Show us how you get Indie gamers to play traditional games and vice versa! Phil and Senda break down some generalities about what differentiates the stereotypes of these games and then talk about some of the ways you can be up front with your players to make sure they have a good experience switching....
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PTG175 – Try It, You Might Like It!
Re: PTG175 – Try It, You Might Like It!
I wonder how you feel about incorporating indie mechanics into trad games to start broadening the minds of your players? 5E does have failing forward as an optional rule - "yes, you can open that locked door, but if you miss the DC, it will take a long time or do something to alert the guards", "you might convince the merchant to give you a break on the price, but if you don't hit your Persuasion roll, she tells her friends not to trust you, and now you get a crappier offer when you try to sell your loot", that sort of thing.
I think of Patrick Rothfuss in the Acquisitions Inc games, particularly under Chris Perkins, showed the uses - and abuses - of narrative position and suggestive control, even back when they were playing 4th edition. He negotiated to get advantage, to get sneak attack, what skill to use, whether there was a chandelier in the room...
For narrative based games with a random element (particularly one leans towards mixed results like PbtA), how do you keep your energy on setting a cool scene when as often as not (or almost always, in my case) the dice will let you down. Isn't there a learned helplessness when you describe your character's awesome action... and proceed to roll a 6 minus.
ETA: just read Di's Gnome Stew article on System Splicing... so... yeah. She kinda addresses a lot of that.
I think of Patrick Rothfuss in the Acquisitions Inc games, particularly under Chris Perkins, showed the uses - and abuses - of narrative position and suggestive control, even back when they were playing 4th edition. He negotiated to get advantage, to get sneak attack, what skill to use, whether there was a chandelier in the room...
For narrative based games with a random element (particularly one leans towards mixed results like PbtA), how do you keep your energy on setting a cool scene when as often as not (or almost always, in my case) the dice will let you down. Isn't there a learned helplessness when you describe your character's awesome action... and proceed to roll a 6 minus.
ETA: just read Di's Gnome Stew article on System Splicing... so... yeah. She kinda addresses a lot of that.
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GMGERRYMANDER
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Re: PTG175 – Try It, You Might Like It!
I try to implement Indie Game ideas into my Trad games all the time. (And some Trad games, Like BoL and Savage Worlds, are more hybrids anyway).
And I try to implement some Trad things into Indie games when needed. I think there is room for blended game systems.
But I do agree, there are a lot of Trad gamers who are reluctant to go away from their system mastery.
And there seem to be a TON of Indie gamers who take a hipster view of Trad games. (It seems like the second coming of the old WOD players who pretended that their games were storytelling and not RPGs...)
Also...
I don't remember starting that topic. I thought I was responding to someone else....
And I try to implement some Trad things into Indie games when needed. I think there is room for blended game systems.
But I do agree, there are a lot of Trad gamers who are reluctant to go away from their system mastery.
And there seem to be a TON of Indie gamers who take a hipster view of Trad games. (It seems like the second coming of the old WOD players who pretended that their games were storytelling and not RPGs...)
Also...
I don't remember starting that topic. I thought I was responding to someone else....