dice, so obviously choosing the right Traits when building your character is critical. However, all too often we are tempted to hurry...
commentSafety First
Most RPG theory wonks are well aware of the implied social contract that coalesces around any social activity. With role-playing games, that unspoken agreement to abide by certain rules of conduct becomes even more necessary – after all, in a story-based game, any scenario could arise, limited only by imagination, unlike, say, in a game of badminton where all you have to worry about is a lack of sportsmanship. I’ll give you a personal example. I love cats. Love ‘em. I don’t feel that way about most animals, to...
commentThat Which Must Not Be Spoken
I wasn’t going to write about this today, but an RPG mailing list I’m on kind of took over my morning. A couple of fellows were talking about (I’m paraphrasing) the idea that after playing RPGs for a while it’s only natural that one’s play would evolve and one would seek better mechanics that rewarded one for more specific tactics, like having one’s PC target an enemy’s kneecap. I kid you not. Of course, what I really should have done is put quote marks around “evolve” and “better” above, because to my...
commentMessing with Players, part 1
OK, truth is, I don’t really know if this is the first part of an ongoing series or the only part, but let’s skip that question and get right to it: As a GM and story-crafter, sometimes it’s fun to hide the truth in plain sight. Case in point: in the Wild West game I was running yesterday (in DF2, naturally), the characters met a wise old Indian (as settlers called them then), who dispensed sage and though-provoking advice. He said he was named by his tribe for his technique of helping them dig burrows and hide...
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