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<blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 8356427" data-attributes="member: 42582"><p>I don't think it's that hard for BW to produce that scene. For reasons I'll explain, I think it would most likely be a variation on my second category of the three set out in my post #6 upthread.</p><p></p><p>First, it's easy enough for a PC to have a background involving a mysterious parentage, and a Belief along the lines of <em>I will realise my father's destiny</em> or something similar.</p><p></p><p>Second, there are skills that are relevant to that sort of content: Ugly Truth ("the singular and unique ability to strip a situation or argument to its bare, naked core"); Family Secrets-wise (the first skill on the Bastard lifepath); other Wises; Persuasion or Interrogation to extract an answer to a question; etc.</p><p></p><p>In the Empire Strikes Back, we already have it established that Luke's father, a great Jedi, is dead; and that Ben has said that Vader, a fallen Jedi, killed him. In order to have the revelation scene take place, I stipulate the following about the processes of establishing this initial fiction:</p><p></p><p style="margin-left: 20px">* Luke's player has established, as backstory, a relationship with Ben Kenobi and a description of Ben as someone who knew his Jedi father, who is presumed to be dead;</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"></p> <p style="margin-left: 20px">* The player calls on his relationship to hep with the Sandpeople fiasco;</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"></p> <p style="margin-left: 20px">* In the ensuing interaction, there is some free roleplay; there is the revelation that Ben was Obi-Wan, a Jedi, which also reveals that an earlier suggestion that an important person was dead was (it turns out) false; Luke's player succeeds on an appropriate check to have Ben be in possession of his father's light sabre (eg Jedi-wise) and given the established relationship Ben gives it to him;</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"></p> <p style="margin-left: 20px">* Luke's player then asks, in character, how his father died, and this is framed as a check - maybe Luke's Persuasion vs Ben's Soothing Platitudes - which the GM, playing Ben, wins, explaining that Luke's father was killed by Vader.</p><p></p><p>Now we cut to the scene in The Empire Strikes Back:</p><p></p><p style="margin-left: 20px">*The events of Star Wars have led Luke's player to author a Belief for Luke about confronting Darth Vader;</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"></p> <p style="margin-left: 20px">* The fight with Vader has been taking place, being resolved via Fight! But there is a lull, probably due to Luke's player failing a Steel check;</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"></p> <p style="margin-left: 20px">* The GM free narrates Darth's remark to Luke, and Luke replies "He told me enough . . . you killed him!";</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"></p> <p style="margin-left: 20px">* Luke's player wants this resolved as an Ugly Truth check, to force a Steel check by Vader which might rebalance the situation (and perhaps there is a FoRKing in of Family Secrets-wise or Jedi-wise or whatever other appropriate skills might augment the check);</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"></p> <p style="margin-left: 20px">* Luke's player fails the check;</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"></p> <p style="margin-left: 20px">* The GM narrates Vader's response, "No, I am your father."</p><p></p><p>In the context of BW I think the revelation has to be a failure result, because it cuts so strongly across the PC's Beliefs. Hence why it has to be a variant on my second category - instead of co-authorship by way of the player seizing the momentum from the GM, it is co-authorship by way of the GM seizing the momentum from the player. The player has provided the core components: Luke with a mysterious Jedi parentage; Ben as his mentor; the initial prompt to have Ben tell the truth about his father, which failed; the opposition to Vader, established by the player's authorship of a Belief; the attempt at stripping Vader's evil bare with the Ugly Truth check. But the failure at that last moment allows the GM to turn the tables.</p><p></p><p>At that point, just as we had an assertion from Ben (via Soothing Platitudes, say) so now we have an assertion from Vader. What locks it in? A subsequent Force Sense check by Luke's player (which in mechanical terms would be similar to Aura Reading) - whether its a success or a failure on <em>that </em>check would depend on how Luke's player has responded to the revelation over the next few minutes of play.</p><p></p><p>In the climax of Return of the Jedi we then get to see a fully player-authored plot-moment, as Luke's player succeeds on the check to turn Vader to his side rather than vice versa, and Vader defeats the Emperor. Part of the lead-up to this is the revelation that Vader still has good in him - which would be the result of a <em>successful</em> Force Sense check by Luke's player.</p><p></p><p>EDIT: I think this post also speaks to [USER=177]@Umbran[/USER]'s point about wrapping your own present. Different systems have their own dynamics, but in BW it's roughly the contrast between good news (<em>there's still good in him</em>) and bad news (<em>not only is your enemy and the killer of your mentor your father, but your mentor lied to you about it)</em>. And the use of check at key moments means you don't know in advance what you're going to get - every time you shoot for good news you might get bad news. (Which goes back to what I said in post #6, about the centrality of action resolution.)