These observations and questions.

These observations and questions.

Originally shared by Kit La Touche

A taxonomy (and its discontents)

This weekend, I played in two different clades of RPG: PbtA games and whatever family Primetime Adventures 3rd Edition is part of. Then, last night, I playtested my own game a bit, and some things started aligning in my head.

So, let's talk about how mechanics shape the experience of play.

First, all the games I played were excellent, both as pieces of design and experiences at the table. Do not mistake my discussion for condemnation.

Now, in PTA3, you have one roll (actually, card flip, but whatever) per scene. You establish what broad category of question the scene is about, then play through until a question of that form arises, then go to the cards, then play out the outcome.

Because of the knowledge that you get one roll per scene, the scenes are short and punchy—I've been watching season 3 of The Americans and observing a very similar thing there—most of the scenes are little more than intro, setup, dramatic question, hair's-breadth of resolution.

Contrast this with PbtA games. Each roll determines not a scene, but a moment. By necessity, you play slightly longer scenes, and have the ground shift under your feet a few times as the mechanics intervene and say "hey wait, I get to say something about this!"

Because rolls occupy a smaller surface, you get more of them, and you have to keep playing out the scene to see when they happen.

Is there a way to reconcile these two evolutionary paths?

I have two examples in my head that do so, I think: Dogs in the Vineyard and Poison'd. (I know, I know, I'm a broken record.)

In Dogs there is, by convention if not by rule, typically no more than one roll per scene. But that roll makes for a longer scene, as engaging the mechanic requires a pretty lengthy back-and-forth, allowing the emotional and fictive context to change with every beat (and sometimes change quite dramatically, if someone has escalated).

Now, in Poison'd, you have two major classes of roll. The first are small and a bit more like PbtA rolls (in that they crop up a few times per scene, are small and self-contained, etc.) The second are larger, more like scene resolution—there's some back and forth and potential for escalation, and eventually you see that you have won or lost the fight, and at what cost.

So what I think I hear myself saying is this: to wed these, either make your big resolution mechanic contain many beats, or make your big mechanic a bit smaller, and embed it in a matrix of beat-driven mechanics.

Finally, these are all pretty structured games. What other things are out there?