Party Conversations: Rules for the Player and Game Master 

THE PLAYERS

Please make sure that you read the Introduction before reading the Player's section.

Each player is provided with a character sheet that includes the following:

1. Character name
2. Character age
3. Base combat statistic (See CONFLICT)
4. A short general story that is the same for everyone
5. A personal story
6. A goal for the character to accomplish by the end of the game
7. Items that the character has in his or her possession
8. A short list of everyone at the party and what the character knows about them
9. A 4 digit number

    Before the game starts, each player should read the character sheet and become as intimately familiar with the character as possible.

    It is recommended that each player dress in a fashion he or she thinks that character would choose.
In order to win the game, a character must simply accomplish his or her goals. Characters may remain in the game after achieving their goals, especially if they are involved in an intriguing story line. Some goals range from seemingly straightforward tasks such as "cause trouble" or "prevent the King from escaping" to very detailed tasks such as "get a large diamond" or "find a machine gun and use it to eliminate a specific character, then get the machine gun into a certain character's possession." Character goals are designed to add spice and tension to the game. A simple goal such as cause trouble can add much to a game, especially if the troublemaker really takes an interest in the goal. Many goals seem nebulous at first. Once play has started, it may become clear to a player how to specifically achieve that goal.

Example: Rick's goal is to cause trouble. He might steal a diamond from Rita and then make it vanish for the rest of the game.

    Everything a player does has consequences. For example, players are free to lie about anything they want, but once a player is found out to be a liar, his or her credibility may be ruined for the remainder of the game. In addition, players cannot be straightforward about accomplishing their tasks. If a player's goal is to "find a dragon and slay it," it may not be in a player's best interest to simply walk up to other characters and say, "I'm looking for a dragon to slay." For all that player knows, one of the characters may be someone looking for a dragon poacher, and then the dragon slayer is in big trouble. A little discretion will go a long way.

    The character sheets are intentionally vague and give only a hint of the character's personality. Players should add a little of their own imagination to the characters to give them more substance.

Example: Rick is a pirate, and at some point during the game he is asked about his parents. Rick has nothing written on his sheet about his parents. He can make up whatever story he wants but shouldn't let on that he doesn't have that information. Rick's lineage is simply not important to his aspect of the game, but another player may have been looking for someone raised by wild wombats, and if Rick simply says that he doesn't have anything written on his character sheet about his parents, then the other player may not even bother talking to Rick the Pirate anymore. However, Rick the Pirate may have been of importance to that other player in another way that was not yet revealed.

    Players can also make up information about other players to start rumors. Once again, this is a dangerous but interesting tactic because players may gang up against the gossip when the lie is discovered.

    The only advice to players is to pay attention to peculiar personality traits written on the character sheet. Other than that, players should feel free to make the character seem as real as possible by adding any quirks they deem worthy. When a player leaves the game, either because that player has accomplished his or her goal and chooses to leave the game or because that character is dead, that player may not interact with other characters as if he or she is still part of the game. A character that is no longer part of the game should answer all questions with, "My character is no longer here. That is all I can tell you." Players no longer in the game should remove their nametags.

    Leaving the game is not the end of a player's fun. A player who is no longer part of the game may wander around as he or she chooses and listen as the other story lines unfold.

The 4 Digit Number:
The 4 digit number is an identification number that should only be shown to another character if that other character first shows you a section of their character sheet which reads "You must show this character the 4 digit number at the bottom of your character sheet." The number is only useful to the people searching for it and identifies certain characteristics about your character you may or may not be aware of. The 4 digit number is useless to the player whose sheet it is on.

A player that shows their number to another player has no knowledge of the event. For example, if Bob has to show Amy his 4 digit number, he CANNOT go and tell another player, "Hey watch out for Amy because she can read your 4 digit number."

PLAYER STRATEGY GUIDE

    In this section, we've compiled some of the most interesting strategies we've seen employed. There are no guarantees that these strategies will work since each game is composed of unique individuals that react quite differently to situations. But with that said, here is some general advice. Pick a player strategy that best compliments the type of character you are playing. Many people simply play themselves with a name tag on. This defeats the purpose of a role playing game. Once you have decided on your strategy, stick to it for the entire game. If people find you switching strategies every ten minutes, they will be very nervous about your character. You will find it extremely difficult to accomplish your goals if no one trusts you.
So, without further adieu, here are some clever strategies.

