RPGnet Columns
01-03-2004, 12:37 AM
Post originally by IMAGinES at 2004-01-02 23:37:46
Converted from Phorums BB System
Hello, Ross,
I'm having some trouble getting a firm grip on your concept of "levels" within roleplaying games.
"The one such (game-within-a-game style) game that sticks out in my mind is the original version of Hong Kong Action Theater. Maybe what really happened was that Gareth and company realized they were actually adding a third level, and not a second... At some points it was impossible to find a game on the shelves that didn't have a 'backstory' or over-arching plot...
"When a GM creates a campaign for a two-level RPG you must be aware and deal with the fact that you are really adding a third."
By "a two-level RPG", I assume you mean a game like Cyberpunk 2020 when it was first released (no metaplot, just background and setting), where players just create characters and that's all the GM has to manage. You seem to have defined the "third level" as being a "metaplot", such as those seen in the World of Darkness or Heavy Gear.
When you write, "When a GM creates a campaign... you must be aware and deal with the fact that you are really adding a third." By this third level, do you mean the campaign itself as being, in a way, a home-brew metaplot? If so, does this mean GMs add a *fourth level* to a three-level (metaplot-included) RPG?
And if not, what *do* you mean by the third level that GMs add to the game?
Converted from Phorums BB System
Hello, Ross,
I'm having some trouble getting a firm grip on your concept of "levels" within roleplaying games.
"The one such (game-within-a-game style) game that sticks out in my mind is the original version of Hong Kong Action Theater. Maybe what really happened was that Gareth and company realized they were actually adding a third level, and not a second... At some points it was impossible to find a game on the shelves that didn't have a 'backstory' or over-arching plot...
"When a GM creates a campaign for a two-level RPG you must be aware and deal with the fact that you are really adding a third."
By "a two-level RPG", I assume you mean a game like Cyberpunk 2020 when it was first released (no metaplot, just background and setting), where players just create characters and that's all the GM has to manage. You seem to have defined the "third level" as being a "metaplot", such as those seen in the World of Darkness or Heavy Gear.
When you write, "When a GM creates a campaign... you must be aware and deal with the fact that you are really adding a third." By this third level, do you mean the campaign itself as being, in a way, a home-brew metaplot? If so, does this mean GMs add a *fourth level* to a three-level (metaplot-included) RPG?
And if not, what *do* you mean by the third level that GMs add to the game?