Madlib my next solo playthrough

[radiantfracture]

You heard me.

I'm a little bit obsessed with tabletop RPGs right now, especially the story-heavy ones. Last post I wrote about Ten Candles, which creates devastating tragic horror stories.

(The mechanic, while not complicated, took a bit to get my head around, but once I got it, I loved it.)

Anyway, instead of watching TV or playing games on my phone (or you know reading books), for the last couple of days I've been playing solo games of Ten Candles.

In group play, some of your character's traits are decided by other players -- in particular, your virtue (something you're proud of, something that solves more problems than it creates) and your vice (something you're ashamed of, something that causes more problems than it solves).

If you would like to assist me in my current obsession, feel free to offer virtues and vices that I could apply to characters. I'll probably post the stories so generated, if they seem like they'd be interesting reading.

These traits can be concrete or abstract: something with a little room for interpretation is useful, though something weirdly specific can also work.

So "confident" could be a virtue, but so could "agile" and so could "reflective." And "arrogant" or "obsessive" could be a vice, but so could "addicted" (it seems that it can also be more like a tragic flaw than a vice).

{rf}

Comments

context matters

[bibliofile]

In the right situation, any of these things could be a virtue or a vice (which are value judgment words for asset & liability?)

curious/inquisitive
absent minded
greedy
acquisitive
thoughtful
impatient

Re: context matters

[radiantfracture]

I think "absent minded" (which virtue or vice I certainly possess) could be hilarious as a trait in a Game of Tragic Horror. Thank you!

Trying out new games does make me think about how people name their game elements, for sure. The Quiet Year has "contempt tokens," which feels weird to me, even given their role as markers of community divisions (I tend to rename them "alienation tokens").

In the 10 Candles storyspace, "virtue" and "vice" work narratively because that's how the character perceives them -- something they're proud of and something they're ashamed of (but I agree that you definitely could be proud of, for example, something everyone else saw as a vice, and that would be pretty fun to play).

Mechanically, they tend to both play as assets, because you can use either to try to turn the narrative the way you want it to go.

[sabotabby]

I think it'd be fun to play with virtues and vices that were basically the same. Like introspection/indecision, or impulsiveness/passionate conviction. Similar to the idea that if you swapped Hamlet and Othello's characters neither of the plays would be tragedies.

[radiantfracture]

if you swapped Hamlet and Othello's characters

I hadn't heard that one, but I see the point. Although those guys would have fucked something else up immediately.

I like that everyone who's commented so far has decided that the mechanic needs subverting in some way.

[sabotabby]

Hah you do draw a certain Type.

[kenjari]

I like the idea of pairing a virtue with something that is in some ways that virtue's dark side:

charming/manipulative
well spoken/too talkative
bold or courageous/reckless
organized/inflexible

[radiantfracture]

Thank you! I think all of those could be really fun to play.

I think the gameplay is loose enough that you could play either characteristic this way anyway. It's a highly improvised game, so there isn't a lot of built-in nuance, though of course you can bring your own from home.

[boxofdelights]

That is a really interesting part of the character to have other players choose for you. I'm trying to imagine how it would work.

Virtue: You think things through. You explore multiple decision paths and weigh the consequences of each. A lifetime of practice has given you the ability to think things through and still act quickly enough for other people.

Vice: Vengefulness. When someone else does something wrong, you really really want to make them understand how wrong they were.

[radiantfracture]

Oo, there's something really narratively sexy about vengefulness couched as, you know, bringing insight to the mistaken. Thank you!

If you like, you can add a brink for this character:

A brink is phrased "I have seen you..." where what you've seen is what happens when the character breaks, when despair or rage overwhelms them -- at the brink.

That is a really interesting part of the character to have other players choose for you. I'm trying to imagine how it would work.

Yeah, I'm not sure where that choice comes from, unless it's to destabilize the players a bit and force them to invent as they go.