#RPGADAY2020 - 16 - Dramatic

Day 16.

Dramatic.

Dramatic situations happen in roleplaying games for a variety of reasons; the plot, the mechanics, and the players (or a combination) are usually the drivers.

The plot drives dramatic situations in obvious ways; assets are put on collision courses, obstacles are there to be beaten, and the plot drives towards a conclusion with the players usually seeking to derail it. This is where all your planning and co-creation pays off.

Mechanics drive drama when the characters are up against the wall; your resources are spent (I'm looking at you, Gumshoe), you're down to the last few hit or sanity points, and the tension rises. You can feel everyone holding their breath as that critical role is made. Of course, from a GM's perspective, mechanics can feel like they have the opposite effect when the players are a bit canny. The perfectly planned and escalated heist; the legitimate exploitation of mechanics to gain an advantage and succeed, undermining the big climax. But this is still dramatic; the players know that they've outfoxed their enemy, they've hit their six to win the game. In fact, if you tell them just how well they've done you'll have them recounting the tale of how they destroyed the big bad without a hair on their heads being hurt. They will have assumed the worst, and beaten it. This, to me, is a good thing.

Players creating dramatic situations is gold-dust. Many of the best roleplaying experiences that I have had have been when the players run with the situation and commit to it, often playing their character despite the risk that it puts them in. We know that they are placing themselves at risk, and await the outcome.

Plot and mechanics are much easier for a GM to influence than the players. Yes, you can create situations but the players need to go there. I find that it works best to have bonds, objectives and other personality elements to create this. In a convention game, it could be a simple as setting up the characters so there is a reason for them to rub up against each other and generate sparks. Many of the Powered by the Apocalypse games do this very well, as part of their design. Their adoption of failing forward also helps fuel the situations that the characters encounter, raising stakes and drama.

I think that different games have different strengths on how they draw the players to experience dramatic situations through their characters.

Which way do you prefer?

16 August 2020