Troupe Based Play
- Thread starter Sir Elton
- Start date
Deadguy
First Post
I've played in an Ars Magica campaign for thirteen years, and we have never managed to have a troupe style. Now it would be impossible, because there are too may secrets that elderly magi keep from one another!
But I used to play in a Mage the Sorcerers Crusade game where we adopted a troupe style from the start. And that proved to be very successful. The very fluid and open rules of magic in Mage are well suited to having the input of all parties. Indeed we went beyond simply switching referees to also have meetings to decide the direction of the game, to sort out rules questions and introduce variations, and to adjudicate specific rules matters. That last would even occur in the middle of a game. It sounds like a recipe for confusion and a way to undermine the ref, but in practise it was the ref who was most often likely to ask for the opinions of other players in adjudicating matters. A quick 5 minute discussion can settle a rule interpretation and sort out a setting query whilst making sure that everyone buys into the game.
In truth, given teh chance, I would like to be involved in more troupe-style games. It breaks down the barriers that can exist between players and GMs, and multiplies the creativity available for a campaign.
But I used to play in a Mage the Sorcerers Crusade game where we adopted a troupe style from the start. And that proved to be very successful. The very fluid and open rules of magic in Mage are well suited to having the input of all parties. Indeed we went beyond simply switching referees to also have meetings to decide the direction of the game, to sort out rules questions and introduce variations, and to adjudicate specific rules matters. That last would even occur in the middle of a game. It sounds like a recipe for confusion and a way to undermine the ref, but in practise it was the ref who was most often likely to ask for the opinions of other players in adjudicating matters. A quick 5 minute discussion can settle a rule interpretation and sort out a setting query whilst making sure that everyone buys into the game.
In truth, given teh chance, I would like to be involved in more troupe-style games. It breaks down the barriers that can exist between players and GMs, and multiplies the creativity available for a campaign.
Troupe-style play requires a very high level of dedication to cooperation amongst the players. It also requires a great deal of trust. And that everybody have a solid understanding of the needs of a story. And an ability to put their own egos and wants aside...
All in all, it can be very difficult to do well. It is fun when it works, but it often fails.
All in all, it can be very difficult to do well. It is fun when it works, but it often fails.
Gez
First Post
We've done a bit of troupe-based play, but usually, there was a main DM.
In our three, hopefully soon four AM campaigns, only the first has been somewhat troupe-based, since we've been three (on five) to DM it.
The next have been mastered only by one person (my brother, used to browse these forums under the name of Aloysius, also the main GM of the first campaign), but created with AM's troupe play in mind (thus, with a GM PC/NPC).
The third, mastered by myself, was not intended for troupe play -- a very ambitious campaign were the players have only one character; they start as apprentices, and they slowly discover the secrets and weirdness of a very old, very mighty Autumn Covenant falling into winter. I planned for the Covenant to be destroyed about 5 years after the characters succeeded in their gauntlets, meanwhile various plots, minor and major, life-threatening and hardly relevant, unfold and they'll have a chance of allowing the covenant to survive Winter. Meanwhile, they can also explore the castle and its caves -- several lives would not be enough, because the whole friggin' covenant is in a regio! There are several layers, the covenant is in 4 spacial dimensions! Lots of parts are forgotten, still haunted by magi thought by the rest of the Hermetic society to be dead, or territories contested by faeries. Between being a "dungeon" that would give headaches to Halaster; the long, rich, and often sordid or tragic history; countless political intrigues; and the slow work of revenge of a powerful demon -- it's the last time in several years I'll make a campaign so ambitious and hard to master.
But the premise made it impossible for troupe play, as I had to have complete control over all NPCs and plots.
The soon-to-start campaign will be mastered by a friend, but she needs to end her write-up of the world, since she doesn't want to use mythical Europe. (Neither did I, but I kept a "parallel world" approach, so that it was still the same countries, language, and rough approximative history). She seems to be wanting to do something a bit akin to what I did, hopefully on a smaller scale!
In our three, hopefully soon four AM campaigns, only the first has been somewhat troupe-based, since we've been three (on five) to DM it.
