Creative use of DFRPG - suggestions wanted

[wingsofwax]

I am playing around with some ideas for my DF game, and I just want to run them by you and hear your thoughts on it.

First, I am planning a campaign that revolves around this little concept I came up with. I want the players to change the story according to what their PCs experience (or perceive) - the basic idea is that perception becomes reality. What the players think is going on determines the storyline. I have some ideas for very open-ended stories, and I want the players to use aspects to create the story they think is going on (it's not a secret - the players know that they control the story).

This sounds more complicated than it is. Let me give you an example of a story that illustrates this idea. A young man is under suspicion for having murdered his wife and sister. The player characters are connected to the family in some way – by proximity, relationships, history or by being witnesses – and so they are drawn into the world of the presumed killer. They discover that he believes his wife and sister are evil beings trying to kill him. He is found in a cheap, murky hotel room downtown, where the body of his sister is discovered in the bathtub, her injuries so severe that she cannot be saved. The young man escapes and leaves behind his dying sister. But instead of seeing an innocent young women lying in the bathtub bleeding to death, some of the characters see the sister as the killer sees her; her eyes yellow and bloodied, fingernails sharp as knives dripping with blood and a vicious smile on her contorted lips. She tries to lure the characters closer, only to let out an inhuman hissing sound and with her last ounce of strength, she tries to bury her nails deep in the flesh of the closest player character.

What happens next depends on how the PCs react, what they see (and don't see). Maybe the sister is just in shock, the attack pure instinct - the players decide what the most exciting story is. This obviously will create a lot of challenges, that's why I am asking for input.

I am also interested in creating a "city" on a small scale to be used as locations for the stories. Instead of a city, it will be a series of "stages" (like a rooftop or an apartment building or a single room). This is of course done in collaboration with the players before the story begins. So the locations will determine where the story takes place. Any thoughts on how to do this will be appreciated.

I have much more to tell about the game, but I want to see if anyone has any thoughts before I elaborate further.

Thanks!

 

[Deadmanwalking]

Sounds reasonable enough...though I, for one, would regret the lack of surprises, the lack of 'Oh! So that's what's going on!' moments, the lack of discovery. But that's all just me personally, if you have players who are interested in this kind of cooperative storytelling venture, it's pretty casually easy to do, especially in the DFRPG given the nature of Declarations (which do this on a smaller scale already), and might well be quite a bit of fun.

[wingsofwax]

The number of places a story can go will be dependant on the premise of the story. The story will take certain directions that create the sense of discovery no matter how the players react to (and control) it. This is the challenge of the concept.

Also, the villains of the story have the same ability, but in a more predictable way. The distorted perceptions of the villains (who are mostly insane people) will also change the characters and the world around them, giving me enough control to create situations that will allow for the sense of discovery you mention. When dealing with powerful enemies, the PCs will experience reality as the villain experiences it.

My initial idea was that the control over the story would come naturally; that the stories themselves would be so ambiguous that the players would automatically have different perceptions of what is really going on.

[Lanir]

Sounds like you're talking about different tracks of reality. Or at least that's how I'd go with it. I'd be tempted to have see if the players wanted to vote secretly on which one to take though, and probably try to mix things up with optional tracks where the villain is different (although that last might be frustrating, would have to watch it carefully). Or maybe randomly stop the game for a moment and ask a quick question that determines which track to take. I've done this informally in a couple instances when players were gung-ho about a certain story they were seeing that wasn't quite what I had planned, but never as an integral function of the campaign. Not sure how well it would work. Definitely make sure there's buy-in on the concept from the players first or you won't get very far.

[wingsofwax]

Sounds like you're talking about different tracks of reality. Or at least that's how I'd go with it.

Yes, that describes what I am going for. I have several different narratives that explain what's going on; they're all true, in a sense, even though they are incompatible. It all comes down to what the players find more exciting. An important point behind this concept is the hope that the players use the freedom to choose the pre-determined "reality" of the world they find most interesting.

The idea was simpler in its original form, where the "perception becomes reality"-concept was a tool for me to take the players into the world of the villains - seeing the world as they do, and creating an atmosphere of alienation and feeling caught in someone else's world.

And thanks for the advice on getting players aboard. You're right, the concept does require that the players go all in.

[Lanir]

Cool... What's the plan if the players disagree? Or were you thinking to do a round robin or something and give everyone a shot at occasionally making the choice for the whole group?

[wingsofwax]

Cool... What's the plan if the players disagree? Or were you thinking to do a round robin or something and give everyone a shot at occasionally making the choice for the whole group?

See, that's a good question. It was one of the reasons I wanted input.

The characters can have different interpretations of what is happening at any given point in the story. Where one character sees a monster in the bathtub, another character might see a young, innocent women’s last, desperate attempt at survival. This incongruence should be encouraged, but it should not divide the group; instead, it should be the driving force of the story. No matter what the characters think about the sister, they still need to find the suspect (or the victim, as it may turn out). This encounter should produce even more incongruence about what is real and what is not; a good story rides the wave of constant dialectics between perception and reality.

But this approach may cause trouble, depending on the players. I can't really anticipate the consequences of PCs with different perceptions, but ideally, the group should be able to follow the story, even if they have different perspectives.

