Games Design - Antonymic Trait Pairs

Posted by: Malcolm Craig On: May 20th 2010 edited

I'm in the early stages of a game that uses something of a simplified version of the Hot War rules. Think of it like Mouse Guard when compared with Burning Wheel. It's the same, but not. And maybe easier for newcomers to grasp.

One part of this is removing the option for freeform traits. Instead, there will be a list of between eight and twelve antonymic trait pairs. You pick a couple at the start and decide which one is positive for your character and which one is negative. Like Hot War, they can switch between the positive and negative side as a result of conflict outcomes.

At the moment, I'm trying to come up with a list of trait pairs that could cover most conceivable choices. Here's what I have at the moment (and thanks to Joe and Gregor for their earlier input into this):

Angry/Calm
Enthusiastic/Listless
Charming/Intimidating
Vicious/Caring
Thorough/Careless
Strong/Weak
Focused/Confused
Stable/Unstable
Determined/Hesitant
Cunning/Naive
Perceptive/Blinkered

That's eleven pairs. Ideally I'd like it to be ten. Are there others needed? Does this provide enough scope and choice?

Cheers
Malc

Posted by: Brian Ashford On: May 21st 2010

The list looks good to me except for Determined/Hesitant which overlaps with Focused/Confused in my mind. I would probably go with Focused/Confused or Focused/Hesitant.

I will keep this in mind though and I'll post any other thoughts should they occur.

Posted by: Joe Murphy On: May 21st 2010

What do the traits not do? Coz you could have some that impy social connections or resources, for example. Could you have Lonely/Connected and Wealthy/In Debt or do you want them to be more personal like Innocent/Cynical?

Also, Greg Stolze's A Dirty World does some similar work - have a look at the character sheet here.

Posted by: Malcolm Craig On: May 21st 2010

Thanks for input guys.

Joe: Traits should not represent physical items/resources or specific personal relationships. That side of things will be handled (as in Hot War) by Tools and Relationships.

Cheers
Malc

Posted by: Joe Murphy On: May 21st 2010

Cool. Then, like Poison'd and A Dirty World, I'd look at the sort of tensions you want to emphasise in the game, instead of the pool of potential attributes. I'd remove choices to encourage attachment to the genre or situation you want to pay attention to.

So say it's much like Hot War - you want trait pairs like Dutiful/Rogue or Shaken/Resilient. They're the themes Hot War primarily evokes.

Posted by: Malcolm Craig On: May 21st 2010

I've gone through the first post and emboldened the pairs that I think are the most appropriate (although, that list is by no means exhaustive).

To give some background, they form part of a game that is primarily influenced by the non-Culture SF of Iain M. Banks. Mainly 'Against A Dark Background' and 'The Algebraist'. The characters are all part of a team of 'antiquities hunters' on a planet that has had technological civillisation for many thousands of years. the focus will not only be on 'completing the mission', but also on the dynamics and relationships within a tightly focused team.

Cheers
Malc

Posted by: Andrew Kenrick On: May 21st 2010

The only one I thought of was honest/deceitful.

And I'd play that game in a heartbeat - The Algebraist is one of my favourite books. I love the idea of playing xenoarchaeologists too - sounds like a great source of conflict and drama!

Posted by: Joe Murphy On: May 22nd 2010 edited

Lovely, Malcolm. Heartbeat here too, though I've not read The Algebraist. But I'd love another couple of SF games.

Given the setting, would there be traits relating to their technical skills, history as a team, understanding of the setting or maybe tactics? More missiony stuff, perhaps.

Maybe Greenhorn/Veteran? Passionate/Diplomatic?

It might depend - and I realise I'm being pernickety - on whether the traits are reactive (hit points) or active (stances, tactics). Are they something you risk, or something you advance with?

Posted by: Malcolm Craig On: May 22nd 2010

Traits would function in almost exactly the same way as in Hot War: You can gain them, make them positive/negative, or lose them as the result of conflicts.

Joe: I do agree with your point regarding the point about technical/mission traits. I'll mull that one over and see what comes out the other side.

I'm re-reading 'Against A Dark Background' right now to see what comes out of the team dynamics portrayed in the book. My recollection is that it's great at telling the story of the team relationships. That's the kind of thing I'd like to see in the game.

Cheers
Malc

Posted by: Sebastian Hickey On: May 22nd 2010

With these arbitrary limitations, I think it's easy to create a range that is too narrow. I also think it is easy to create a range that is wide enough, but is filled with cross-chatter between the elements.

If you had a large list, you could pair it down into the most important, suitable, and discrete elements. If I was doing it (and bear in mind I'm an amateur), I would try for twenty or so antonyms and then pair them down until I'm happy. This kind of pairing down might help to illuminate what is important to you, and to your game. To help with this unfounded suggestion, here are some more antonyms:

Arrogant/Shy
Trusting/Paranoid
Courageous/Cowardly
Sensitive/Insensitive
Forgiving/Bitter
Passionate/Sterile
Liberal/Conservative
Inspiring/Servile
Loyal/Treacherous
Fiery/Watery
Solid/Nebulous
Vivacious/Languid

Posted by: Malcolm Craig On: May 23rd 2010

Hey Sebastian,

Thanks for the thoughts. That's some good thinking regarding the list. It makes me wonder if I could use a longer list (say, twenty or so pairs) for playtesting and, over time, narrow it down to the ones that are the most common used, most appropriate, etc.

Putting everything in one place, we so far have these which I think are appropriate for a starting point (ones in bold are the handful which, at the moment, really fit with what I think the game is going to be about):

Angry/Calm
Enthusiastic/Listless
Charming/Intimidating
Vicious/Caring
Thorough/Careless
Strong/Weak
Stable/Unstable
Determined/Hesitant
Cunning/Naive
Perceptive/Blinkered
Arrogant/Shy
Trusting/Paranoid
Courageous/Cowardly
Sensitive/Insensitive
Forgiving/Bitter
Passionate/Sterile (or Passionate/Passionless?)
Inspiring/Servile
Loyal/Treacherous
Vivacious/Languid

Some of those might overlap a bit, such as the Enthusiastic/Listless and Passionate/Sterile pairs.

Cheers
Malc