The next have been mastered only by one person (my brother, used to browse these forums under the name of Aloysius, also the main GM of the first campaign), but created with AM's troupe play in mind (thus, with a GM PC/NPC).
The third, mastered by myself, was not intended for troupe play -- a very ambitious campaign were the players have only one character; they start as apprentices, and they slowly discover the secrets and weirdness of a very old, very mighty Autumn Covenant falling into winter. I planned for the Covenant to be destroyed about 5 years after the characters succeeded in their gauntlets, meanwhile various plots, minor and major, life-threatening and hardly relevant, unfold and they'll have a chance of allowing the covenant to survive Winter. Meanwhile, they can also explore the castle and its caves -- several lives would not be enough, because the whole friggin' covenant is in a regio! There are several layers, the covenant is in 4 spacial dimensions! Lots of parts are forgotten, still haunted by magi thought by the rest of the Hermetic society to be dead, or territories contested by faeries. Between being a "dungeon" that would give headaches to Halaster; the long, rich, and often sordid or tragic history; countless political intrigues; and the slow work of revenge of a powerful demon -- it's the last time in several years I'll make a campaign so ambitious and hard to master.
But the premise made it impossible for troupe play, as I had to have complete control over all NPCs and plots.
The soon-to-start campaign will be mastered by a friend, but she needs to end her write-up of the world, since she doesn't want to use mythical Europe. (Neither did I, but I kept a "parallel world" approach, so that it was still the same countries, language, and rough approximative history). She seems to be wanting to do something a bit akin to what I did, hopefully on a smaller scale!
Laslo Tremaine
Explorer
We have two troupe style games going on right now.
One is a 3.5 D&D Freeport game. The other is a Mutants & Masteriminds game.
Both are city based, which I think helps with troupe style GMing.
We have 4 people who GM, and we keep a Wiki to track stuff that goes on in the game. The only real rule we have for GMing is that a GM must incorporate some element of a previous game in their scenario.
Basically, as a GM, you need to be able to let go of your creations. Once you have introduced an element into the game, you have to be prepared for another GM to take it in a direction that you had not envisioned, and then take what that GM has done and make whatever you do conistent with that element in the future.
We also require that players who do not GM, still add the the creation of the world. When you make a character, you also need to make an NPC, a location, and a group. For example, in our M&M game, a player could make a Super Sorcerer type PC, then they make an NPC who is a shop-keeper of an occult supplies store (NPC and location) and then do a brief outline for a cabal of wealthy, socialite cultists...
Both of these games have been going for over two years now, and are both going strong.
We find that in our group it works especially well, since it takes the GMing onus off one person and spreads it around a bit.
One is a 3.5 D&D Freeport game. The other is a Mutants & Masteriminds game.
Both are city based, which I think helps with troupe style GMing.
We have 4 people who GM, and we keep a Wiki to track stuff that goes on in the game. The only real rule we have for GMing is that a GM must incorporate some element of a previous game in their scenario.
Basically, as a GM, you need to be able to let go of your creations. Once you have introduced an element into the game, you have to be prepared for another GM to take it in a direction that you had not envisioned, and then take what that GM has done and make whatever you do conistent with that element in the future.
We also require that players who do not GM, still add the the creation of the world. When you make a character, you also need to make an NPC, a location, and a group. For example, in our M&M game, a player could make a Super Sorcerer type PC, then they make an NPC who is a shop-keeper of an occult supplies store (NPC and location) and then do a brief outline for a cabal of wealthy, socialite cultists...
Both of these games have been going for over two years now, and are both going strong.
We find that in our group it works especially well, since it takes the GMing onus off one person and spreads it around a bit.
We have been doing the troupe style with DnD for the last 18 months and the PC's are around 13th level.
It has worked well for the most part, although there was a challenging period of roughing out houserules that all the DMs could hang with.
The campaign is currently on hiatus for a bit, but I expect it to pick back up.
It has worked well for the most part, although there was a challenging period of roughing out houserules that all the DMs could hang with.
The campaign is currently on hiatus for a bit, but I expect it to pick back up.
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