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PTG213 – Layers: The Panda Redux

Posted: Mon Oct 12, 2020 1:42 am
by EpisodeBot
Show us how you manage the layers of the game! Senda and Phil take a fly by on the old MMP game layers (with a few updates), what they are, when you’re in them, and how using this lens on your games can be a useful tool for finding the kind of game that works best for you. Bonus outtakes...

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Layers are Dead, long live Foci!

Posted: Wed Oct 14, 2020 12:21 pm
by OldSchoolDM
Nice to do a fresh take on "Layers" with Senda.

As Phil (and Chris) know, I don't like the layers metaphor at all - it has a lot of attributes I think just don't apply - specifically it leads to thinking about being "in a layer" to exclusion of other "layers." This happens only a few times during the episode, most clearly when Phil says something like "[being 'in'] the Out of Game Layer is Bad." Like we aren't *always* OOG, at least a little bit...

Foci > Layers

On the other hand, when you discuss "Focus" instead of "Layer" I think you're getting to a place that I think is closer to my model, and moving away from a clumsy metaphor toward an analytical tool for helping players: Instead of being "in a layer" you can have multiple Foci (as you mention that a GM pretty much always has to do.)

Its good to see thinking on these topics evolve along with interaction with the community {moar voices!}.

Great episode folks!

Layers are Dead, long live Foci!