In HfL, before play begins, players collectively decide upon a sequence of objectives that will make up the narrative anchors of the game’s fiction. These are called Checkpoints. In the beta draft there are some dedicated notes as to how to choose a good Checkpoint, but it’s all very vague. I’d like to clarify that today.

Themes

First of all, there’s going to be some spring cleaning. The game book advises the following themes for Checkpoints 1, 2 & 3: Escape, Destroy and Access. These themes were derived more than contrived. That is, I looked at playtests that “worked” and tried to derive a fun formula common to each of those sessions. It seemed like it was working until I put it under the microscope.

Problem

The problem with these themes is that they don’t address the narrative whole. We know that we have to get from the Drop-Off to the Objective, completing these three Checkpoints along the way, but when we decide on these Checkpoints at the beginning of the game we tend to choose three disparate events or three overlapping events.

With disparity comes clumsiness. You get isolated stories which are unsatisfying to tie together. E.g. We blow up the Sydney Opera house. Now we have to destroy a bullet train. Eh, is there even a bullet train in Australia?

Conversely, when you stack up events so they make narrative sense, you get this overlapping effect. E.g. We blow up the Sydney Opera house. Now we have to terrorize Sydney. Eh, haven’t we just done that?

Clearly both these examples are overstated. However, even much smaller scale disparity and overlaps can cause upset.

Solution

In assessing the issue, I came to understand that the biggest problem area for disparity/overlap was at the junction points of the second Checkpoint. That’s because the origin, Checkpoint 1, and destination, Checkpoint 3, are fixed to a location and a narrative notion (intro/outro). The second Checkpoint, liberated from either fixed point, sticks out like a sore thumb. To remedy that scenario, I’ve decided to integrate the first and second Checkpoint into one leg.

Leg

Checkpoints 1 and 2 should now tell the same story. This is the story of the team’s journey toward the location of their Objective. That way, both Checkpoints are tied thematically. If the team start off in Japan (their Drop-Off) and have to get to the Sydney Opera house (their Objective), Checkpoints 1 and 2 will deal with reaching Sydney. Checkpoint 3, thematically, remains unchanged (it still deals with Access).

Themes revised

So how should the Checkpoint themes be presented? Checkpoint 1 and 2, while explicitly of the same leg of the journey, should be segregated into two parts, one part covert and one part overt. Checkpoint 1, will now be described “Covert,” while Checkpoint 2 will be described “Hunted.” Sweet.

Checkpoint 1 – Covert

For your first Checkpoint, you’re going to be trying to get from your Drop-Off to your Objective. Imagine where you are now and the types of fun challenges that might pop up on the way to your Objective. Choose the most interesting, epic and dangerous. But make sure it’s covert. E.g. You start in Tokyo baseball ground and your Objective is the Sydney Opera House. It’s a long way to Japan. Maybe your first Checkpoint would be to sneak on board an aeroplane. Or maybe it would be to kidnap a Japanese official to use as leverage to take a flight.

Checkpoint 2 – Hunted

For your second Checkpoint, you’re still trying to reach your Objective, but now you’re much further along in your journey. Think of a new challenge, something dangerous, that you would need to work hard at to overcome. What enemy could be waiting for you? What impossible situation could you try to escape? For this Checkpoint, think big, strategic and full of pursuit. E.g. When you arrive in Sydney, maybe the airport is surrounded on all sides by the army. Or maybe you land somewhere else and on the way to Sydney you have to escape Jack the Knife and the Devil’s Backbones, a band of deadly bounty hunters.

Playtest

I’m not sure how it will stand up to tomorrow’s playtest, but I have high hopes. I foresee a bit of replay fatigue if every time you play you are forced to stick to this formula, so I’ll have to leave some room to explore other kinds of Checkpoints in the final text. The more I dwell on it, the more I see a wiki with a package of “scenario” examples. I’ve always wanted a wiki…