Moments of emotion

[Kemrain]

This system has promise. I'll have my GM look it over. It might mean we'll actually get XP for the first time in 11 months before the year's out.

EDIT: I'd want to look into the possibility of gaining new keys outside of the ones you get by level. Maybe you could get a new one in liew of an XP bonus one session if it made sense in the story and drove your character (and was worth enough XP).
I think making a decently sized list of new keys would be a great idea too, but that's probably a topic for another thread.

I love these moments in my game. I've openly cried at the table over things that have happened, and after one fight, where my character killed her brother, I couldn't speak and just had to sit for a while, recovering from the feelings.

I live for this!

- Kemrain the Emotional.

 

[Dimwhit]

Wherever it looks like something tender and emotional is going to happen, I look around the table, see nothing but other guys (with whom I've never shared a tender moment), and not-so-subtly let one rip...

- Dimwhit, an emotionless shell of a man.

 

[SweeneyTodd]

There are lots of ways to make a game more than "monsters and treasure" that don't entail me spending significant amounts of playing time trying to be cute and naive or attractive and sexy, thanks very much.

Not to beat a dead horse, but I'll mention again that not all of us GMs run our games in a heavily immersive fashion. Some of the most emotional scenes we've played out in a game have been largely third-person narration, with a little dialogue sprinkled in. I could definately see how this level of emotional intensity might not fit with some immersive styles.

Key questions

Let me point you to The Shadow of Yesterday, the game that Keys are adapted from:

http://anvilwerks.com/?The-Shadow-of-Yesterday

That's the full text of the first edition, online. There's a significant section about Keys that has more information. For instance, TSOY doesn't have leveling, so it provides for purchasing new Keys with the XP gained from selling off the old ones. That's usually what tends to happen, although it's worth noting that you don't have to sell off a key if you've performed the "sell off" action (that's a prereq to doing so, but doesn't mandate it).

I'd allow a player who's sold off their last Key to buy a new one, and just have them pay the remaining cost out of their future earned XP. It's true that you'd be in trouble if you had none.

 

[Kanegrundar]

Wherever it looks like something tender and emotional is going to happen, I look around the table, see nothing but other guys (with whom I've never shared a tender moment), and not-so-subtly let one rip...

- Dimwhit, an emotionless shell of a man.

Same here, except for the farting.

I prefer my games to be games. Fill them with action, adventure, and suspense, but don't ever expect me to become truly emotionally connected to my character. Plus, any romantic situations that comes my character(s) way will be rp'ed completely tongue firmly planted in cheek.

 

[Hammerhead]

But without an emotional connection to your character or your storyline, there's really no tension that's necessary for adventure and suspense. If the audience didn't like Sam, no one would give a damn about his struggle to carry the Ring to Mordor and into Mount Doom (I don't like Frodo, so I really don't care about him). If you don't have at least some emotional connection to your character, then he's really just a bunch of numbers on a piece of paper.

 

[LostSoul]

But without an emotional connection to your character or your storyline, there's really no tension that's necessary for adventure and suspense.

There's still an emotional connection, even if it isn't for your PC or the story. It's like when you're playing Risk. There's no story, or characters, but you can still get emotionally involved.

 

[Kanegrundar]

But without an emotional connection to your character or your storyline, there's really no tension that's necessary for adventure and suspense. If the audience didn't like Sam, no one would give a damn about his struggle to carry the Ring to Mordor and into Mount Doom (I don't like Frodo, so I really don't care about him). If you don't have at least some emotional connection to your character, then he's really just a bunch of numbers on a piece of paper.

As long as the story is interesting, which I guess could be a type of emotional involvement, and the challenges are interesting then I'm having fun. If my character dies in the midst of an entertaining adventure, so be it. I had fun, but I'm not going to be distraught over the loss in the least bit.

Immersion is not my goal when I play. Having fun and meeting challenges head-on be they bashing orc heads, disarming traps, or rp'ing out some diplomatic struggle.

 

[fett527]

This system has promise. I'll have my GM look it over. It might mean we'll actually get XP for the first time in 11 months before the year's out.

EDIT: I'd want to look into the possibility of gaining new keys outside of the ones you get by level. Maybe you could get a new one in liew of an XP bonus one session if it made sense in the story and drove your character (and was worth enough XP).
I think making a decently sized list of new keys would be a great idea too, but that's probably a topic for another thread.

I love these moments in my game. I've openly cried at the table over things that have happened, and after one fight, where my character killed her brother, I couldn't speak and just had to sit for a while, recovering from the feelings.

I live for this!

- Kemrain the Emotional.

I cried at a gameing session once. But then I realized that Enk's chair was on my toe. He just leaned back and everything turned out ok.

 

[I'm A Banana]

Story can be just as emotionally exciting as character. Indeed, in many situations, it can be MORE emotionally exciting. Not every character is deep and multifaceted, and not every player is interested in that type of character. But every story has the potential to be exciting. Maximizing that excitement is my governing force in designing.

 

[shilsen]

Story can be just as emotionally exciting as character. Indeed, in many situations, it can be MORE emotionally exciting. Not every character is deep and multifaceted, and not every player is interested in that type of character. But every story has the potential to be exciting. Maximizing that excitement is my governing force in designing.

Is that you, Aristotle?