Design Notes #2: Story Points: Why Use Them?
In my
last post, I talked about how much of a good thing it is when bad things happen to your character. I hope you enjoyed it. I also mentioned how some games, including this one, use points to help emulate bad things being good things.
But really, I can hear some of you saying, that all seems like bribery. Why can't you just say what you want to do, roll the dice and let the results fall where they may? After all, if it's an important plot point, or the Game Master wants to make sure nothing bad happens to your character, he can always just fudge those rolls.
This is true, but to me, constant fudging really cheapens the experience. After all, why even roll the dice if the GM is just going to undo the results? Come to think of it, why is the GM supposed to do all this work anyways? Where's the fun in this?
The way I figure it, the traditional style would basically be
Dungeons & Dragons in Oz.
Bear this in mind: I like
Dungeons & Dragons. It's what got me into role-playing. I even like the current 4th edition of the game (just don't get me started on
Essentials). But if I wanted
D&D, I would play
D&D, and as much as I like it, I don't believe it would work to emulate playing in an Oz story.
As I also said in the last post, it's the characters that makes things happen in a story. In order for that to happen, the responsibility for making those things happen goes to the player.
This is going to be a radical shift in thinking for those of you used to the traditional model of role-playing. I understand. I had to make that shift as well, but once I did, it opened up a whole new world.
So what exactly do Story Points do? Simple: They allow the player to rewrite part of the world to their character's benefit.
Yeah, you read that right. By spending a Story Point,
you can make the world benefit the character. Need an axe conveniently laying around? Spend a Story Point. Does the witch you're facing owe you a favor? Spend a Story Point. Did the dice give you a really bad result? A Story Point gives you a do-over. Do you want to make sure that the final act of the story results in a happy ending? Save a Story Point and spend it at the right moment to make everything work out nicely.
To use this nice little rule, the Historian (
Heroes of Oz's name for the Game Master), need only remember three little words to tell the player: "You tell me."
"Hey, is there an axe laying around?"
"You tell me."
"Would it be all right if the witch and i knew each other before?"
"You tell me."
"I just rolled -4? Dang, can I reroll?"
"You tell me."
That's right, player, get creative. This isn't one of those games where the GM has to do all the work. This is your game! Your story. Make it such.
Of course, you have to be able to acquire these points as well. How do you get them? While the rules will expand upon this, there are three ways to get them:
1. Start out with a minimum number at the beginning of each story.
2. Let the Historian do something bad to your character.
3. Do something really cool that makes the Historian or the other players laugh, stare in awe or cheer.
Role-playing hath its rewards.
I know some of you are saying that using Story Points can bring about the situation I mentioned at the beginning of the article, and it could. But then again, it's the player doing all the fudging, not the Historian. She is in control of the character's destiny. You could even go entirely diceless this way. If that's what you like go for it.
Of course, the final consideration is this: Story Points are finite. Use them all up right away on every little thing and you won't have any for later. And you can't just throw yourself in harm's way or some something debilitating just to try and get more points. The bad things that happen to your character have to work for the story, not just happen to happen.
Besides, is there really something wrong with living with a bad die roll? It's Oz. It's not like you can die...
Next post, you'll get to see what a Heroes of Oz character looks like, using an original character as well as a character pulled right from the books. Until then, take care.
