Storygaming as Mechanical Sandbox

 

The Fall of the King of Sota: Chapter Fifteen

 

I have a real problem with smarmy bullshit. so it was a kind of interesting week to follow up on, with this gigantic butterfly. So, I did what I could. And I think it worked!

October 30th through November 5th

The people flock around the giant butterfly, which talks in their minds with a calm, gentle voice: Maalijna, the ground listener. She is gentle, and kind. Children quickly learn to trust her, climbing atop her with no fear whatsoever. When asked to give rides in the sky, Maalijina always chuckles in a high-pitched mental trill: "Your mothers would never forgive me if I did".

The mothers agree. And realize they love her for it.

The "plague" ends immediately. Everyone attributes it to Maalijina.

Around Newport's northern farms, however, things are far from calm. King Lucian collapses all the remaining tunnels between Newport and Montport, and heads back up to Montport, cooperating with Lady Marie's forces.

Doing so results in not one, not two, but three violent deaths, the third one done by Seren, the Bearer of the Blade of Uriel. They were all confused, rushed, and thoroughly strange.

A few animals in the northern farms die, with their heads crushed.

The water in Montport is discovered to be poisoned. Maalijina promises to go there and purify the water there, too, when she's done purifying the ground around Newport.

November 6th- Chapter Fifteen

One of the things that Ross, who finally came back to play with us, said later really stuck with me. There's an interesting kind of loneliness that happens with Crescendo, Ross told me. All these players having these private stories between sessions. They're doing serious emotional buy-in between the sessions, and then suddenly that story is put on public display, full-blast. Without the context.

It's an iceberg of story and emotion and tragedy and comedy, all at once.

Sorta like a Gene Wolfe story. Oops.

A Literary Trail for Crescendo: Out of the Silent Planet

 

The fact that it only occurred to me now to leave a literary trail for Crescendo is silly. I should have considered it sooner. So we'll go in chronological order... sorta. We'll start with the first book that actually woke me up as a child. Like, I still remember sitting on my couch in Aurora at 13, listening to Out of the Silent Planet and drawing and drawing the Sorn. There was something in the description of Mars that haunts me to this day. I recently returned to this book, and realized just how indebted I am to it, especially with Crescendo.

Lewis's prose relaxed me. I'm not sure why it is, but something about the way he writes, just in general, puts me into a flow state. Focused. Better. It's really wonderful, actually. And, for whatever reason, the way he narrates in Out of the Silent Planet scratches some itch in my psyche that I realize I eventually found solace in, with Wolfe.

Ransom's problem felt eerily familiar: a stranger in a strange world. Ransom had to contend with the fact that the things in his head were just as strange and real as the world he was now in.. and he realized there wasn't that much of an operative difference. Mind and world were something that Ransom had to handle with similar levels of dispassion.

The villains felt realistic. Their great evil was... being boring. They just wanted more money. More commercial opportunities. The fact they couldn't figure out just how wonderful and beautiful and tragic Mars was wasn't shown as terrifying, but as sad. Almost silly. The universe was big and awesome and the villains were just so... dumb. Not even in a way that wasn't menacing, just dumb.

Meeting true spiritual beings was unsettling, as it should be. Lewis described them as having a completely different center of gravity, and that fit. There was something strangely comforting in just how eerie the "angels" were. Somehow, you meet something that weird, that unsympathetic, and have it love you. And to have absolutely nothing in common with it, at all.

This eeriness, and how comforting it was, have stuck with me all my life. When life isn't like that, I find I miss it.

In so many ways, this book is the beginning. Ransom sitting alone under a strange sky, realizing that his own mind and the alien world required the exact same quiet dispassion—that is where the seed of Crescendo was planted. Not in tactical combat or spell lists, but in the terrifying, comforting encounter with a universe that is far larger than you are.

The Fall of the King of Sota: Chapter Fourteen

 

I warned Jack, Pierre's player, that I was about to take the gloves off. And I did. It ain't gonna slow down till the end of the Book. I am making good on my word.

October 19th through 24th

Newport

Lillian and Silvy finished growing the lean-to that Abbadon had let them have into a full on mansion, more than big enough for the elves they had brought back. It's located outside of town (I will be updating the Setting Bible to include its location on the map)

Pierre La Forge attempted to whip up the people against the elves, but Lady Marie was able to squash his propaganda with her own. The attitude against the elves, especially after "Maurice" had been put captured, has begun to reverse.

