Tuesday, December 20, 2005
Airplane
First of, an idea - a game that is basically a collection of one-shots, designed to be played in a seqence (maybe with the same characters, maybe not), but any could be lifted out and played on their own.
Next, an idea for one of those oneshots - the characters are all on an airplane, an international flight. Part of character/scenario creation is decided where the flight is going, and why each character is on it. None of them know each other. They also generate a number of events that will happen on the flight. The GM takes those, adds them to a couple "standard items" if they haven't come up (like an elderly passenger has a heart attack, stuff like that), and either randomly determines or chooses hour marks for them to happen on (Event A happens at 4 hours, Event B at 6, etc.)
There's a clock, and the resolution mechanics include advancing the clock. Maybe the better you succeed, the less time it advances, so you have more time to deal with an event before the next one comes around.
Characters are defined by capability to deal with stress, general adaptability, friendliness, and maybe a handful of specific attributes or skills. Each of them has an NPC foil, who opposes them at every turn for whatever appropriate reason. Maybe there's a group foil. Airline attendents are standard foils, but an early Event should serve to undermine their authority enough that the characters will end up taking charge.
There's real stakes. If things go badly enough, the plane crashes into the ocean and everybody dies, for example. (Thought - for connected oneshots, if this kind of thing happens, its a relative or a close friend of the character than that player then takes for the next oneshot. If the character makes it through, then they can use the same one down the line).
This needs some kind of teeth, but I think actually writing it would be required to find them. But I think it's a cool idea.
Next, an idea for one of those oneshots - the characters are all on an airplane, an international flight. Part of character/scenario creation is decided where the flight is going, and why each character is on it. None of them know each other. They also generate a number of events that will happen on the flight. The GM takes those, adds them to a couple "standard items" if they haven't come up (like an elderly passenger has a heart attack, stuff like that), and either randomly determines or chooses hour marks for them to happen on (Event A happens at 4 hours, Event B at 6, etc.)
There's a clock, and the resolution mechanics include advancing the clock. Maybe the better you succeed, the less time it advances, so you have more time to deal with an event before the next one comes around.
Characters are defined by capability to deal with stress, general adaptability, friendliness, and maybe a handful of specific attributes or skills. Each of them has an NPC foil, who opposes them at every turn for whatever appropriate reason. Maybe there's a group foil. Airline attendents are standard foils, but an early Event should serve to undermine their authority enough that the characters will end up taking charge.
There's real stakes. If things go badly enough, the plane crashes into the ocean and everybody dies, for example. (Thought - for connected oneshots, if this kind of thing happens, its a relative or a close friend of the character than that player then takes for the next oneshot. If the character makes it through, then they can use the same one down the line).
This needs some kind of teeth, but I think actually writing it would be required to find them. But I think it's a cool idea.
// posted by Nathan P. @ 12/20/2005 04:22:00 PM 
