I’m putting a game together for a few friends who say they want an “intense roleplaying experience.” I understand what they mean, but it’s actually very difficult to analyze this enough to put together a useful guide. First, they’re implying that the storytelling elements are distinct from the play elements (such as combat, or disarming traps). That proposition is one that I disagree with, but that’s kind of beside the point here. Next, I know they want a lot of emphasis on characterization. They also want a lot of emphasis on story. They probably want the story to largely be driven by the player’s. They also want lots of in-character interaction between the players, and between the players and the NPCs. Finally, the most intense moments presumably have emotional intensity and have uncertainty about the outcome.
To meet these preferences, I need to make this campaign a drama. The only RPG system I know of that specifically addressed creating Dramas is GURPS, but I don’t think I’d want to use that system for this game. What they provide is mostly GM advice for dramas, and some terminology. Let’s begin with terminology. The definitions I provide are not from GURPS, but are certainly inspired by it.
RPG Drama: an RPG that is principally about the “inner life” of a character, shown through character development and change.
RPG Melodrama: an RPG that is principally about emotional or interpersonal conflict between characters.
Creating an RPG Drama does not actually need dedicated scenes for roleplaying, but it does place demands on how “in-character” a player needs to be during scenes. More importantly, it requires that PCs are built in such a way that there is some kind of inner conflict. This could be as light as motivations that are sometimes at odds, or can be as severe as crippling existential angst caused by severe addiction problems. The inner conflict gradually escalates over the course of play, until it reaches a point where the character’s actions are unpredictable and the future for that character seems uncertain, and then it’s resolved. That character and the “audience” (in this case, the GM and other players) become certain what the future will hold for this character because of the change in the character’s “inner life.”
Creating an RPG Melodrama requires dedicated roleplaying scenes for the PCs to argue during, and has the advantage of being more social. It is easier to incorporate social conflict than conflict that occurs inside a character, if for no other reason than RPGs are a social activity. It has the downside of being cheesy. While there’s nothing stopping a PC from making a highly developed character, it is not required. All that’s required is for all the PCs to get into disagreements all the time, and be really emotional during the arguments.
I’m pretty sure the game I’m going to run for my friend will need to be both a drama and a melodrama to be what he means by “intense rolelpaying.” This gives me a lot of work to do before I can even propose a game to the group of players.
- I’ll need to think about how to structure individual sessions to give players the time they’ll need to act out their characters, interact with other characters, and have a conflict that might stimulate internal changes.
- This will need a new reward system. Most experience systems reward action, fighting, and problem solving. In Pathfinder and D&D specifically, levelin up also makes the game start simple and become more complex. Experience serves the dual purposes of reward mechanics to encourage appropriate game behaviour, and pacing out complexity the way a video game tutorial does. I’ll need a reward system that rewards acting, character development, and interpersonal conflict, and also serves as a tutorial for improving the skills associated with dramatic and melodramatic play.
- I’ll also need to think about how to adjust the main plot. Since the main events of each session need to create “internal” responses from players, and contribute to inter-personal conflict between party members, while simultaneously providing sufficient reason for the PCs to stick together, the campaign will need a very different kind of plot will need to be very different. Survival stories might work, since no matter what else is going on the PCs will need to stick together. Survival is more of a type of conflict, and doesn’t mean much about the specific genre, which is a plus at this stage of campaign design.
To the best of my knowledge, I’m going to need to come up with all of these myself. That’s okay, though, because I find this kind of work fun.
creativegamemaster 