Montport

King Lucian was said to have found forbidden magics under the city of Montport, and destroyed anything connected to it. There's also rumors that King Lucian almost ate someone? The majority of the army denies any such allegations, citing the king's upstanding morals and his bravery. There was hardly a time when he *wasn't* running right at the front of his men, and the rest had to struggle to keep up.

October 25th-29th

On October 25th, hundreds of humans begin to die of what appears to be a plague. Doctors swear it isn’t

If you do not spend Fate Points, you will get a level 6 Ceaseless Vomiting Condition. It's a Mortal Condition. Seren, King Julian, Cato, and Abbadon are not affected. Everyone else is either coughing up the Fate Points to lessen or lower the Condition or you literally die. On October 27th, there’s a rumble, and a bunch of ground under Newport collapses in on itself, destroying houses and the walls. A spiderweb of destroyed earth goes away from Newport. Taxes on the elven buildings goes up. ADDITIONAL PROBLEM: the people who have survived have fallen into rancor, attacking each other or falling into despair. On October 29th, late at night an army of minotaurs appears, from Cleft Mountain in the west, claiming to be serving The King of Sota. Surrender or die.

October 30th, Chapter Fourteen

This was the first time I tried out my new session flow, which I had just written about. And it did exactly what I thought it would do. I started focusing on pushing forward the threads given to me during the interludes above. I don't think I did a good job, but I think part of that is conceptualizing what a Weaver is supposed to actually do in the first place. I'm not sure how to do that, yet.

But the question is now in my mind: what am I actually trying to do by being a Weaver? What is it I'm looking for?

It's a question I am going to spend a good deal of time working out.

Crescendo Design Journal: The Weaver Has to Play

 

An introduction

Should be made for people who have never seen my weird little game. You need to know two different mechanics in order to appreciate the post: Hitting the Books and Beliefs

Hitting the Books

The big unique thing  about Crescendo is its usage of journals. Everyone has either a notebook or a word processing program where they can randomly search whatever they write.

To Hit the Books, everyone opens up their journals to where they know there's writing, closes their eyes, and randomly select a passage from the page. Everyone reads their random selections out loud, and the Weaver (think GM) free associates what he hears into a piece of infromation, like a plot twist or an answer to a question he didn't expect. Everyone then writes down what their character would think of that plot twist or piece of information.

Example:

Alex, playing Warlord Bastien, and Danny, playing Sir Mal, are fighting a troll, and one of them scores a hit on the troll via rolling dice. That requires Hitting the Books, to see what weird plot twist comes up. Paul the Weaver tells everyone to Hit the Books. They randomly search their journals.

Alex: "Without a horde, you're nothing"

Paul: "Everyone dies alone."

Danny: "And when I saw Genevieve, everything changed."

Paul, based off of those readings, decides that a small woman comes running to the defense of the troll: "Leave Stravlkin alone! He wasn't hurting anyone!"

There's a young woman who thinks the troll that was roaring at Alex and Danny is lovable. Is she right?

Notice how it was just what Paul felt like doing in the moment. He could have come up wit ha totally different answer to those prompts, and it would have been fine. That's what he wanted in the moment. That and he was keeping the Beliefs of the players in mind, see the next section.

Beliefs

The core of your character are three Beliefs, statements your Hero is willing to burn the rest of the world down for. If you act in accordance with your Beliefs, you usually succeed in your actions during the game. You gain power from acting upon your Beliefs.

The Weaver normally tries to make situations that challenge Beliefs, pitting them against each other. If the Weaver does his job right, a lot of the game is centered around trolley problems pulled from the players' Beliefs.

Warlord Bastien

1. The Horde has always been my home. I will never be at home without them.

2. We used to beat our women and children, to our harm, and I put a stop to it. I owe my ability to hope to this.

3. Our Horde is constantly fighting. My rage (and purpose) are fed because of it.

Sir Mal

1. King Julian knighted me as he lay injured on the battlefield. I don’t owe him anything I think important.

2. The queen Madeline took me as her toy. I owe her many a good time.

3. One day a knight, Sir Alain, came into the slums where I picked pockets, and told me that he was my father. He taught me what kindness looks like.

