Flag Framing & The Conflict Web
I've just been reading of two very interesting tools for running games, Flag Framing and the Conflict Web. The Conflict Web is one that I've used - albeit not so formally - myself before, and found to be very useful.
Flag Framing, though, I'm not so sure about. It seems to certainly be a good way to run a game, but I'm not certain it would be a good way to run a campaign. I prefer my campaigns to have less improvisation and more planning, even if I improvise and go with the flow at a game level. In particular, I like to aim for particular cinematic or emotional scenes from a distance, building up a feeling for it as I go.
I'm reasonably certain that can't be done so easily in the context of Flag Framing, because it doesn't seem to allow for the lull in action, or the reflective or discussive scenes that serve to hook plot arcs and the events of a long campaign together. I suppose that like any tool, it should be used in moderation.
I'm fascinated by the way in which techniques like this are being given names and shapes by discussion online. I don't think that used to happen when people were communicating in small groups in person (or, at best, at convention panels and workshops) or via letters pages in magazines and fanzines. It seems that the internet has a lot to take credit for in the forming of theory and tools for role-playing games.
Posted by Drew Shiel at August 27, 2006 6:03 PM
