Last time I discussed how RPGs can be designed to fit together, one after the other, building an experience beyond any single game. Whether linking characters, events, or themes, the differences and similarities open up new opportunities for seeing the same things from different perspectives. However, a linear structure is not the only way to design groups of RPGs this way. Sometimes its better to go off the line, and explore other ways to connect RPGs.

Back and Forth

The simplest variant of a line is to loop it back on itself. This works for linking RPGs as well. The particular nature of a cycle enables repetition, revisiting the same elements over and over again. Focusing and refocusing the same series of short RPGs can unfold meaning like an onion or it can build a sense of continuity stage by stage.

For example, consider a cycle of RPGs taking the same characters through an adolescent coming of age, an adult military campaign, and then mature political intrigue, and then cycling through the children and heirs of those characters. Whether examining long term consequences or building an organic dynasty, this cycle shows generations in a way a single game cannot.

In many ways, a cycle of RPGs is no harder to design than a line. The only extra step is to ensure that the loops are all connected. At its simplest, that means connecting the last game with the first, in some manner. More complicated looping can be done, however, perhaps capping the cycle with a finale, or even providing alternate paths and multiple loops.

Up and Down

Cycles and lines all share one basic feature: one RPG ends before the other begins. But this is not a requirement either. Much like subsystem in most RPGs, subgames can be introduced, played, and completed, within the context of another RPG. The purpose of this approach to multi-RPG design is to narrow and broaden the focus of the games.

Because these RPGs are not sequential, linking them requires determining how to enter and leave the nested RPG. A simple example is using a fairly flexible long term political RPG, with two nested RPGs, one for romance and one for the trials of war. Alternatively, you might have a nested RPG sparked whenever a player has particular interest in a historical event, playing that event as a story with a foregone conclusion. Perhaps this game can nest further, within itself, as new events are references.

In any case, the main distinction is that nested games must narrow the scope of the RPG that contains them. They contribute to the larger game by that focus, and the crux of that contribution is ensuring that the translation between the games is as seamless as possible. Most easily, this is done by simply incorporating events, without mechanical changes, but sometimes mechanical outcomes can help bring home the purpose of the inner game.

All Around: Interwoven

Taking nested games one step further, it is even possible to interweave RPGs, so that different RPGs affect each other trading off without concluding. This avoids one of the basic concerns with most multi-RPG designs, that most of the RPGs must conclude in a reasonable amount of time. By weaving them together, long form RPGs can be combined, without requirement to end one to return to the other.

Design-wise the links are not too different than designing for nested RPGs, and in some sense is much easier. Here, for example are parallel campaigns and such published RPGs as Fireborn. The main goal is to build RPGs that complement each other, mixing themes or play styles to combine the focus of different RPGs with the flexibility some groups may require.

In a sense, this category is the largest, since it includes all the other approaches to multi-RPG design. However, that flexibility is also a design risk. By loosing the constraints it becomes very easy to let the RPGs lose focus, and become less than they could be. Because ultimately, the purpose is to make those RPGs become more together than simply the sum of each alone.

Like all design decisions, making a course of RPGs should not be done lightly. But it remains an option in any RPG design, a question to answer, not to ignore.

Next Month: Rule Number One