Show Posts
1
Apocalypse World / Re: The seed of the text blooming (or not) in play
« on: November 16, 2010, 01:39:25 PM »
I've been thinking about this a lot lately too. I'm playing ApocWorld with a mixed trio of new players and grognards(?), but there's definitely a tendency in the group to "party up" into a unified front to smack down any and all threats. Which isn't how I'd prefer play to go, but I'm working with it.
Regarding triangles, my take is that PC-NPC-PC triangles are about different flavored relationships between two PCs and an NPC. The relationships don't have to be particularly problematic, or threatening, just varied to keep the PC's points of view regarding the NPC nuanced and sometimes complicated.
For example, NPC Owl is a young woman in Hocus Jackal's cult, who just took on as Angel Doc's apprentice and is sleeping with Gunlugger Max. These are relationships everyone is happy about, but now each of these PCs relates to Owl in a slightly different way and for different reasons. It's a pretty mild kind of triangle, but developed organically in play. I'll bet you've got loads of these in your game too. Nobody fights it, and now if trouble arises with Owl, their different relationships will color their reactions. Not that that would prevent the PCs from cliquing up and steamrolling the trouble, if that's what the players elect to do. But at least that's being done in a more textured relationship landscape.
That's the kind of triangle I've had the best luck with, anyway. More aggressive triangles have tended to be galvanizing with my group, resulting in more of a simple knee-jerk response that unifies the PCs against a common "threat", which is OK too I guess. But I think in any game that's been going on for a session or two there are going to be lots of those mild and organic triangles sprouting up, which can be cultivated into more complicated relationships. Do you have these nascent triangles in your game?
Regarding triangles, my take is that PC-NPC-PC triangles are about different flavored relationships between two PCs and an NPC. The relationships don't have to be particularly problematic, or threatening, just varied to keep the PC's points of view regarding the NPC nuanced and sometimes complicated.
For example, NPC Owl is a young woman in Hocus Jackal's cult, who just took on as Angel Doc's apprentice and is sleeping with Gunlugger Max. These are relationships everyone is happy about, but now each of these PCs relates to Owl in a slightly different way and for different reasons. It's a pretty mild kind of triangle, but developed organically in play. I'll bet you've got loads of these in your game too. Nobody fights it, and now if trouble arises with Owl, their different relationships will color their reactions. Not that that would prevent the PCs from cliquing up and steamrolling the trouble, if that's what the players elect to do. But at least that's being done in a more textured relationship landscape.
That's the kind of triangle I've had the best luck with, anyway. More aggressive triangles have tended to be galvanizing with my group, resulting in more of a simple knee-jerk response that unifies the PCs against a common "threat", which is OK too I guess. But I think in any game that's been going on for a session or two there are going to be lots of those mild and organic triangles sprouting up, which can be cultivated into more complicated relationships. Do you have these nascent triangles in your game?