{"id":1661,"date":"2014-07-15T10:19:43","date_gmt":"2014-07-15T16:19:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/theunspeakableoath.com\/home\/?p=1661"},"modified":"2014-07-15T10:19:43","modified_gmt":"2014-07-15T16:19:43","slug":"unspeakable-episode-11-ryan-macklin-of-backstory-cards-fate-paizo-and-mythender-player-agency-in-horror-games","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/theunspeakableoath.com\/home\/2014\/07\/unspeakable-episode-11-ryan-macklin-of-backstory-cards-fate-paizo-and-mythender-player-agency-in-horror-games\/","title":{"rendered":"Unspeakable! Episode 11: Ryan Macklin of Backstory Cards, Fate, Paizo, and Mythender &#8211; Player Agency in Horror Games"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Hosted by <a href=\"http:\/\/www.tccorp.com\/\">Adam Scott Glancy<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/arcdream.com\">Shane Ivey<\/a>, and <a href=\"http:\/\/slangdesign.com\/rppr\/\">Ross Payton<\/a>. Produced by Ross Payton.<\/p>\n<p>Please welcome <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ryanmacklin.com\">Ryan Macklin<\/a> as our guest. Ryan is editor at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.paizo.com\">Paizo Publishing<\/a>, has been heavily involved in the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.evilhat.com\/home\/fate-core\/\"><em>Fate<\/em> RPG<\/a>\u00a0and <a href=\"http:\/\/rpg.drivethrustuff.com\/product\/80984\/Dresden-Files-RPG-Your-Story?affiliate_id=48458\"><em>Dresden Files<\/em><\/a>, published his own game <em><a href=\"http:\/\/mythenderrpg.com\">Mythender<\/a>,<\/em> and helped develop <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kickstarter.com\/projects\/2068026266\/backstory-cards\">Backstory Cards<\/a>, now in their last few days of funding at Kickstarter.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.kickstarter.com\/projects\/2068026266\/backstory-cards\/widget\/video.html\" width=\"480\" height=\"360\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"> <\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Ryan recently wrote the <em>Fate<\/em> adaptation of the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.modiphius.com\/achtung-cthulhu.html\"><em>Achtung! Cthulhu,<\/em><\/a> and\u00a0we invited him\u00a0to talk about player agency in RPGs. Of course\u00a0we quickly found that in a topic that deep, just agreeing\u00a0on the terms is half the struggle. We also have updates on tons of projects.<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #555555;\">Subscribe to the Unspeakable! podcast feed at\u00a0<a style=\"color: #3d97c2;\" href=\"http:\/\/theunspeakableoath.com\/home\/?feed=podcast\">http:\/\/theunspeakableoath.com\/home\/?feed=podcast<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #555555;\"><a style=\"color: #3d97c2;\" href=\"http:\/\/itunes.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/the-unspeakable-oath\/id441232694\">Or subscribe at iTunes.<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #555555;\"><strong>0:01:00 SPONSORS\u2014THANK YOU!<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a style=\"letter-spacing: 0.05em;\" href=\"http:\/\/atlas-games.com\/cthulhu4kids\">Atlas Games <em>(Where the Deep Ones Are)<\/em><\/a><em style=\"letter-spacing: 0.05em;\">\u00a0<\/em><\/li>\n<li><a style=\"letter-spacing: 0.05em;\" href=\"http:\/\/innsmouthfreepress.com\">Innsmouth Free Press<\/a><em style=\"letter-spacing: 0.05em;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/innsmouthfreepress.com\"> (Sword &amp; Mythos)<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em style=\"letter-spacing: 0.05em;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/sentinelhillpress.wordpress.com\">Arkham Gazette;<\/a><\/em><span style=\"letter-spacing: 0.05em;\">\u00a0<\/span><a style=\"letter-spacing: 0.05em;\" href=\"http:\/\/goldengoblinpress.com\">Golden Goblin Press <\/a><em style=\"letter-spacing: 0.05em;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/goldengoblinpress.com\">(Island of Ignorance <\/a><\/em><a href=\"http:\/\/goldengoblinpress.com\">and<\/a><em style=\"letter-spacing: 0.05em;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/goldengoblinpress.com\"> De Horrore Cosmico)<\/a>\u00a0<\/em><\/li>\n<li><a style=\"letter-spacing: 0.05em;\" href=\"http:\/\/hplfilmfestival.com\/los-angeles-ca\">The H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival in Los Angeles<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"color: #555555;\"><strong>0:07:45 NEWS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"letter-spacing: 0.05em;\"><strong>Scott<\/strong>:<\/span><span style=\"letter-spacing: 0.05em;\">\u00a0GenCon games for <\/span><a style=\"letter-spacing: 0.05em;\" href=\"http:\/\/paradigmconcepts.com\/cthulhu-strange-aeons\/\"><span style=\"color: #323333;\"><i>Cthulhu: Strange Aeons<\/i><\/span><\/a><span style=\"letter-spacing: 0.05em;\"> by Paradigm Concepts. <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.yog-sothoth.com\/wiki\/index.php?title=Horrors_of_War&amp;oldid=8146\"><i style=\"letter-spacing: 0.05em;\">Horrors of War<\/i><\/a><span style=\"letter-spacing: 0.05em;\">\u00a0at Kickstarter, July 28 or August 1.