How can I encourage a style of play where enhancing others' fun is the most important goal?

Question

Let's assume that we can break play styles into two categories: "selfish play," where you want to have fun, and "less-selfish play," where you want to have fun but you want everyone else at the table to have fun, too, and you're willing to sacrifice some of your fun to make the game fun for everyone.

What can be done to enhance the latter? Social contract? Tools? What can we as fellow players and gms do to bring out the latter?

Answer 1

Our very own Graham Walmsley has a book on this very subject: Play Unsafe. The core idea is to always build on others' contributions, never trying to block or frustrate the stuff that other players throw into the game. This creates a wonderful forward momentum where a lot happens fairly quickly, with high player investment and a large degree of the unexpected.

This core idea is developed in several ways (of which this is only a glimpse):

• Trust others to bring fun to the game, even if you don't see it right away.
• Always look for a way to say, "Yes, and…" to an idea.
• Don't try to be clever—do the obvious. Someone else will build on it in unexpected ways if you let them.

I've found that my gaming reflexes are hard to change since my attention is always taken up by plot, characterisation, problem-solving, or whatever else is going on in the game. So although I can briefly describe the core message of the book, the actual book is invaluable for steeping yourself in the right mindset to make these changes. Also, Graham just says it better than I can. I've read it several times, and each time it improves my play an increment.

The other nice benefit of this is that it is a personal suite of techniques that can be applied (almost?) regardless of social contract, so you don't need anyone else to start. Once you start, though, others will catch on.

Answer 2

I think that selfish play comes from players mistaking the game for a competition. It's not entirely those players who are at fault either. Many GMs take on an antagonistic approach, treating the game as a matter of players vs GM. Even if the players see themselves as teammates, the competitive tone is still there if the GM is opposing them. I think the GM needs to set a tone of collaboration.

On an entirely different note, I think creativity should be encouraged as a way to enhance everyone else's fun. If a player is able to push something into the game, that has the potential to provide the other players with an additional entity to interact with.

That was vague, so here's an example. I just started playing in a Dresden Files RPG campaign. The system is based on FATE and gives players way more narrative control than I'm used to seeing. One of the ways players can narrate is by making checks to add details or aspects to a scene. So lets say your party is fighting a vampire in a skyscraper that's being built. You could use your craftsmanship skill to notice that floors are still being built and there's an unstable patch over there. On a successful check, you'd add that aspect to the scene and another player could later take advantage of it.

We haven't played enough for me to see how that works out yet, but I like it a lot in theory. It encourages people to build things in the game that other people can use. Even if you were playing a complete non combat character, you could spend the whole fight imposing new aspects onto the scene that other players could use to their advantage.

Answer 3

From the GM perspective, there are a number of tools I use to make the game more cooperative. We play a very social-heavy, skill based game, so this can really work. I am at the office, so this will be quick and dirty and less than comprehensive.

1. Break up the players into small groups with unified goals and unified in-game support systems. Our game is called GuildSchool, and all players have multiple guild/group allegiances...setting up cooperative small and mid-level goals, you enhance a lot of the game. I love setting up 'odd-couple' groups like this in town...

2. Whenever possible, I encourage the players to use each other as resources to gain access to guilds/churches/organizations. This includes a certain subconsious 'us vs the world' reinforcement.

3. Allow for additive skill use in your systems. This is a wonderful mechanical way to enhance and change gameplay. When One player is using a social skill like bribery and the guy behind asks if he can add part of his indimidate skill, or if a sage with mechanical understanding wants to advise on a difficult bit of trap removel, our system is set up to add up to 25% of the additive skill to the success % of the person using the skill. The system teaches them to cooperate. Since experience is only given in skills that are used, the players also get exp rewards for doing this.

4. In addition, I give a roleplay exp bonus at the end of every session. Part of this is based on working together. I only started this a few years ago, and it has suprised me the amount of competition amongst all my players in who gets the biggest Roleplay exp bonus.

I also dump alignment, as it is usually a within-party deconstructor. But you can de-emphasize if you prefer. Personal opinion.

Answer 4

Normally I'm against this, but if you state explicitly that this is the purpose, having a system by where XP is awarded by other players on subjective grounds would be the way to go about this. Someone who plays selfishly won't get much XP, whereas someone who plays selflessly will get a lot more. You'd also have to ensure that XP as a reward enhances the fun of the player getting it.