NPC Adoption

One of the funny things about players (including myself) is how they'll randomly adopt NPCs. By this I mean that they may take the NPC with them, forge a longer lasting connection, or keep finding excuses to meet them again or go check up on them. It can be quite interesting when a bit player made up on the fly suddenly gets major NPC status ... all the more amusing where a major NPC gets sidelined by the players to make room for them.

Why do they do this?

Well, its because the NPC you made really added to their gameplay experience.

It may be because the relationship hinted at really worked with their concept. Perhaps their aloof elf rogue really gains an extra dynamic when he grudgingly adopts and brings along a 10-year-old human war refugee.

It may be because the NPC is really interesting and suggestive of a whole range of secrets and ideas that the players want to explore. Perhaps the dodgy mechanic seemed to have some sort of perhaps Mafia or government connections and they want to know more about them and their unusual skills.

It could just be because the NPC is funny, lively, or otherwise has a really good and intriguing personality which the players really enjoy. Players will always attempt to get more of the kind of the things in the game that they enjoy. Its only fair. And, in fact, its a good thing. Otherwise, how would you ever be able to adapt the game to their interests?

In the end, whatever the reasoning, the result is the same. An NPC that you may, or may not, have had long lasting plans for is now being treated with greater importance and focus. I suggest going with it. It can only add to the game and you can always use their favourite NPC for plot development rather than relying on the ones they find dull.

Attachment is a powerful glue and one that is nigh impossible to artificially create so when you find them attached to someone -- take advantage of it but be aware that the players will hate it if you find some way to automatically remove them. Kidnap them, sure. Threaten their lives, sure. But if you kill them without giving the players a fair chance to rescue them than they will be really resentful about it. As I said, attachment is a powerful influence and by its very nature it causes negative emotion toward attempts to damage that.

If they die over the course of the game in a fair and honest manner, than it will probably be okay and merely cause a level of sadness and nostalgia. Give the characters (and the players) a moment to grieve their loss and allow them the space to give the NPC the respect they feel they deserve. Different players will require a different amount of time to gain that closure. Some may require a single moment, others might desire a session.

So how about it? Have you ever adopted an NPC or had an NPC adopted in your game?

Game Translation: Sims 3

The Sims 3 is a people simulator made by Maxis where the player can design an entire town full of inhabitants and control any one household at a time. Within that household, the player must balance the life needs (social, food, toilet, etc.), study, hobbies, work, and relationships against the steadily creeping clock. If the Sims aren't having their needs met or are having a particularly bad time, they may rebel against your commands and refuse to, say, study or apologise to anyone.

Bet you didn't expect to see this game up for translation, did you? I mean, okay, perhaps you saw it on the lists but I doubt anyone took it seriously.

Think about it for a moment, though. The Sims has a lot of fans and is a game style that works both better and worse in a roleplay format. True, level grinding their cooking skill isn't going to be as worth while unless you want to introduce some sort of Wii component involving personally doing 10 jump ropes to simulate their leveling up (could be a neat exercise regime?). But there's a lot more to the Sims than that, especially with the Sims 3.

As a Storyteller, you'd need to be very good at roleplaying quirky and interesting NPCs to really pull this one off as you don't have plot to fall back on. Its all about the people and, to a lesser extend, the locations so ensure that the individuals have enough motive and personality to keep the game afloat.

Doing some research into the locations that will matter to the characters - or spending a lot of time creating some interesting ones - will also be very important. One of the major things the characters will be doing is going to places and visiting them so its good to know how to make the environments eye catching and curiosity arousing.

Sims 2 characters have to deal with needs, wants and fears, and aspirations while Sims 3 simply grants positive or negative moodlets according to the characters' personality (made up of five traits) and certain global effects (who likes being humiliated).

I'm not sure how you'd add this into a roleplaying game. Perhaps by handing out moodlet cards after certain activities that have bonuses or penalties on them depending on recent circumstances? It could work. I mean, this is a slice of life game after all. Its not like you're going to be rolling dice often so making it part card game would work just fine.

Moving away from the Sims 3 game to talk more about slice of life games, bear in mind that these are VERY character driven. The players will have to do most of the work. After all, its more about how people feel and what they're up to rather than major plots and firefights. It can help to look at Drama, Comedy or Romantic Comedy television series and see how the plots unfold in those. Generally its about colliding goals and personal issues causing stumbling blocks in the characters' lives. Oftentimes those characters are larger-than-life because they have to carry the entire series on their own shoulders. There's no explosions to draw attention away from them.

