One of the major changes, or additions rather, I am considering for the second edition of Fallen, is that of classes. I think we’ll call them archetypes though, as that term feels more fluid to my ear. A generic representation of a type, a framework, from which the player may spring, swing, and mold in their own vision. I think this addition to the game has a possible two-fold positive impact.
See, in Fallen first edition (F1e) characters are largely assumed to be of a certain cloth: tricorne-wearing, longcoat adorned, pistol wielding “rogues,” highwaymen, monster hunters with mysterious attitude. And this will remain! I love the simplicity this offers. It’s not about talents, special abilities, and gear really. We pretty much all have the same. It’s meant to encourage a focus on sessions not PC development, world building, not maxing stats, and it creates a certain narrative baseline that I appreciate. In my mind, this no class effect begets a more realistic vibe. Of course, with The Folding, PCs become changed by their adventures, but all have access to the same list.
But since then, I’ve come to think of classes in Fallen not as fighter, cleric, thief, wizard but what about Fighter (default Fallen Rogue/highwayman), Noble, Farmer, Vampire, Court Magician, Spy. This being the first positive prong – a diversity of play style. It can open the game to so many more possibilities. Now in group play, this may present challenges. Having one of each of those in a party becomes quite difficult to create harmony and reasons for being together. But in solo play! Now I see numerous avenues of play, allowing the game to represent very different experiences based on the archetype one chooses. It’s not about having a well-rounded team to tackle the various troubles an adventure may present, but about creating wildly different stories for the player to inhabit.
Tradition is the second positive effect, albeit less significant. The truth is, I believe, people want options. Games like Knave are cool, because we all begin at the same baseline, and it’s about the loot we find, and the adventures we take on, that create our characters. But I think so many games continue using a standard class formats because the precedent that was set by the original game. People WANT to be wizards. They want to play Gandalf. Or they WANT to be Conan. Classes instantly bring us into the play-verse. Classes, like character sheets, are also shorthand for “this is the kind of game you will be playing.”
But in Fallen, when I talk about being a Magician, you are not playing a magic missile flinging staff-wielding Gandalf, you are playing a clever, diligent researching John Dee. You are an acolyte, the cult member. Now, you get to choose if you are evil or not, sure. Maybe you play the duplicitous whisperer to the emperor’s ear. Maybe you seek to open the portal to the “tree of life.”
Let’s say you play a Vampire. Are you protecting humans from your kind? Are you chasing the famous Rogue that has decimated your ranks?
The Challenges of Asymmetric Play
In group play, this approach presents its challenges of course. Inherently, your party motives are opposed. But let us talk from the solo perspective. What exactly makes playing a “Magician” fun? Historically, these hermetic types were looking to magic for answers. A common association is turning lead to gold. They were thinking about hidden knowledge, and nature and God’s word. It was philosophy and science and religion. Is this even something that can be gamified? As a thought experiment, let’s see what this could possibly look like.
Bruno Blackshire
Magician - Rank 6
Strength: +0
Focus: +2
Agility: +1
Will: +3
Jeweled dagger (d4)
Black & Red velvet cloak (1AV)
Notebook & ink
Star Charts
Oracle Deck
3 Candles
Stone Crucible
Skills
Diplomacy 1
Incantation 2
Investigation 1
Lore 1
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| http://www.johndee.org/charlotte/Illustrations.html |
Ok, we have a standard character here. The main difference is, some of the items they have are not on the standard list. Also, we’ve selected Magician. So now, this is the crux. I truly think the best way to handle something like a class, that isn’t purely based on numbers and special abilities, is using some kind of “life path” system. We see this in games like Forbidden Lands, Beyond the Wall, or Vaesen. Some tables we roll on that give us a unique perspective into Bruno. These need to be applicable to all classes:
Family History:
Childhood:
Formative Event:
Secret:
Motivation:
Goal:
Closest Ally:
Let’s say each category has a d4 table. Though the categories are the same, these would be different for archetype. Additionally, even though I’ve added stats above, in lieu of that, I think the Life Path results would give us our stats. For this example, I just haven’t written them all out yet.
On top of these results, I think each Archetype would have a Talent specific to them.
Talent: Once per day, you may use your dark and burning glare to dissuade someone from challenging you.
Now, so far we have a character that is perfectly reasonable to play. How they are attached to some highwaymen rebels hunting werewolves and vampires could be bandied about in session 0 banter.
But what of the solo player? They need some goals.
Well, I think this ends up being a whole different section of the game. Generating Disturbances, (what adventures in Fallen are called) – They would be tied to your Goals:
For a Magician, it may be thus:
Goals
1. Locate Andrei Geordano Maximillian, famed author of the Treatise on Eternal Life.
2. Discover the location of the ruby encrusted skull of the notorious impaler, Ragton.
3. Your patron prince demands you extinguish the Trezlya of Gormouth Hills.
4. You’ve been charged with capturing the Rogues that have been terrorizing the Halldowns Highway.
Something like this. So you have an automatic jump off point. In theory, this will beget the next. I think the biggest challenge to this edition is creating a structure for Disturbances. Admittedly, this was the hardest part for me. When not playing a “loot the dungeon” game, things become more nuanced. Investigation games require a means of progress and fail. Using something akin to the Threat tracker and Progress tracker in Ironsworn is where I will be looking. These tools can be system agnostic, in that, be you a vampire, werewolf, or Rogue, a system is in place to apply pressure. This drives the game. A need to move, investigate, collect information all becomes more pressing. These trackers coupled with a flowchart of action. (this for another post)
Additionally, I will be looking at Trophy Dark's approach to adventures. I think the truncated Incursion format of that system is neat. Instead of keyed maps, a use of evocative text and choices are presented. This removes the tactical aspect so baked into dungeon delves but opens up conversation and tone. Is this right for the solo player? I believe in a game like Fallen, it could work.
But for now, I think the solo structure becomes a little bit like a check list. I know, this sounds gamey, as it is. But this needn’t be overly rigid and mechanical. You still pursue regular play, search for items, but maybe play becomes more related to something like Myst.
- We learn of a puzzle [thus a puzzles table]
- We travel to place of puzzle [thus a locations table]
- We need to find clues and items [hence clues/words/evidence tables]
- We track progress each time we find something
- We either resolve through conflict or accumulation of information
- Repeat.
Contradictory to an earlier statement, I think Fallen’s simple nature was one of its successes. Players knew who they were and what they were doing because there are so few options. Adding more definitely risks burdening it.
So all this to say, by including archetypes, the game opens up, increases nuance and depth in the types of stories that can be told. But this also requires more rich mechanics to carry over the “merely hunting baddies” line.
The next Fallen post should be related to this aspect of the game. Which ties into the Disturbances, and how the Spinner can successfully create their own. Are all Disturbances created equal when playing with different types in Fallen? Structure. This is the operating term for this game’s development. The first edition is pretty rules light, with lots of random tables support, but it perhaps lacks the Flowchart/ Structure that allows players to run the game smoothly.
Maybe, just maybe, archetypes become the framework?
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