|
The power of myth in role-playing
games
How to make your sessions resonate with
meaning
By Chris Chinn
This article is inspired by two major sources: HeroQuest
and The World of the Dark Crystal. I highly recommend both
books. That said, this article came from my personal observation
that myth in HeroQuest play can become a background element,
a history, whereas Glorantha is all about living a myth, living
in a myth, and creating a myth as you play.
While thinking about the "living myth" of Glorantha,
I began to think about the necessity of leaving enough "space"
in myths for players to create their own legends. And along
with that, I thought of the necessity of making theme happen.
Bringing myth into your game
We all know at some level what myth is, but it is not so
easily translated to role-playing games. We may have all the
elements of myth, such as magic, monsters and strange lands,
but somewhere the mythic quality is lost. At the same time,
we watch movies--Star Wars, Gladiator, or The Matrix--produce
new myths before our eyes, and they do so sometimes without
many of those elements. Clearly it's not the fantastic
elements that define myth. Rather, it is the style of presentation.
Here's how to bring that into your game.
Theme
All myths are based around themes. We may recognize memorable
characters and amazing stories in mythical tales, but it is
the themes that we connect to on a deeper level, themes that
give the myth deeper meaning. Abstract themes are common in
mythology. Many myths are filled with tales of light, darkness,
good, evil, life, death, rebirth, logic, passion, redemption,
corruption, innocence, and more. If you want to create myth,
you must create theme.
Introducing theme
Theme in role-playing games determines "what the game
is about." I recommend sitting down as a group and agree
on two or three primary themes in your game. At this point,
you're simply deciding what themes are active and whether
any specific groups or characters are acting as representatives
of those themes. You are not casting judgment on the theme.
It is best if the player characters are "undecided"
and not already supporting one theme for sure. Consider it
simply declaring where the crux of the conflict is, thereby
agreeing as a group upon the theme you will explore in play.
Using Theme
Obviously, during play, most games have no explicit rules
to encourage people using theme. They players either "just
do it" or they don't. This is the simplest, but
also the hardest, way to make themes happen in play.
Your group might consider house rules that encourage theme.
The easiest way to do this is have the game master to reward
players each time they advance theme. Or, the game master
might award bonuses (experience points, heropoints, karma,
etc.) to any roll involving the group's chosen themes.
Some games, such as The Riddle of Steel or The Questing Beast
have these rules built into their systems as an integral part
of the game.
The game master considers this to be an outstanding use of
theme, not to mention a great twist on the story events in
the game. Accordingly, he rewards the player with a good amount
of extra points.
Personal Themes
Characters should be built on personal themes. As a group,
you should all sit down and create characters together, speaking
freely and trading ideas. Instead of starting off rolling
dice and juggling points, you should start with a personal
theme. This theme can be a variation on one of the primary
themes, or it can be a neutral theme to interpret in the light
of the primary themes.
Again, the game master can choose to mechanically reward
use of personal theme. Many games make personal theme a focal
point for their systems, including Sorcerer, Dust Devils,
and Everway.
The Past & Future, the Chain
of Destiny
In mythology, everything has a past, and everything important
has a future. The past in myth is a mirror to the future,
either predicting what may occur or warning against it. Within
your game, make sure all of the player characters are connected
to a sense of history. While not all of the characters may
be aware of their history, that history should still exist.
The players should be aware of it, though their character
may not be.
The past points to the future. It could be a literal prophecy
that must be carried out or prevented from occurring. It could
be like the tale of Atlantis destroying itself with forbidden
power as a forewarning to prevent its reoccurrence. It could
be a hopeful tale of a messiah who returns once every 10,000
years.
Looking at this example, its pretty clear that the character
will probably encounter some more powerful individuals, and
be able to shape history by either letting them live or putting
an end to their lives. The past foreshadows the future. .
. .
Some games allow players to give input to "set up"
the sorts of events that may occur within play. Sorcerer,
The Riddle of Steel, and Dust Devils all achieve this by allowing
players to set up focal points for conflict with their characters.
It's easy for mechanics to support the idea of destiny
or fate conspiring to bring a character to a moment of truth.
The Broken Link--Now
Here's where things get tricky. All of the above is
set up for actual play. For myth to come forward in your play,
you need to be able to utilize the aforementioned themes,
but you must also leave "space" in which the group
will actually play. You might say that the mythology you've
developed cannot be a finished product; it must make "room"
for the heroes to write their tales, from triumph to tragedy.
Protagonists Matter
In myth, the decisions of the protagonists have important
effects. Success and failure each have consequences. There
are no meaningless actions. Likewise, the GM needs to drop
player characters into situations that matter. Player characters
must make hard decisions, and the situations must put something
important at stake. The effects of these choices may come
back in unusual or unexpected ways, or perhaps they will have
larger effects than anticipated.
A Crossroads
In all myths, we have a crossroads. While many meaningful
decisions are made along the way, at some point, near the
climax of the story, a "final" decision must be
made. It is a final statement involving the abstract forces
at work. Either one emerges dominant, or else a form of reconciliation
occurs. For players to be able to create their myth, they
have to be able to freely choose how that happens.
The crossroads is a tricky spot because what you consider
to be a "major decision" may not, in fact, be the
real crux of conflict for the character. The player may push
for a decision that he considers to be the true focus of play
for his character. This is why some games give mechanical
reinforcement allow both players and games masters to really
indicate to each other how "high up" decisions are
on the "drama meter."
Here, we have Death, but with Redemption. Both the group's
primary theme and the player's personal theme tie together
in one final decision.
Consequences
The climactic decision must hold greater weight and importance
than simply the action alone. The decision must reward the
player by rippling out its effects. The player's decision
must matter. Usually with the final decision, whatever was
at stake enjoys or suffers consequences accordingly.
We see this final moment in popular films. In the animated
film Princess Mononoke, the land is saved. In The Dark Crystal,
the world is healed. In Tron, the system is made free. In
all of these, we see fantastic consequences that are the result
of characters that make decisions. This is what you should
aim for in your game.
Tears are shed, sad music plays, but the land is saved. Death
becomes rebirth becomes life. Yay! A deep game and meaningful
outcome is shared by all. This is myth in action. •
|
