thread: 2005-05-02 : Person vs. Protagonist
On 2005-05-02, Sydney Freedberg wrote:
Emily wrote, but I don't know how to do italics so I'll use quotation marks like an old-fashioned person, that "We are finding new ways to structure our play to provide incentives for moving *towards* the drama/conflict/story."
When I read this, besides nodding vigorously (which I usually do when I read Emily's stuff), I think "situation, situation, situation." Games like "Dogs in the Vineyard" and "My Life With Master" slam you headfirst into situations of inescapable conflict; all those "universal" games where the back cover blurb reads "combat? intrigue? trade? sex with farm animals? In Genericotopia the RPG, you can do anything you can imagine!"... well, they don't.
Oh, and I like Kewl Powerz (and fairy tale magic, and mythological heroes). But primarily as a means of amping the volume on the human emotional problem to 11—not as a focus in themselves. Some versions of X-Men and Batman do this beautifully, where superpowers are actually manifested pathology, e.g. Rogue is a lonely adolescent who doesn't dare touch anyone.
Whereas a shark with a laser on its head is just... excessive and extraneous.
