thread: 2005-03-23 : Strong Stuff Indeed
On 2005-03-25, John Kim wrote:
Emily, I agree with you. My problem was with Ninja's assertion that "the system didn't support that".
Anyhow, to your questions... I'm sensing you're not familiar with Champions.
The game mechanics support the expression of character by encouraging use of it. Powers aren't just symbolic color during character creation—they are actively used during the game. The creation process defines in precise game-mechanical terms how the powers work, and they work reliably.
Like many comics, Champions is violent. Adventures are set up as fights with various enemies, who are created using the same system as PCs. It is character-centric. (Where D&D has dungeon modules with maps and rooms, Champions instead has books of villains.) However, the game mechanics also specifically encourage commentary during a fight ("soliloquys" in Champions terms). Now, it is very stylized, which is both a weakness and a strength.
The subplot/relationship mechanics in Champions are the "Hunted" and "Dependent NPC" disadvantages. The player takes the disad, specifying an NPC with a given frequency (expressed as a roll chance), and the GM then rolls on the frequency at the start of the adventure to see if they are to appear. So it's not Scene Framing per se—the relations are required to appear at some point during the adventure, but there's no particular requirement as to when or how.
This reminds me of Chris' statement about Storyteller contacts being a "prayer in the wind" that the GM would use them—which seemed odd to me because the same was true of many other games. For example, as I understand it, in Dogs, there is no mechanical requirement for relations to appear in the game. i.e. As a player in Dogs, I can create my character with dice in a relationship. However, I cannot force that relation to be important in the adventure or even to appear at all. I don't see anything wrong with this, actually.
Champions does provide a concrete method for the Hunted/DNPC to at least appear. It doesn't modify die rolls with respect to the NPC—but I find that isn't vital. When a Hunted/DNPC appears, the player is generally happy to interact with it.
But I don't want to completely hijack here. But getting back to the topic of the thread: I agree 100% that stuff that doesn't contribute to your participation is pointless. I disagree that stuff which doesn't get rolled on or provide modifiers is pointless—because stuff can contribute to meaning without being a die roll or die roll modifier.
