System for Player Narrative Control
I recently set out on a quest to run a player narrative game. (You can read about it here and here.) While I have yet to actually sit down and run one, I am coming awfully close. It seems that every time I get the gumption to try it out, I think too much about it and begin to doubt either myself or the format of play. The self-doubt is a question of sustainable creativity and energy and thus is a personal problem. The format of play, on the other hand, can be addressed.
My chief doubt in the format of play stems from the lack of structure. In a player narrative game (or PNG for short,) the players introduce their own goals, frame some of the scenes, and provide some of the opposition and action. It strikes me that part of the enjoyment of a traditional game format is that the GM creates some sort of problem or mystery and the players are engaged in solving or overcoming the dilemma. Players know that the GM has something up his sleeve, that there is some purpose and predeterminism to the game. In short, a player knows that if they open up a door, the challenge that is behind it has already been placed there (or at least has the illusion that it was placed there.) In a PNG, nearly none of that exists. The content of the world is very much created on the fly, often by the players as much as the GM. To keep with the previous analogy, the door and the challenge behind it might be placed there by a player at the spur of the moment. From a player’s point of view, is it fulfilling to face self-inflicted challenges?
Perhaps the answer is yes. Or, perhaps the answer is that in a PNG the player’s fulfillment stems from collaborative creativity and not the act of engaging a predetermined problem. In this sense, a player strictly familiar with the traditional play format may come to the table with some misconceptions about how to engage and ultimately enjoy the game. To this end, I propose a little bit of a mechanical sub-system. It is the intention of the system to provide structure to a PNG that presents a framework to guide a traditional gamer and yet does not detract from the essence of the PNG format of play.
Goals and Milestones
In a PNG players should bring character goals to the table. This helps declare to everyone at the table what you want your character’s story to be about. Goals should be written on index cards and placed face-up on the table for everyone to see. Goal cards can have a title and a brief description of the goal. Goals can come from both players and the GM. The goal cards should be placed in the middle of the table, or somewhere that is a central focus and is easily accessible to everyone. When framing scenes, the player or GM is encouraged to pick up or otherwise indicate a goal card. Scenes should be framed with the purpose of fleshing out or achieving a goal.
Milestone markers are employed to visually indicate the progress of a goal. When a scene is concluded favorably, a milestone marker is added to the goal card. When a scene ends in a drawback or failure, a milestone marker is removed from a goal card. A target milestone count should be designated for each goal. Minor goals might only require one or two milestones, while major goals could require more. Once a goal card has a number of milestone markers on it to meet or exceed the target milestone count, the goal is open for resolution. What this means is that a player or GM has the opportunity to frame a scene in which the goal climaxes and is ultimately removed from play. Obviously, scenes before the goal’s resolution should be steps that bring the goal closer to completion. Adding a milestone marker might represent gaining a clue, having a revelation, or completing part of a complex process. Removing a milestone might represent losing progress, missing opportunities, or discovering some plot twist that places the goal farther from reach.
The goal cards provide a focus for play so that players and GMs will not waste time on unrelated scenes. The milestone markers give a pacing mechanism so the players and GMs know when a goal is ripe for being resolved. These are not meant to be strict in any means. New goal cards can be introduced during play as plots are introduced or removed if a goal is rendered moot. Milestone markers can be added or removed from more than one goal at a time, and particularly spectacular events might lead to the movement of more than one marker.
Additional Tools
Just as goal cards keep a focus on the plot, other cards can be used to focus on characters, moods, and themes. Location cards can be created to indicate frequent locals or useful set pieces for the game. Character cards can be created to illustrate a pool of NPCs for interaction with the players. Item cards can introduce all sorts of interesting hooks or tools to engage a situation. Mood and theme cards, while not as concretely applicable, can at least serve as reminder to the collective tone of the game.
These additional cards should be created during play as important people, places, and things come up. It might also be interesting to have a ready pool at the start of a game. Players can supply some NPCs from their background, some locations they would like to visit, and other such suggestions. Indeed, it could be interesting to play an entire game trying to work each of the supplied cards into scenes.
Imagine a game where you sit down to a table where the cards read: “grandmother”, “graveyard at midnight”, “pistol”, and “loathing.” It immediately begins to paint a picture. It is not a solid and specific picture, but definitely some shapes and a color palette from which to fashion a work of collaborative art.
Your goals and milestones sound like Aspects from Spirit of the Century, and your ‘additional tools’ sound like the Oracles from In A Wicked Age. You may also want to check out some of the many other RPGs that make more use of player narrative control.