Haven't played Hillfolk (tho I'm enough of a nerd that "bronze age israel" might be more enticing than drama system, hah). But I have played Fiasco, which seems to have some similar characteristics. Sometimes it really hits and everyone at the table has a good time, but other times it feels contrived. And I couldn't tell you why. I do know that playing Fiasco has influenced how I run my games. Most session zeros involve creating the same kinds of character relationships, even though the focus of our play is still much closer to D&D's standard 'kill them and take their stuff'. The relationships still inform player banter and role playing decisions in the game. I like context for my dungeon crawling so that works for me.
I was just thinking, as he describes Hillfolk it sounds like a total ripoff of Fiasco!, even though it really isn't. I think LindyBeige does not know Fiasco!.
Interesting idea to add this on top of traditional RPGs, and I also immediately thought if Fiasco! After I thought about this some more I was reminded of one thing. Dragonlance. If you used the pregren characters from the novels in those modules, they generally have an interconnected backstory, though Riverwind and Goldmoon are new to the group, and some of the other connections are not that interesting). I'm not sure that the OSR crowd would really be into this, but I think it is a great concept for modern TTRPG players that are used to creating huge backstories for their characters. This concept solves the problem of the "Mary Sue" character by making the backstory creation process a collaborative process where everyone needs to agree on each other's back story.
You gotta love Lloyd
ReplyDeleteHaven't played Hillfolk (tho I'm enough of a nerd that "bronze age israel" might be more enticing than drama system, hah). But I have played Fiasco, which seems to have some similar characteristics.
ReplyDeleteSometimes it really hits and everyone at the table has a good time, but other times it feels contrived. And I couldn't tell you why.
I do know that playing Fiasco has influenced how I run my games. Most session zeros involve creating the same kinds of character relationships, even though the focus of our play is still much closer to D&D's standard 'kill them and take their stuff'. The relationships still inform player banter and role playing decisions in the game. I like context for my dungeon crawling so that works for me.
I was just thinking, as he describes Hillfolk it sounds like a total ripoff of Fiasco!, even though it really isn't. I think LindyBeige does not know Fiasco!.
ReplyDeleteInteresting idea to add this on top of traditional RPGs, and I also immediately thought if Fiasco!
ReplyDeleteAfter I thought about this some more I was reminded of one thing. Dragonlance. If you used the pregren characters from the novels in those modules, they generally have an interconnected backstory, though Riverwind and Goldmoon are new to the group, and some of the other connections are not that interesting). I'm not sure that the OSR crowd would really be into this, but I think it is a great concept for modern TTRPG players that are used to creating huge backstories for their characters. This concept solves the problem of the "Mary Sue" character by making the backstory creation process a collaborative process where everyone needs to agree on each other's back story.