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Judgement calls vs "railroading"
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<blockquote data-quote="Campbell" data-source="post: 7053315" data-attributes="member: 16586"><p>The medium impacts storytelling techniques. With the Marquis example, it depends on a couple of factors for me. Under the principles I operate under the most critical consideration is how the players see the NPC. Is he our guy or your guy? If the players have invested significant effort to make him an ally, and their conception of their characters is rolled up in the relationship killing him off summarily without a chance to do anything about it feels like a cheap shot. If they are not emotionally invested, screw him. He dies to prove a point. If they are you want to make whether he lives or dies the result of player action or inaction. It will feel more impactful if their decisions had an impact. Being a fan of the players' characters means you don't just take away the things they have earned through play lightly.</p><p></p><p>Apocalypse World has this concept of hard and soft moves that I think applies to this situation. A hard move has finality of resolution. Something happens that changes things forever. A soft move serves to threaten, change things momentarily, or reveal possible consequences. Generally it is a good idea to use soft moves first. It's a way to apply foreshadowing in a game where we cannot know what will happen. It gives players a chance to think about their actions, and emotionally prepare for those hard moves. Soft moves make the hard moves feel right. It is also important that the hard move actually comes to pass. Threaten, then deliver.</p><p></p><p>For me, this comes down to <em>bleed</em>, the idea that player and character emotions influence each other. You are playing with people's emotions here and should have enough respect for the other players to treat that responsibility very seriously.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Campbell, post: 7053315, member: 16586"] The medium impacts storytelling techniques. With the Marquis example, it depends on a couple of factors for me. Under the principles I operate under the most critical consideration is how the players see the NPC. Is he our guy or your guy? If the players have invested significant effort to make him an ally, and their conception of their characters is rolled up in the relationship killing him off summarily without a chance to do anything about it feels like a cheap shot. If they are not emotionally invested, screw him. He dies to prove a point. If they are you want to make whether he lives or dies the result of player action or inaction. It will feel more impactful if their decisions had an impact. Being a fan of the players' characters means you don't just take away the things they have earned through play lightly. Apocalypse World has this concept of hard and soft moves that I think applies to this situation. A hard move has finality of resolution. Something happens that changes things forever. A soft move serves to threaten, change things momentarily, or reveal possible consequences. Generally it is a good idea to use soft moves first. It's a way to apply foreshadowing in a game where we cannot know what will happen. It gives players a chance to think about their actions, and emotionally prepare for those hard moves. Soft moves make the hard moves feel right. It is also important that the hard move actually comes to pass. Threaten, then deliver. For me, this comes down to [I]bleed[/I], the idea that player and character emotions influence each other. You are playing with people's emotions here and should have enough respect for the other players to treat that responsibility very seriously. [/QUOTE]
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Judgement calls vs "railroading"
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