#17 - Incorporating Puzzles

One of the elements I think of in role-playing games are the activities that go on outside of a role-playing game. Obviously there is a social aspect, and it’s often key to have the players talking with each other. To keep the game running smoothly you also don't want it to go too long, and you find ways to draw the attention of people who are getting bored.

Another trick I can interrupt normal game play with, is by handing over a puzzle to the players. Such a toy breaks up normal game-play by adding a new dimension. It takes the action from a land entirely of make believe, and adds a real world element. The focus shifting to a puzzle means it is no longer on something we are imaginings, but now on something we see.

Even better if it is something you can hold in your hand!

Puzzles like this, Anagrams, riddles, or even jigsaw puzzle are often not necessary for a game. But, its richness comes in the reminder that a role-playing games has more than 1 dimension. We don’t merely pretend, we interact, we exchange.

Here are 3 quick suggestions for incorporating a puzzle seamlessly!

#1 Make it physical!

An anagram can be a great way to produce a password. Suppose the heroes need a secret phrase to open a door. They may know what letters go into that password, but not which specific word / words. That will surely make opening a locked door more exciting. But even better than giving them a slip of paper with the letters jumbled on it is giving them a stack of post it notes. This allows everyone around to have a look at the letters individually, they can quickly rearrange them and puzzle it out together. For an anagrams specifically, post its also help to ensure their final answer uses all letters.

There is no possibility of forgetting an E somewhere, if you are still holding it in your hand.

#2 Make it nonessential!

If solving a puzzle is required to continue the plot it is instead a roadblock. That would be fine, if they can find the solution… It will not feel as good however if they solve it immediately. that would make the test mundane. It would feel even worse if they cannot solve the puzzle, that would highlight their helplessness. Set puzzles aside for bonuses. If they have to assemble a map that was cut up with a jigsaw have the map show them something special. Reward them for solving it, for going above the call of duty. Never punish them for not seeing an "obvious" answer.

#3 Have a backup

With my last note in mind, it is possible the heroes will solve your puzzle right away. Some players may have heard a riddle before, or it may only take 30 seconds to complete the Rubik's cube. In that case whip out another one! If they needed a password to get thru a door, and they already have it on hand, ask for a 2nd or a third. A three part challenge isn't much more difficult than a single obstacle. It will take more time obviously, and getting the hat trick will feel great! Anyone who has scored a critical hit can appreciate the lucky roll, but to get it 3 times in a row is remarkable.

The reward of a puzzle can be the solution itself. Solving more than one can be double / triple the glory!

That said, I wouldn't ask the heroes to solve 4 or 5 riddles in a row... Don’t make the puzzle a chore.

#13 - World Building Lesson 102

While reading through the rules of a Star Wars role-playing game. I saw that if a character accumulates too many dark side points they cease to be a player character. If you fall to the dark side you cannot continue to play as your character, the hero becomes an NPC. A friend of mine asked me about this, they seemed to think it was unfair, "why would you loose control of your character just because you turned evil?"

The justification was one of simplicity. If a character did fall to the dark side, then we all would know what they would do next. There is no more need for a player to delineate the characters actions.

In finished fiction character can be simple. Their motivations can be summarized in a few sentences and everyone can appreciate their decisions. This is fine and all, but it is unrealistic.

For one thing real people resent being categorized, for another they contradict themselves. Characters in a novel have a purpose for the drama, and their actions push this along. Fictional characters are plot devices, their decisions are not always their own.

Reality rejects simplicity. Real people behave with nuance. We all see ourselves as exceptional, and we know what motivates us but find others a mystery. Creating characters with every detail fleshed out can be quite reductive. Paradoxically it makes them simpler and smaller.

This is not to say that your characters cannot be well detailed. Just that fixed details makes them more of an object to be seen - "objectified." Knowing all of the quirks and idiosyncrasies of a person can lead someone to manipulate them. If I know a person in and out as well as my car, I can drive them anywhere.

Such perfect knowledge is rare in the real world, or at least an uncomfortable thought. You can just as easily give an impression of some part of you fictional world without showing how the magic trick is done.

It might also avoid the tail from wagging the dog.

