I like that a lot.

Some variations:

The "chairs" aren't characters but they are roles (like the MC role). Perhaps one is the troublemaker, one is trying to keep war from breaking out, and so forth.

For Apocalypse World, the "roles" could by playbooks, too. At first, the Hardholder was running the place, but now that Brainer is. How will they be different? And the Hardholder... is now the medic/healer in the place of the Angel.

I have no idea what game would find this an appropriate design, but experimenting with stuff like this is usually fruitful in some fashion.

There was a one-shot at gaming club I was a part of once where there was one PC and four GMs. The GMs switched places on the hour, for a four-hour session.

That's not the way I would have organized things (each GM player is inactive for 3/4 of the playtime, for starters!) but apparently it was still a lot of fun for everyone involved, and included lots of surprises for everyone. (The GMs were not "in" on a certain plot or storyline, so each had to interpret the previous GM's input and decisions into a larger story.)

Ebok,

I found that last post of your harder to follow, but if I understand correctly, it sounds like we're talking about the same things. I like your suggestion of tying her situation in with another faction/Front/PC/NPC/someone, to complicate the situation.

If you meant something else by "my honest suggestion is to make that position more interesting by bringing the players into that drama", then let me know!

Ebok,

Some good insights there. I agree.

As for your "custom move", I like it. That's what I would call a "love letter", and it's at least somewhat similar to what I had in mind (thought I like some of the specifics you came up with - they're meaningfully different from my own ideas).

As for my own thinking, the reason I keep coming back to the girl is because she's possibly the most interesting NPC we've got going so far:

* She's a breeder - one of the Hocus's followers - and she's carrying a child. It's her *last* child, the Hocus has declared. What are her own feelings about that?
* The child is promised to Ambergrease, another important NPC who's pivotal to the scenario/situation/place, who can't have her own children. How does she feel about all this?
* The child's father... is the Hocus himself. How does HE feel about her, and the baby?

No matter how this pans out, I'd like to see it make some headway towards developing these things.

(I'm really enjoying digging into this, by the way: it's kind of like doing prep with a bunch of helpers. In the process I'm hearing new things but also thinking of stuff I wouldn't have without the excuse to post about it online. Fascinating!)

We had a blast playing it.

I'm not particularly savvy with the whole "faerie" genre/Colour, so I was a bit out of my element. Playing a knight made it easier - I was effectively the outsider.

The other players really brought it, however, with colourful and engaging fearie/mystical/magical narrations and choices. It was definitely my most successful game using that kind of system/ruleset.

I second all of that!

Wow.

bonkydog,

We're thinking along the same lines here!

Ebok,

You're right that, by the book, this should probably be a Seize by Force roll. (I say "probably", because it's happening off-screen, and so other things are possible, too.)

I have a few issues with that:

It's simultaneously too much and too little player control for my tastes.

Why too much? As we've discussed recently, the new version of Seize by Force is very... deterministic. Assuming the player is committed to getting Newton back, the only thing the roll will determine is how much harm is dealt. Those aren't terrible interesting variables for me.

Choosing getting her back over the lives of those other followers? That could be interesting, but I'm not sure whether it will be or not (it's a new game, after all), and it really depends on the stats I assign the gangs. Some ratios of harm/armor will create that as an interesting choice, and others will not. (For instance, the difference between "they're nearly all dead" and "they're almost all dead", in some scenarios.)

The character's isn't in a position to be making this choice narratively, and I want the actions of the previous session to have consequences (it's not the Hocus who sent these men, but her friend). Putting her in charge means she feels the consequences less. Having the other PC roll and choose would be more interesting, but is starting to distort the rules quite a bit at that point!

That brings me to the final point: since Seize by Force is mostly about the exchange of harm, and I haven't already decided on the Black Teeth's numbers (I suppose it depends who's waiting on the other side of the river!), it's very hard for me to disclaim responsibility. In assigning those stats, I will largely be deciding the outcome, instead of leaving it to the dice.

Now, why too little?

It comes down to a die roll and deciding how gets hurt how much (and possibly whether Newton is worth it). That affects one player.

If I turn it into a love letter, instead, I can give everyone input and create some other interesting possibilities.

For example, I can say, "Hey, is it true that you've been stealing weapons from Tip's compound and selling them? If so, surely the followers got some of them. Give the Hocus +1 to her roll. However, in that case you can't be too sure who else got their hands on a few of the guns, now, can you?"

Now I can tie the other two players into the action and create decision points for them. In the above example, I've offered the player the chance to create conflict with an NPC (Tip) and to set up some harder moves from me (stolen weapons). That's more exciting to me than just having the Hocus decide whether she wants the Black Teeth to lose one or two people in a fight or three or four.

Still, your answer feels like the correct one, going "by the book". I'll have to think on this some more.

It's funny that you're posting about this here, because Vincent Baker - in my experience - is one of the people who has been fooling around with this the most.

Many of his more recent game drafts have elements along these lines.

I played "In Dreaming Avalon" last night, and the game had us all kinds of subtle little things like that (though, oddly enough, not closing your eyes, which would have been quite fitting).