How do my FKR principles apply to game design? In this pose I am going to take a page from something for my Wyrd Lands setting and see if it meets these principles.
The game is modelled on the time and lands of Beowulf and in this focuses on a story about a bloodfeud between two settlements that threatens to plunge a region into fighting and cruelty.
The page I am taking is from an extract of a law-code:
Qualitative Worlds
For me this is a good example of qualitative world-building. It is written in a voice that comes from the world itself, and tries to express both the law itself and some kind of contemporary view of that law: ''curse upon us".
As part of this it doesn't determine a rule for the players that ties into a table-level mechanic. Instead it is something that will affect every character in dynamic and unpredictable ways. The table will need to determine in what ways using any approach that works for them.
Meaningful Objects
The idea of a meaningful object is one that will impact on my play beyond some explicit instruction. This is perhaps most obvious in the use of art or description in language.
This is of course totally a matter of taste. Some will find the simpler "textbook" style relation of information more meaningful than something more "literary".
But for me, what I have here is meaningful. There is a sense of history and culture: our speaker is relaying an orally rendered law code, set by one individual. The speaker themselves has an emotional reaction to what they are saying that might impact the whole tone of the use of this law in play.
Blank Spaces
I have a strong memory of my writing being described as "vague". I, however, have come to accept that as a feature rather than a bug. The sense of the meaningful object in my mind is in the opportunity to play in the blank spaces around the object.
In this example, the presence of a wider law code is hinted at 'Göt continued...', the idea of there being people who speak the law is given in the narrator; the importance of this figure Göt (who is referenced elsewhere); and some of the differences in status of people.
My hope would be that someone playing with this, would reach into their imagination to supply further details if an when necessary. Perhaps have characters make oaths in Göt's name, refer to the unequal justice between the castes etc.
I do worry this goes to far. My taste is to engage with literature in a state of semi-confusion, but it does not work for everyone. This is the main reason I am putting my hand in my pocket to get an editor for this piece!
Play as an end in itself
This last principle is hardest to identify in the words and lines on the page. I hope in the writing that there is a hint of a story that will generate itself with the final line of 'the strong will overcome the weak' and 'curse upon us'.
My hope is that these are elements that define the blank space's limits and will guide some kind of movement in the story or fictional world. There is no inherent meta-ness that encourages play in what is here, but I hope that there is enough of an impact on the fictional world to require input on the part of the players to influence the story to the best possible outcome.
Hopefully some people will play it and I may get an answer to this question.
Thanks for reading. I had a big hiatus in this blog after a few things interrupted my RPG-ing but I am getting back into it.
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