thread: 2005-11-10 : Open House: Ask a Frequent Question...
On 2005-11-17, Neel wrote:
Hi Collin, re: 27. Try looking at Wraith: the Oblivion for inspiration.
In it, each player plays their PC, a ghost, and *also* plays another PC's Shadow, which is kind of the character's dark side or self-destructive urge. The Shadow has special powers only it can access, and the Shadow's player can tempt the PC's player to help out by using these powers on the PC's behalf. Each time they accept, the PC gets Angst (no really, that's what the stat is called!) and when the Angst rating gets high enough the Shadow can take over the character for a while.
What makes the mechanic work is the way that the Shadow's powers make the temptations of the character into something that can tempt the player. What makes this mechanic so dramatically compelling is that it externalizes the mental process of temptation—the discussion between the player and his or her Shadowguide is the character's internal monologue, and turning it into something all the other players can watch is almost always fascinating.
It could be improved in light of modern experience, but there's really a gem of an idea there.
This makes CMT go "Thanks Neel"
You know, it surprises me, I'm familiar with that mechanic, but I always thought of it literally as it is presented in the setting, rather than as a good symbol for the struggle everyone has with temptation. I'll have to think of how it could be adapted to another setting.