The above example 

is actually a pretty good poke at both the Heroes. The young woman is dedicated to the troll, something that both Sir Mal and Warlord Bastien respect. But it also rubs against the fact that they're facing the troll in combat. Sir Mal is fighting because he is a knight, that's a troll over there, and it's threatening people. Warlord Bastien very much conflates rage and purpose, so if he stops what he started it's not going to go well for him.

They're going to have to pick a way forward, and it's probably not going to be clean.

That's the heart of what makes Crescendo.

I have made

 a ton of changes to Crescendo over the years. It's a criticism leveled at me that I have no choice but to own. I like to tinker, what can I say? Game design is a hobby. It ain't my job. A lot of the changes are also what I think of as "periphery": stuff that goes around the core of Crescendo.

Here's the old formula for a single Chapter Session:

• A random event happens, drawn from the journals
• Players, one at a time, respond to this random event, using their Beliefs and the Setting's Myth to succeed at their actions. This is a verbal puzzle. You have to solve the metaphysical and material aspects of the problem in order to win.
• Players can roll dice to challenge what's going on. It always randomly resets the situation after rolling, whether you win or lose.
• The randomness is determined by everyone's journals, when they Hit the Books. This means that the randomness begins to converge after a long, long long time.

And, so long

as Crescendo was a 1-3 player game, without 1:1 time, this setup worked. A smaller game meant the story sorta meandered but was deeply meaningful. As the Weaver, I somewhat focused on Beliefs, but it was a small enough social environment that I didn't have to really focus on Beliefs. We could essentially run the Epic as a series of one-shots that have indeterminate time skips. Which was a really fun setup, and I loved doing it.

But the goal has always been 

to emulate the kinds of stories Gene Wolfe, Christopher Ruocchio, and C.S. Lewis tell. And something was  missing in the above set up. It was close, but this is my hobby and I don't have a deadline, and therefore I can turn on the 'tism all the way up, and say "No, not yet." Wolfe isn't about characters who are only tangentially connected to each other, but who are connected even when they aren't in the same room, and they may not know it. This is shown the best in Book of the Long Sun and The Wizard Knight, where Wolfe puts his philosophy right up on his sleeve.

Enter the BROSR 

and their discoveries in 1:1 time and interlude scheming. Immediately I knew this would fulfill the core conceit of Wolfe: everyone is the tip of an iceberg. Everyone is connected, and their actions affect each other all the time, they just don't know it. And this game tech would allow me fulfill that core conceit.

So I committed to testing another two years after putting in 1:1 time and entirely player-driven scheming into Crescendo. I'm here to make a good game that emulates Wolfe faithfully.

And it works!!!  It requires some more work from the players, but it more than pays back what they put into it. Players could take a great deal of effort and care and get amazing results out of Crescendo.  The rules support the players as close to perfectly as one can get. This has been proven, over and over and over again. The players are really happy! Each session is part of a continuum of story that's going on around it, an iceberg of drama.

That, right there, is Wolfe in a nutshell. Disagree with me at your peril.

And yet, as we get 

to the end of the first Book of The Fall of the King of Sota, I know, intuitively, that something is off. I have learned when to trust this feeling, and to know when to put it aside. I have the time to look at it, so I decided to let it through the gates.

And boy, did I get a mainline of intuition that was pretty self-damning.

Crescendo is based

very openly upon merging storygame and oldschool principles, especially the BROSR. I've never been quiet about that. And it works like it should: oldschoolers find the game focused on story in a way they appreciate, while storygamers like the structure and how it helps generate unexpected outcomes. The logic of Crescendo is extremely old school. The results are pure story.

And nowhere is this more obvious than the role of the Weaver. When I first named the role, I thought of it as an old-school judge with a slight twist: it was his job to interpret all the journal entries read out loud during Hitting the Books. His primary job was to weave the random journal entries from everyone into something coherent. The general shape of the story was not the Weaver's business. So long as we were at this more intimate scale, that was fine.

