So.. playtesting fiction-first games is a little weird (I’m working on a hack), because it’s like a handful of mechanics embedded in a free-form game. But yet, that free-form game play has a distinct character to it. So it comes down to trying to test how well your “GMing advice” essays are working. I’d love to hear others’ thoughts on this.
So.
So.
/sub and I’ll try to get some time later to add my thoughts.
This is part of why I’m anxious to get Adventure World into the world. Of course I know how to set the kind of tone and gameplay that I’m looking for. The real test is if I can convey that to others.
I think GMing advice is crucial to getting the feel of a hack across, but I think it’s even more important to be very deliberate in the GM agenda, principles and especially the moves you choose to include.
For example, think about how different a game could be if you deliberately excluded an “ask questions and use the answers” type GM move. Or what if you changed the parameters for inflicting harm?
What if you changed the “be a fan of the characters” principle to something like “punish the characters for poor choices”?
GM advice is good (and perhaps necessary) but what really makes PbtA games sing is going beyond general advice and providing specific instructions about how your game should be played.
That’s really good advice, Jared. I don’t think I’ve been self-reflective enough to distill out what I’m going for. What I might need to do is write the essays and then distill them from there. PtbA? (Play by the Advice?)
Powered by the Apocalypse 🙂
Writing the essays will most likely help you clarify your intent. You might use some, all or none of it in the final hack, but there is still value in the exercise.
After pondering it a bit more, I think the way you present Fronts in your hack is also at least as important as the advice you give.
For example, contrast Dungeon World’s Fronts with the homeroom seating chart in Joe Mcdaldno’s Monsterhearts. Each is a unique take on the respective genre and gives the GM specific tools and guidelines for putting a game together.
I was definitely interpreting “GM advice” as the principles/agendas/moves, though advice isn’t really the word for those since they’re hard rules. I totally agree that the slightest change in those things can have a dramatic effect. After I got my agendas down on paper, I really felt like I understood what my own goals were and like I could convey them to my players in a way that I couldn’t before.