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Message: <blockquote data-quote="hawkeyefan" data-source="post: 8139462" data-attributes="member: 6785785">I can see the relation here, as I posted in reply to Thomas above. I think that Blades in the Dark is not really a horror game. Yes, it has horror elements for sure, and you can ramp that up or down to have moments of horror in the game. But I don't think it as a game is actively trying to depict a horror story. The inevitability of the end, the fact that our efforts ultimately don't matter....that's what horror is about. The guy in the hockey mask is going to get you, the universe is filled with mysteries that don't care about you and will either consume you or drive you mad if you even glimpse them. I can see the correlation to removal of agency in that regard, for sure. But about the Year Zero engine....I don't think that this rules system itself is about limiting agency. I've played other games that use it (Tales From the Loop being the big one) and it definitely had a more play to find out mentality. I don't think that in the case of Alien the restriction of agency is a product of the system so much as the setting, and the mode of play. We were playing in "Cinematic Mode" which is about having a one shot type game where there is a specific scenario, the PCs are expected to take part in it, and when that scenario ends, play is over. We used pre-generated characters with built in motivations that shifted a bit from Act to Act, with three Acts in total. There's agency in that the players are free to decide how they go about addressing the scenario, and how much they play to the built in motivation (they're rewarded for using it, but not punished if they ignored it). So it's still a fun and engaging game.....I'd recommend you pick it up if you're at all a fan of the Alien films. And I expect that Campaign play would be much more open and allow for more agency on the part of the players.....but I haven't yet played a Campaign game, so that's just a guess based on what I've read.</blockquote>

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