But then

I added in 1:1 time, interlude play, and I opened the game up to twelve different people. I am currently running the game for nine. Which is absolutely crazy! I've never done anything like this for a storygame! Crescendo scales the additional players really nicely, and the interlude play sings with 5+ people. Some of the best gameplay I've ever had in my life has been in that in between PBP stuff. It's amazing to see how people cook up these situations, and it's been a real genuine pleasure to be the Weaver for these moments.

As it turns out,

scale matters. Crescendo's Hitting the Books mechanics, which create manageable chaos at 1-3 players, absolutely balloons at anything higher than three. Which means that what was originally a somewhat meandering story goes completely chaotic. The players are doing what they're supposed to be doing. The story should cohere, and the thematics, I found, were lacking in a specific way that I knew was not the player's fault. They have been going at 11 the whole freaking time, and it's been beautiful.

The fault should

be obvious: The role of the Weaver has not adapted to the new ludological environment. The players are not going to naturally cohere at the scale that Crescendo now operates in. The Weaver does not live up to his name, now. The Weaver originally was meant to be much more similar to an oldschool Judge.

With the increased scale and the addition of between session play, the Weaver has more material to work with. And it is his job to do so.

And it can all be fixed very simply.

Here's the new formula for the Chapter Session:

• The Weaver picks a player and uses the consequences of their actions during interlude play to challenge their Beliefs.
• The player uses their Beliefs and the Setting's Myth to respond to the Weaver. It's a verbal puzzle. You have to solve the metaphysical and material aspects of the problem presented by the Weaver.
• Once the player is done responding, the Weaver uses the consequences of their actions to challenge another player's Beliefs, possibly using SEEN and GOSS.
• Players can roll dice to challenge what's going on. It always randomly resets the situation after rolling, whether you win or lose.
• The randomness is determined by everyone's journals, when they Hit the Books. This means that the randomness begins to converge after a long, long long time.

• Once the session is done, it is wrapped up by Hitting the Books, to see how the actions of the session have created unexpected consequences.

The benefits

of this are powerful. The players' actions from between sessions are validated because they are directly addressed. This creates a loop between interlude play and its chapter session. You now have a unified story going on, across the weeks. And then... the journal pull creates consequences none of us could have seen coming, forcing the players to go address the fallout in the next week of interlude play. The players have to go address the consequences of their actions in the next week of interlude play. Which then blows up in the next chapter session.

This will make the Weaver inherently start drawing the threads together, before the game explodes it back out again, twisting the story into unexpected directions... which are based upon the players' journalings!

By making

the Weaver the active bridge between Interlude scheming and Chapter friction, Crescendo doesn't lose its old-school logic or its storygame heart. It finally lets nine people sit at a table, spin their own threads, and watch as the tapestry builds into something totally unexpected, new, and hauntingly beautiful.

RE: Why 4e Failed

This a rant. 

I'm not necessarily going to be reasonable. I'll try to remain charitable.

I have been accused of being one of the most unique defenders of 4e. It's a unique little badge of honor, I suppose.

Here was my defense: on page 42 of the DMG is a table that lets you make up any bespoke action you like, adjudicate the damage and DCs for actions, and just.. go ham. This creates a uniquely creative tactical game. I ran this. It's not a question. I'm not guessing. The games went from stodgy pickings of powers to "Well, here's the crazy thing I'm going to try." And then you roll. And you'll probably get it. And then you roll damage, and get this cool little bespoke effect that y'all made up on the spot. If you didn't know what you wanted to do... surprise!  You have powers to fall back on! 

This was me running it from the text! Page 42 was one page, sure, but once you made the simple decision to make that primary... man the fun you had!

Now, the question was always whether or not WOTC meant to do this. I mean, it's in the book, plain as day, and examples are given as to how to adjudicate it.

I really wish I hadn't found Mike Mearl's YoutTube channel. He just released this cluster... just watch it.

I think the thing I find so offensive isn't his honesty. He gives his it straight. I appreciate that.

But it's obvious that literally nobody in WOTC knew what they were doing. Nobody. Not Mearls, not Heinsoo, not Wyatt, not a single damn one of 'em. They essentially threw a whole bunch of stuff into a blender and presto! Out came an engine that had some good bones, a whole lot of flaws, and just enough luck.

Because apparently that's all it was.

I have also been occasionally accused of finding meaning where there is none. It's actually a rather common thing I hear. I usually laugh it off, simply because the number of times I actually do that is terrifyingly small. But I suspected, the more I heard Mike Mearls and the other DnD team talk, that this was one of those times.

