Making Things Interesting?

I. Dear Reader,

Should the GM make things interesting? Obviously, yes. But also, no.

Words are great, stay with me.

I was reading an Alexandrian article that was about the – often debated – idea that when players come up with a good plan and the dice roll in their favour, their plan should just work. While a GM might be tempted to force some hitch, some curveball, some twist – some interesting-ness, the Alexandrian (and lots of other people) suggest that you should resist that urge and just let things be simple.

The sense that “something interesting should happen here” is understandable because it’s so often the role that the GM is playing. It comes from stories we know and other games we’ve played, right? There’s no good heist movie where the plan just works out. And probably your favourite gaming session was one where there were outrageous twists and unforeseen consequences. This particularly applies to trad and storygames – cultures that want sessions to feel like a particular kind of narrative or a particular medium, usually a movie or TV show.

Now the Alexandrian has a very trad focus. In the games being discussed, players normally spend a lot of time planning – discussions, debates, dice rolls around investigation and convincing NPCs. Now anyone who has invested all this time will find it pretty fun if their plan goes well. So I agree with the Alexandrian, if the dice fall favourably (rare!), a hitch-less session is great and will be enjoyed by all. And if everyone is already having fun, why would you feel the need to do something more?

If you think that it’s only interesting when sessions have twists and turns, then play something like Blades in the Dark where the idea is that you plan less and fail more. It’s probably a better fit for you because it’s design is in line with how you want to play.

Okay, but what happens when you’re playing Blades in the Dark and the players are just rolling 6s? In a lot of Forged in the Dark games, there’s been a trend towards designing some kind of currency that the GM can spend to introduce twists that is aimed squarely at this problem. I am not a fan of that stuff for two reasons. First, because mostly they’re giving people permission to do things that they already do. Nothing can stop me when I think of something cool to say, nothing! Or to put it more seriously, there’s a reason Apocalypse World says you make GM moves when players look to you. Or when there’s a golden opportunity. Second, even though these games are it’s-only-interesting-when-things-go-wrong games, even though there is minimal planning investment, it is still perfectly fine for a session to have only expected and obvious things happen.

Why? Because the players’ actions are interesting enough. Or at least, they should be.

Games like Blades in the Dark are more or less defined to facilitate players taking only interesting actions. They’re designed around players coming up with outrageous ideas and having the tools to actualize them. Not always succeeding… but at least crashing and burning in an entertaining way.

I think it’s important to think of these games as ones where players are supposed to be able to entertain themselves.

But, you ask, what if the players’ plans aren’t interesting? Well, I say, interesting to whom? If the players’ actions aren’t interesting even to them i.e. they are bored by their own choices, then that’s a real problem. When I find myself in that situation, it either means I’m having an off-day or I’m playing the wrong game with the wrong group. Not a big deal – I’ve been there before, I know what to do (see last week’s post). But it’s not something that can be fixed by a GM. If their actions aren’t interesting to you but are interesting to them, that’s a complicated situation too. But it has nothing to do with games.

So, yes. Should the GM make things interesting? Obviously, yes. But also, sometimes, no.

Yours interestingly,

Thomas

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II. Media of the Week

• Hannah and Evan from Design Doc do an episode where they discuss their favourite ideas from the podcast. It’s a great recap of all the good stuff that is hard to even notice about creative work that they have pinned down and labelled with a funny name.
• On Dice Exploder, Sam and Jason Morningstar do a designer commentary on a game they made together. It’s a small game about cowboys and Sam’s hometown of Northfield. It’s a really great look at collaboration and honestly, makes me excited to make games.

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• You know who supports the newsletter on patreon? Lots of people!
• If you’ve released a new game on itch.io this month, let me know through this form so I can potentially include it in the end of the month round-up.

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III. Links of the Week

• Philgamer starts reading Fabula Ultima, a JRPG-inspired fantasy game that seemed to show up one day on DriveThru’s best-selling charts and never left.
• Analog Game Studies has a long essay about how the Japanese standards testing body invented the modern d20 because they wanted a low tech way to randomize sample testing.
• Rascal News is doing a pledge drive. You probably heard about it. But if you haven’t you do now!
• The Daily Blade is back after a hiatus discussing Stash in Blades in the Dark and the concept of high scores in general.
• The NSR discord does private AMAs with designers that get archived on a forum by user trashed_tabletop: Here’s one with Meg and Vincent Baker and here’s one with Luke Gearing.
• Cute factoid that you shouldn’t read too much into: Steam users have spent $19 billion on games they’ve never played. The methodology is sketchy but sharing because I’m sure it’s relatable to literally everybody.

From the archive:

• When Chocolate Hammer first published Boot Hill and the Fear of Dice, I was convinced that this was a great insight about Boot Hill’s design, stakes, and dice but now I’m much less sure. I know that’s not particularly useful but at some point, I will figure it out and write about it. (Issue 36, April 2021)

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IV. Small Ads

All links in the newsletter are completely based on my own interest. But to help support my work, this section contains sponsored links and advertisements. If you’d like your products to appear here, read the submission form.

• Teach a robot how to love in ION Heart. A lo-fi solo mech TTRPG about exploring a peaceful galaxy with your mech. Try the QuickStart here. 💫
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• Miami 86 RPG: Cocaine Cowboys, High-Speed Chases, and Deadly Shootouts in the Vice-Filled 80s Miami. Follow the project now to get the Solo Adventure Pamphlet for free

This newsletter is currently sponsored by the Bundle of Holding.

• Bundle of hundreds of hand-drawn maps from cartographer darling, Dyson Logos.
• Orbital Blues, the lefty space western game with OSR-ish design and Cowboy Bebop’s vibes.

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Hello, dear readers. This newsletter is written by me, Thomas Manuel. If you’d like to support this newsletter, share it with a friend or buy one of my games from my itch store. If you’d like to say something to me, you can reply to this email or click below!