</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="pemerton, post: 8356427, member: 42582"] I don't think it's that hard for BW to produce that scene. For reasons I'll explain, I think it would most likely be a variation on my second category of the three set out in my post #6 upthread. First, it's easy enough for a PC to have a background involving a mysterious parentage, and a Belief along the lines of [I]I will realise my father's destiny[/I] or something similar. Second, there are skills that are relevant to that sort of content: Ugly Truth ("the singular and unique ability to strip a situation or argument to its bare, naked core"); Family Secrets-wise (the first skill on the Bastard lifepath); other Wises; Persuasion or Interrogation to extract an answer to a question; etc. In the Empire Strikes Back, we already have it established that Luke's father, a great Jedi, is dead; and that Ben has said that Vader, a fallen Jedi, killed him. In order to have the revelation scene take place, I stipulate the following about the processes of establishing this initial fiction: [INDENT]* Luke's player has established, as backstory, a relationship with Ben Kenobi and a description of Ben as someone who knew his Jedi father, who is presumed to be dead;[/INDENT] [INDENT][/INDENT] [INDENT]* The player calls on his relationship to hep with the Sandpeople fiasco;[/INDENT] [INDENT][/INDENT] [INDENT]* In the ensuing interaction, there is some free roleplay; there is the revelation that Ben was Obi-Wan, a Jedi, which also reveals that an earlier suggestion that an important person was dead was (it turns out) false; Luke's player succeeds on an appropriate check to have Ben be in possession of his father's light sabre (eg Jedi-wise) and given the established relationship Ben gives it to him;[/INDENT] [INDENT][/INDENT] [INDENT]* Luke's player then asks, in character, how his father died, and this is framed as a check - maybe Luke's Persuasion vs Ben's Soothing Platitudes - which the GM, playing Ben, wins, explaining that Luke's father was killed by Vader.[/INDENT] Now we cut to the scene in The Empire Strikes Back: [INDENT]*The events of Star Wars have led Luke's player to author a Belief for Luke about confronting Darth Vader;[/INDENT] [INDENT][/INDENT] [INDENT]* The fight with Vader has been taking place, being resolved via Fight! But there is a lull, probably due to Luke's player failing a Steel check;[/INDENT] [INDENT][/INDENT] [INDENT]* The GM free narrates Darth's remark to Luke, and Luke replies "He told me enough . . . you killed him!";[/INDENT] [INDENT][/INDENT] [INDENT]* Luke's player wants this resolved as an Ugly Truth check, to force a Steel check by Vader which might rebalance the situation (and perhaps there is a FoRKing in of Family Secrets-wise or Jedi-wise or whatever other appropriate skills might augment the check);[/INDENT] [INDENT][/INDENT] [INDENT]* Luke's player fails the check;[/INDENT] [INDENT][/INDENT] [INDENT]* The GM narrates Vader's response, "No, I am your father."[/INDENT] In the context of BW I think the revelation has to be a failure result, because it cuts so strongly across the PC's Beliefs. Hence why it has to be a variant on my second category - instead of co-authorship by way of the player seizing the momentum from the GM, it is co-authorship by way of the GM seizing the momentum from the player. The player has provided the core components: Luke with a mysterious Jedi parentage; Ben as his mentor; the initial prompt to have Ben tell the truth about his father, which failed; the opposition to Vader, established by the player's authorship of a Belief; the attempt at stripping Vader's evil bare with the Ugly Truth check. But the failure at that last moment allows the GM to turn the tables. At that point, just as we had an assertion from Ben (via Soothing Platitudes, say) so now we have an assertion from Vader. What locks it in? A subsequent Force Sense check by Luke's player (which in mechanical terms would be similar to Aura Reading) - whether its a success or a failure on [I]that [/I]check would depend on how Luke's player has responded to the revelation over the next few minutes of play. In the climax of Return of the Jedi we then get to see a fully player-authored plot-moment, as Luke's player succeeds on the check to turn Vader to his side rather than vice versa, and Vader defeats the Emperor. Part of the lead-up to this is the revelation that Vader still has good in him - which would be the result of a [I]successful[/I] Force Sense check by Luke's player. EDIT: I think this post also speaks to [USER=177]@Umbran[/USER]'s point about wrapping your own present. Different systems have their own dynamics, but in BW it's roughly the contrast between good news ([I]there's still good in him[/I]) and bad news ([I]not only is your enemy and the killer of your mentor your father, but your mentor lied to you about it)[/I]. And the use of check at key moments means you don't know in advance what you're going to get - every time you shoot for good news you might get bad news. (Which goes back to what I said in post #6, about the centrality of action resolution.) [/QUOTE]
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