#RPGaDay2015, Day 26

rpg-a-day-2015Today’s entry asks the question, what is your Favorite Inspiration For Your Game?

Now, when I first saw the list of topics, I pretty much assumed that at this point, I’d probably be talking about the mix of genres that created FAR WEST. The short version of that: Once I noticed the similarities between Spaghetti Westerns and Chinese Wuxia, I couldn’t stop seeing the parallels. To this day, every time I encounter a plot element or trope from one, I immediately see how it is reflected in the other, and how I can find the midpoint for the FAR WEST setting.

But… The more I thought about it, the more I realized that as cool as that is, that’s not actually my favorite inspiration.

As cheesy as it sounds, my favorite inspiration is actually — players.

This is not some kumbaya, touchy-feely, “I love you guys” kind of tribute to the folks that I’ve played games with (although it certainly could be). No, this is a recognition of the actual nuts-and-bolts method that I’ve always used when running a game, which is to let the players define as much of what’s going on as possible, and then riff of what they’ve presented.

I codified this method in my game UnderWorld (15 years ago now), with a term that I called “Intuitive Continuity” — which was picked up by some of the indie story-gaming folks at The Forge website as part of their Big Model thesis of play. Basically, what I do is that I let the player’s actions, interests, and even their at-table suppositions amongst themselves, shape the actual reality and back-story of what’s occurring. The key to this, for me, was the realization that nothing exists until presented to the players — in other words, it doesn’t matter that I’d decided that the villain was actually planning X; if the players come up with a compelling case for the fact that he’s planning Y or Z, then I can juggle information behind the scenes to make that true, as long as it doesn’t violate anything I’ve presented to them already.

In the core rulebook of UnderWorld, I compared it to improvisational jazz — where I’m not entirely improvising — I know the key of the song, and I have a few practiced riffs that I’m good enough at that I can play automatically while my mind is focused a few bars ahead on composing something on-the-fly for when I reach that part. If I do it well enough, the whole thing is seamless.

That’s how I run my games, so in a very real way, my players are always my favorite inspiration.

Now, let’s check in with Dave Chapman, and special guest Andy Peregrine, for today’s video entry:

#RPGaDay2015, Day 25

rpg-a-day-2015 Today’s topic is Favorite Revolutionary Game Mechanic.

This is one where I will not be writing an entry.

Not because I don’t have one (I have several, from the Chase mechanics in JAMES BOND 007, to the flip-flopping percentile dice rolls in UNKNOWN ARMIES, to the diceless system of AMBER, and more), but because I was honored to be Dave Chapman’s special guest in today’s video entry, so you can just watch the video and get my response…

#RPGaDay2015, Day 24

rpg-a-day-2015Today’s topic is Favorite House Rule. Another difficult one for me to answer, since most of the stuff that I house-rule, I end up publishing as rules.

That said, I do have a house rule that I use, whenever I run a superhero game. No matter what the system, I always make it a feature of my campaigns:

I always put in “Easter Eggs” in my campaigns — little inside-joke references to comics history (either the fictional history, or the history of the industry). The players might be facing down a super-villain in Fawcett Park, for example. Players who spot the reference to Fawcett Comics (Golden Age publisher of Captain Marvel comics) get some kind of in-game benefit (depending on the rules system being used — for example, in ICONS, I might give a free point of Determination). Even better, if the players can improvise their own references, they get added to the game setting canon, AND they get an in-game benefit. Basically, it just adds another layer of comics nerdery to our roleplaying nerdery.

So, there’s my favorite house rule. Let’s check out Dave Chapman’s video entry for the day, with special guest Grant Howit: