Years ago, at a summer camp for playing #ttrpg s—because even adults should enjoy a childhood well spent—a good friend and colleague asked me, "How do you know when a Dread game is over?" and the question has haunted me to this day.
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For Dread, it's a particularly thorny question, for reasons I'm not really interested in going into at the moment; but it has had an effect on my design ever since.
Generally speaking, now if I design a game that doesn't tell you when it has ended, I'm making that choice.
Of course, I should've learned this lesson when we all should've learned this lesson, back in the late 80s, when the most important role-playing was published. But like all the lessons in that game, it would take decades for them to sink in.
Sanguine, the company that published that Usagi game I mentioned up-thread, has published a number of bangers over the years.
Somewhere around Myriad Song, they started having the GM give the players gifts in the form of Gifts at the end of adventures. You know, Feats, Powers, Moves, Stunts, etc.
Basically, the GM looks at what has occurred in the adventure, and chooses a Gift for each character. This Gift is usually related to the events of the adventure and the character's actions therein.
Like, Good Reputation With Village You Saved, or Area Knowledge This Ancient Forest, etc.
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Generally speaking, now if I design a game that doesn't tell you when it has ended, I'm making that choice.
I'm thinking about my Robin Hood game!
* What a weird and wonderful prayer, "for the time being."
Somewhere around Myriad Song, they started having the GM give the players gifts in the form of Gifts at the end of adventures. You know, Feats, Powers, Moves, Stunts, etc.
Let me explain what I love about it without diving too far into the details. Because it's a wonderful conversation happening between players.
Like, Good Reputation With Village You Saved, or Area Knowledge This Ancient Forest, etc.