So, I've been working on a few bits and pieces for my so-called Cold City Companion. A big part of this is a very expanded section of advice and guidance on running games of Cold City. Something I really want to focus on is what I have termed 'open' and 'closed' games.
My initial notes on these are below and any advice and thoughts you might have, either based on play experience (in Cold City or any other games) or just based on what is written here, would help a lot. Bear in mind, these are the equivalent of some hastily scribbled notes and may contain some advice that other may think is a bit daft!
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Open & Closed Games
When it comes to all the dark secrets, hidden agendas and mysterious histories that characters in Cold City can have, there are two broad possibilities on how to play with them. For the purposes of discussing how to approach and run games of these two different types, I’ve decided to call them open and closed games.
What is an open game?
Put simply, an open game is one in which all of the participants are aware of the hidden agendas and other secrets of all the characters taking part. As we will see, there are advantages and disadvantages to this in terms of ongoing play.
The very process of creating characters for an open game should, by its very nature, involve a great deal of collaboration and co-operation between players. Knowledge of hidden agendas gives players powerful tools to bring conflict and tension into the ongoing story by ‘pushing the buttons’ of other people’s characters.
An open game requires trust amongst the group that the players will use the information at hand to advance the story, rather than use it purely to advance their own character and their characters agendas.
The open game does, to a great extent, take a lot of weight from the shoulders of the GM. Rather than one person being aware of the hidden secrets round the table, there are many who are aware, so they can all use this to improve the flow of play and the story being told. For groups who are keen to play in this manner, the open game is the ideal style.
What is a closed game?
As you may have already guests, a closed game is one in which the players are unaware of the hidden agendas of any characters other than their own. They may develop an inkling of what these are as the game develops, but at the start, they will have no clues as to the hidden motivations of the other characters.
Character creation should still be a collaborative, community process but there will be certain elements that remain outside the sphere of discussion. Hidden Agendas are the very obvious elements, where each player will decide the agendas for their character in discussion with the GM.
Closed games are ideally suited for those groups who want to have that real feeling of not knowing exactly what the other characters are up to and what their motivations are. There is also the excitement of exploring and deciphering the motivations of a character, both in character and as a player. Like completing a tricky clue in a crossword puzzle, the sudden realization of and potential revealing of the hidden agenda of another character can provide great satisfaction and rewarding moments of play.
However, the closed game does place a lot of responsibility on the shoulders of the GM, as she is the only figure at the table to have full knowledge of what the secrets are of all the characters. The GM must, therefore take on responsibility of understanding what it is that the hidden agendas represent and how they feed into what the individual players want from the game experience.
