Grit: The Devilry is in the Detail. Image by Peter H from Pixabay, cropped, resized, and selectively sharpened by Mike

Today’s post comes courtesy of an ear-worm. I recently played Glen Campbell’s Greatest Hits, and the theme from the John Wayne movie “true Grit” stuck in my head (not for the first time). Not at the time, mind, but afterwards, when it was triggered by writing about gritty reality in a Quora post and mentioning it in last week’s blog.

That got me thinking about “Grit” in the environmental sense, which led me to “Grit” in narrative, which I then generalized into today’s topic.

Four Levels Of Grit

I generalize “grit” in my thinking and writing into four categories or standards. Exceptions may always exist and be called out, but this is what I “bake” into my narrative.

Gleaming

Super-pristine; I use this quite sparingly. Antiseptic authoritarian sci-fi societies are generally gleaming; hi-tech office buildings are often gleaming; the homes of the rich and powerful are often gleaming; super-villain lairs are sometimes gleaming; and (very occasionally), a Wizard’s Tower (cleaned by magic) will be Gleaming. It takes constant attention to detail and a prioritization of attention to appearances over actually living in a space.

Tidy

Tidy is clean but with a little disorganization here and there. A clean home with a child’s toy left out on the carpet; a clean kitchen but with dirty dishes awaiting washing; and so on. This is a lived-in space, it’s neat but functional.

Messy

I’m the first to admit that this is my usual state of living; I like things neat and tidy but don’t have the physical capacity to keep them that way, and little by little, detritus accumulates. I prioritize whatever cleaning I think needs doing the most, two or three times a week. So some things are a little dirty, there’s dust in the corners, there’s some slight staining of the walls, there are books and things everywhere, and so on. The things that I use all the time for whatever my current project is are close to hand, and I usually have multiple projects on the go at the same time – but, to an outsider, anything not needed for whatever project I am working on at the immediate moment is ‘clutter’.

One of the things that made Star Wars stand out, when it was first showing, was that it was a ‘lived in’ science fiction environment; prior to that, the standard was ‘pristine’.

Dystopian

Dystopia usually means that you don’t try to clean up, at best you just attempt (unsuccessfully) try to hide the mess. There’s dirt on the floors, and the walls. Things are constantly breaking down due to neglect, age, or overuse, and what isn’t broken down is being held together with scotch tape and baling wire. There’s rubbish on the streets and no attempt to clean it up – though there may be attempts to sweep it aside into alleyways. Gotham City in the first (modern) Batman movie, and in the Nolan Batman trilogy, and Blade Runner – these are all dystopian levels of grit. The streets and homes of the poor quarter in medieval cities are generally dystopian, too.

One standard for each environment, location, or region

I carefully choose one standard for each environment, location, or region. This is the overall standard, and while it will be taken into consideration in initial descriptions and first impressions (which I try to always communicate to the players), but which is rarely mentioned otherwise.

Dwell on the exceptions, not the rule

Grit should be applied sparingly – a little can go a long way. Go back to the original Star Wars trilogy and pay attention to the visual state of the interiors of the Millennium Falcon – while there are some messy elements here and there, appropriate for a Messy (Lived-in) setting, they are just enough to offset the cleanliness and polish of the rest of the set. You see the same thing on the Death Star in the first movie, and the scenes in the cloud city of The Empire Strikes Back. Contrast these with the scenes in Mos Eisley (first movie), Dantooine (second movie) and the court of Jabba The Hut (third movie) – in these places, the standard is Dystopian, and once that is established, only the exceptions need to be mentioned aside from the occasional reminder.

Contrast and Nuance

Some genres are better served by down or up-shifting your standards. This is achieved by using the basic standard with occasional elements from a neighboring standard. Both the neighboring standard to apply and the narrative to be affected are dictated by the degree and direction of shift. This can create nuance with a half-step or four-color blended simplification with a whole-step adjustment. There are other genres and campaigns that may be better served by broadening the standard to create nuance that is focused on that standard. These principles are demonstrated in the following set of diagrams:

Click the image to open a larger version in a new tab. Refer to the text below for explanations and interpretations.

The first diagram shows a 1/2 step downwards, and what effect that has.

• If the standard is ‘Gleaming’ then only the most extreme examples will actually mention the standard. More common examples will use a little of the language normally used to describe a ‘tidy’ environment. Some of that language will also make its way into the best of the Messy environments, while some of the merely ‘messy’ will be used in describing more dystopian scenes.
• If the standard is “Tidy” then ‘gleaming’ language is reserved for the most pristine of environments, but some ‘gleaming clean’ elements are used in describing the best tidy scenes. Tidy environments are not singled out except in such cases; the language is reserved for additions to the best ‘Messy’ environments. Similarly, the merely messy will be highlighted in the best Dystopian environments.

