Gargantua Labs -- Where the unplayed games of tomorrow are being made today!

[bluegargantua]

Hi,

So Vincent Baker gave a talk at Vericon and from that I got an idea for a short little game to illustrate one of his points. This is very first draft and even when I think it's "all done" it may still be a pretty pedestrian game, but it's really meant as an experiment and a conversation starter.

The premise: We generally think of RPGs as having a narrative flow that closely follows a group of PCs. While that's the most common, it isn't necessarily the only way it works. The use of flashback or flashforward scenes shows that RPGs don't have to follow a strict chronological sequence. Taking this one step further, we can also say that each "scene" in a game can be totally unrelated to any other scene in the process of play.

The experiment: Blood and Dust: A game for two players and a world

later
Tom

Comments

[neuromancerzss.livejournal.com]

Your game has filibustering?

Neat concept though. Not sure about the mechanics being strategically interesting or even really connecting to the story (the stories told and the actors bought do not seem to have any effect on the outcome), but I like the concept.

I wonder whether the game would be improved or constrained by using more distinct plot cards or some more direct mechanical connection between past and present (Thorolf's vengeance set back Blood, but the small loss allowed for a great gamble with the later reconciliation of the nation). Something akin to the alternate timelines created by Chrononauts comes to mind.

[bluegargantua]

Yeah, there needs to be more stuff about how buying things for a scene helps or hinders the scene. I only realized the filibustering when I was doing the example.

The thing is, Thorolf's scene (and really, his entire thread) won't get any sort of context until the end. Say Dust wins the whole game, he can use his final narrative to point out how Thorolf's crime caused kinstrife and blood feuds to become (more) endemic in nordic culture...which was carried out with them when Viking's raided other lands and became endemic in European nations, etc. etc.

Blood and Dust need never return to the Vikings ever again.

later
Tom

[drwex]

An interesting experiment, but it feels like there ought to be more bounds on the potential complexity. Time limits might help, or limits on number of characters (say, two per player) controlled in a scene. I'd have to go through it myself to have more cogent thoughts.