thread: 2005-05-10 : How Do You Design a Mechanic?
On 2005-05-14, Green wrote:
I've been (trying to) follow the conversation, and I'd like to share some real-world experience that may illustrate what I think is going on. You may use it to interpret it however you like. I only hope it's relevant.
About a year and a half ago, I Narrated a Matrix RPG using an earlier incarnation of Kathanaksaya. Some of the most enjoyable scenes with that game came about through the players' individual contributions to the narration of events, supported mechanically through the Story Point concept. A few examples of in-game things:
1. Doing car stunts with a van while the rest of the crew shoots and the police chasing it.
2. The entire crew taking on the albino twins and pooling resources to defeat them. After one crew member (Arachne) simply pulled a "Dodge this," the rest of the crew members quickly overcame their shock and pooled their resources in order to kill the other albino twin.
3. The players using Story Points to alter the environment in particularly Matrix-like ways.
4. The Narrator pool mechanic helped to emulate the system inertia of the Matrix itself, making it easier to show why Agents were such a threat.
5. I had an important NPC portrayed by Orlando Bloom. He died. This point has no relation to the other four. I just wanted you to know I killed Orlando Bloom.
