The Power Of The Question-mark in RPG Plotting
Here in Australia, there has recently been a confrontation between the media and politics within the courts in the form of the Treasurer, Joe Hockey, suing one of our newspapers for defamation over a story which appeared both in print and on their website, and two tweets promoting that story. The story alleged that Hockey was offering privileged access in return for party donations. The headline was “Treasurer For Sale”, and the offending tweets consisted of nothing more than that headline and a link to the story.
The outcome was something of a draw, and quite possibly, a pyrrhic victory. Hockey wanted damages of a million dollars plus; what he got was an award of $200,000 for the headline and the tweets, and nothing for the story. Furthermore, there has been the suggestion that since he lost the main part of his case, he will be stuck paying the majority of both sides’ legal fees, which will easily top the $1 million that he originally sought.
You can read more about the story and the judgment here and here (two transcripts from a television show about media issues and stuff-ups).
From the first that I heard of the case, I was struck by one thought, which has only been reinforced by the verdict and all the coverage that I have seen since. Hockey “won” (if you can call it that) because the headline was deemed to have alleged that he was corrupt. If only the editor of the newspaper had seen fit to place a question mark at the end of the headline, it’s entirely likely that Hockey would have lost on all counts.
After all, there’s a world of difference between a headline that simply states, “Treasurer For Sale”, and one that asks the question, “Treasurer For Sale?” – the first is an accusation, the second merely asks the question and leaves the reader to make up their own minds based on the evidence provided in the story.
That got me thinking about the power of the question-mark, and – everything that crosses my mind gets reviewed from a gaming perspective sooner or later – about the power of the question-mark in RPGs. In particular, when you put a Question-mark in your plans for an adventure, what can it denote? What might it represent?
The Unknown
The first thing you might use a ? to represent in an adventure is an unknown.
- “? The player who moves first…” or,
- “? The highest perception total notices…”,
for example. This represents a point of interface between PC capabilities or player choices and the way the adventure content will be shaped as a result.
The other thing that the adventure designer might use a ? to represent is something that he doesn’t know, even cannot know, at the time of drafting the adventure.
- “? The last enemy standing…” or,
- “? When half the soldiers have been defeated…”
As you can see, these are variations on the same theme, a way to build a variable into the adventure while keeping the structure of events nice and straightforward.
GM Decisions to be made
The second major purpose that comes to mind is for the ? to represent a decision that the GM has to make, in particular one that is predefined based on events earlier in the adventure.
- “? If the PCs believed the old man in Scene 3, …”, or
- “? If any of the attackers in Scene 4 escaped, …”
A variation on this application is for the ? to represent real-time decisions.
- “? If there is not enough time for the combat to be completed, insert Scene 3a” or,
- “? Let the PCs roleplay random encounters until 40 mins of play remain,” or even,
- “? Don’t let the lock get picked until the PCs have had encounters 1, 2, and at least one of 4, 5, or 6.”
or any other “If-then-else” flags that control the flow of the adventure.
Doubt
A further variation could occur when the GM is uncertain about the course events will take.
- “? Will the PCs stop to investigate, encountering the bandits (scene 5b)…”, or,
- “? If the PCs win too easily…” or even,
- “? How the PCs react is up to them, play it by ear.”
Variables
An obvious purpose would be to represent variables.
- “? There are three NPCs who can tell the PCs about the treasure: 1, 4, and 6. Let them ask until they find one of these,” or,
- “? The charge will continue to build by 1d6 per round until one of the PCs zaps themselves or it reaches a maximum of 25d6.”
Puzzles & Riddles
Another obvious use would be to call the GM’s attention to puzzles and riddles that the PCs have to solve.
- “? There is an 11 minute hourglass and a 13-minute hourglass. The door will only open exactly 15 minutes after the first hourglass is turned. The note says ‘You will only be given one chance to prove your worth.’ The PCs must solve the riddle of how to accurately time 15 minutes using these two hourglasses.”
The Solution:
- Start both hourglasses at the same time.
- When the 11 minute hourglass runs out, flip it again immediately.
- When the 13 minute hourglass runs out, the 11 minute hourglass will have 9 minutes left, so flip it and it will last another 2 minutes.
- 13 minutes + 2 minutes = exactly 15 minutes.
Riddle taken from Good Riddles.
The Low Road
The uses keep on coming. Another might be to signify an alternative to be offered to the PCs.
- “? Let the players decide whether to harvest the mushrooms or water the herd.” or,
- “? Let the players choose which door to open. When they touch the handle…”
To Be Continued?
The final use comes from the Dr Who episode, ‘The Pandorica Opens‘ and is a bit of an afterthought. At the end of the episode, the TARDIS has exploded, rupturing time throughout its’ length, and explosions surround the Earth in space before everything fades to black and silence. And then, with everything supposedly and seemingly destroyed, the graphic comes up on-screen, “To Be Continued” – which, to me, takes all the suspense out of the situation.
Sure, people would have known that the season had one more episode left, but the “To be continued” as good as states that the story isn’t over yet.
The ending would have been far more powerful if the producers had attached a simple question mark to that end-of-show graphic: “To Be Continued?” instead of “To Be Continued”.
Because every time you can attach a question mark to something to be communicated, the doubts and confusion it raises and represents are in the minds of the players. And of all the ways that the GM can make use of a Question Mark, that may be the best of them all.
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