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<blockquote data-quote="Ariosto" data-source="post: 5017479" data-attributes="member: 80487">I could see a superhero game run in less of a plotted style than usual -- I think Superhero '44, although rather formalized (sort of like En Garde) in the &quot;patrol&quot; rules, was meant to be that way. The heroes were still pretty reactive, though, and I think that's a basic &quot;genre fidelity&quot; thing. Early Lee-Ditko Spider-man stories had the character taking initiatives such as trying to sell his web formula to industry, but those were side-lines with pretty predictable outcomes (sticking Peter Parker back into his &quot;archetype&quot; mold as Spidey).Call of Cthulhu, I think, usually taps the weird adventure vein of August Derleth's The Trail of Cthulhu, and his development of a clearly defined &quot;mythos&quot;, more than the largely self-contained horror stories of Lovecraft. D&amp;D established the winning formula of the &quot;adventure&quot; game with an emphasis on at least some characters surviving more than one expedition and even going on to become notably more capable. (Marc Miller's original Traveller stands almost alone in opposition to the &quot;level up&quot; treadmill.)So, I could see CoC done D&amp;D-style, with &quot;lairs&quot; of cult activity mapped and &quot;wandering monster&quot; tables perhaps keyed to characters' depth of involvement in the wainscot society of those who deal in Things Man Was Not Meant to Know.If I were to run JAGS Wonderland/The Book of Knots, I think I probably would go in for more plotted scenarios at least as starting points -- &quot;prologues&quot; or &quot;first chapters&quot;, if you will. Losing control is a very central aspect, a &quot;theme&quot;, in the situation, along with invasion of or infection by Story. Once &quot;down the rabbit hole&quot;, though, and in between &quot;episodes&quot;, improvisation is likely to play a big part. How the players deal with things is more important than any pre-conceived menu of outcomes.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Ariosto, post: 5017479, member: 80487"] I could see a superhero game run in less of a plotted style than usual -- I think [i]Superhero '44[/i], although rather formalized (sort of like [i]En Garde[/i]) in the "patrol" rules, was meant to be that way. The heroes were still pretty reactive, though, and I think that's a basic "genre fidelity" thing. Early Lee-Ditko Spider-man stories had the character taking initiatives such as trying to sell his web formula to industry, but those were side-lines with pretty predictable outcomes (sticking Peter Parker back into his "archetype" mold as Spidey). [i]Call of Cthulhu[/i], I think, usually taps the weird adventure vein of August Derleth's [i]The Trail of Cthulhu[/i], and his development of a clearly defined "mythos", more than the largely self-contained horror stories of Lovecraft. D&D established the winning formula of the "adventure" game with an emphasis on at least [i]some[/i] characters surviving more than one expedition and even going on to become notably more capable. (Marc Miller's original [i]Traveller[/i] stands almost alone in opposition to the "level up" treadmill.) So, I could see CoC done D&D-style, with "lairs" of cult activity mapped and "wandering monster" tables perhaps keyed to characters' depth of involvement in the wainscot society of those who deal in Things Man Was Not Meant to Know. If I were to run JAGS [i]Wonderland[/i]/[i]The Book of Knots[/i], I think I probably would go in for more plotted scenarios at least as starting points -- "prologues" or "first chapters", if you will. Losing control is a very central aspect, a "theme", in the situation, along with invasion of or infection by Story. Once "down the rabbit hole", though, and in between "episodes", improvisation is likely to play a big part. How the players deal with things is more important than any pre-conceived menu of outcomes. [/QUOTE]

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