thread: 2010-03-01 : Reliable vs Unreliable Currency
On 2010-03-03, Ben Lehman wrote:
Simon: The other alternative is to embrace a certain degree of metagame play, without making such play explicit. A couple of instances:
1) In Bliss Stage, the judge of an interlude action (interlude actions forming a major currency of the game) decides what result it has: all results are good but, depending on context, some will be more desirable at a given time. The judge will, depending on their opinions of the relationships in the scene, definitely make their judgment in this context. But the game requires certain definite connections to the fiction: judging isn't just "choose anything" it's "what do you see?" Thus, it's harder to take it personally (I've seen it become a personal problem, I think, once.)
2) In Poison'd, fictional circumstances can trigger assorted Cruel Fortunes. As presented, these are entirely based on the logic of the fiction, but in practice the GM has significant control over their introduction. If the players already have too much to deal with, the GM can interpret the conditions more kindly, or not initiate things that they know will lead to many new CFs. If the players are bored, complacent, or on the top of the world, the GM can set traps and interpret conditions more aggressively.
yrs—
—Ben
