Post by Chris Chinn on Oct 25, 2011 11:04:45 GMT -8
I've started playing a videogame called Dungeon Defenders. It's a mix of action rpg and tower defense - it does this neat thing to social dynamics - you get the experience of what people get in a WOW raid, except in 30 minutes.
That is, you get a chance to plan stuff out together for a few minutes, then hectic action, then plan, then hectic action.
In rpgs, we don't see this alot, despite most games expecting some kind of team or party, because:
a) a lot of games also include things to divide the group/have cross purposes (D&D's alignment being the oldest)
b) working together rules are either GM fiat or a simple bonus to roll or dice ("get +2 if someone helps!") that doesn't lead to specific planning.
I've realized the game that best hits this dynamic (working together, planning it out, then trying to adapt in the moment) is Mouse Guard.
MG carries both contextual strategy in it's combat and social mechanics, and enough stuff in the general rules to make MacGuyvering your way through problems also interesting.
D&D 4E seems close-ish, but I have the feeling that players probably don't do a lot of adapting to the moment as much as they could- stunting still seems hard to get for a lot of folks and teamwork seems based on sticking to a simple strategy based on builds... I could be wrong with more play/right kind of scenarios though.
Anyone else have thoughts on games or rules hacks that would get more of this kind of play?
Chris
That is, you get a chance to plan stuff out together for a few minutes, then hectic action, then plan, then hectic action.
In rpgs, we don't see this alot, despite most games expecting some kind of team or party, because:
a) a lot of games also include things to divide the group/have cross purposes (D&D's alignment being the oldest)
b) working together rules are either GM fiat or a simple bonus to roll or dice ("get +2 if someone helps!") that doesn't lead to specific planning.
I've realized the game that best hits this dynamic (working together, planning it out, then trying to adapt in the moment) is Mouse Guard.
MG carries both contextual strategy in it's combat and social mechanics, and enough stuff in the general rules to make MacGuyvering your way through problems also interesting.
D&D 4E seems close-ish, but I have the feeling that players probably don't do a lot of adapting to the moment as much as they could- stunting still seems hard to get for a lot of folks and teamwork seems based on sticking to a simple strategy based on builds... I could be wrong with more play/right kind of scenarios though.
Anyone else have thoughts on games or rules hacks that would get more of this kind of play?
Chris