The Power to Do Anything!

[CharlesRyan]

Your back's against the wall. The dragon's pushing the party toward a TPK. You're up next in initiative: What are you going to do to save your bacon? You start shuffling through those power cards, looking for just the right option--but your at-wills aren't going to cut it and you've already burned your daily. If only there was something else you could do!

Of course there is--you have infinite options. But it's the tendency of all of us to forget that as we sort through our catalog of powers. Our power cards represent the starting point of our character's options, not the ending point. So how do we get past that and remind ourselves to think outside that box?

I've come up with an answer: Add a "power" to the game that is essentially just a reminder to think creatively. I've put this "power" on a power card, which I'm going to give to all of my players when I start my new campaign tomorrow.

More info and a print-ready PDF at The Fascinating World of Charles Ryan.

What do you think?

 

[the Jester]

It seems like a lot of groups have found something like this to be very helpful, although I've most commonly heard it called "Do something cool".

 

[Umbran]

I have found that explicitly asking people to "think outside the box" is kind of like asking for art on a schedule, or inspiration on demand. In fact, that particular phrase I find tends not to break them out of their mental ruts, but reminds them that they are in a rut, and they continue to concentrate on the rut itself, not on things outside it.

So, it might sound picky, but I'd change that name.

 

[nedjer]

I have found that explicitly asking people to "think outside the box" is kind of like asking for art on a schedule, or inspiration on demand. In fact, that particular phrase I find tends not to break them out of their mental ruts, but reminds them that they are in a rut, and they continue to concentrate on the rut itself, not on things outside it.

So, it might sound picky, but I'd change that name.

After an afternoon spent pummelling students into shape on a roleplaying exercise the whole 'how we prompt as GMs' seems pretty self-evident, i.e. present the basic premise. If they pick it up and run - great. For those who don't you elaborate a bit. If they pick it up and run - great. If you're still stuck in neutral you reframe and elaborate a bit more. If they pick it up and run - great . . .

I'm guessing (yeah, right) that the Umbrans of this world do that as a matter of course. For the rest of us cards are a pretty good indirect prompt and reminder to prompt, especially if you 'prioritise' their use, e.g. offer a bonus/ reward if players use these cards in terms of maybe half-a-dozen options, (OTTH - roleplay your way out of trouble, use the terrain/ features, pure genius, tackle a non-combat challenge, solve a combat in a gobsmacking/ unexpected way), during a session.

Wildcards or jokers of this kind maybe offer an easy way to balance out styles of play, extend player choice and patch systems without getting caught up in all the knock -on effects of tinkering inside the game?

There's one fast approach to 'demanding' creativity that does work well, though it involves using rapid prompts to scaffold learning as above, but doing it very intensively, face-to-face and with small groups. This can be used in-game to 'zoom-in' on or intensify play at dramatic/ crisis points by sharing the 'on the spot' construction of new outcomes, events and discoveries.

Players love it, but it's too intense having NPCs, monsters and other 'ticking bombs' all up close and over friendly too often.

 

[CharlesRyan]

Yeah, I agree that the name is pretty pedestrian. Suggestions? ("Do Something Cool" is already taken.)

The point here, though, isn't to force creativity. It's simply to remind people, as they look at their list of options, that the list is open-ended. It's just a nudge to say "You can do one of these things--or you can do something else."

 

[CharlesRyan]

(And by the way, art can be done on a schedule, and inspiration can be summoned on demand. It just takes a bit of training and discipline. Just ask any professional in a creative field; if they couldn't work on schedule and on demand, they'd be out of a job!)

 

[Kannik]

Yeah, I agree that the name is pretty pedestrian. Suggestions? ("Do Something Cool" is already taken.)

The point here, though, isn't to force creativity. It's simply to remind people, as they look at their list of options, that the list is open-ended. It's just a nudge to say "You can do one of these things--or you can do something else."

Very nice! When I started my campaign I did the same thing, and called the card "Do Something Creative":

At-Will
Keywords: Player, Creative, Fun
Effect: Think up of something innovative, fun, and different. You are more than just your powers, and even more than just your powers and skills (though skills will likely be involved here). Think big!
Additional Effects: Page 42 is your friend...

Like you I intended it to just nudge them to remember that there's more than just the cards in front of them. We're all long-time D&D players and just like how Wizards would get fixated on their spell list it can be easy to get focus only on the cards. At least this way we're reminded that there's more to our characters...

Is Creative less pedestrian? Not sure... my only hope was to get them thinking and even scheming, so it's worked for us so far. }

gamingly,

Kannik

 

[Thornir Alekeg]

Yeah, I agree that the name is pretty pedestrian. Suggestions? ("Do Something Cool" is already taken.)

The point here, though, isn't to force creativity. It's simply to remind people, as they look at their list of options, that the list is open-ended. It's just a nudge to say "You can do one of these things--or you can do something else."

Call it "Inspired Cerebral Strike"

 

[Umbran]

After an afternoon spent pummelling students into shape on a roleplaying exercise the whole 'how we prompt as GMs' seems pretty self-evident, i.e. present the basic premise. If they pick it up and run - great. For those who don't you elaborate a bit. If they pick it up and run - great. If you're still stuck in neutral you reframe and elaborate a bit more. If they pick it up and run - great . . .

Yep. That process is there any time you're trying to get a student to think - from roleplaying exercised to physics problems.

The reason I nitpick on the name is, as you've probably also experienced, if you lather, rinse, and repeat this, and the student notices that they aren't getting it, there's a strong tendency for them to get frustrated, and frustration impedes the process. That particular phrase, IME, tends to get folks to focus on the box, and that they are still in it - focusing on the lack of success, rather than on what they can do to succeed.

The card is, in other ways, a pretty solid idea.

(And by the way, art can be done on a schedule, and inspiration can be summoned on demand. It just takes a bit of training and discipline. Just ask any professional in a creative field; if they couldn't work on schedule and on demand, they'd be out of a job!)

Yes, setting aside all those authors and artists and such who miss their deadlines because, despite however much discipline you have, sometimes it doesn't come on cue...

Of course, those who have the training and practice don't need your cards. It follows that you ought to treat the ones using your cards as if they don't have that training and practice.

"And Now for Something Completely Different"? Copyright issue on that one, I expect...

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Hmmm...card names:

"Wildcard"
"Eureka!"
"Fortune Favors the Bold"
"Fortune's Blessing"
"Wheel of Fortune"
"What The Ffff...?!"
"Tables Are Turned"
" 'I got a plan!' "
"Hey, Watch This!"