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"letter-spacing: 0.05em;\"><strong>Shane<\/strong>: Inside <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.arcdream.com\/zencart\/index.php?main_page=product_info&amp;cPath=2&amp;products_id=61\"><i style=\"letter-spacing: 0.05em;\">The Unspeakable Oath<\/i><\/a><span style=\"letter-spacing: 0.05em;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.arcdream.com\/zencart\/index.php?main_page=product_info&amp;cPath=2&amp;products_id=61\"> 24<\/a>, available now in PDF and soon in paperback. <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.arcdream.com\/zencart\/index.php?main_page=product_info&amp;cPath=1&amp;products_id=63\"><i style=\"letter-spacing: 0.05em;\">Delta Green: Tales from Failed Anatomies<\/i><\/a><span style=\"letter-spacing: 0.05em;\">. Brutal superpowered action in\u00a0<\/span><i style=\"letter-spacing: 0.05em;\">Elder Godlike<\/i><span style=\"letter-spacing: 0.05em;\"> for <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.modiphius.com\/achtung-cthulhu.html\"><i style=\"letter-spacing: 0.05em;\">Achtung! Cthulhu<\/i><\/a><span style=\"letter-spacing: 0.05em;\">. Alpha playtesting for <\/span><i style=\"letter-spacing: 0.05em;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/delta-green.com\">Delta Green: The Roleplaying Game<\/a>, <\/i><span style=\"letter-spacing: 0.05em;\">and maybe a printed beta version at GenCon if you know the password. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.patreon.com\/detwiller\">Dennis Detwiller has launched a Patreon account to support\u00a0his Delta Green writing.<\/a> Upcoming Kickstarters: <\/span><i style=\"letter-spacing: 0.05em;\">Delta Green: The RPG<\/i><span style=\"letter-spacing: 0.05em;\">. <\/span><i style=\"letter-spacing: 0.05em;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.arcdream.com\/zencart\/index.php?main_page=product_info&amp;cPath=14&amp;products_id=53\">Better Angels<\/a>: No Soul Left Behind<\/i><span style=\"letter-spacing: 0.05em;\"> (with lots of <a href=\"http:\/\/actualplay.roleplayingpublicradio.com\/2014\/01\/genre\/superheroes\/better-angels-the-spared-and-the-spoiled-episode-1\/\">Actual Play at RPPR<\/a>). <\/span><i style=\"letter-spacing: 0.05em;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Puppetland\">Puppetland<\/a>, <\/i><span style=\"letter-spacing: 0.05em;\">a full-color hardback storybook edition. Later: A new edition of Ray Winninger\u2019s <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/rpg.drivethrustuff.com\/product\/2873\/Underground?affiliate_id=48458\"><i style=\"letter-spacing: 0.05em;\">Underground<\/i><\/a><span style=\"letter-spacing: 0.05em;\"> and a new book about the King in Yellow from James Haughton, David Farnell and others.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"letter-spacing: 0.05em;\"><strong>Ross<\/strong>:<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.baseraiders.com\/about\/\"><i style=\"letter-spacing: 0.05em;\"> Base Raiders<\/i><\/a><span style=\"letter-spacing: 0.05em;\"> and a new scenario in an underwater supervillain base, \u201cBoiling Point.\u201d <\/span><a style=\"letter-spacing: 0.05em;\" href=\"http:\/\/actualplay.roleplayingpublicradio.com\/2014\/06\/systems\/call-of-cthulhu\/call-of-cthulhu-the-sense-of-the-sleight-of-hand-man-episode-1\/\"><span style=\"color: #323333;\">Actual Play at RPPR<\/span><\/a><span style=\"letter-spacing: 0.05em;\"> for <\/span><a style=\"letter-spacing: 0.05em;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.rpgnow.com\/product\/116929\/The-Sense-of-the-SleightofHand-Man-A-Dreamlands-Campaign-for-Call-of-Cthulhu?affiliate_id=48458\"><span style=\"color: #323333;\"><i>Sense\u00a0of the Sleight-of-Hand Man<\/i><\/span><\/a><i style=\"letter-spacing: 0.05em;\">. <\/i><span style=\"letter-spacing: 0.05em;\">(&#8220;Sometimes a gug is just a gug.&#8221;)\u00a0(<\/span><a style=\"letter-spacing: 0.05em;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.ennie-awards.com\/blog\/announcing-the-2014-ennie-award-nominees\/\"><span style=\"color: #323333;\">It&#8217;s up for an Ennie this year!<\/span><\/a><span style=\"letter-spacing: 0.05em;\"> Vote here from July 20 to July 30.)<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"letter-spacing: 0.05em;\"><strong>Ryan<\/strong>: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kickstarter.com\/projects\/2068026266\/backstory-cards\">Backstory Cards<\/a>, including a horror expansion and a video demo for using it with <em>Trail of Cthulhu<\/em>. The <em>Fate<\/em> editions of <em><a href=\"http:\/\/rpg.drivethrustuff.com\/product\/123376\/Achtung-Cthulhu-Investigators-Guide?affiliate_id=48458\">Achtung! Cthulhu<\/a><\/em>\u00a0and<em>\u00a0<\/em><a href=\"http:\/\/rpg.drivethrustuff.com\/product\/64135\/Eclipse-Phase?affiliate_id=48458\"><em>Eclipse Phase<\/em><\/a>.