…and so on.

I’m limiting my analysis to a couple of examples so that more of them can be seen at the same time for comparison purposes. In particular, I want readers to compare the second diagram and its effects to the first.

• Only the best of the best Gleaming environments get singled out; the rest of the time, gleaming details are picked out in describing tidy scenes.
• Similarly, Tidy details are emphasized in Messy settings.
• Only the most extreme Dystopian environments are not ‘rescued’ somewhat by emphasizing the merely messy.

The net effect is that everything is brighter, cleaner, and more colorful. This suits Pulp, High Fantasy, Space Opera, and Superheros amongst other genres and sub-genres.

I couldn’t fit an up-step example while retaining clarity in the diagram, but you should be able to imagine the effects of one using these diagrams. As a general rule, an upward step makes more room for, and use of, the gritty and messy. Whereas the downward steps often damn with faint praise, the upward steps condemn either mildly or quite denigratingly.

That’s because I needed room to demonstrate an alternative approach that can sometimes be useful – expanding one particular classification (the standard). I use this technique in a lot of my Fantasy games – more on that in a moment. First, let’s look at the specific effects:

• “Tidy” language is used to diminish the least of the “gleaming”, taking just a little of the polish off.
• It is also used to dress up the least Messy environments.
• As a result, the ‘standard’ applies to almost 1/3 of the entire gamut. Gleaming and Dystopian extremes are reduced to make room for this expansion.
• the least ‘Messy’ environments have ‘Tidy’ elements emphasized, but the best Dystopian settings have ‘merely messy details emphasized, so there is no overall diminution of the scope of that standard.

In Fumanor, in middle- and upper-class human territory, I expanded the Tidy in my narratives; in the poorer areas, I expanded the Messy; in the Elven Forests and Drow Tunnels, I expanded the Gleaming; in Orcish, Trollish, and Ogrish (etc) territories, the Dystopian was expanded; while the Dwarven areas used a half-step upwards, as did Dungeons. These were subtle distinctions but they gave each environment a slightly different atmosphere.

An example: in human kingdoms, blood might spill or stain, or splatter in the most extreme cases; in Elven lands, it would never spatter, it would fountain, or – at worst – drip. In the Wilds, it would spray and splatter, raining down on everything nearby, accompanied (when appropriate) but little bits of bone or brain or flesh.

Use Mechanics to reflect your choice

I use the standard that applies to a particular area as a guideline to how to interpret the Game Mechanics in those areas. In Dystopias, details and imperfections are emphasized; in Messes, details alone get the treatment; in Tidy environments, the emphasis is on outcomes and generalities; in a Gleaming environment, hyperbole is added to the Tidy, and everything is a little larger than life. These effects are always compromised with the campaign style, and the inherent style of the game system (which was hopefully chosen to suit the desired campaign). Again, on their own, they do little, but the impact stacks with other small touches like narrative emphasis to create distinctiveness from one setting to another.

Applying Grit to Places

The balance of this article is going to put a little flesh on the bones. In making the article as explanatory as possible, I had to use generic terms like “locations”, “environments”, “settings” and “elements” within one of the other terms. In these sections, I’m going to try and get a bit more specific.

Places are ubiquitous – everything that happens takes place somewhere – so this is a fundamentally important case.

• In a Gleaming environment, a general impression is conveyed and then broken down into specifics that reinforce that impression.
• In a Tidy environment, a functional or purposeful impression is conveyed and then supplemented specifics, especially any that are Gleaming or Messy.
• In a Messy environment, specifics come first and build toward a general impression that is summarized. The more messy the environment, the more details precede the general impression. Exceptions may then be mentioned, either pockets of order/purpose in the chaos (tidy) or specific details of wear-and-tear and disorder.
• In a Dystopian environment, a very abstract general impression is applied – be very Noir about it – then specific details are used to emphasize the general impression and translate it from the abstract into the grittiest reality. You want your players to ‘smell the stink’.

Only when commencing a scene in a particular location would the chosen standard of Grit get represented in the form of the overall impression; from that point onward, the standard isn’t mentioned, only exceptions. Make these work for you; don’t apply them capriciously. For example, in a messy environment, the greatest order will be found in the spot where the owner was last working (and the greatest mess not far removed from it). If the general impression is one of chaos and confusion, a desk that is pristinely organized tends to stand out.

