Darkness Emergent Dev Blog 3

We’ve been working really hard at the next installment of Darkness Emergent. There are a few things I’d like to share as we’re getting ready to formally start the writing process. First, I’m thrilled that we have Alex Ward joining us. I first met Alex in 2016 when he was performing at Labyrinth of Jareth, and I thought he was exceptional. Alex was also the #1 most requested guest in the poll we sent out after Chicago, so when I had a call scheduled to tell him about us, the game, and the community we’ve created, I felt no small amount of pressure! As it happens, he had heard great things about Chicago, and said he’s very much looking forward to joining us. If anything, I was probably overly prepared to have to sell him on things. He’s also a great person with a genuine love of all things Vampire. As I’m planning out the development cycle for the next event, I’ve got a bit of a challenge. Specifically, we’re expanding our game to two nights. That may seem not too daunting of a task, but given the ways we wrote for Chicago and San Antonio, there are a few things that have to change.

Our development cycle previously functioned something like this:
First month: Factions - prepare faction descriptions, agendas, and letters
Second month: Tentpole plots - These are primary plotlines that must point toward one of the core themes of the event. We write previews for these, and are designed with the featured guests in mind.
Third month: Side plots - These are additional plots with no major restrictions, and writers can turn in one or more. However, they shouldn’t take up too much from the event.
The result was a very intense Saturday night with players having the opportunity to pursue multiple stories, plots and agendas. The problem, though, is that if we’re doing 2 nights, we can’t exactly double this formula. The business team (who already graciously allows me to stretch the prop budget every event) would not be able to accommodate twice the number of writers, and we can’t do a 6 month development cycle - it’s a very intense process as it is, and we all need the time to decompress. The question then becomes, how should we move forward?

Can we write more content?
There is the option to simply write the same amount of material and space it out over 2 days. The single-night format we’ve done in the past is very intense, arguably a little too fast-paced at times with everything happening. However, reducing the density of story content poses a bit of a risk. One of the reasons our previous format worked so well was that with so much happening, people couldn’t participate in every plot. Time was a precious resource, and it meant that people would be more inclined to trade away plot objects as it wasn’t possible to do everything. It also meant that it was impossible for a single group of people to do everything. If we expand the timeframe, it’s very possible that more aggressive players will end up participating in every storyline, as time is no longer a factor. I don’t think that everyone has to participate in a story to have fun, but I think feeling like you can’t join in on something feels disappointing. It’s important to me that everyone gets their opportunity to shine. I think we’re definitely going to try and write a bit more, even if it’s just a side plot or two.

Can we make the plots bigger?
Another consideration is to simply expand the reach of plots. That’s something we’re working on doing, but there are likely to be limits. Aaron was able to accommodate the appx. 30 people who wanted to shut down Pentex’s spirit harvesting machine in San Antonio, but Paul’s story about the Risen girl who wanted revenge on her murderers worked best with the 8 or so people it involved. We’re also growing quite a bit, so it’s possible in the future that we may have to manage groups of 40 or 50 in some cases. The question I’m going to start asking the writers for each new storyline is how many “tickets to ride” there are. We’re going to make sure to do some stories that have a very wide degree of inclusion, such as the Lasombra and the bloodstones, but if we still have something where we feel we have to limit participation, we’ll do what’s best for the story. However, we’ll do our best to add means of secondary inclusion, such as with the Camarilla / Anarch summit, where people could serve as advisors even if they didn’t have a seat at the table.

Can we make the plots longer?
I’ve also considered expanding the duration of stories. I’m already a fan of building in time to prompt people to get together and strategize. A ton of good roleplaying happens when people jockey for leadership roles or advocate for their positions. We can also use the time to do more buildup of stories. One of my favorite devices is to take an existing story and move the timeframe back a little bit. Most often when you’re writing something, you have a single cool moment that you’re planning. The Lasombra wither in defeat / exalt in triumph as they stare at the half / full jar of stones. The Camarilla and Anarchs shake hands as one of the participants knows his fate is sealed. Rather than rush toward that moment, we can often move the timeframe back. Still, we don’t want to be artificial in prolonging things. It’s possible players will want to rush to complete a story we have planned for two nights, and it would feel unrealistic if we asked people to stop and to do something later. It’s important that we use the additional time creatively in ways that will add to the experience.

Can we do something different or better?
The last thing I’m considering is to innovate something new that departs from the previous format. After San Antonio, the feedback was that the Meet the Prince event was too short, so I made it more of a salon where Prince Jackson sought advice on a few city matters. The format was very well-reviewed, and at one point of the night, I realized that I had a vehicle that was facilitating story content for roughly 50 people without me being run ragged. The player to ST ratio is something we have to carefully manage - a club game may have something like 20-1 or less, and we often operate closer to 40-1. If we have an opportunity to structurally engage more people without complex resources, we’re going to do it. I’ll likely bring this format back and iterate on it for Las Vegas.

That’s all for now! I hope everyone is enjoying their summer. I’ve heard rumors of new games forming and chronicles in development, which is really exciting.