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At the Intersection of Skilled Play, System Intricacy, Prep, and Story Now
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<blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 8592624" data-attributes="member: 42582"><p>Earlier this year I finally picked up a (PDF) copy of My Life With Master (which had the added benefit of a very pleasant email exchange with Paul Czege, a designer whom I admire greatly).</p><p></p><p>I skimmed it when I got it, but have just now read it closely. I think it bears directly upon some of the themes of [USER=6696971]@Manbearcat[/USER]'s OP.</p><p></p><p>Players in MLWM play <em>minions</em> who serve a NPC <em>Master</em> - think, broadly, of a gothic horror setup. The action is driven by the relationships between various stats: Fear (the degree of terror the Master exercises over both the minions and the townsfolk), Reason (the tendency of normalcy to prevail despite the depredations of the Master and their minions), Self-Loathing (a minion's self-hatred that gives them power over the Townsfolk but also gives the Master power over them), Weariness (a minion's lack of will to resist or to try) and Love (a minion's degree of human connection to one or more ordinary people).</p><p></p><p>Dice pools to resolve conflicts are built out of these stats (eg test F+SL vs L-W to see if a minion obeys a command from their Master). And certain relationships between the stats also trigger events (eg if W > R, then a minion is captured): most importantly, if a minion resists a command from their Master <em>and</em> L > F+W, then the endgame is triggered: the minion and their Master are locked in struggle, and the Master <em>will</em> die, but until that happens (which is a function of dice rolls), the other players get a series of scenes, in turn, in which we find out what is happening to their PCs as everything comes to its culmination.</p><p></p><p>Once the Master dies, each player narrates the epilogue for their minion, but in accordance with constraints established by the relationships of the various stats. For instance, if SL > W+R then the minion in question destroys themself; but if W > SL + R then the minion flees or wanders off, unable to bear to go on. Only if L+R > SL+W is the minion able to integrate themself into ordinary society.</p><p></p><p>In the rulebook (pp 38, 40), Czege comments directly on the interaction between the system elements I've described in the preceding two paragraphs:</p><p></p><p style="margin-left: 20px">The GM alternates, after each such roll [to see if the Master has been killed], between rounds of framing scenes without player input</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px">and rounds of framing scenes called for by the players. Presumably it could take a few cycles of this before the Master is dead, all the while the players are sorting out the final trait values that will inform their individual Epilogues, likely working with intent toward having certain desired outcomes available to their characters.</p><p></p><p>Clearly there is scope for skilful play here, as different sorts of scenes, and different approaches to a GM-framed scene, provide opportunities for different sorts of conflicts, which in turn can yield different sorts of consequences for a minion's stats. Yet MLWM is a quintessential "story now game". So how should we think about this?</p><p></p><p>That question is not rhetorical, and I'm curious about others' views. My starting point for an answer is that <em>the game</em> does not dictate what sort of outcome is desired. The player can decide what sort of ending their minion "deserves" and play towards that. So the skilful play is a means but not an end. Regardless of what happens, you <em>will</em> get to narrate an epilogue for your minion.</p><p></p><p>That said, I wonder how much "step on up"-drifted play of MLWM has taken place, where players struggle to be the one whose minion gets to kill the Master, or gets to have a normal life once the Master is dead. I can't believe there's been <em>none</em>.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="pemerton, post: 8592624, member: 42582"] Earlier this year I finally picked up a (PDF) copy of My Life With Master (which had the added benefit of a very pleasant email exchange with Paul Czege, a designer whom I admire greatly). I skimmed it when I got it, but have just now read it closely. I think it bears directly upon some of the themes of [USER=6696971]@Manbearcat[/USER]'s OP. Players in MLWM play [i]minions[/i] who serve a NPC [i]Master[/i] - think, broadly, of a gothic horror setup. The action is driven by the relationships between various stats: Fear (the degree of terror the Master exercises over both the minions and the townsfolk), Reason (the tendency of normalcy to prevail despite the depredations of the Master and their minions), Self-Loathing (a minion's self-hatred that gives them power over the Townsfolk but also gives the Master power over them), Weariness (a minion's lack of will to resist or to try) and Love (a minion's degree of human connection to one or more ordinary people). Dice pools to resolve conflicts are built out of these stats (eg test F+SL vs L-W to see if a minion obeys a command from their Master). And certain relationships between the stats also trigger events (eg if W > R, then a minion is captured): most importantly, if a minion resists a command from their Master [I]and[/I] L > F+W, then the endgame is triggered: the minion and their Master are locked in struggle, and the Master [I]will[/I] die, but until that happens (which is a function of dice rolls), the other players get a series of scenes, in turn, in which we find out what is happening to their PCs as everything comes to its culmination. Once the Master dies, each player narrates the epilogue for their minion, but in accordance with constraints established by the relationships of the various stats. For instance, if SL > W+R then the minion in question destroys themself; but if W > SL + R then the minion flees or wanders off, unable to bear to go on. Only if L+R > SL+W is the minion able to integrate themself into ordinary society. In the rulebook (pp 38, 40), Czege comments directly on the interaction between the system elements I've described in the preceding two paragraphs: [indent]The GM alternates, after each such roll [to see if the Master has been killed], between rounds of framing scenes without player input and rounds of framing scenes called for by the players. Presumably it could take a few cycles of this before the Master is dead, all the while the players are sorting out the final trait values that will inform their individual Epilogues, likely working with intent toward having certain desired outcomes available to their characters.[/indent] Clearly there is scope for skilful play here, as different sorts of scenes, and different approaches to a GM-framed scene, provide opportunities for different sorts of conflicts, which in turn can yield different sorts of consequences for a minion's stats. Yet MLWM is a quintessential "story now game". So how should we think about this? That question is not rhetorical, and I'm curious about others' views. My starting point for an answer is that [i]the game[/i] does not dictate what sort of outcome is desired. The player can decide what sort of ending their minion "deserves" and play towards that. So the skilful play is a means but not an end. Regardless of what happens, you [i]will[/i] get to narrate an epilogue for your minion. That said, I wonder how much "step on up"-drifted play of MLWM has taken place, where players struggle to be the one whose minion gets to kill the Master, or gets to have a normal life once the Master is dead. I can't believe there's been [I]none[/I]. [/QUOTE]
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