I just love looking inside other people's homes.

Unfortunately, there's no real way to do the architecture simulation of building and decorating houses ... which I adore. Oh well. I guess there's always the actual videogame to play for that sort of things. Its not like I can't use it as my map making tool to design my properties for the games.

A campaign based around the Sims 3, or including elements of it, should appeal to Communicators first and foremost. I mean, its a game all about talking to people and seeing what it would be like to, say, be a rock star or a really rich person. It'd be a slice of life game which might not appeal to all Communicators but it'd certainly appeal to some -- especially if the era or location were set to somewhere exotic.

Explorers may well enjoy the chance to voyeuristically explore other places and meet strange people. Tacticians may enjoy the chance to juggle needs, particularly if there are clear mundane plot goals such as going up the career ladder or managing their own characters' needs.

Investigators will probably find it quite dull as this game lends itself more to the Mystery of the Lost Handbag rather than the Mystery of the Decadalion Conspiracy. Action Heroes will, in short, hate it. This is a slice of life game and, not only that, a slice of a pretty mundane life.

If you'd like to take a look at the trailer to learn more about this game, you can check it out here. If you'd like to read the sort of tropes that Amnesia used, you can find them here.

For the next Game Translation, you have a choice of these: Left for Dead, Half Life 2, Skyrim, The Last Express, Gears of War, Mass Effect, Dracula: Origins, Realms of the Haunting, Dragon Age 2, and pretty much any survival horror or horror game. If no one picks anything by next week, it'll be The Last Express.

If you want to see the list of games I've done thus far, you can find the Game Translation series starter over here.

Librarians & Leviathans: Trappery

I like traps. In fact, I would go so far as to say that I love traps. I love them in movies (ooh, Indiana Jones). I love them in videogames (Realms of the Haunting had some cool ones). I even love them in roleplaying games (make me a rogue!). Heck, I'm keen to introduce some traps into World of Darkness although in a more complex and involved manner than the usual roll to see it / roll to disarm it where if you fail either you end up paying hit point tax.

Shimmin Beg does a really neat series of articles on Traps over at Librarians and Leviathans. Take a look.

Oh, and no Pathfinder goodness today. Game didn't run because two players were ill.

Notes from Amnesia: Monsters that Aren't

I swear that some of the sections in Amnesia have no monsters whatsoever. I can't be sure of this. I didn't stick around. I didn't test the issue. But I'm pretty sure. In one of the earlier bits, my fiance DID test the issue by casually strolling around on a second play through. This just added to the drama and tension because while I got to see the hints - the splashes, the shadowy figures - I didn't get the 'reveal'. Remember that each encounter with a monster increases familiarity and familiarity really is the bane of horror.

One whole technique is to make the familiar feel unfamiliar to put people on edge, after all.

This is something we can certainly use in our horror games. Tease the players. Make them think that the monster *might* be there. That, in fact, they *might* be being stalked. That if they step into the light, they *might* be spotted. If they happen to pass through the light and not get attacked, breed a sense of relief that they happened to make it.

Perhaps make some rolls on the sly, ask them to make a Luck Roll or a Stealth Roll. Perhaps ask them to make a Perception check. If they succeed, give them more hints - a werewolf's spoor, bloody claw marks, an odd sound that turns out to be a bunch of wires swaying in the wind - but if they fail, simply nod and say nothing.

This allows you to build up the anticipation without making any revelations. This makes the players start to wander because, even if the characters don't believe they're being stalked, if you start asking for certain rolls than the players will. It's all about using the meta considerations to your own advantage, after all.

Its a horror game.

It doesn't have to be fair.

Notes from Amnesia: Safety Breeds Fear

One of the interesting parts of Amnesia is how often you are actually safe. You never know it. Oh no, because that would defeat the purpose. It's just that there's a lot of time spent wondering if you are safe and when it will all start again. There's no guaranteed clues of what might make it all begin. Even the fleshy transformations won't necessarily indicate anything worse than a few rock falls. Yet a door opening and creaking can mean everything, nothing, or a sign of a trap.

Some horror games, especially roleplaying games, don't realise the importance of safety or the way it can just really build up anxiety and tension. That's why there should be no random monster charts in a horror game, at least not beyond the inspiration phase, as each monster should be carefully introduced with a trail of little clues and warnings to really milk all of its worth.