\u00a0The challenges of adapting <em>Fate<\/em> to genres where\u00a0sanity or\u00a0equipment (morphs) are key. Ryan&#8217;s birthday! Go online and talk about a recent great\u00a0experience playing an RPG.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/qg3RSzfAPi0\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>0:45:27 PLAYER AGENCY IN HORROR GAMES:<\/strong> Old-school GM authority vs. newer story games where players influence\u00a0not just their character choices but the course of the narrative. <a href=\"http:\/\/rpg.drivethrustuff.com\/product\/55567\/Trail-of-Cthulhu?affiliate_id=48458\"><em>Trail of Cthulhu<\/em><\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/rpg.drivethrustuff.com\/product\/120260\/tremulus?affiliate_id=48458\"><em>tremulus<\/em><\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/rpg.drivethrustuff.com\/product\/98137\/Cthulhu-Dark?affiliate_id=48458\"><em>Cthulhu Dark<\/em><\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/rpg.drivethrustuff.com\/product\/77953\/Realms-of-Cthulhu?affiliate_id=48458\"><em>Realms of\u00a0Cthulhu<\/em><\/a>, the <em>Fate<\/em> adaptation of <em><a href=\"http:\/\/ryanmacklin.com\/2014\/06\/whats-in-achtung-cthulhu-fate-edition\/\">Achtung! Cthulhu<\/a>. <\/em>The things that make <em>Fate<\/em> difficult for horror \u2014\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/ryanmacklin.com\/2011\/10\/horror-die-risk-mgmt\/\">choosing to ameliorate the consequences\u00a0of failure<\/a>; easy recovery from stress and injury \u2014 and <a href=\"http:\/\/ryanmacklin.com\/2014\/06\/whats-in-achtung-cthulhu-fate-edition\/\">how those work in <em>Achtung! Cthulhu<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>0:59:20 WHAT DO WE MEAN BY PLAYER AGENCY?<\/strong> Players&#8217; control over the course of the story? Controlling the flow of the narrative? Players&#8217; ability to make choices in the game? Or is that <em>character<\/em> agency rather than player agency? Spending points in <em>Trail of Cthulhu<\/em> and <a href=\"http:\/\/rpg.drivethrustuff.com\/product\/106783\/Nights-Black-Agents?affiliate_id=48458\"><em>Night&#8217;s Black Agents<\/em><\/a>. Railroading vs. giving guidance. The abstract vs. the concrete. Unspoken rules of the game. Anything that makes the players feel safe or releases tension. Inventing resources. The dangers of GM inflexibility and\u00a0player overreaching.<\/p>\n<p><strong>1:12:45\u00a0CLUES AND CONSEQUENCES.<\/strong><em>\u00a0<\/em>Gaining information vs. inventing information, and the important limits of invention. Adding to the narrative, not overwriting the narrative. The implications of player agency on the sense of character competence and vice versa. The disrupting effect\u00a0of spending\u00a0resources to get out of consequences after the roll \u2014 or\u00a0before the roll. The impact of gaining control over\u00a0access to information vs. hoping to get it by luck. When <em>not<\/em> to roll the dice. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pelgranepress.com\/trail\/files\/conversions\/TOC-Masksconversion.pdf\">(Converting\u00a0<em>Masks of Nyarlathotep<\/em> to\u00a0<em>Trail of Cthulhu.)<\/em><\/a>\u00a0Nudging the players along or running with their diversions.\u00a0Warning the players out-of-character that they&#8217;re going off the rails.<\/p>\n<p><strong>1:36:12\u00a0DO WE HAVE CONSENSUS?<\/strong>\u00a0Small layers of player agency are effective\u00a0\u2014 spending points to gain information, avoid rolling the dice, or shorthand your equipment list; soliciting scene details from the players \u2014 especially when they come with frightening\u00a0consequences.\u00a0But more overt mechanics often feel too disruptive because they change the mood of game-play from gloomy horror to pulpy action.<\/p>\n<p><strong>1:44:51 NYARLATHOTEP!\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #555555;\">This episode\u2019s music is \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/itunes.apple.com\/us\/album\/nyarlathotep\/id260106387?i=260106578&amp;uo=4&amp;at=1l3vm3L\">Nyarlathotep<\/a>\u201d by the Darkest of the Hillside Thickets, courtesy Divine Industries. Copyright 2012. Visit\u00a0<a style=\"color: #3d97c2;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.thickets.net\/\">www.thickets.net<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #555555;\"><a style=\"color: #3d97c2;\" href=\"http:\/\/itunes.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/the-unspeakable-oath\/id441232694\">Rate us on iTunes!<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #555555;\">And tell us in the comments what you think of this episode and what you want to hear next.