Boooy I hate it when it happens.

So, on the one hand, it means I'm not really tied to 4e as a concept. I found what I found, which is really in the text, but got a usage out of it that truly couldn't be intended, because it was always corporate slop. Made by people who either couldn't be bothered to have a real vision, or who simply couldn't have the time for it.

I really hope it's just the former. I really want it to be.

I am starting to wonder if it's not the latter.

Phooey.

 

Clandestine Turns: Initial Pitch

This is the Leadup

So while I was running 4e-

SIT DOWN. I'm going somewhere with this.

Anyway.

While I was running my last campaign of the 4th edition of Dungeons and Dragons, back in 2011, I started doing something on reflex: giving each player private time to do one private scene. No other players in the room. Wasn't really thinking about it. I just liked stirring the pot.

And it worked. Word spread. It was so entertaining I had people coming in to watch my 4e sessions, as a spectator thing. No, I didn't know about actual plays at the time. If you're wondering if I recorded the sessions.. no? Not really something I was thinking about at 22. I was actually more annoyed by the spectators than anything, because they wouldn't shut up and I wanted to.. oh I dunno... play the game.

But this one change was apparently very entertaining for others. And it was definitely fun! And, once I found the BROSR, I went, "Oh, that's kind what I was doing back in 2011." But when I looked around, I couldn't find anyone doing it. So I forgot about it like an idiot.

Well,  I remembered.

So here I am, writing about it. Better late than never.

And then I needed to come up with a name: the Clandestine Turn. It probably sucks. Oh, and other people have probably done it, but I don't know about them, so. Obviously if someone else came up with this, I don't deserve the credit for founding it.

Get on With It!

FINE

This is intended to be used with DnD, something like it, or whatever you got that builds downtime into the game. I did it during "long" rests during 4e, when everyone bedded down for the night.

During a rest, each player gets a number of Clandestine Turns with the GM. Everyone else goes and takes a break, after y'all figure out how much HP and whatnot is recorded.

If it's a "short" rest (aka 6-8 hours or whatever your version of bedding down for the night) you get 1 turn. 

If it's a "long" rest (weeks) you get a turn a day.

During this point in time, the player can come to the GM with any idea they have, and then negotiate it loosey-goosey. Anything. 

Well, sorta. 

If a roll is needed or whatever, do it, but it can't break the terms of "resting" in your rules. It actually has to be pretty light. You get about five minutes max with the GM, alone, to resolve something. 

The key is this alone time is not optional. Every rest, everyone must take this alone time with the GM. And unless someone else has set up a surveillance method on you, nobody knows what you’re doing. So even if you just sit and do nothing, nobody can verify it.

The knock on effects of this are hilarious, especially if you have a game with alignments or another way to publicly signal the moral outlook of characters. What’s a Lawful Good Paladin gonna do with their five minutes? That Chaotic Neutral Rogue? 

The answer may be nothing. 

Or it may be everything.

You don’t know. 

And that moment when two people volunteer to take a turn together? Oh forget about it. Coalitions will form. And suddenly the GM doesn’t really need to prep, because players are doing stuff behind each other’s backs, openly. Actions havre consequences. All the GM has to do is visit hilariously cruel consequences on everyone, and the game suddenly gets cutthroat. If everyone pays the price for one man’s folly, they’re going to start squabbling.

All from a few minutes of silence.

Example of Play: The Clandestine Turn in Adventurer Conqueror King Imperial Imprint

Setting the Scene: The party—consisting of Sir Gareth (a Lawful Paladin), Vesper (a Chaotic Assassin), and Brother Thaddeus (a Neutral Cleric)—has just cleared the first level of a subterranean temple. They are bedding down for a standard 8-hour camp rest.

The GM calls for tracking HP and resource updates, and then announces: “Right, camp is set. Everyone step away from the table for your Clandestine Turns. Vesper, you’re up first. The rest of you, take a ten-minute break.”

Turn 1: Vesper the Assassin

The Setup: Vesper pulls the GM aside. She wants to use her 5 minutes of clandestine camp time to quietly rifle through Sir Gareth’s saddlebags while he sleeps, looking for the ruby they found earlier that Gareth claimed responsibility for safeguarding.

