In anticipation for the release of Chain×Link, my semi-cooperative dungeon-defying RPG, I am covering one aspect of the game’s design and development each week in July. Obtain a copy of the game by subscribing to the RPG Zine Club by Plus One Exp before August or purchasing the game directly from the Plus One Exp store once available.
An Act of Love
Note-takers. Every TTRPG group has at least one. It’s that person with the journal that scribbles down every NPC name, every town the group stays in, every bit of new lore. When the players, or even the gamemaster, can not recall a bit of information from a previous session, leave it to the note-taker to flip through her journal and recite the exact turn of events. Gamemasters love a note-taker.
Note-taking is an act of love, an investment in the game that tells everyone, “I’m invested in this, and I’m confident my effort is going to pay off for everyone.”
Note-taking in Chain×Link
In Chain×Link, the characters–called Breakers–make contributions to overcome Trials by drawing upon Assets. Assets are divided into two categories: equipment and experiences. Equipment is any physical tool or weapon. Experiences are core memories or key information that can be used as leverage or motivation. Experiences are defined by a short sentence that summarizes the memory or information in question.
Once the Breakers overcome a Trials, the GM gives them whatever equipment they earned, and also shares any new information they learned. It’s then up to the players to add that new information as a new experience onto their Breaker Sheet.
Essentially, experiences are notes. The GM has a suggested experience listed in the text to guide what information an NPC divulges, but each player decides how to write that information as an experience. Each player writes the experience in a slightly different way, or chooses to focus on a different aspect of the information gained. The Breakers use these experiences to influence how they contribute to future Trials.
The free-form nature of experiences allows players to tailor their experiences in the way that works best for their play style and character. One of the core facets of Chain×Link is to exploit the tools that confine them, which is demonstrated through this mechanism. Experiences, like any asset, are an expendable resource–it requires the stressing of a link (i.e., unmarking a box) to use the experience in a contribution. Limited asset slots and links encourages continual exploration, engagement with the game, and note-taking instead of relying on the same information or contribution each time. Cast aside the assets that are no longer useful to your Breaker. Item hoarding does not exist.
Signalling Interest
Notes are not simply records of what happened. They are filtered through a note-taker, who carries with them their own interests and desires. What a note-taker chooses to write down conveys to anyone who reads the note what that note-taker thought was important or interesting. It’s a de-facto method for a player to communicate to the others at the table where they want to go next in the game. But there is no guarantee that what is written down will become relevant later in play. How often do we forget those note nuggets buried somewhere in the pages of our journal?
Feedback Mechanisms
Mechanizing note-taking isn’t anything new. GM-less games are full of note-takers. More often than not, note-taking is baked into the rules as a way to establish consensus. Though in these cases, the rules direct a player as to what to write within the note. Aspects in Fate are an example of giving players agency over how to describe the current game state, which can be leveraged later on in the game. How the note is taken influences the actions that draw upon it.
Mechanisms such as these are an indirect way to understand a player’s playstyle. What interests them? How do they want to engage with the fiction? It’s a conversation about play by using the mechanisms of the game.