A good way to avoid this is to have unfixed details and to be vague. A character might be working through their anger problems, instead of having anger issues. It allows the character to surprise us with a moment of calm, or an outburst after a still period. We still know they did what they did, but we are unsure where it might go next.

What happens in the following scene could go either way, a shouting match or an apology. Such is real life.

#9 - What Attracts you to Role-playing

I recently attended a meeting of fellow role-players. We had met to organize and share ideas for new role-playing games. A fair amount of old ideas were also given; our favorite games. At the meeting I interrupted business as usual, with an important question? What attracts us to role-playing?

This may sound similar to my earlier comments, but it is important enough a question to repeat. There are numerous adventure games out there that allow you to become a powerful hero. Acting as someone else isn't unique to role-playing, nor is taking command of life and death decisions.

I mentioned before, how powerful players are when they make decisions. But this isn't so unique. We could play monopoly and have just as many important decisions. We don't need to change our mannerisms and adopt a character to become real-estate tycoons. Buying and selling is party of Monopoly, but we don't need to be other people. Why would it be so different to act otherwise?

Lets talk about acting for a minute, actors know empathy and emoting is essential to portraying a character. Successful actors are those that make us, the audience, feel what they want us to feel. Some actors are world famous for doing this job. Famous for making us believe they are someone they are not. They are pretending, adopting roles for a performance. I don't pretend to be a good actor on stage, but I always try to role-play in even the most basic of games I play. Whether I pretend to be a businessman or an action hero, I enjoy creating a character. I enjoy this acting, convincing others the story isn't "my" story, but of the character. It adds to the game, and makes it something that Monopoly can never be. A role-playing game isn't just a game because it is also shared fiction.

So I asked around. I went to this meeting and posed the question. What attracts you to role-playing. Why do more than just play a game, and convince others you are in the story.

The people had decided to come out on a Tuesday to spread their ideas. Clearly, they want more than a simple handshake deal over boardwalk and Marvin Gardens. They could have played a game without out acting, and they could have tried acting on stage without a game.

So I asked them. Some people admired the social aspects of role-playing. They feel connected to their friends when they are making decisions together. Role-playing has an unfinished script, and working through problems together is a big draw. Bigger still if you work through the issues from another perspective! An actor in a movie will present the best form of a character whose decisions were already made. Role-playing goes beyond this, because we are not merely displaying the decisions of another; we are also creating those decisions. Creating them as we discover who it is we are being. The woman I spoke to said she felt much more connected to her friends when they had to both decide who they were, and how best to proceed. This kind of debate was her favorite way of socializing.

Another latched onto the idea of creativity. Some of those present enjoyed making conventional fiction and wanted to test their ideas. Share them not only on page but in a role-playing group. They felt particularly creative when exploring the rules of a game. Unlike a Monopoly, Role-playing games have no clear goal. Whatever Goals there are, are created by the characters in the game. These characters are interpreted and portrayed by the players. This experimentation pushes the limits of what could be imagined. Adds endless variety to fiction, when the ending is always over the horizon.

These were Interesting and important answers all around. Now, I want to put that back on you. I have already explained why I think Role-playing is important for everyone to do at least some of. It is an exercise in empathy, creativity, and decisiveness. An exercise in considering the best course of action, and realizing what your purposes are. These are essentials skills for everyone, whether they enjoy playing games or not. To build up our skills, to create interest in your own desire to go the distance I ask you to consider, “What attracts you to this? Why should you role-play?”

Sadly, there isn't much advice I can give. I cannot / would not answer this for you. Rather, this article ends with homework. Feel free to respond back, let us all know!

#7 - Sticking the Landing

Recently my GM and I held a postmortem of a game that left us dissatisfied. At the adventure's and all the players discussed what we would do next. No person was eager to continue the story line. The GM and I agreed it wasn't the best play through, the was ending sub-par. The game had become cartoonish; Players glossed over the the more interesting elements for conflict and exploration. In the end, we all decided to pick something else for the next season. Maybe next year, we shall revisit the “cartoon.” Shortly thereafter, that old story line was forgotten.

