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Modifying one variable

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Simon Burley (@squadronuk.bsky.social) has been posing some really interesting questions on BlueSky. Erin alerted me to this one...          ...naturally this one really got my interest because it plays into the 3-way tension model, because it's keeping certain elements of the game fixed, while playing with variables in other parts of the session's ecosystem. We're basically looking at a situation where the diegetic information and elements of the scenario/system, and the GM/Narrator remain constant. While the players change and the non-diegetic elements of the system are replaced. It really wouldn't be possible to change this tohave a new system and the same players, because even with the same players we'd have a circumstance where the first time the players proceeded through the scenario they'd have little prior knowledge of how the game was meant to unfold, and a second time where they'd have meta-knowledge about the scenario and could easily be expected...
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Cycles of old and new

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About 14 years ago, I wrote a post about rule bloat . It was when I was starting to develop on of the early incarnations of Walkabout, and when I was developing a bunch of Pocketmod games . Looking back at those ideas, I can now frame them in the concept of the 3-way tension , and how that applies to game sessions.    A big and complex game has a strong pre-defined inertia, especially if the group is playing in a "Rules as Written" style. The more rules there are (whether "mechanical" non-diegetic rules controlling the flow of activities from outside the imagined space of the session, or "fluff" diegetic rules controlling the activities from within the imagined space), the more the system impacts on the flow of the session. A pocketmod or trifold game will have less pull on the session than a multi-volume collection of hardback tomes.  If we're moving to more of a "rulings over rules" style of play, the influence of the system decreases and t...
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Cognitive Convenience

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 I saw this post the other day, and figured it needs some unpacking. It's a really interesting idea, and it's something that I've described in the form of an "accepted shorthand". If a story is set in the current world, an author doesn't need to provide all the necessary information because the reader can be assumed to know the basic context for the narrative... they know that gravity works and how it generally affects things, but they don't need to know the scientific reasons why... they know that money can be used to buy things, but don't need a degree in finance. Cognitive convenience is actually pretty cool because it lets people generally get on board with things quickly, and then focus on the differences that might actually be pertinent to the story. Much the same applies to RPG sessions. If we can use some short-hands by saying... it's just like this movie, or it's like that TV series, but with a bit of that thrown in... then we get ever...
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Variant RPGaDay2026 - Days 7, 8, and 9

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My first thought for this batch of characters was to make them in Mage: the Ascension, and I then had to think about what traditions might be the most likely to fit the various prompts.    Batch 3 (MtA) Intellect – Mercy – Fair of Face (Verbena) My thoughts here are a medic of some type, so I could have gone with a "Progenitor" or a "Verbena". Mercy says "Verbena" to me more, and fair of face is giving me those vibes too. I'm seeing a young herbalist witch of some sort... actually no, I'm going to shake things up and go with a vet. "Gwendolynne Santos" Goal: She lives in a working class area, where people something to live for and in a lot of cases that's their pets. She runs a small veterinarian clinic and provides services to people who can't afford it. She just wants the people in her local community to be happy. Obstacle: She knows that there are folks out there who prey on the vulnerable, and who will kill and animals, ...
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Evidence of the 3-way Tension

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It's always interesting when I see something that generally seems to support the ideas I've been working with... The key takeaway here for the three-way tension is the sentence "Table culture determines lethality more than system or campaign length", and that's a distinct part of the theory. The GM/Narrator is pulling toward a level of lethality in the session, The players are pulling toward a level of lethality in the session (and these two forces may be working together against the system, or may be working against one another with the system as an arbitrator). The system has an intended level of lethality as suggested by the designer... it's the balance of these three distinct forces that creates the flavour of the game with regard to the lethality (and any other "measurable" feature).  X
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Variant RPGaDay2026 - Days 4, 5, and 6

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I've started running a hybrid Cyberpunk 2020/Red game at my local game store, and three character concepts jumped out at me for this string of 3x3 prompts. Batch 2 (Cyberpunk) Drive – Charm – Loving and Giving (Rocker) These prompts in the context of cyberpunk could probably go with a "Media/Reporter" type, or a 'Rocker" but I've always found the rocker to be the more subversive and interesting of the Cyberpunk characters. It's also one of the harder ones for a player to pull off in my experience, so I'll use them as the NPC archetype here.  "Becca <the Bass> Orlov" Goal: Becca is a bass player in the metal band "Forgotten Filth". They've been working hard to make a name for themselves, and  Obstacle: The band don't have a label and this has made it hard for them to get regular gigs across the city. This has often meant that they've needed to do "independent contract" work for local promoters to ...
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