thread: 2006-03-20 : Creating Situation: a practical example
On 2006-03-28, Vincent wrote:
Jamey (Marhault): "So, if Dogs (really any RPG) is the story of PCs over the course of the whole game, then each session/adventure is like an encounter on that road, right? So why undirected pressure? Wouldn't it be more effective to really apply stress directly to the player's flags? Like the Dogs advice on GMing between towns, y'know?"
To the players' flags? No way. We players are generally stupid about what really matters to us. I'd never take our word for it, especially if we're creating those flags during character creation. Talk about a shot in the dark.
Here's what instead:
If you're trying to create a bloodbath, apply pressure to where the characters' interests are incompatible. Obviously, this is against the rules in Dogs; the GM should not go into the game saying "how can I turn the PCs against one another?" In some games, this is very much by the rules - The Mountain Witch, notably, but some incarnations of The Riddle of Steel too.
If you don't have any particular resolution in mind, apply pressure wherever and let the players find their own characters' faultlines.
I think you'll find that the characters' faultlines line up with their players' declared flags only about as often as you'd expect by chance alone.
