Review of Dream Factory, Second Edition

Dream Factory is an interesting universal system based around the idea of collaborative, narrative play. There is no setting in the book, but there is a mechanically sound core that provides enough new ideas to appeal to fans of narrative play who are looking for something a little different.

Collaborative and narrative are integral to the game's design. If neither of these appeal to you, look elsewhere. Indeed, play starts with players and GM working together to establish not only the game world, but the rules on how that world will operate.

Creating a game world starts with picking a genre or mood. This could be Spaghetti Western, Gritty Crime Drama, or Gallows Humor Horror. The hook is next. This could be Disparate Gunslingers Out for Revenge, Outlaw Bikers Struggling to Find Honor in a Dark World, or Wisecracking Paranormal Experts Investigate Hidden Horrors.

The gaming group then selects two “lynchpins” to reinforce the most important aspects of the game world. These lynchpins have real teeth – if players adhere to them they are rewarded at the end of each game session with Karma – more on that in a bit.

Let's use a sample world with Spaghetti Western of Disparate Gunslingers for the genre just because it's one I enjoy. Working together, the players and GM might choose the following lynchpins.

Mercy is For the Weak (It's a hard world in the West and only the weak can afford mercy. People aren't given second chances, and the only proper gift for an enemy is a bullet in the head.)

Harsh Environment (The sun is hot and high in the sky. Water is scarce. There are poisonous snakes and hungry wolves. It's hard to survive.)

If, during a session, a player has made sure to highlight one or both lynchpins, he gets a reward of 1 Karma per lynchpin highlighted. Using the above examples, a player might have his character turn his back on a poor farmer in need in order to pursue his revenge and earn a Karma. Or he might describe how his character arrives in town, dying of thirst and suffering from intense sunburn, to earn a Karma for bringing the harsh environment to the forefront.

The last thing to do is to set any safeties for the game world. A safety is a rule protecting the players. This could be something as dramatic as no character death, or even no major character failures. Or it could be more specific like characters will never permanently lose their signature weapons. The idea behind this is to present a setting that is enjoyable to the group. If no one wants their character to die, then that can be explicitly built into the rules at this stage. With a revenge-theme Western, character death should probably be on the table.

The group is encouraged to fill in any important details at this point in the game, like maybe if the action will take place mainly in Mexico or even who the major villains will be.

Characters themselves are, mechanically, fairly simple. You pick four traits and one quandary, and that's about it. Traits are anything that describe the character. These can be positive or negative, but both can be used for beneficial effects in game. They allow you to add dice to your pool when appropriate. A negative sounding trait like Mean Streak could provide a bonus die if you're trying to act intimidating, for example.

A quandary is something that causes problem for your character. This could be Drunk or Near Sighted, for example, in the Western game. If you make sure your quandary comes to the forefront (whether by embracing it or fighting it), you get a Karma point at the end of the session.

Finally, individual characters can have safeties as well. So, if everyone is down for playing a gritty Western, but John absolutely hates the idea of his character dying, then John's character can have a safety - “no character death.”

So, how does all of this work together?

Everyone at the table has two 6-sided dice, including the GM. These are considered base dice and are always available to roll for an Outcome Check. The GM also starts with a number of Edge dice equal to the number of players (including GM) plus one. If there are three players and the GM, then the GM gets 5 Edge dice.

Whenever an action is in doubt and provides a degree of dramatic tension, an Outcome Check is called. Players state what they want as the outcome and roll against the GM. There is one roll per action. So, in a fight, there are no back and forth attack rolls. The players state their individual intentions for the fight and roll. If they succeed, they get to narrate their success. If they fail, the GM gets to narrate how they failed. In combat, this would mean the GM could state a player was killed (if there are no Safeties in play).

I use combat as an example, again, because I think this is where some groups may have the biggest opinions on the game. Personally, I like it. There are plenty of games out there that already do traditional combat, and it’s a nice change of pace to have combat resolved by one roll. But I can see a significant number of gamers inherently opposed to this idea.

