Friday, July 25, 2008

Tropes: Why Should Players Get All the Fun?

In a recent Amagi gambit, Levi Kornelsen provides a plug-in to mechanically encourage players to "play to the tropes" of the genre you're trying to emulate. Essentially, GM (or the group) creates a list of tropes that will reinforce the chosen genres. Levi recommends starting with about 10 tropes and adding as you go. When a player manages to maneuver to fulfill a trope (the character charms the reporter and "The Hero Gets the Girl" in the process) he gets a trope point. Trope points are the sort of manipulative currency we've become used to in games. Think drama points, fate points, plot points or action points. Stripped to its core, the system lets the GM bribe the players into playing to the genre, and there's nothing wrong with that.

This is a really cool concept that I know could improve my group's genre games, but why should players get all the fun? The Amagi article includes this paragraph about "Non-Player Tropes":
Not every good trope is meant for player action, or covered under these rules. If your game emulates video game RPGs, it’s a trope to include a Fire Dungeon and an Ice Dungeon, but those aren’t things players manage. Making a list of these to have on-hand is helpful; even if they aren’t part of these rules, they’re fun to have at hand.

But why shouldn't the rules support non-player tropes? Can't the players bribe the GM too?
Replace the "Non-Player Tropes" paragraph with this:

Not every good trope is meant for player action, or within the players' hands. If your game emulates video game RPGs, it’s a trope to include a Fire Dungeon and an Ice Dungeon, and if your game adheres to the conventions of the Noir genre, players should expect a sap to the back of the head, eventually. When creating the list of tropes for the group, help the players make their own list of Non-Player Tropes. These are things that the GM can do to support the genre.

Just like player tropes, there are two big rules for the non-player variety. One, the trope should support the genre. Two, the trope should be something you think will be fun, not something that will upset you if the GM chooses to employ it. If you think that a club to the back of the head will be fun, put it on the list. If you think it sounds like the worst kind of railroading, make sure it doesn't end up in the GM's repertoire.

If necessary, have players initial the tropes that they're willing to be involved with. Some tropes, like a crumbling rope bridge, will affect the whole group, but others, like getting possessed by a demon, can be isolated to only interested players.

Any player may Award the GM for acting out a trope. GMs can spend their trope points to Boost NPCs and, if the group likes, he may be limited to only placing bounties using these points. GMs may also use these points to bride players to play along with more undesirable non-player tropes. "I'll give one of my trope points to whoever's willing to be kidnapped"

1 comment:

Fang Langford said...

I like Levi's idea so much, I've been building a game around it. Currently, I'm here: http://universe6.scattershotgames.com/superpower/index.php?module=wiki&page=DaRules#toc9

But I started back here: http://www.indie-rpgs.com/forum/index.php?topic=3572.msg33956#msg33956

Like you, I wanted the GM in on this, but my solution was to give the GM a 'character' sheet as well. On the milieu sheet, the gamemaster lists all these tropes. Like the players, the gamemaster has a limited number of counters to play with too.

When a player invokes one of his own tropes, he gets counter(s) from the pot which is where they are spent to as well.

Fang Langford