Here’s some draft examples of the kinds of character-specific fiction-conditional rules I mean.
Let’s kick off with a really juicy example.
“If you can arrange to be alone with another character while they aren’t expecting you to be there, you can kill them.”
This would be a suitable rule for some sort of spymaster or chief assassin character. I really do want the game to be as brutal as this – it’s not merely a hefty modifier on a to hit roll, you really will die. The mere existence of this rule, fabulously, will make everyone extremely suspiscious of sending their characters off to be in rooms alone…
Note! It’s still not a done thing for our putative spymaster. He has to trick his target somehow, maneuvering them into position. It’s likely characters will always be travelling with retinues and/or guards (especially the important ones) or at least in pairs (partly because they’ll know about this rule!), and the palace is going to be lousy with servants and guards at all times – it’ll take a defined effort to genuinely clear any particular room and thus qualify as “alone”.
Another rule:
If you are in the presence of someone who has been coerced into doing something against their usual code of ethics, they will confess to you.
A great rule for a religious character (or perhaps an interrogator?). The existence of this one creates a cost towards involving others in your plans, particularly NPCs (PCs are likely to have codes of ethics which mean that this one doesn’t work on them, of course). It also gives you an incentive to try and get the archbishop on your side.
Each of these rules is going to require careful thought. I’ll also need to consider what happens when rules conflict (specific beats general wil be the usual pattern, I think).
September 3, 2009 at 2:51 am |
Does everyone have multiple characters? That would help folks embrace the killing and dying in a wonderful way, I think. Also, things like the Confession are such beautiful things to move the plot along. It would be good if the effects could layer with one another. Frex, giving a confession to someone you kill is still a powerful thing for the players watching on.
September 3, 2009 at 4:51 pm |
I haven’t made a decision on multiple characters yet.
Multiple characters are obviously an advantage in terms of keeping players engaged after a character death. But it will also likely lead to players being in scenes with two or three of their own characters (always problematic in play, I find) and also using multiple characters to collaborate together (which may or may not be a problem – I might leave that one up the individual table culture).
It could be sequential – you start with one character and switch to another (previously an NPC?) if they die. Or perhaps it’s just okay that this is a game where you might end up eliminated early…
I also want options for people to be defeated without being killed – being “disgraced”, perhaps, or “imprisoned” – which provide options for continuing play of that character.