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

[bryree.livejournal.com]

Besides, it's lots more fun when a character's back story actually has a profound impact on the game. So many times the back story of a character means nothing more than "I/my family was wronged by X and so I kill Xs deader than all the other things I swing my sword/aim my gun/employ my fists o' fury at." Instead, you get to take the story in directions that you want to explore, but perhaps not exactly like you imagined when another PC's back story intersects with and slightly changes your (the player's) direction.