The Dinner Party - early design notes

[Doug Ruff]

[Jason Petrasko]

Very nice. In fact I'm very intimidated by the awesome play that I can envision from your notes! Great job. I never would have thought of something like this

[Doug Ruff]

Thank you Jason, but no need to feel intimidated. The High Pillow is already looking very classy.

While I'm here, more random musings. I'm looking at the whole Parent/Adult/Child thing in more detail, and I think I will include these as stats for each of the characters.

Parent: This stat represents conformity, authority and repression. Characters with a high Parent stat are socially overbearing and good at getting their way, but they are also repressed.

Adult: This stat represents reasonableness, logic and fairness. Characters with a high Adult stat are good negotiators and intermediaries but find it hard to "get through" to characters with a low Adult stat. It takes two to be reasonable.

Child: This stat represents selfishness, rebellion and spontanaeity. Characters with a high Child stat are adept at evading or subverting the manipulations of others, but have little direct authority and have to be a nuisance to get their way.

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Also, the idea behind the Issue is that each character has something that they need to say, something which is utterly terrifying yet, ultimately, liberating. However, society (and the character's own inner Parent) resists the character's ability to express the truth.

Hmm, perhaps successfully activating a Conceit should reduce a character's ability to reveal their Issue. The more secure a character feels, the less they need to spill the beans. I will ponder this further...

[jmstar]

[Doug Ruff]

OK, more ingredients!

In addition to Parent/Adult/Child, characters have two more stats: Satisfaction and Courage. These go up and down as a result of conflicts and other actions in the game.

For example, successfully manipulating someone, or having a Conceit validated, or seeing another character humbled results in increased Satisfaction. Drinking increases Courage, as does resisting the manipulations of others.

(But beware! Drinking too much also makes a character easier to manipulate; if a character drinks way too much, they may pass out and lose the chance to address their Issue.)

Satisfaction makes a character stronger in conflicts, but makes it harder for the character to address their Issue. A character needs Courage to address their Issue.

If a character does manage to address their Issue, this is a bit like a Final Fantasy "limit break" (without the special effects)... the character becomes Invincible (yaay!) for a short period of play, and in addition to airing their particular grievance, they can say whatever they want without fear of interruption by the other players.

Then they have a collapse, or leave the table.

Game ends after all courses (and post-course drinks) have been served, or all the guests leave early, or both the Host and Hostess leave.

Rules for conflicts to follow.

[Doug Ruff]

[LadyThief]

[matthijs]

I haven't read it all, but this looks really good. Are you sure you want the issues to be so clearly defined at the start of play? No chance that they might emerge during play, so that addressing the issue means stating it?

I like the idea of using transactional analysis as a base for conflict resolution.

[Doug Ruff]

[Emily Care]