The Basement Dweller: There was a person who found an isolated room in the house where the game was being played. The other players were looking for him, but no one had thought to check the basement. As the Game Master, I went looking for him. I found him in the basement playing solitaire with a pack of playing cards. He had been sitting all alone for at least 15 minutes never moving from that spot. Immediately, I went and told another player that the person in question was in the basement. I would have loved to spend the rest of the game watching the "Basement Dweller" in action. Unfortunately, I had to attend to the rest of the game. But here's what I do know happened. By the end of the game, the Basement Dweller had a line of people formed at the top of the basement stairs. He would only let people down one at a time. He played a simple hand of poker with them. Apparently, if he won the hand, a character had to give him some interesting information that he didn't already know. If he lost the hand, he would tell the other character something interesting. After the hand was over, the Basement Dweller would kick the other person out of the basement, refusing to even acknowledge their presence. The fact that the Basement Dweller didn't change his strategy the entire game led people to believe that he was so comfortable with his knowledge that he must be someone to know. The best part about it was that this character knew absolutely nothing about the rest of the characters at the beginning of the game. He was actually hunting someone. Eventually, that person came to the Basement Dweller.

Bold and Spicy: This is the second most common strategy I've seen experienced player use. I warn you now, that this strategy can backfire in a major way. The Bold and Spicy player usually burns through the first 20 minutes of the game aggressively quizzing people without ever divulging much information of their own. They use intimidation to quickly establish dominance. Most players approached by a Bold and Spicy player often blurt out information just because they don't know what to do with such a player. The Bold and Spicy player then tries to determine any possible alliances people may develop in the game and either encourage those alliances or completely discourage them. Finally, the Bold and Spicy player forms their own very tight alliance with a very small set of players and waits for the other story lines to fall in place, pulling on the strings here and there through the alliance. While this strategy involves constant involvement, the Bold and Spicy player will need to eventually take on more of a leadership position and less of a bully position in order to be successful. Many new players are looking for someone they can trust. If a character was intimidated in the beginning of the game by someone they think is not trustworthy, then they will certainly rebel against the Bold and Spicy player by the end of the game.

Cards Held Close: Eventually, every player goes through a phase where they think they can get information from people without ever giving information up. This is usually a short lived phase because the Cards Held Close player quickly learns that in order to gain information, you must be willing to give information. The question is, "how do you get something you want without divulging all of your valuable secrets?" The best Cards Held Close strategy is one where the player tells people exactly what they are looking for and is willing to pay for that item handsomely. Most characters are not interested in money and even more are not carrying any money. If you don't have money for the item you want, you can always say that you work for a larger organization that can give you the money once you verify the authenticity of the sellers claim. 9 times out of 10, the character that you end up dealing with doesn't actually have the item you are looking for. The character that does have the item usually won't tell you because they want to hold onto it until to see if they will eventually get a better offer. Telling players that you want to see an item before any transaction is complete is an excellent way to make sure the person even has the item. The other person is likely to demand that you also demonstrate your ability to pay or produce something of equal value. This is where things get tricky. There are only a few cases where this strategy actually works. The first is if you have the appropriate money or item to trade for the other item of interest. This is usually very rare. The second is if you have a weapon and you transact the deal in a location where you can threaten the character with impunity. This also has a narrow margin of success because the other person may be armed as well. The third way is to contact a thief once you determine who has the item you are interested in. Getting the item from the thief may be as simple as exposing them to the local authorities, threatening them, or paying them for their services.

Trustworthy: The Trustworthy player is something that everyone eventually strives for. Unfortunately, it is the most difficult to achieve since it requires consistent play for the entire duration of the game. It also requires a leap of faith that the parties you are working with are also Trustworthy. The most important point to remember in this game is that everyone is Trustworthy as long as they haven't accomplished their own goals. Once you know what a player's goal is, you can strike a deal to work together with that player until both of you achieve your goals. This is much easier said than done. For example, if you become involved with a group of people that later on turn out to be untrustworthy, you will be guilty by association. Usually, it is pretty easy to figure out which characters are the do-gooders and which aren't. Even if you are not a do-gooder, you can still maintain a trustworthy story throughout the game until you achieve your goal.

©2005 Games For the Mind. All rights reserved.