It is also one of the reasons why horror normally concerns itself with a single monster, or very few monsters, or one monster type, so that fear of one doesn't clash so much with fear of the others. Also, the more monsters you have, the more places you need to push them, the smaller the 'safety' net and the less time to build up anxiety.

So there you have it. Less monster time builds up more apprehension - especially if you drop lots of little hints, clues, and signs that maaaaaybe the monster will be here now. Maybe. Never let them be sure.

Notes from Amnesia: Coping with Unbearable Tension

One of the things about Amnesia is that its damn scary. So scary in fact that you sit in a state of tension for about as long as you play - especially if you play it alone and at night like I do. The trouble with it is that I can only play it for short doses, about an hour, which is fine for a videogame as it makes it feel much longer than it likely is. The trouble occurs when you're involved in a roleplaying game and the tension starts getting unbearable.

If it were a videogame, you'd switch it off for now, head into the light, and come back later (perhaps tomorrow). If you're sitting around a table, you have to either take it on the chin or break that tension somehow. Perhaps you go to the toilet and take a few extra minutes in the light. Perhaps you head into the kitchen for a Milo. Perhaps you start making random television references and start making ridiculous jokes - out-of-character, of course, because in-character nervous banter often just raises the tension as much as it breaks it.

Which one are you?

Heck, sometimes its the Storyteller who will break tension - which can be quite problematic as they've got a far greater tool kit for damaging immersion. A random joke masquerading as in-game description. A silly NPC popping up for comedic effect. They can certainly find a way to pop that tension balloon.

So what to do?

Well, firstly acknowledge that this is making you tense. Hell, you can reduce tension for yourself without damaging other people's tension by simply stating it aloud: "Gawd, this is intense" or "This is scaring the $#@! out of me." It'll make everyone else MORE tense but you might find some relief in camaraderie or simply by taking the distance and the time to ponder your own feelings.

If that doesn't work, try making those comments and bits of banter in-character. Yes, its not a perfect solution because it generates tension to feel your character's desperation but it should make it more palatable. People make jokes to comfort themselves and to take comfort in other people's receptivity to those jokes. It'll still help you get through this.

If you really need a break RIGHT NOW than quietly excuse yourself to grab a coffee and drink it in the light for a few minutes or take a toilet break where you actually check your Tweets or something. That way you can take a break from the tension without popping it completely.

And be aware that you are one of the lucky few who have been able to experience such tension in a game. Its a great way to get that adrenaline going without ever actually being at risk of injury.

Game Translation: Amnesia

Amnesia is a first person game that follows Daniel, an amnesiac who awakens on the castle floor and must piece together his memories before the mysterious Shadow kills him or tears down Castle Brennenburg around him. He also learns terrible secrets about the man that he turned to for help - a man called Baron Alexander. The game itself is a very pure form of survival horror where you can't attack the enemies - you can only hide from them and hope for the best while you attempt to assemble what you need to move on. To make matters worse, you will go insane unless you're in the light but you only have a limited number of tinderboxes to light darkened areas and monsters can see you when you're standing in the light.

The trick to this sort of game is to avoid the high graphical tricks and twists (or in a roleplaying case, avoid fancy descriptions of horrors) and instead focus on what you don't show. This works terrifically well in any horror format. Doors are blown open, beckoning people into well-lit rooms in a way that encourages you to slam the door shut and keep going. Piles of gore in the corner might be bloody skulls or something else equally mishappen and flyblown. Something beneath the stairs might be rotten grapes or eye balls. You can't quite see what it is. In a roleplaying game, you could simply give things a vague description with the caveat "You're pretty sure you don't want to know."

Of course, to best hammer home the reasons behind not wanting to know any more, you should probably give them a consequence for taking a closer look. Some sort of sanity mechanic (such as the BRP Call of Cthulhu percentile system) or even a set of five tokens that you lose one by one whenever you see something terrible is necessary here. That way the players will have to weigh their curiosity against the diminishing stack of tokens and the risk of panic or fainting (or even suicide) that will occur if they lose the final token. Ensure if you use a token system, however, that there are opportunities to regain tokens.

Sanity loss should also have a progressive feeling to it in order to help it feel organic. In BRP, if you lose 5 sanity points in one hit you will go temporarily insane. If you lose 20% of your overall sanity in quick succession, you will go indefinitely insane. These insanities flavor both the experience, the Keeper's descriptions, and the players' choices when roleplaying the investigator.