I once had a friend, Dylan, who lived in the most Dystopian Grit you can imagine. He was unable to go past the written word – whether that was a newspaper rescued from the garbage or a book that had caught his eye. His home was literally stacked waist-high with books (chest-high in places) throughout – so much so that at one point his foundations shifted. There was just enough empty space for the front door to open; you then had to climb over stacks of first editions to go down the main corridor and into one of the other rooms. His bed had no frame; that had been tossed out to make room for stacks of books upon which his mattress rested. At the same time, he was one of the most generous people that I’ve ever known, the sort of person who would simply show up at your door with a meal or a book that you had expressed interest in, and expect nothing in return. He knew everything that he had in his collection of more than 10.000 books and roughly where it was located – not because he had a system, but because his retention of the written word matched his voracity. He had read every word in his collection. And yet, there was a vague structure – magazines in one place (and not too many of those), newspapers in another, non-fiction here, biographies there, science fiction hither and fantasy yon and general fiction elsewhere; first editions near the top of each stack, reprints and duplicates at the bottom. Every six months, he would clear out half a room, carefully deciding what to toss and what to retain until its contents occupied one half of its previous volume – what he did with what he chose not to keep, I don’t know, but at least some of it was given to friends, and some to the local library. I suspect that most went to landfill!

Applying Grit to Objects

Objects are specific elements within a setting or location. That means that they can either reflect the standard of that location, or they can be out of place, or be somewhere in-between.

• Gleaming objects are as new. Even if constructed by a hobbiest or prototyper, they will be precise in structure, layout, and assembly. Shiny things will be polished, non-shiny things will be brushed, and nary a blemish will be seen.
• Tidy objects might be Gleaming with some signs of wear or use, or they might be a little more haphazard than that. They will be organized and purposeful.
• Messy objects are still fully functional but with considerable signs of wear-and-tear. There will be marks and scratches and the like.
• Dystopian objects may still function somewhat, but they are almost played out from hard usage. Expect rust spots and stains, gouges and nicks.

Applying Grit to Vehicles

Vehicles are both objects and locations. It is useful to remember the following maxim: If the outside is important, the vehicle is an object and important only in terms of its interaction with that environment (and vice-versa); if the outside is not important, the vehicle is the location for some scene or dialogue.

• Gleaming Vehicles – emphasize the newness of the leather (the smell), and of the controls – they will snap into position, make satisfying clicks, be taut and responsive. Brakes might squeal a bit. Everything works – manufacturing defects excepted.
• Tidy Vehicles are clean and almost everything works, but there are some small signs of wear. There’s no snap to the switches, there’s a little play or non-responsiveness to the knobs, there are wear marks on the seats and a stain or two on the carpets.
• Messy vehicles have seen extended or heavy duty. Some of the gauges will have failed or be unreliable, sometimes in predictable ways (“Fill up when the gauge is 1/3 full, you have less then 5 miles fuel at that point”). Some controls will be unresponsive, or make excessive demands on an allied system – the windscreen washer might drain the battery faster than the alternator recharges it, for example. It will often be dirtier in its interior, but not decrepit.
• Dystopian vehicles are either on the verge of total collapse or have already died in most respects. They may still provide basic functionality but even those will be unreliable – engines that are hard to state, brakes that are prone to failure, electrical systems that constantly fail. Gauges will be dead or completely deceptive. Watch Top Gear’s “cheap car challenges” and take the worst failures and you’ll get the idea.

Applying Grit to Weapons

Weapons are ubiquitous to many game genres. As a general rule, weapons that are still functional will be at least one category more pristine than the general environment, while weapons that are not should be treated as objects and shifted down a half step or even a full step. That’s because weapons that are poorly maintained can be dangerous to use, or can fail unexpectedly.

A truism in most of my fantasy campaigns is that magical weapons (including cursed blades) do not decay or rust. But I have been known to vary that formula – the hilt might not be as protected as the blade, for example, and may be in desperately poor condition. Or the weapon may be stained with a patina of surface rust.

Some explosives tend to become less stable with time. if you want to make a player sweat a little, tell him that the explosives he’s just found have been sweating, or that the grass around the landmine he’s just stepped on are yellowish and decayed.

But firearms are the most interesting and unpredictable weapons when it comes to grit. Heavily-used weapons can have worn parts that make them unreliable, but at the same time, a weapon wouldn’t be heavily used if it weren’t reliable. Dirt and grit can make some weapons explode when you pull the trigger, while others can be absolutely filthy – and shoot perfectly, at least once!

Treat the barrel and mechanics as something separate to the hilt – a professional who has used his weapon extensively is likely to have a worn hilt or stock but pristine mechanics. A careless hunter might have the same wear on his hilt or stock, but a barrel that smells of cordite (or whatever gunpowder the weapon uses), signaling that it hasn’t been cleaned since it was last used. A barrel or mechanism with a rust spot or lots of scratches and marks is a clear danger sign.

The other thing to bear in mind is that ammunition also decays and becomes unpredictable – some might have a tendency to go off more easily (a problem if it’s not in the firing chamber at the time), others won’t go off even if tossed into a fire. And that’s without any other source of unreliability being factored in!

