I’ve really been enjoying the One Shot Podcast. They often have interesting players and run some awesome indie role playing games(RPGs). One of my goals this year is to play more high concept RPGs so I’m currently on the look out for new games to try. Through One Shot I get to hear a real play through of some of these games. High concept RPGs differ from your traditional RPGs in that they have a looser structure and are mechanically non-tactical. Let me unpack those ideas for you and tell you about one gem I found through One Shot: Michael Sullivan’s Everyone is John.
Most story games have some sort of structure to them which is how they keep the story going. RPGs like Dungeons and Dragons or Numenera use story modules that are prepared in advance by the Dungeon Master. Commercial and homemade story modules allow the Dungeon Master to unfold the story in a measured and manageable way. We often call this way of running a story game ‘riding the plot train’, because if the players stay relatively close to the prepared material even an inexperienced Dungeon Master(DM) can easily facilitate an awesome gaming session. The drawback to traditional RPGs is that players rarely stay on the plot train which requires a bit more DMing skill to make work. Even when players do stick to the train they can move through the material much faster than a DM can prepare it. Playing a few high concept games can help a DM develop the improvisational skills needed to deal with any challenges that the players might throw at them. A high concept RPG has very little preparation, maybe just a few story seeds that can help spark the imaginations of everyone playing. The big difference is that in a traditional RPG the players are exploring the Game Master’s (GM) story and in a high concept game you are all together creating a brand new story.
Traditional RPGs came from wargaming which places a strong emphasis on tactics. In Dungeons and Dragons, for example, you have a specific set of skills and moves all of which can be optimized to make your character as effective as possible. We call this approach to character building power gaming and it is often a GM’s frustration. Any over emphasis on tactics can turn a story game into a murder fest. This capacity of tactical games is the reason why groups of Dungeons and Dragons characters are called murder hobos. My friend Richard muses that this tactical nature of traditional RPGs is what makes these games competitive, you compete to have the most effective character even at the expense of the story. (Personally I loved concept over effectiveness which often drove the power gamers at our tables nuts.) Everyone is John is a bit of a cheeky poke at the true competitive nature of role playing, but more on that shorty. In a high concept game there are very few tactical mechanics and resolution is not about efficiently dispatching enemies but always about advancing the story in interesting ways.
Everyone is John is definitely a high concept role playing game. There is no preparation other than simple character creation and maybe a sense of where John should start out his story. The premise of the game is that John has many voices in his head, voices that tell him what he should do and how he should do it. Sometimes John follows along with those voices, but more often John is confused and puts up resistance. As a result John is a bit of a bumbler, fumbling through an adventure not of his own making. In Everyone is John the players all play the different voices in John’s head. Each has a few skills and a set of goals they are trying to get John to accomplish. The goals are kept secret because that is how the game is competitive – each player gets points for how often they get John to do the things that voice wants John to do. The GM plays John and all the other characters. She will choose how John reacts to each voice and provide some improvisational narrative to the game. The GM will also tell the players when it is time to make a roll. One other feature of the game is that each player has a certain amount of will power, they bid with this willpower to control John at just the right time to make sure their goals are met.
I’ve played Everyone is John a few times now and it is so much fun. I usually get the players to introduce their personalities by telling a story from John’s past that explains, at least in part, how they came to be a voice in John’s head. There are often clues about their individual goals in these stories. The real value of this exercise is that it allows the group to define who John is and how John will respond to the various voices that are about to tell John what to do. I suggest that the GM should let the players determine the order that they introduce themselves, this will allow the players who have less improvisational experience to have something to build on in terms of John’s story. Once the players have all introduced themselves the GM describes John becoming aware of where he is and the players all bid for control. After that the game will start as John strikes up a conversation in his head with the controlling player, leading John who knows where with imagination being your only limitation. This is a game I highly recommend.
In the picture I am actually running another high concept indie RPG – Sage LaTorra’s Powers for Good. I try to play story games at least every other week.
Let me know your thoughts...