Alternatively, if you're using a token system, you can simply put in extra issues with each lost token. Let's simply look at the levels of insanity from Amnesia and match them to this possible token system. With all five tokens, you're fine. With the loss of one token, your hands start trembling (-1 to all Dexterity checks). Lose two tokens and you get this profound sense of vertigo that throws off your depth perception (-1 to all Perception checks). Lose three tokens and the vertigo deepens and you start swaying a fair bit (-1 to all checks requiring Balance). Lose four tokens and you briefly collapse and are therefore helpless. Lost five tokens and ... well, I won't spoil it. Obviously all of these penalties are cumulative.

Noises can be used to good effect if you have ready access to a laptop or have a really good stereo remote control. You can set it up to have creepy background music (Silent Hill and Midnight Syndicate soundtracks are good for this) and then have a separate program with the available sound effects on it so that rather than describe the creaking door you can have the sound play while you simply smile.

Amnesia also has a series of intuitive key in lock puzzles. That is, rather than having to figure out how to, say, place sixteen skulls in such a fashion that they spell out a certain word, you instead need to find an object that allows you to pass through a locked door. Even the more complex puzzles, such as starting the elevator, is largely intuitive with a need to place in the right devices and put coal inside a particular device.

Amnesia is also a game of environmental hazards. Certain fleshy growths can injure you. Waiting in darkness will slowly drain your sanity but staying in the light will draw the attention of any passing monster. Simply looking at the monsters also drains your sanity. So it ends up being a game of very simple resource management where you need to weigh the benefits of lifting your lamp briefly against the dangers of revealing yourself.

Sometimes its good not to see things clearly....

This first person game also removes all of the Heads Up Display as much as it can. One's steadily decaying sanity is displayed through strange visual effects including bugs crawling over the screen to demonstrate the sensation of bugs crawling across your skin. Damage is shown by a splatter of blood on the screen that quickly clears. If a player wants to see how they're doing, they have to open up the inventory screen and hover their mouse over an image of a brain + spine for their sanity, and over their heart for their health. Even in these cases, there's no math. Simply a description: Your head is pounding and your hands shaking OR A few minor cuts and bruises.

This is the trickiest part of running it in a roleplaying game. There is safety to be found in numbers. They're quantifiable. There's a sheet in front of you that reinforces that this isn't a person but an imaginary creation based off mathematical decision making (or at least founded upon it). This isn't necessarily a problem but there are a few things you can do to reduce it.

You can turn their health into some sort of token system so they feel they are losing parts of their characters to the dangers. You can remove their access to their health so they have to rely on your verbal descriptions. You can remove the sheets entirely and either have them simply make a single dice roll to see if they succeed or fail on their attempts to scramble onto a box without being hit OR you could simply rely on their descriptions. If they mention they hide in a wardrobe when they hear the footsteps, then it doesn't find them. If they say they're hiding in the shadows, let it work. Simply turn an egg timer and withdraw tokens for each minute that passes so that they have to wait and hope that it leaves in time - which is probably will, though may not.

A campaign based around Amnesia, or including elements of it, should appeal to Explorers as a good portion of the game involves wandering around a creepy old castle seeing what's inside and learning new things. Investigators will enjoy the slow revelations as the mystery unfurls, especially if you make a point to hide a few of the clues so they have to be clever to find it. Their curiosity alone may be enough to motivate them.

Tacticians will enjoy balancing their various needs but won't enjoy the fact that they have to keep choosing between losses rather than finding the right winning action. Expect some degree of frustration, though if well roleplayed and responded to, the frustration could be played out in character and add to the immersion and realism. Communicators won't have all that much to do as the game is, by necessity, quite lonely. However, in a party-based game they might get enough kicks out of the reactions of the other characters. There are plenty of possible places in locations like Castle Brennenburg where the characters could safely converse if they shut the door and turn a candle on.

Action Heroes will quickly come to resent all the stealthing around and hiding from the monster. In frustration they are quite likely to try to smash the monsters.

If you'd like to take a look at the trailer to learn more about this game, you can check it out here. If you'd like to read the sort of tropes that Amnesia used, you can find them here.

For the next Game Translation, you have a choice of these: Left for Dead, The Sims 3, Half Life 2, Skyrim, The Last Express, Gears of War, Mass Effect, Dracula: Origins, Realms of the Haunting, Dragon Age 2, and pretty much any survival horror or horror game. If no one picks anything by next week, it'll be Sims 3.

If you want to see the list of games I've done thus far, you can find the Game Translation series starter over here.