Applying Grit to Clothing

There are aspects of a character’s appearance that they can’t control, and aspects over which they – or, more properly, their social and economic status – have significant control. ‘Grit’ generally signifies dirt poor or a laborer who has been hard at work.

• Gleaming – polished buttons, perfect fit, coordinated materials and patterns that combine to present an overall ‘image’. Try to distill that ‘image’ down to a single word if you can.
• Tidy – good fit, buttons may be slightly tarnished if metal, some wear or staining, less reliable fashion sense, and less coordination. Specific details may point to a profession (but can be unreliable).
• Messy – clothes that have been chosen for comfort, not appearance. May or may not be color-coordinated. NOT rags.
• Dystopian – Rags, rips, holes. Virtually no color coordination. Clothes that project neither comfort nor appearance. Frequently smelly and unclean. Look out for small insects and the like making themselves at home – fleas, lice, etc.

Applying Grit to People

The Grit Standard is an influence over personality choices. This can manifest in many ways – saltier language, a more ornery attitude, being less (or more) pretentious, putting on airs, arrogance (justified or not), professionalism, casual displays of expertise, a work ethic – there are dozens of possibilities and nigh-infinite number of permutations.

You can get particular mileage in terms of characterization by considering the combination of personality grit and clothing grit. These can reinforce each other, can nuance one another, can compliment each other to produce a more coherent characterization, or can contradict each other for dramatic effect.

Favorites include the homeless tramp who’s an undercover cop, the brilliant (but mad) scientist in messy clothes, the sloppy detective in pristine fashion (often a successful writer of mystery fiction), the receptionist who’s mad at the world, and the farmer who chops wood more vigorously when he has an audience. Basically, any time I can play with assumptions and judgments, I’ll at least think about doing so. Most of the time, the best interests of the encounter or adventure will overrule such temptations, but every now and then I can let myself go. The high priest who puts a neophyte in his chair to hear all the petty complaints and supplicants while he dresses like a neophyte and stirs out to find out what the real people really think – or just goes fishing.

Applying Grit to Politics

This talks about the gap between ideals and reality. The more grit, the greater the ideals have been, and have to be, compromised, and the more moral murkiness is floating around. Consider the congressman who accepts financial backing from (say) a mining interest in his election campaign, who then protects them from an environmental inquiry, because they employ a lot of his constituents who would suffer if they went out of business – how corrupt is he, really? How pristine?

As a GM who loves to present my players with moral conundrums and choices, such characters – whether allied to the players, opposed to them, or agnostic with respect to them – immediately make the situation more interesting. “How can something be good for the nation if it’s bad for Georgia?” – I’m not sure where the line comes from, but it exemplifies the sort of thinking that Grit in Politics implies.

Applying Grit to Journeys

There may be times when it’s not the destination that matters as much as the transition from one place to another. This is especially the case when both are well-known to the characters, or when the destination is uninteresting. Grit manifests in inconvenient minutia, while a lack of grit is more abstract. Other way of looking at it is that a Gleaming journey is all about the big picture – the culture and history of the eventual destination, and discussion of what will happen when the characters get there in general (and optimistic) terms; Dystopian discussions focus on the problems that will have to be overcome while focusing on the inconveniences of travel. Another interpretation that works is that the more Dystopian the Grit level, the more NPCs with baggage get involved in the journey.

One encounter in my old super-spies campaign that I never got the chance to use (it never fitted the situation) was a paparazzi who mistook a spy (trying to keep a low profile) as a celebrity.

Applying Grit to Combat

I’ve actually covered this to some extent with the initial example about how a wound, or more specifically, the blood from a wound, would be described in different settings because of the different Grit Standards emplaced in those settings. In a gritty setting, the crunch of stones underfoot (implying a slightly-uncertain footing) and every bruise and nick and the physiological reaction to same are important to the flavor of the combat; in a Gleaming setting, anything that isn’t lethal is ‘just a flesh wound’, and you should focus your narrative not on those but on the ringing sound of blade striking blade, the staccato rhythm of thrust and pivot and counter-thrust and leap and swing.

In Summary

The level of grit in a location is an important parameter that should inform every choice made in terms of the activities and the peoples that perform them at that location. It doesn’t dictate or control those choices, but it should influence what your narrative focuses on, and what the context is. Contributions resulting from the applied Grit Standard can be subtle or overt, but they accumulate (when used properly) to making each location and its inhabitants feel distinctive and interesting.

Using these techniques, you can separate Realism from Plausibility, permitting you to manipulate one for effect without interfering with the other, and giving you greater control over the style of your game. So, now that you have them, what are you going to do with them?.