 May 2, 2011 - 4:20pm | Hook There are two kinds of hooks: background hooks (like kickers and bangs) and plot hooks. Background Hooks are elements of a PC‘s history that the GM can use to tie that PC into the game world, or as fuel for adventures. A Plot Hook is anything the GM describes to get the PCs involved in an adventure. Line An adventure element in which the various plot elements proceed along a line: A leads to B leads to C, etc. Linear plots are a tried and true staple of gaming, although an overly linear plot can lead to railroading. A line is normally presented as a short paragraph. Think of the line as the "bait" to lure the party into an adventure. Sinker The clincher to the line. The sinker presents the Players with a dilemma that makes the situation a true adventure. Usually a paragraph or two about what is at stake for each of the parties involved in the conflict, and what forces the PCs to take immediate action to avoid dire consequences. A Bang is a form of stand-alone Sinker, a Sinker is a more structured Bang, that relies on results from a Line or Kicker. Bang A situation that forces the PCs to take immediate action to avoid dire consequences, without necessarily constraining exactly what actions they take. Best used when elements of the PC's background and pathos are involved, taking cues from the Character Flags. Flag Any aspect of a PC that can be used to drive the game, most often a personality trait or background hook. For example, a mercenary PC’s rivalry with an NPC merc from another unit would be considered a background flag, as it provides the GM with a hook for involving that PC in adventures. A higher number in a particular stat that is usually ignored by most players, or a skill that is not commonly taken or considered useful are persona flags, as it provides the GM with a hook for what the player might like to do. Instincts, Quotes, and Kickers, are commonly used to produce immediately recognizable and intentionally expressed Flags on a character sheet. Instincts Instincts provide a simple mechanism for players to hard-wire certain reactions into their characters, and are as useful as quotes and background for their ability to make Flags for the GM. Beliefs Beliefs help establish who the character is, and what he wants, and make wonderful flags. Rewards for roleplaying beliefs are often inherent in the mechanic. Fortune Sometimes called Hero points, Drama points, or Karma points, and may have a positive Light-side and/or a Negative Dark side. Used to pump up or reduce a characters capability in certain situations, but usually at a cost of "A lot of Heroics now" for "Not so much spotlight capability later", and keeps the players holding their best for the most critical (and usually last in the session) encounter. Drama Often used with some sort of card, coin, or other physical device, it represents the ability of the players to influence the very course of the adventure, the very core of the scene, the Dramatics Inherent. This is a device that allows the players to feel more invested in the adventure, story, or plot, by being able to play up elements of a situation that the GM had not previously scripted, or play down elements that the GM might be forcing on players that are distasteful. It also is commonly used my GMs who want to provide the game with elements unforeseen, so that everyone including the GM can feel more invested in play. Karma A reward system that rewards the player, or even the group as a whole, over the character. Used so that the player or group might make influences in a larger on going dynamic-setting or meta-arc. Rewards are easily carried over to places that are seemingly unconnected, but technically all belong to the same dynamic setting. In this way characters that are part of the same theoretical web of influence, and are all rewarded by the heroic successes of the few, or even possibly penalized by the failures. Most "Character-Tree" mechanics form a simple working of this concept, but some epic-saga based systems and settings steeped conspiratorial shadow factions, have used even more far-reaching variants. Lifepaths A Lifepath provides a simple, and exciting, method for creating a character, and his background, at the same time, stimulating creativity for those who are running dry or simply too busy, and need a quick framework. Scripted Combat Actions written down in advance of being executed, in an attempt to simulate some element of simultaneous action. Dual of Wits Working on the same system as scripted combat, A Dual of Wits provides mechanics for simulating a debate or argument. ...Other....what other nontraditional, nonconformist, or indie style, (but often classic-revisited or old-school-revised...) game mechanics you may know of. Oh humans!!  We discover a galactic community filled with multiple species of aliens, and the first thing we think about is "how can we have sex with them?".~ anymoose, somewhere on the net... so... if you square a square it becomes a cube... if you square a cube does it become an octoid? |
 May 2, 2011 - 10:06pm | Nice work. Straightforward and helpful. It'll help me designing my adventures here fer sher. Thanks.  My SF website izz: http://ragnarr.webs.com |
May 2, 2011 - 10:34pm | What all of these in particular have in common, is the rather simplistic ability to be compatible with any system or setting, without a lot of extensive re-visioning to the system or setting in question. As game tools they are about as pure as it gets, for the definition of Generic/Universal/Optional/Devices, while still being useful. Oh humans!! We discover a galactic community filled with multiple species of aliens, and the first thing we think about is "how can we have sex with them?".~ anymoose, somewhere on the net... so... if you square a square it becomes a cube... if you square a cube does it become an octoid? |