<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #555555;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.theunspeakableoath.com\/podcast\/unspeakable-episode11-macklin.mp3\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-721 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/theunspeakableoath.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/unspeakable-600x6001.jpg\" alt=\"Unspeakable!\" width=\"600\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"http:\/\/theunspeakableoath.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/unspeakable-600x6001.jpg 600w, http:\/\/theunspeakableoath.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/unspeakable-600x6001-150x150.jpg 150w, http:\/\/theunspeakableoath.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/unspeakable-600x6001-300x300.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"powerpress_player\" id=\"powerpress_player_1715\"><audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-1661-1\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"http:\/\/www.theunspeakableoath.com\/podcast\/unspeakable-episode11-macklin.mp3?_=1\" \/><a href=\"http:\/\/www.theunspeakableoath.com\/podcast\/unspeakable-episode11-macklin.mp3\">http:\/\/www.theunspeakableoath.com\/podcast\/unspeakable-episode11-macklin.mp3<\/a><\/audio><\/div><p class=\"powerpress_links powerpress_links_mp3\" style=\"margin-bottom: 1px !important;\">Podcast: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.theunspeakableoath.com\/podcast\/unspeakable-episode11-macklin.mp3\" class=\"powerpress_link_pinw\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Play in new window\" onclick=\"return powerpress_pinw('http:\/\/theunspeakableoath.com\/home\/?powerpress_pinw=1661-podcast');\" rel=\"nofollow\">Play in new window<\/a> | <a href=\"http:\/\/www.theunspeakableoath.com\/podcast\/unspeakable-episode11-macklin.mp3\" class=\"powerpress_link_d\" title=\"Download\" rel=\"nofollow\" download=\"unspeakable-episode11-macklin.mp3\">Download<\/a><\/p><p class=\"powerpress_links powerpress_subscribe_links\">Subscribe: <a href=\"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/the-unspeakable-oath\/id441232694?mt=2&amp;ls=1\" class=\"powerpress_link_subscribe powerpress_link_subscribe_itunes\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Subscribe on Apple Podcasts\" rel=\"nofollow\">Apple Podcasts<\/a> | <a href=\"http:\/\/theunspeakableoath.com\/home\/feed\/podcast\/\" class=\"powerpress_link_subscribe powerpress_link_subscribe_rss\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Subscribe via RSS\" rel=\"nofollow\">RSS<\/a><\/p><!--powerpress_player-->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Hosted by Adam Scott Glancy, Shane Ivey, and Ross Payton. Produced by Ross Payton. Please welcome Ryan Macklin as our guest. Ryan is editor at Paizo Publishing, has been heavily involved in the Fate RPG\u00a0and Dresden Files, published his own&hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"more-link-p\"><a class=\"more-link\" href=\"http:\/\/theunspeakableoath.com\/home\/2014\/07\/unspeakable-episode-11-ryan-macklin-of-backstory-cards-fate-paizo-and-mythender-player-agency-in-horror-games\/\">Read more &rarr;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[76],"tags":[142,24,79,329,320,80],"class_list":["post-1661","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-unspeakable","tag-adam-scott-glancy","tag-delta-green-2","tag-ross-payton","tag-ryan-macklin","tag-sense-of-the-sleight-of-hand-man","tag-shane-ivey"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2OyM1-qN","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/theunspeakableoath.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1661","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/theunspeakableoath.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/theunspeakableoath.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/theunspeakableoath.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/theunspeakableoath.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1661"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/theunspeakableoath.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1661\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1665,"href":"http:\/\/theunspeakableoath.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1661\/revisions\/1665"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/theunspeakableoath.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1661"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/theunspeakableoath.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1661"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/theunspeakableoath.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1661"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}