All right, perhaps this should be “Inductive Stories” rather than “Inductive Continuity”, but I just love the word “Continuity”.

By “story” or “continuity”, I’m referring to a series of events, their causes and their implications.  When you read a book, you explore the continuity until the book is finished.  Everything is revealed to you by the author.  (There may be some exceptions, but let’s not bother with those right now.)  So, this is the “standard” way stories are told.

Many roleplaying game sessions are set up like this.  The “game master” thinks up a series of events, and the players explore and find out what happened…or, they find out what the GM has planned to happen.  A lot of people enjoy playing this way (at least, I hope people don’t roleplay in a way they don’t enjoy).  Of course, I suspect that a lot of people believe this is the only way to roleplay.

So, are there alternatives?  Of course there are, why else would I be writing this post?

My first example comes from a pornographic Japanese computer game (yes, really).  Season of the Sakura was released in the US in 1996 (then again in 2002).  The game deals with a male high school college student who goes through a school year and eventually falls in love with a female student (and then consummates that love).  The main story is fairly linear; it all leads up to a choice between the three “main” female characters.  However, at certain points there are branches where you can get to know other students and explore a “happy ending” with them.

The interesting bit is the choice at the end between the three characters.  These are girls that “you” have been interacting with and getting to know for an entire school year.  And eventually you simply have to choose one of them.  From a selection box, basically.

After you choose one of the characters, the protagonist goes through a long train of thought, a soliloquy.  He (“you”) thinks about the chosen character and everything that they’ve been through together.  Then he has to go talk to the other two girls and let them down gently.

The really interesting part about all of this is the tone of the monologue and dialogues.  If you choose Reiko, the protagonist reflects on all the things they’d shared and how it was obvious Reiko was the right girl all along.  Choosing Mio will result in the protagonist explaining all his feelings for her and how they were more important than anything else.  In essence, the game attempts to convince you, the player, that whatever choice you make was the right choice all along.  In other words, continuity is not set in stone; it changes based on the choice you make.

Other games have run with this idea a bit more.  I’m going to quote a bit from a pencil-and-paper roleplaying game called InSpectres, released in 2002.  (Note that in this quotation, Jared Sorenson is first talking about what he doesn’t like in roleplaying games, and then he talks about how InSpectres does things differently.)

…the players stumble across a mystery of some sort.  The GM then provides clues…If the players are smart, they’ll figure it out.  If not, then the GM has to guide them along until they do figure it out.  In effect, it becomes an exercise for the GM in which the players are guided down a pre-built track and react to stuff that pops up along the way (not unlike a funhouse ride).  In the end, the game succeeds or fails on the merits of the GM running that game.

What this game does is to allow the GM to set up the events, but then have the players (through their characters) decide waht is really going on.  The GM then reacts to the players and what they see as intriguing or exciting elements of the story.

…This is a game where the players determine how the story progresses.  The GM is there to keep the pace, just like the bass player in the band…

So, what I call “inductive continuity” is the whole point of InSpectres (one of the points, anyway).

What’s the point of all this?  Actually, I’m not sure yet.  It’s just a particular game design strategy that may prove useful in the future…