Expectations and High Level Play

-------------------------------------------

Discussion Towards Draft 13

--------------------------------------------

From Page 1 “After your first game has concluded, continue on to “Game 2”...”

Making expectations clear

Why do I want a 'game 2' instead of continued play?....

It sets a clear length or structure to the game so everyone knows what they’re getting into. Mismatched expectations, and other people not being able to meet them, ruins game groups and the experience, especially for newer players.  This is as light as not matching play styles, and as deep as mechanics ignoring the possibilities of interpersonal conflict (in and out of game). 

My idea of “stop when you’ve played a lot, then reset, even if you’re still having fun” is central to this game. It led to this ‘game 2’ mechanic, as well as the key mechanic I call the “Rest and Reward” phase, which puts a hard limit on the time of each session.

A lot of this game is about avoiding the fog of interpersonal vagueness, which is what many other RPG's are taped together with.  As GMs and players we are asked to ignore sooo many ways that RPG's don't work.  

Everyone should know why they’re there, what kind of game they’re playing, what their role is in terms of storytelling or bookkeeping, what it means to roleplay vs. take actions. And they shouldn’t pretend the group dynamic doesn’t affect play in a meta way (reconciling meta and RP is another huge part of this game). These things are heavily explored in other aspects of this game, and will be talked about / reworked as I write this blog. 

Are higher power levels in fantasy games actually fun?

When you reach high level, you fight high-level things. But is that actually interesting?...

Eventually, the feeling that “anything can happen” starts to clash with the knowledge that “it is happening.”  Sure, you’re all-powerful. But your power came from a nerd telling you a story. Doesn’t quite hit right.  Being powerful itself isn’t fun in game.  There has to be context which proves your power.   The context is usually various story telling / narrative elements. 

If what makes an RPG compelling is the storytelling, and players connecting to that, then how does high-level play contribute to that? Or even allow it?

At high power levels you get the same outline of story arcs, the same tropes, just through a new flavor lens.  Just with bigger "theoretical" consequences, more complicated rules and longer turns.   And I’d argue the story becomes thinner, less available. It has to come from, to emerge from these high-powered interactions, which are fewer in number by definition. Otherwise they wouldn’t be “higher.”   

…Odysseus, Other Fiction…

Even Odysseus, one of the original strong guys, could still be threatened by weather, mobs of men, gods, and monsters.

Maybe that’s the answer. Let players level up to face greater threats, but still remain vulnerable to nature, politics, and other people.

Excuse me, I’m going to read The Odyssey. Be back.

—

Odysseus had the help of gods, but that help was based on who he was and what world he came from. He didn't get to be exempt from the world, in fact was very very much susceptible to it.  Odysseus was a level 3 character that managed to overcome HUGE things with the help of contextual 'power' (that he earned by being cool!). That points to something: maybe it’s better to have a clean stop and restart with “game 2” rules, instead of letting characters slowly morph into demigods without even noticing.

At some point, you’ve earned divine favor or transcendent power. That should mean something. 

Mechanically, it’s simpler. It clarifies the point of being that strong. Players don’t slowly transform without realizing it, and the game doesn’t have to be built from the start to handle their godhood.

You also get a clean narrative break. A second arc. Like a book two.

Other fiction that is relevant: Malazan — a story where almost-gods can still be hurt by politics, weather, groups of weaker people, and emotions.

And Superman — a character who is all-powerful, but written to be emotional.

Is that kind of emotional connection to the world and characters something a DM can consistently instill in players, or does it only work when the character is written that way from the beginning—like Superman?

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Anyway, game 2 will be created when game 1 is finished…

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------