[Deadmanwalking]

Interesting. Is there an in-setting justification for this perspective altering reality thing? Because that could be very interesting long-term if the PCs figure it out...or is it purely a metagame conceit? Either works but it's definitely something you want to think through for a game like this.

[wingsofwax]

Interesting. Is there an in-setting justification for this perspective altering reality thing? Because that could be very interesting long-term if the PCs figure it out...or is it purely a metagame conceit? Either works but it's definitely something you want to think through for a game like this.

Yes, there are in fact several possible explanations for the blurring of perception and reality. Dependant on the players' actions and experiences, one of those explanations will come true. I've written each explanation as if it were the only one, but another point is that even if an explanation is reached, it can still change to something else.

[Lanir]

Differing perceptions can cause problems. I played in a game where that happened awhile back. The GM told presented me with a character who I ended up taking under my wing and protecting. The NPC was actually better than me in combat but clueless about a lot of things, so needed someone to look after him. To another player he presented the same NPC as a monster who must be killed without giving it a chance to think or react. So all of a sudden I have a person I'm protecting becoming the target of an assassination by another PC.

Long story short: It didn't work out well and pretty much broke the game.

This may be an extreme example but I think you'd still see differing views adding stress to the game, especially if they're both "real" to the people involved.

[wingsofwax]

Yes, that is a problem. So I was hoping for some thoughts on how to avoid disparate perspectives becoming a problem. As I mentioned above, I have thought this through, but only on an idealistic level.

First thought: If the GM is good and prepared for this, it won't be a problem. A good DM will always find a solution to those problems.

So will preparation and informing the players on how to avoid the problem? Not in all cases.

What I am hoping for is a mechanic for handling this. Two options are obvious:

1) a Reality stress track that allows characters to take control in turns and influence the others.

2) Create stories that are least likely to cause problems. This is important, because the whole "perception=reality" concept was meant as a tool for telling certain kinds of stories that could not be told otherwise.

Again, your thoughts are appreciated.

[Lanir]

A stress track could be interesting. Bid to get the reality you want? Kind of a "nutters running the nuthouse" sort of deal. Not everyone's comfortable with that sort of potentially unhinged game style though. There are other Evil Hat games with similar themes, maybe they'll give you some ideas (sorry I'm not familiar with them myself).

If you need an IC justification you could probably tie it in with the whole "dreaming Cthuhlu" idea and use an Outsider in the background. Due to the way you want your story to progress I'd probably leave it mostly vague beyond a quick sketch of how that might work though.

It's also possible you'd get the best results by working through some of the implementation specifics with interested players. If they're helping you with that part you certainly don't have to be concerned about buy-in.

[wingsofwax]

Good ideas, thanks.

I am trying to avoid having the usual insanity stress track altogether, at least in the sense of it being a kind of hit point system. A composure stress track is more than enough.

What I want is to tell stories that include everyday people trying to protect themselves and their families from whatever it is that has pushed people over the edge and into perversion. I'm not even sure that I need the players to really take any more control of the story than what is normal for a FATE game. Maybe I should just leave the "perception becomes reality"-concept to the villains; it would still create some interesting stories.

I was thinking about having a certain kind of aspects called Nightmares. They would describe the fears and unconsciouss beliefs of the pcs, and I would then use these aspects to determine how a situation is experienced. So the concept is based on mirroring; players see what they expect to see, based on their beliefs and mental states (much like in the real world).

Because of this miror-concept, I was thinking of calling the game Dark Mirror or something along those lines...too corny?

[Lanir]

Your Nightmares idea makes me think of the Shadows from Wraith (but less animated I think). It can be rewarding if done right but it can also fall a bit flat. You may end up pretty busy keeping track of this and Aspects unless you have a very small group of players or the players themselves help you (as they do in Wraith).

It would definitely be simpler to run if reality shifts were less frequent. Easier to play as well.

I had another thought but it may not mesh with what you're after. It occured to me you could have the effect be localized. Perhaps there's an item of some sort and whoever has it gets one chance to pick realities. Maybe it's very hard to give it up (or get it to leave you alone) even after using it and maybe bad things happen to you as you carry it around.

[wingsofwax]

The frequency of reality shifts should be low, maybe 1-3 per session. I   think that's plenty, and as you suggest, they would only occur in locations with a high level of "intensity" - i.e. scenes where the GM provides all the necessary elements (like the woman/evil being in the tub).

The use of Nightmare aspects would be very hard for the GM to handle alone, so the players would have to keep track of them and make suggestions when their Nightmare aspects could have an impact on how that character would interpret something. Ideally, players should simply act on them and filter the scenes themselves. This requires that the Nightmare aspects are worded carefully and in a way that makes this possible; the aspects will have to conform to guidelines that the GM provides.

To encourage the use of Nightmare aspects, some kind of reward could be relevant. It could be as simple as a Fate-point, or it could be the removal of temporary Nightmare aspects (when another player's Nightmare aspect determines how a scene is interpreted, maybe some or all the other players gain that Nightmare as a temporary aspect). The scene itself could also be tagged with the Nightmare aspect (and the following scenes, untill someone removes it.)

I haven't read Wraith (took me a while to realize you're talking about the WoD-game - right?) I've heard only good things, though.