Brendan's Blog - More than telling a story part 2

This is part 2 of More Than Telling a Story, an open-ended series of posts describing aspects of TTRPGs that resonate with me that aren’t “telling a story.”

Part 1: Describing
Part 2: Being Clever (this post right here!)

This is also maybe the first time in my life I’ve actually written the “part 2” of a series, so that’s exciting!

Being Clever

Clever solutions to problems without solutions

One of the core elements of OSR style play is when the GM describes an obstacle to the players, and does not have any particular solution in mind, then the players proceed to ask questions about their environment, look at the list of bizarre shit they’ve accumulated in their inventories, and then pitch the GM a solution combining various objects and elements of their ficitonal environment. The GM then becomes an adjudicator of cleverness.

If the GM deems the solution clever enough, it just works! If it’s not quite convincing, or if it involves an element of chance, you might have to make a roll or a saving throw. And of course, if it’s not clever enough, if it doesn’t seem plausible, it just plain might not work.

This back and forth between players and GM when facing the problem with a solution is the play of cleverness.

Problems with solutions

The problems without solutions style of play is of course an answer to the stumbles that are easy to make when playing TTRPGS with more structured puzzles. But I’ve recently also become curious about this more traditional puzzle solving where you do have solutions. I’m looking forward to running some more escape-room-style puzzle dungeons, and reading Direct Sun’s puzzle dungeon posts.

Word Wizards

In my game Word Wizards, the central mechanic revolves around knowing a very limited number of words of power, and then bending them to solve any problem your character faces. I remember during a playtest, one character had the word of power “cow” and, faced with a terrifying situation, declared “I’m no COWard” to use their magic to give them bravery. That’s exactly the sort of “being clever” that is the core gameplay of Word Wizards, and is another version of the play of cleverness.

Making your friends laugh

When the player proclaimed “I’m no COWard” I laughed! This might get a whole post of it’s own, but there is another form of cleverness at play in making your friends laugh.

Another example: I was playing a game at a con with a game designer who had been mostly playing larps. We were playing TEETH, which is not a larp, and is a game that leaves room for humor. At one point he made a 4th-wall-breaking joke, which I recall getting a laugh, and I now totally forget what the joke was. But what I remember is that after the game they said that they had forgotten how fun it can be to just make a dumb joke and get a laugh. That’s also the play of cleverness. Just like not every game is about telling stories with your friends, not every game is about telling jokes with your friends, but some games are, and that can be a very satisfying type of play!

Parting thoughts

There is a joy in being clever with or for your fellow players, but there is also a joy in being clever when you are your own audience.

Participating in game jams sometimes also feels like this form of play.