thread: 2014-08-20 : AW:Dark Age playtest preview: the Troll-killer
On 2014-08-22, plausible.fabulist wrote:
That's intriguing. Variable across PCs? Like, some were stuck in the mud while others were racing ahead? It makes sense that a sufficient disparity would be a problem.
In AW classic it's somewhat self-correcting in that if you're bogging down, people will throw you a bone by highlighting core stats, and if you are surging ahead they will correct that—and push you to explore your character's range, and get you into in-game trouble—by highlighting your weak stats.
I wonder if it's possible to reproduce that homeostatic effect with something like the old AW:DA system? Though since you've moved on, that may be a project for another hack and not AW:DA. Or, alternatively, maybe something like the old AW:DA system would work (and be sufficient incentive to alter play) if it was not the core experience mechanic but a supplemental one, like alignment moves in Dungeon World—"if you've excercised at least six different rights this session, mark an additional experience", something like that.
(Actually the session-based nature of DW xp is something that bothers me about the game. I really don't like "session" being a primary mechanical artifact, because I usually don't play in the classical "we sit down together for three or four hours of play, then wrap up for the evening" mode. If you're playing either intermittently-throughout-the-day or asynchronously online, "session" feels like an imposition on the game's flow. AW Classic experience has the advantage that it follows the character's moves, not the player's real-life scheduling)
This makes PF go "should read "Actually the session-based nature of DW xp is something that bothers me about THAT game""
This makes SJB go "agree about the session mechanics"
I primarily play by text online these days, and every time I have to call out, okay, let's call this a session end, it bothers me and distracts from the flow of play.
