Re: Giving places and game session their own abilities

From: Roderick and Ellen Robertson <rjremr_at_...>
Date: Thu, 7 Sep 2006 08:38:28 -0700


> But I would like it to encompass also 'story' considerations like 'A
> young woman will be sacrified' or 'One of you fall in love' or
> 'Trahison!'.
> All these abilities will be in a common pool: the players and I will
> have access to them. I think I'll use them more than they, but we will
> see.

[...]

If you can find a copy of the old "Torg" rules, they had mechanisms for just this sort of thing, except in card form. For example, they had "Subplot Cards" that gve the players the chance to play them for story ideas, and a Hero Point equivalent. So if I get the "Romance" card, I can play it, and the GM (with some input from me) will incorporate some sort of romance for my character. (Cards played a big part in play in Torg, so you were drawing a lot of cards0.

A possible way to do what you want is to make your own "Subplot" cards and leave them available for the players - they don't have to wait for the luck of the draw, but can take one any time they want. Only one person can "play" a particular card, so you won't get everyone running around with Romances if you only have one Romance Card! (Of course, you might have multiples of the same subplot).

Torg had the following subplots:
Martyr
Mistaken Identity
Nemesis
Personal Stake
Romance
Suspicion
True Identity

You can add your own subplots, "Pirates!", for example, or "Natural Disaster!" or "Wierd Island Ceremony"

When a player takes a subplot, the narrator and he would then jointly decide what the exact details would be - he'd have some say "I want Pirate Ninja Keets", but *you* would decide how that subplot would manifest. Woudl the PNKs invade an island that the heroes were lounging on, or attack their ship, or merely be seen in the distance (setting the scene for the PNK adventure you already had planned). Would "Romance" be between the hero and the Dusky Island Princess (who is, of course, about to be sacarficed to the Wamaboo the Volcano God, due to your buddy's use of the Wierd Island Ceremony subplot) or with her handmaiden, or a PNK?

RR
C'est par mon ordre et pour le bien de l'Etat que le porteur du pr�sent a fait ce qu'il a fait.
- Richelieu

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