B.Y.O.P.

[dr_tectonic]

Firefly game tonight was probably the most enjoyable one so far. It felt a lot more like the show. This is probably related to the fact that we did almost no dice-rolling. I am starting to think that "bring your own plot" is really the way to get games like this to feel authentic.

It also occurred to me that the really interesting parts of these kinds of shows are mostly about conflict amongst the main characters rather than conflict between the characters and random foes. So the way to play it is to think about interesting interactions your character can have with the other PCs and spend your mental effort on that, and use the GM-provided plot as backdrop for those actions, which is pretty much the inverse of how you usually play an RPG...


Sidenote: I have come to the conclusion that my skill at predicting which posts will spur lots of comments is basically zero.

Comments

[nehrlich.livejournal.com]

I don't know anything about RPGs, but your comment that conflict among the main characters is the interesting part applies dramatically in TV. The reason for this is pretty simple, I think. The main characters are the ones whose motivations we know best. One of the things that makes drama drama, as opposed to random events, is understanding the motivations of a character and why they're doing something. When a character randomly does something crazy, it's not dramatic; it's just random. It's only when a character's background and motivations have been set up, and they are forced into conflict because of who they are, that you get drama. NPCs (or members of the plotline of the week) can't hold the same interest because they are not as well-developed character-wise, and so they tend to have one-note motivations whose sole purpose is to create conflict among the main characters. At least in many TV dramas.

And, dude, totally on being able to predict which posts are comment-worthy. My posts that I think are most interesting are often the ones that drop with a lead thump.