In ACKS, sleight of hand or stealth tasks during rest depend on movement, noise, and surprise. Since Gareth is asleep, the GM calls for a standard proficiency or dexterity check, or a quick roll against Vesper's Thievery proficiency. She passes easily.

The GM whispers: “You successfully slip your fingers into the velvet pouch. You don’t find the ruby, but you do find a strange, sealed parchment bearing the wax seal of a known local heretical cult. You pocket it."

Turn 2: Sir Gareth the Paladin

The Setup: Vesper steps away, and Sir Gareth takes his turn at the GM's station. Gareth says, “I spent my rest keeping a quiet, watchful eye on our camp perimeter, specifically looking for any signs of foul play or nocturnal trickery from Vesper. I don’t trust her.”

Normally, the GM would say that this would interrupt the rest, but Vesper's player has no idea Gareth is watching her, so it's not exactly a difficult roll. The GM rolls a secret Wisdom or perception check for Gareth to see if he catches Vesper in the act. He does.

The GM says: “From the shadow of your bedroll, you didn't just watch the perimeter—you saw Vesper’s silhouette creeping near your gear. You didn't stop her, but you saw her hand slip away from your pack. You now know she’s up to something, but you have no proof to show the others yet.”

Turn 3: Brother Thaddeus the Cleric

Thaddeus takes his turn. "I want to spend my clandestine time praying quietly to my deity for insight, but wait... can I approach Vesper and ask to spend my turn with her?”

The GM grins. “You volunteer to take your turn together? Done.” He calls Vesper in. Gareth's player, of course, sees this happening and gets absolutely no explanation for it.

Thaddeus corners Vesper during their shared 5-minute block. “Vesper, I saw you cleaning your blade earlier with dried blood that wasn’t from a goblin. If you’re planning something that brings the wrath of the Law down on this party, my god will know. Cut me in, or I start asking louder questions.” Vesper’s player has to negotiate on the spot. Does she share information, lie, or threaten him? Vesper decides to offer a partial truth to keep him quiet, creating an uneasy alliance right under the Paladin's nose.

The Aftermath

The break ends, and everyone returns to the main table.

Sir Gareth looks coldly at Vesper, his Lawful suspicions heightened, though he says nothing publicly yet. The player knows something is up, but can't put his finger on it. Not yet.

Vesper acts completely innocent, but has no idea that Sir Gareth knows a bit more than he's letting on to. She's got a weird document she lifted off the Paladin and a secret... pact with the Cleric.

Brother Thaddeus sits quietly, now tied to the rogue's schemes. He knows Sir Gareth is only going to sit on that forever, so he preps a few more offensive spells than he normally would. When that dude comes swinging, Brother Thaddeus will be ready.

The Note Passing

Combine this practice with passing notes instead of answering questions out loud, and you will find that the tension is almost palpable. Make sure that it's stuff that other characters wouldn't see or whatnot.

For instance, Sir Gareth is alone in a room, and when he searches said room, the GM rolls his search for him, like normal. He then writes something down on a piece of paper, and hands it down to Sir Gareth.

The paper reads:

You didn't find anything, what a relief!

Sir Gareth smiles a bit ruefully, and doesn't say anything. Everyone else wants to know what it is. He ain't talking.

But One Thing Should Be Known!

At least, in theory. This I haven't tested out all that much to prove veracity, but in theory everyone should have a good idea of all the characters' alignments. This allows people to make general guesses that they think are accurate enough... But anyone with half a brain knows the alignments are pretty broad, and don't stop all that much if it comes down to brass tacks. It sets up enough of an expectation that it actually confuses a lot more than it helps.

And yes, we want that.

In Summary

What makes the Clandestine Turn, along with passing notes, so lethal is that it turns inaction into a weapon. By making the private turn mandatory—even if a character does absolutely nothing—you strip the rest of the table of certainty. The paladin sitting quietly in his bedroll is suddenly just as suspicious as the assassin skulking in the shadows, because no one can verify the silence.

You give players an unmonitored sanctuary, hand them five minutes of the GM’s undivided attention, and watch as alliances, betrayals, and unspoken truces form out of thin air. All it takes is five minutes, a closed door, and a piece of paper that says nothing at all.