The Shackles of Precognition
In the past few years I’ve had a lot more regular weekly games than one-shots. Mostly games with no GM, so no one is writing a story for us to follow. We are all just playing in the moment and seeing what happens.
I love it. Except for one thing, which I’m doing to myself.
Sometimes I come to the session with an idea for a scene already in mind. It usually happens when I know my turn is next and I want to be ready to leap right in and frame a scene to get the game started quickly — can’t waste precious game time!
But it always feels like cheating. It doesn’t feel genuine to show up with a scene already baked. Even if it’s a great idea, I feel bad because it doesn’t feel like I’m playing in the moment. I’m reciting a bit of story I already wrote, even if it’s just a premise for a scene.
And it’s a slippery slope. Once you have a starting point, and a whole week to think about it, you start imagining what you’ll say and how it might play out. Soon you have a whole mental script of what you want to happen. Even if you remind yourself that these are only things that could happen, you’ve got a whole agenda looking over your shoulder. A script monkey on your back, interfering with your spontaneity.
It sucks, and it goes totally against the principles of these games. And the irony is that the more fun the game has been, the more tempting it is to think about all the things that could happen, because the game is fun to think about!
Once I get past any planned material, everything is fine, and the game becomes natural and fun again. I’m just reacting and improvising, listening to what the other players are bringing and running with it. That is true, in-the-moment, play. And when I make scenes mid-game, they’re spontaneous and often even better, because they’re hot reactions to the vibe at the table, right now.
This trap of planning ahead only comes up a fraction of the time — usually only when my scene is next, and even then only some of the time — but I’ve been wrestling with different ways to fight it. Sometimes I’ll jettison a pre-planned scene idea at the last minute and make something else up on the spot. Or I’ll ask other players involved in the scene questions so they help shape it. “Would your character have been following me, or is this just a chance encounter?” etc. That immediately starts to make it something organic and interactive, freeing me from my preconceptions.
Either way, I try to get the pre-planned bit out of the way as quickly as possible so I can get back to playing in the moment and seeing how the other characters respond and react. Outrun my own precognition to escape, Muad’dib-style.
I see other players pre-plan scenes too. Honestly it happens all the time, I assume for all the same reasons. But ironically it doesn’t bother me when other people do it, probably because I’m still playing in the moment so I’m having a normal game experience. It only bothers me when they go too far and are clearly laying out a whole story line they’re attached to, trying to GM the game from within.
Are they burdened with guilt the way I am when I roll up with a scene idea in a wheelbarrow? I do not know. I’m guessing some yes, some no.
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[…] The shackles of precognition by Ben Robbins discusses the dangers of coming to play with a pre-defined idea of what is going to happen, here in the context of gamemasterless games. https://arsludi.lamemage.com/index.php/2826/the-shackles-of-precognition/ […]
Or maybe to put it more succinctly, we all come to the table with ideas or things we want to explore. That’s great. But we have to recognize that we’re only a fraction of the table, and we have to embrace that our ideas and desires are going into the pot with everyone else’s ideas and desires, and something surprising is going to come out.
I could talk about this stuff all day!
This is good stuff to explore.
This post is much more about my reactions to my own play style, rather than what I think other people “should” or should not do.
I think it’s much better for someone to show up with an idea for a scene, ready to roll, than to be stumped and frustrated trying to get the game started. That’s definitely something that can happen, particularly when people are trying to shift gears from the work day into game-brain. I often send out emails in advance, reminding people that they are framing a scene next so they can be ready. Or I bring it up at the start of the session, while everyone is still chatting and settling in, so that person can start to percolate.
What I dislike in my own behavior is letting an idea balloon into more and more detail when you’ve got a whole week to wait. And avoiding it is like saying “don’t think of an elephant”. For me, those preconceptions become a burden.
Like I say at the end of the post, I *am* against any player having a whole plot outcome they’re angling for. That flies in the face of embracing the input of the other players, and is an actual “should not” in my mind. Having a theme or story you want to explore: awesome! Having an unyielding outcome or chain of events aka writing a whole story in advance: not awesome!
[a caveat being that there are places in lots of rule systems where you can dictate a ton of stuff. Like when you’re making a Crossroad, you can unilaterally describe big things happening. That’s fine. What I’m against is trying to solo control parts of any game that are supposed to be group input]
But what you said about oral traditions and unspoken rules of play… that’s a whole other ball of wax. You are not wrong. I think it’s the invisible achilles heel of a lot of gaming.
I’ve been wondering about this ideal that you’re implying in your game design and also in your personal play style – the in-the-moment spontaneity of reactive co-creation.
In my view, that’s a valid play style, but not the only valid play style for your games. I personally love it when someone comes with a really engaging scene prompt at the ready, and I can feel that there’s a direction they’re trying to go for.
I also feel happy when a game makes a clear scene pop into my head that I want to experience – and then I get to try and make it come alive at the table. Yes, flow is great, but some planning just also adds to the excitement and the shared investment that is needed for co-creation.
I also keep thinking of the oral traditions that form a play culture and how some games really fly at some tables and really tank at others. I wonder if you’ve ever tried to put the play culture, the unwritten rules of your table, somewhere in writing – outside of your game designs.