Actually, I think the problem is that "stake" is very well-defined in indie games.

Call it his "ante" or his "drive" or his "bet" or "what he's risking", I would.

Graham

is as follows:

What stands to be lost and/or gained during Gamist play; the term may be applied at either or both Step on Up (participants) or Challenge (characters) levels of play.

Is that how people here see it? I think that is fairly accurate actually and could be applied to the use I want to make of it in Reel Adventures. Would anyone like to correct me? Seriously, if I am misreading then please tell me.

Cheers

Iain

Mob Justice now available!

'The Giant Brain':Small games, big ideas.

Hm. I only ever use the term to mean like, the possible outcomes of conflict resolution.

Like, "So you want to sneak into the building, so what's at stake is if you get inside undetected, or if you get discovered and attacked by the guards".

It seems mostly the same to me. In fact, I'd be more inclined to phrase your thing like: "My hero's stakes are whether he can [Rescue the girl] or if [she will be captured]". Just to be more specific.

The definition in the Forge glossary sounds, to me, rather different from the way it's generally used: they're certainly not usually a Gamist thing. I have a feeling the Forge glossary was written before stakes began being used in earnest.

I really think your stakes are different enough from the conventional use of "stakes" that it's worth using a different name.

Graham

The current accepted usage of 'stakes' is very much informed by its usage in Dogs in the Vineyard. As others have commented it is, literally, what is at stake in the conflict: Does my brother shoot the harlot? Will the heretic see the light? What is at stake relates to dealing with the outcomes of that conflict.

With a broadly accepted (within a lot of the story games/indie/whatever community) notion such as that, you need to make that change in terminology to avoid confusion in those who already have that definition in their heads. I myself am like that. When someone says 'stakes' in relation to an RPG, I automatically think of stakes as set in DitV.

Something cinematic should be used for RA. Look at cinema terminology and see if something fits your needs. A list like this might be useful to you.

Cheers
Malc

Contested Ground Studios

Ah that makes more sense now. I thought the forge definition sounded a bit out of kilter with Dogs. Thanks for the list malc, I will give it a read and see what I come up with.

Cheers

Iain
Mob Justice now available!

'The Giant Brain':Small games, big ideas.