The Problem with Adventuring Parties

[fredramsey]

So I'm on the Unknown Armies site, wanting to know more about the game. I download and read two short stories. They are very cool. But then I get to thinking, how cool would the story be with a group of 5 people as the hero instead of just one?

Most movies, stories, etc. by and large have one, maybe two people who are the center of the story. Lord of the Rings non-withstanding. Perhaps this is why RPGs rarely feel like a good movie, even if we want them to.

An occult detective ala Lord of Illusions? Cool with one guy, but how do you get 5 or 6 people into that story? 6 police detectives? Doesn't seem right.

Any thoughts?

 

[Crothian]

Movies and books only have the time to go indepth on one or two characters. They are limited in what they can rpesent so they concentrate on less things. I see RPGs more like a TV show like Lost. They have a big cast, they can slowly introduuce the backgrounds of the characters week after week and they can be patient.

In modern days you still have teams of people. 6 detectivs might not work, but a team of investigators can. For Lord of Illusions you also have a team, more like the ghost busters to use an example people will know.

 

[F5]

This may be the case with your standard-issue action movie; lone hero kicks butt against impossible odds. But it's not universal.

Look at really good ensemble movies and (especially) TV series. Buffy, Firefly, Lost, Farscape...these are all shows (love 'em or hate 'em) that show the aventures of a group of characters without focusing too much on only one. I'd even say that the original Star Wars trilogy is a good example; all the major characters get their chance to shine. These are the kinds of things I use for inspiration on how to run a good "adventuring party" game.

Cutting to the chase, the thing that makes a game work for a large group is adventure hooks. Dozens of 'em. Each character has to have their own reasons for getting involved, and their own ties into the storyline, and, in the best-case scenario, all these different plot hooks allstart to come together in a vast conspiracy linking all the characters' history together.

It requires a lot more complexity than "they killed my parents, and now I'll make them pay". But it's worth it, when it works.

 

[F5]

For Lord of Illusions you also have a team, more like the ghost busters to use an example people will know.

Ghostbusters! Another great example of an ensemble cast that worked! Good call.

 

[Kid Charlemagne]

Look at the Matrix. Though Neo is the hero, he's not (until the very end) any better than Morpheus or Trinity. Then there are the other three or four supporting characters that in a gaming environment could be PC's as well.

TV shows are a really good comp, though.

 

[Crothian]

You really can't look at trying to make movies with one person the star into an asemble cast. At the same time having one person trying to be the Magnificent 7 isn't going to work either.

 

[gizmo33]

Your post could have been titled "the problem with story-based gaming" instead. DnD IMO is a social game and it means certain comprimises. The best media for telling a story IMO is a novel or a movie. Since DnD is a game, the story is something I try to weave around the events - which is definitely it's own kind of art, but different than writing a novel.

 

[LeapingShark]

No wait, a great percentage of movies and TV shows DO have the party format. Think about how many times you've seen a rag-tag team complete the quest, overcome the disaster, solve the murder, etc. The party always has the dumb jock, the hot chick, the techy nerd, the angry rebel, the strange artist, etc. Or some similar team, put together by circumstance. Just like Gilligan's Island, the Breakfast Club, Scooby-Doo, etc, etc.

 

[Templeton580]

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[SweeneyTodd]

In my current campaign, we cut back and forth between the PCs as they go about their business. Sometimes they work together, sometimes they're on opposite sides. At least half of the time, they're off in different places.

It's worked really well for our group; you don't really have any less "face time" per player than you would in a party, and sometimes there's even more, since players not in the current scene often take the role of NPCs.

Heck, I'd love to run a game where one or more players were in the antagonist role. For Lord of Illusions, I could see the magician, the detective, the cult leader, and one other person as PCs.