(Continued from yesterday…)

Autopsy 6 – Too much Structure

A huge problem in presenting Hell for Leather lies in my confidence. Since I’ve started HfL I’ve been working toward something I can’t quite make out, something solid and organic, like a big chunk of wood that needs sculpting. As I get closer to completion I begin to see what’s missing and what’s extraneous. Until I have the confidence that this version is neither lacking nor loading erroneous parts, I’m in trouble. No confidence = no enthusiasm = no fucking point.

Luckily I’ve identified another tumour in the rules. There’s too much structure. It’s all tied into this new Story Pip currency. Once you run out of Story pips, the narrative suffers. That’s lame.

Fix: Make the Pool of Story Pips indefinite (no shortage = no problem). Broaden the scope of the narrative contributions by lowering their number (boil it down to characterisation and scene setting [Character & Backdrop]). Set up a new option called Challenge (where players pay other players to explore the narrative).

Conclusion

It hurt. Oh boy did it hurt.

But as the old saying goes, “no pain no gain.”