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Another odd one today: Favorite idea for merging two games into one.

The fuck?

I’m not sure I’ve ever thought of smashing together two games — settings, sure. I’ve done that tons of times. But merging two games? Aside from lifting the occasional cool mechanic from one game for use in another (I have a system for using FATE-style Aspects with Savage Worlds, for instance, which I’m considering releasing in a published product down the road), or playing a game with rules I like, using the setting from a game which has a less-than-stellar rules set, I can’t really envision doing it.

Actually… as I’ve been typing this, I’ve thought of a merger which would definitely interest me: Take the astoundingly complete (700+ pages) STARBLAZER ADVENTURES, the “rock-and-roll space opera adventure game”, which used the original version of the FATE rules with a license for a UK anthology comic series of the 70s/80s. I worked on that game, and I’m very familiar with it. The license has expired, so all of the comics-specific material would have to be excised, but the space opera mechanics for FATE were really excellent. I would take those, bring them in line with the newer FATE rules (perhaps some elements of FATE ACCELERATED, too), and come up with an original setting that reflects late 70s/early 80s space opera. That would be fun.

Would I consider that my “favorite idea”, though? Again, not sure I have a favorite.

Dave Chapman has some ideas…

Today’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:

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…