What we had played in the “cartoon,” was a revamp of something the GM had enjoyed some years ago. It was successful in the past, but not appreciated by veteran role-players. Our team bravely pushed back against the struggles set in our path. We had teamwork down a science and found several ways to solve every possible problem. Those solutions however, became cliche. We muscled past every conflict, and that was all we did. We rushed to the ending. When we arrived at the final scenes, encountering the ancient evil, we attempted to brush it aside. We were not able to overcome in the same vein as our earlier enemies. Our repetitive behavior did not succeed at game's end.

We were not destined to out muscle everything. A different resolution was supposed to take place. Yet, we did not gravitate to alternatives, and one by one we failed to fight our way out. By then, we were conformable in our routine choices. Comfortable as well, with the consequences that had favored us before. We pressed forward hard, to no effect.

Thus a disconnect ensued. Abruptly, all our plans failed, it was not the ending we were expecting. Equally unexpected were are actions to the GM. Soon, The heroes were knocked out, some with fear, others by having their bone's shattered. In the final moments my hero's destiny arrived. In that moment of glory I asked, “What did we even want again?”

The Game was off the rails. A quick decision had to be made and it all felt hollow. I committed suicide to save the party, not as a heroic deed, but because I couldn't think of anything better to do. Then I sat back and watched my teammates run away, as the GM gave a final eulogy about sacrifice for the greater good. Destiny gave safety to the heroes, but they did not deserve it. This happy ending was misplaced. It wasn't the real ending, or the real destiny, the game was over because it had no where to go.

Recall the necessity of player's choice. That is their special power in a role-playing game. The GM's unique power is to administer the consequences for the choices players make to the GM's setup. This back and forth is a tennis game of shared storytelling. Events leads to decisions, that lead to consequences, that provide for choices, that lead to events. This is the normal dialogue of Choice - Consequence.

Things destined, break this cause and effect. Destiny is independent of the choice – consequence dialogue. If something is part of Destiny, it will occur regardless of choices made. Regardless of what transpired beforehand. Independent of all the players wishes and intents. It is a great interruption to normal game play, and is easy to abuse.
This does not mean that a RPG cannot have a destiny. Players can certainly elect to give heroes destinies. GMs also can prepare events in a game to be “scripted,” and happen independent of the players' say so. Remember, that destinies are not part of the normal dialogue. These destined events are purposefully predetermined. Meant to be another dimension atop the deterministic tennis match, of choices and consequences. Destiny will always be a separate layer of events, and cannot fulfill the needs of cause and effect.

When my moment of destiny arrived, the end was near. No one else could act. This was not only because I destined to interrupt the regular game, but also because they were near death. Yet, the opportunity, that was my destiny, was not clear. All the foreshadowing of our bravado led us into doom. A happy ending was not foreseeable. At that time I had convinced myself that the heroes were to all die.

The destiny felt hollow, as it overturned the choice – consequence dialogue. This ending did not compliment the heroes, it merely side-stepped their doom. Doom fell on us because of our poor choices.
I want to stress, that the ending was not dissatisfying because of the destiny. Nor because of the interruption. It was because the Destiny arrived, as a last chance for choice. When no choice should have had the consequence of saving us. It was an ending roughly stuffed in. Everything we had done before gave us failure.

Perhaps the destiny should have been that I led the heroes to their end, bitterly fighting to the last in a vain attempt.

“A New Hope” ends on a happy note. Luke had the destiny to destroy the death star, and he agrees to this destiny. Despite the tie-fighters, turbo lasers, and Darth Vader, he accepts his 1 in a Million shot at firing proton torpedoes. His choice doesn't guarantee the happy ending. The story could have gone otherwise. Star Wars could have been the tale of a valiant defeat, and not a decisive strike at evil. Luke's choice doesn't mean he will win. Destiny guarantees that ending. We are most excited for Luke not when the Death Star Blows up, but we he decides to go for it. The actual explosion is “scripted,” as the event, the effect, that follows the most important element in the story, the choice.

What a dumb movie it would be, if he decided not to take his chances, not to choose trusting in the force and the Death Star explodes anyway?

Thus I stress to you, Players and GMs, to compliment the choice – consequence dialogue. Provide destiny where it matches the proper choices of role-players. Feel free to cheat, ignore die-rolls, and write over whatever you had planned. The resolution is not the climax, or the final destination. The real ending, occurs a few minutes before a heroes eulogy, or the award ceremony.