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Message: <blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 8431044" data-attributes="member: 42582">Here's an example of a "player backstory authorship" mechanic: Classic Traveller's rules for Streetwise checks.These rules rest on an express setting premise and an implicit premise about play.The setting premise is this, stated in the skill rules (like many RPGs, especially more "traditional" ones, Traveller mixes its PC build rules with its action resolution rules; I'm quoting the 1977 version of Book 1, p 15):The individual [with expertise in Streetwise] is acquainted with the ways of local subcultures (which tend to be the same everywhere in human society), and thus is capable of dealing with strangers without alienating them. . . . Close-knit subcultures (such as some portions of the lower classes, and trade groups such as workers, the underworld, etc) generally reject contact with strangers or unknown elements. Streetwise expertise allows contact for the purpose of obtaining information, hiring persons, purchasing contraband or stolen goods, etc.The premise about play is that it's not feasible for the referee to detail everything in a sci-fi setting. Therefore we use Streetwise checks instead. The passage I was just quoting continues:The referee should set the throw required to obtain any item specified by the payers (for example, the name of an official willing to issue licences without hassle . . . [or] the location of high quality guns at a low price . . .).Because Classic Traveller was written over 40 years ago, it is not as clear about its procedures as a modern game (eg Burning Wheel, which has similar mechanics via its Wises and Circles checks). So it doesn't expressly say what the consequence of a failed Streetwise check might be. But reading the rulebooks we can work this out. Eg Book 3, p (again, the 1977 version) says:The referee is always free to impose encounters to further the cause of the adventure being played; in many cases, he actually has a responsibility to do so.I think a failed Streetwise check would often be an occasion for the referee to impose an encounter. I'm thinking, eg, of the attempt to buy guns in the film Ronin.</blockquote>

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