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The Horror! of Player Agency
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<blockquote data-quote="GrahamWills" data-source="post: 8102980" data-attributes="member: 75787"><p>There are two different themes here that interact in interesting ways. The first is "what sort of game do you want to play?" and the other is "do you want players to define the world". The traditional D&D-inspired game is "kill monsters / GM-only design" and it's a ton of fun and probably still the default -- so much so that many GM's will not even state those criteria in their pitches. A horror game changes the first assumption from "kill monsters" to "survive against the dark" or "role-play a descent into madness" or something like that. For games like Call of Cthulhu, they change the first theme, but keep the GM-owned world.</p><p></p><p>Many systems modify the latter assumption a bit -- for example, <strong>13th Age</strong> encourages a fair amount of player world design, while keeping the basic "kill monsters" theme. But in the fantasy world, there is a strong bias to the GM owning the whole world, so other approaches are a bit of an outlier.</p><p></p><p><strong>Nightmare Store</strong> seems like a "horror / shared world-building" game. It's interesting because a lot of horror is about restricting (not taking away) agency -- the fun is choosing from a limited set of options. So when you add the ability for players to modify the world, it needs players who don't want just to "win" the scenario -- they will find a gun store or a medical station behind every door they are asked to open. Instead it requires players who enjoy putting their characters into dangerous situations, not just by reacting to the GM's attacks, but by generating attacks on themselves.</p><p></p><p>This isn't for everyone, but if you can find a group that runs with it, it's a blast. I've been lucky with my home group, but have also had good luck at conventions, getting players who happily make their lives complicated, endangered and fun!</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="GrahamWills, post: 8102980, member: 75787"] There are two different themes here that interact in interesting ways. The first is "what sort of game do you want to play?" and the other is "do you want players to define the world". The traditional D&D-inspired game is "kill monsters / GM-only design" and it's a ton of fun and probably still the default -- so much so that many GM's will not even state those criteria in their pitches. A horror game changes the first assumption from "kill monsters" to "survive against the dark" or "role-play a descent into madness" or something like that. For games like Call of Cthulhu, they change the first theme, but keep the GM-owned world. Many systems modify the latter assumption a bit -- for example, [B]13th Age[/B] encourages a fair amount of player world design, while keeping the basic "kill monsters" theme. But in the fantasy world, there is a strong bias to the GM owning the whole world, so other approaches are a bit of an outlier. [B]Nightmare Store[/B] seems like a "horror / shared world-building" game. It's interesting because a lot of horror is about restricting (not taking away) agency -- the fun is choosing from a limited set of options. So when you add the ability for players to modify the world, it needs players who don't want just to "win" the scenario -- they will find a gun store or a medical station behind every door they are asked to open. Instead it requires players who enjoy putting their characters into dangerous situations, not just by reacting to the GM's attacks, but by generating attacks on themselves. This isn't for everyone, but if you can find a group that runs with it, it's a blast. I've been lucky with my home group, but have also had good luck at conventions, getting players who happily make their lives complicated, endangered and fun! [/QUOTE]
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