I haven’t mingled in this community much, but I’ve begun playing story games about once a month with a group in the Seattle area. I follow some of the Gauntlet podcasts (Thank You!!) and hope to find the time and chutzpah to try online gaming here.
My question for everyone right now is this: Do you know of a game that does something like the following?
Separate storylines for characters are created and played out.
Well into the arc of these stories they begin to intersect.
This is the barest sketch of a description but it is probably familiar as it is a literary device we encounter in the books of David Mitchell among others. Plenty of movies take this approach too, but I am horrible at referencing movies…
Anyway, Know of any games that use a device like this?
I mostly dabble in board game design, but I’m feeling inspired to work on a story game too.
Cordially,
Davey
The best I can think of is Microscope but that’s not a 1player 1character game. You probably want to look for systems that are played by long form such as online over forums etc because that format is slightly problematic at the table because there’s lots of downtime for everyone whose stories aren’t being told at the minute.
The best I can think of is Microscope but that’s not a 1player 1character game. You probably want to look for systems that are played by long form such as online over forums etc because that format is slightly problematic at the table because there’s lots of downtime for everyone whose stories aren’t being told at the minute.
There are a decent number of GMless games that play out more or less like this. Archipelago III and Remember Tomorrow are the ones that immediately come to mind. Different characters’ stories don’t even have to overlap in those, but players tend to look for opportunities to make them cross paths or at least influence each other. Even Fiasco kind of does this, though stories tend to converge pretty quickly in that one.
There are a decent number of GMless games that play out more or less like this. Archipelago III and Remember Tomorrow are the ones that immediately come to mind. Different characters’ stories don’t even have to overlap in those, but players tend to look for opportunities to make them cross paths or at least influence each other. Even Fiasco kind of does this, though stories tend to converge pretty quickly in that one.
Thanks Ashton, yea. Downtime could be an issue. I was thinking of other players playing supporting NPC roles for each character’s story.
BTW: It’d also be kinda fun to have these nonintersecting cameos happening earlier in the game as kinds of adumbrations that build toward the more consequential or meaningful intersections later in the game. These earlier intersections could be incentivized pretty easily in the context of the play…
Thanks Ashton, yea. Downtime could be an issue. I was thinking of other players playing supporting NPC roles for each character’s story.
BTW: It’d also be kinda fun to have these nonintersecting cameos happening earlier in the game as kinds of adumbrations that build toward the more consequential or meaningful intersections later in the game. These earlier intersections could be incentivized pretty easily in the context of the play…
Also, can anyone suggest good books or movies that take this kind of a narrative approach??
A difficult to watch art=film called “time codes” from the early 90’s attempts this… Cloud Atlas, Bone Clocks etc. from David Mitchell… what else can you recommend?
Also, can anyone suggest good books or movies that take this kind of a narrative approach??
A difficult to watch art=film called “time codes” from the early 90’s attempts this… Cloud Atlas, Bone Clocks etc. from David Mitchell… what else can you recommend?
After Hours, sort of.
After Hours, sort of.
It’s a comedy, but the first series of Psychoville introduces a group of characters who live in different parts of England, all connected by an event in their past, and we don’t see them meet up on screen until the final episode. I hacked one of my own games to replicate the tone of the series, so maybe that would work for what you want? http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product_info.php?currency=GBP&products_id=175318&affiliate_id=32567
It’s a comedy, but the first series of Psychoville introduces a group of characters who live in different parts of England, all connected by an event in their past, and we don’t see them meet up on screen until the final episode. I hacked one of my own games to replicate the tone of the series, so maybe that would work for what you want? http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product_info.php?currency=GBP&products_id=175318&affiliate_id=32567
Seems to me you could play a DramaSystem game like this by making the relations between the characters indirect, or unknown to the characters themselves at the start. The players would still use these details as unconscious motivating factors or “fate”, but the characters themselves wouldn’t be aware of them until something happened (a GM move, perhaps) to reveal them.
Seems to me you could play a DramaSystem game like this by making the relations between the characters indirect, or unknown to the characters themselves at the start. The players would still use these details as unconscious motivating factors or “fate”, but the characters themselves wouldn’t be aware of them until something happened (a GM move, perhaps) to reveal them.
As If wouldn’t you have to hack DS quite a lot to make it work since the primary engine is the giving or witholding of emotional concessions between players?
As If wouldn’t you have to hack DS quite a lot to make it work since the primary engine is the giving or witholding of emotional concessions between players?
TBH Becky Annison I’ve only ever played the “Malandros” branch of DS, which is a simplified version of the DS system including “Moves” a la PbtW for both players and the GM. It’s used for Malandros and Other Borders. In that version (or hack , whatever), the rules allow for greater autonomy on the PCs’ parts, and the GM Moves can be used to push things around in a stronger way than in a traditional DS game like Hillfolk. So Procedural Scenes take a bit more precedence. Dramatic Scenes are still about emotional concessions, true, but those concessions are typically masked beneath physical objects or behavioral demands. I.e., they are symbolic of emotional requests.
What I’m suggesting is (granted) a very “author stance” game, with the stated meta-goal of converging (as opposed to a system that automatically pushes characters toward convergence without any didacticism on the part of the players). I don’t feel you’d need to modify the system, although I do think you’d have to keep a very bold line between player knowledge and character knowledge, basically a very “meta” approach.
TBH Becky Annison I’ve only ever played the “Malandros” branch of DS, which is a simplified version of the DS system including “Moves” a la PbtW for both players and the GM. It’s used for Malandros and Other Borders. In that version (or hack , whatever), the rules allow for greater autonomy on the PCs’ parts, and the GM Moves can be used to push things around in a stronger way than in a traditional DS game like Hillfolk. So Procedural Scenes take a bit more precedence. Dramatic Scenes are still about emotional concessions, true, but those concessions are typically masked beneath physical objects or behavioral demands. I.e., they are symbolic of emotional requests.
What I’m suggesting is (granted) a very “author stance” game, with the stated meta-goal of converging (as opposed to a system that automatically pushes characters toward convergence without any didacticism on the part of the players). I don’t feel you’d need to modify the system, although I do think you’d have to keep a very bold line between player knowledge and character knowledge, basically a very “meta” approach.
I agree with Daniel Lewis re: Archipelago III. Games tend to play out in the way you’ve described in the OP, though there isn’t really anything to enforce it mechanically.
I agree with Daniel Lewis re: Archipelago III. Games tend to play out in the way you’ve described in the OP, though there isn’t really anything to enforce it mechanically.
thanks for very valuable feedback everyone. I got some “actionable” new insights from this 🙂 In particular, I got Robin Law’s Hillfolk a year ago because I was excited by the idea of stories more driven by emotional dynamics. But I haven’t been able to play it, so I’m definitely going to be looking into the simplified versions referenced by “As If” I also appreciate the media suggestions.
One question: I’ve heard the acronym OP used alot. I know it means Over Powered in some contexts, but I think storygamers may be attaching another meaning? It’s one of those shibboleth terms I guess.
thanks for very valuable feedback everyone. I got some “actionable” new insights from this 🙂 In particular, I got Robin Law’s Hillfolk a year ago because I was excited by the idea of stories more driven by emotional dynamics. But I haven’t been able to play it, so I’m definitely going to be looking into the simplified versions referenced by “As If” I also appreciate the media suggestions.
One question: I’ve heard the acronym OP used alot. I know it means Over Powered in some contexts, but I think storygamers may be attaching another meaning? It’s one of those shibboleth terms I guess.
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