When any Outcome Check is called for, the GM takes his two dice and decides whether he wants to add any Edge dice. Each player then takes their two base dice and decides if they want to risk any of their traits.

Risking a trait means you get to add a die to your roll, as long as you can make a good case for why your trait is valuable in this situation. If your gunslinger has Level Headed, then more than likely you could risk that trait to add a die when taking part in a duel.

The GM then gets another chance to add more Edge dice if he wants, then the players can decide to bring in more traits if possible, and this continues until neither side wants to add any more dice to their pool.

All players then roll their dice and add them together. Any rolls that beat the GM's succeed; the players get to describe how the action unfolds. Any players that roll under the GM's number fail and have their failure narrated by him.

If a player won, then he has also burnt any traits that were risked. These traits cannot be called upon again until they are refreshed.

If a player lost, then his trait remains fresh, or unburnt. Not only that, but the GM distributes all of the Edge dice that he used to all of the players who lost. So, if the GM used 4 Edge dice and two players rolled lower than him in an Outcome Check, then each player would receive two Edge dice. Any traits that they risked would remain fresh and not burnt.

These Edge dice can be returned by players to the GM at any time in exchange for having two of their traits unexhausted of the GM's choice.

Karma can be spent after a roll to add dice at a ratio of 1:1.

In addition, Karma can be spent during the game to add Effects (short-term benefits, like recognizing the bartender as an old friend, or having a loaded gun under your pillow ready to fire on ambushers) or Boons (more permanent effects... like having the bartender be your long-lost best friend or owning an infamous and powerful firearm rumored to have been forged by Samuel Colt with help from the Devil himself).

Levels of Effects/Boons are broken into Minor/Major/Ultimate categories. The temporary Effects cost 1/3/5 Karma to purchase. The more permanent Boons cost 2/4/7 to purchase and 0/1/2 to activate. The Devil-forged gun could be a Minor Boon if it were simply fine looking a superior firearm, a Major Boon if it fired flaming bullets that cut through steel like hot butter, or an Ultimate Boon if it had a soul and could meld with a gunslinger to make him the Grim Reaper incarnate for a short amount of time.

A single Karma can also be spent to heighten a scene. Heightening a scene simply allows the player to add more narrative detail to it in order to make it stand out an important part of the story. Imagine it like allowing the player to take control of a camera and do a slow zoom-in or send the action into a cool slow-motion effect.

Finally, and what I find most interesting, Karma can be used to negotiate with the GM. Dream Factory encourages the players to makes deals with the GM during play. For example, a player could offer the GM Karma in order to automatically succeed at an Outcome Check. The GM can't use Karma, but this would deplete player resources, making it more difficult for them to succeed later. The book suggests a variety of ways to negotiate, and it's an interesting idea. It's been present in other games, but I haven't seen it brought out in the spotlight quite like this game does.

Edge dice can also be used to bargain. In fact, the game suggests that anything is really up for grabs in negotiation. A GM could, for example, offer a player a point of Karma or two if the player agrees that the main villain can escape this time.

In addition to earning Karma through highlighting lynchpins and quandaries, players can also get extra points for doing homework outside of the session. The GM might offer a Karma point to anyone who brings snacks, or maybe two points of Karma if a player is willing to creating a floor plan for a location or create NPCs for the GM to use.

Player characters don't really advance in typical manners. Sure, they can spend Karma to create a Boon, but they can never have more than four traits, and each trait can never bring in more than one die when risked. Traits can be switched out, though. So, if you think your Cynical gunslinger has been around enough caring people that his outlook has changed, you could change that trait to Caring or Open Minded or something else appropriate.

At the end of a season (story arc comprising a handful of sessions), players get to either choose a Capstone or a Subplot.

