In this post, I aim to present a "neotrad manifesto" driven by the ramifications of a contemporary trend in TTRPG design. Tomas Härenstam coined the term to describe his approach to design of Mutant Year Zero. Härenstam led design on
Forbidden Lands, which also uses Free League's
Year Zero Engine. Games I have in mind while writing this include The One Ring, Legend of the Five Rings (Fantasy Flight version), and D&D 4e, but be warned that no extant game text is presumed to fulfil the whole manifesto.
As a very general observation, neotrad game texts incorporate the results of innovation in indie games into any of the enduring modes of play. These innovations are very often sourced from what are sometimes called storygames. Three great examples are
- Scene-closure-systems such as "momentum" in L5R, "skill challenges" in 4e, and journeys in ToR. These are related to mechanics in "storygames" such as clocks in Blades in the Dark, vows in Ironsworn, and perhaps fronts in Dungeon World. The job done by these mechanics is to say when enough has happened or been done toward an ends. They form a contract between participants as to what equals enough. When have we done enough to navigate through the Forest of Neverlight, and so on. They constrain and compel... in partricular constraining and compelling GM. Desiring to do that is one sign of a neo-trad design: it's not just - no rule zero - it's here's some boilerplate for your negotiations.
- Flags as discussed here, for example dark secrets, pride and relationships in Forbidden Lands, or as stitched all the way through the game of twenty questions in L5R. These are related to mechanics such as beliefs, instincts and traits in Burning Wheel. Typically, flags are hooked into rewards (such as progression) and narrative force (so that when the player means it, their character means it). Players use flags to say what they want the game to be about. Sandbox GMs had grasped the notion of following player goals, but hadn't translated that into concrete mechanics.
- In the Brattit essay, is a one liner - "No rule zero, or golden rule . Self-explanatory." But that isn't self-explanatory at all. In fact, it blows up the whole premise of a GM who is not a player. Players are those who pursue goals having put rules in force for themselves, which they do for the sake of the play thus constituted. No rule zero, or golden rule brings GM into the fold. One way to say it is that it is only as a player that we can bind GM to do what the rules say, and another way to say it is that binding GM to do what the rules say makes them a player.
The ramifications - what is at stake - with design moves like those above can be laid out fairly easily:
Where GM is not a player, they are part of the lusory-means and do not have goals they play toward. Rules don't bind referees: they uphold them. It is referee who says what the rules mean constrained by standards of conduct and in light of best practices. This offers a general solve for a wide range of problems that arise in play that is about imagining things.
Where GM is a player, they must adopt some version of a
lusory-attitude and -goals, albeit asymmetrical ones. It implicitly makes conflict with adversaries of the player characters a case of PvP. That isn't a bad thing! Rules bind players, including players taking on the role of GM. One consequence for game designers is that the GM's behaviour can be shaped and foreseen.
A hallmark of neo-trad design is the reappraisal of GM via principles and/or mechanics. In many cases, GM is plainly called out as a player (ToR and YZE are examples, and Cortex Prime depending how you read it.) In other cases, GM is still cast with traditional powers, and then these are constrained and compelled by the mechanics (L5R is an example.)
Thus forming the manifesto: neotrad game designs ought to shift GM to or toward a role taken on by a player. At the least, a neotrad game text will contain rules that constrain and compel GM's voice in the ongoing negotiation of play... and GM cannot "rule zero" themselves out of that. No doubt the landscape is diverse and there are other hallmarks, too. I suggest that this one is central.