Capstones put a sense of completeness or finality on a completed goal in the game. There are two types. A Victory Capstone rounds out an accomplishment. Say the last few sessions have been built around clearing out a town of criminal elements and the main villain has been defeated. Choosing a Victory Capstone would allow the rest of the town to be cleaned up - even of low level scum - and maybe even start some prosperity going for the town.

A Triumph Capstone creates a sense of permanence. Say the players have spent the last few sessions brokering a peace between townsfolk and natives. A Triumph Capstone would ensure that peace lasts and that hostilities won't arise again due to a few hotheads.

Subplots are just that, secondary stories that the player would like to see in the game. An Activation Subplot creates and entirely new situation in the game. A player could choose an Activation Subplot to introduce a romantic interest, family problems, or even stumble across part of a treasure map.

An Escalation Subplot injects some life into a part of the game that is present but hasn't been developed. A player could use this to escalate a rivalry with a farmer they refused to help earlier in the game – maybe that farmer was so angry that he gave up his plow and picked up a six gun. Or an Escalation could be used to stumble across a scholar who happens to know how to read all the fine details of that undecipherable treasure map that was found last session.

Dream Factory is a 7”x10” book. The rules fill up approximately 80 pages with an additional 50 pages of suggestions on how to tweak the game (including prolonged, more detailed combats) as well as advice for both players and game masters.

I’m not going to cover these advice sections in detail. You’ll be sold on the game by its concept and rules. But since they take up a good chunk of the book, I do feel the need to comment.

These chapters are well done. There are a significant number of rules tweaks offered – some of which the author states were discarded during playtesting, but which he feels might still be of value to some groups. The nice thing is, he says why the rules were set aside from the main text and tells you how you can expect them to change the game.

The advice section is pertinent and helpful. The author explains why the game is built the way it is.

He tells players how to use Negotiation and how to get Karma and use it. He explains how to play the game, how to have fun, and what is expected. Game masters get advice on how to create engaging stories, how to decide when to players’ are using their traits appropriately and when they are abusing them, and how to pace the handing out of Karma.

Advice sections in roleplaying games run the gamut. Although I’ve seen few that I would consider truly awful, many times it is generic and easily ignored. The advice in Dream Factory is specific to the game and useful.

The book is very well written. I tend to like reading games that have a strong authorial tone like Feng Shui or Blood & Honor. Dream Factory isn't as strong in tone as most John Wick games, but it definitely has a voice. Reading the book felt like the author was talking to me in a clear and patient manner, showing how the game works and why it works that way. It is one of the cleaner games I've read in a while. I was never confused or thought the book was leaving out any important information. It is organized quite well and has an appendix. I noticed only two or three very minor typos.

There is absolutely no art in the book and the layout itself is, although perfectly legible, bare bones. I like art in my games, but if you're going to go with no art, then I guess way to do it is with a generic system like Dream Factory where there is no established genre or mood that you are trying to convey. Still, I find the lack of art disappointing.

If you have an interest in narrative systems, and don't mind the lack of an established setting, then I recommend you check Dream Factory out. The game is available at DriveThru RPG as a PDF for $9.95, softcover Black and White for $14.95 and hardcover Black and White for $19.95. The game is priced reasonably for the content.

Layout

I give Dream Factory a Style of 3. The book really needs some art. It's not an attractive game by any sense. However, the minimalist layout does make it very easy to read. There are very few typos, and it is a genuine pleasure to read. Concepts are explained clearly with ample examples. The author has a distinct and enjoyable tone of voice. Character sheets and other reference sheets are provided, as well as an index. I was really on the edge for this score, but the readability and organization of the game tilted me from a 2 to a 3.

Substance

I give Dream Factory a very solid Substance of 4. This is a complete game with some interesting ideas. It isn't revolutionary, but it does have some mechanics that I have not seen used in other games, at least not in the same way. The rules are complete, as are the instructions on how to play the game. Obviously, you have to be willing to give narrative a play a shot. If you're just not into games where you don't have hit points and where armor and weapon stats don't matter, then you're unlikely to find anything here to change your mind.