Welcome to this second post of this series. I could make this post very short by suggesting a reading: in the “Complete Kobold Guide to Game Design” by Wolfgang Baur there is a full chapter dedicated to this topic. It is really very interesting and well written: for sure you’ll find more satisfaction on that text rather than this blurb. I admit I found it both extremely objective and inspiring (I read it before Covid years, I don’t remember exactly when, maybe 2018 or 2019) however those concepts are general and not related to the KUP model.
I will also pass on the general concepts of a social contract in a RPG group (blablabla… an absolute must is to avoid that the game is run to exalt the thirst of control of the GM as well as the one of power of the players… blablabla… no one should ever be in search to demonstrate that he is the most clever out of the group… blablabla…) these are useless words, it is a waste of time and bytes writing about those abominations (which unfortunately occur from time to time!).
What is ‘special’ in a KUP game in terms of social contract is that the GM should always try to explain in advance what could be the effects of the KUP model during the game. The players should be aware they should try to avoid ‘workarounds’ to understand the hidden part of their player’s info: without any clarification beforehand made by the GM, there is a high risk that the KUP model gets wasted by the ‘human curiosity’… The first part of the social contract is therefore the agreement between GM and players to follow the ‘principle of time’: those unknown stats will be unveiled as time (and game) goes by and not only! This approach will lead the character to improve up to his limits and, at the same time, to enjoy the immersion rather than maths/probability calculations. The better example is the circumstance where a character has to jump a chasm: the player should not consider what could be the damage taken by his character in order to take the decision… he should simply decide based on a ‘in his shoes’ vision: if he were the character, would he run the risk or not? On this aspect, the VI·VIII·X mechanics helps a lot as the Reasoning is not a character’s stat but the real player’s one so that character and player are on the same plane.
The second topic comes straight from the previous one: the overall ‘fil rouge’ of a KUP gaming session is immersion. The deeper the players are in the game context, the better will be the outcomes. Let me add that in case of ‘total immersion’, then the first recommendation would be useless! (at the same time a ‘total immersion’ can be reached easily by following the first recommendation…) The GM should try to do his best at the inception to explain that a ‘total immersion’ brings only advantages under several aspects: the fun and in-game enjoyment (it is the first and most important one, needless to say!), the development of the characters (because the higher is the immersion and the largest are the rewards for the role-play, thus the quicker is the PCs growth) and, lastly, the trust in the GM and the fact that the largest part of mechanics are on his shoulder leaving the impression of a light-rules game in the eyes of the players (which should bring satisfaction to the GM…).
Third point in a KUP social contract derives from the last aspect here above: the trust in the GM. This may be understood as a feature of a general RPG social contract. Well, for the VI·VIII·X KUP FANTASY RPG, this is even more important than any other traditional RPG due to the information asymmetry! The trust in the GM has to be complete and blind, this is a prerequisite to obtain the fun on both sides: on the GM side because he will bear more responsibilities and on the players side because they will experience a more ‘roleistic’ experience than the ‘mainstream games’ (where stats have a heavy relevance). If this agreement is clear beforehand and every side is happy with these outcomes, then the KUP is the game for you!
The last part of the KUP social contract to consider is, once again, derived from the previous point: the GM has to make extremely clear the importance of the characters not in terms of stats but in terms of story (i.e. background) and consistency in their actions (i.e. morality above any other feature). The fact that both Presence and Reasoning are stats disabled in the mechanics and any logical/intellectual process as well as any social relationship has to be managed with the capabilities of the player instead of the PC’s stats helps a lot. Ah, I have likely commented in the core rules, however it is worth to mention that the role-play led with his own capabilities doesn’t exclude that a player (even a clever one) decides to play a dumb character! The more distant from his own capabilities the character is, the more difficult the role-play will be!
With reference to the last point and connecting this post with the previous one, the GM might find useful have a deeper insight of each character. This comes handy for two reasons: the first is to stress out the importance of the character’s character instead of his stats to the eyes of the players and make them conscious that this part is not only a theoretical approach but it really affects a KUP game. The second is to support the players to build a complete picture by deploying any aspect of their persona. This can be seen as an add-on of the details asked by the GM which have been explained in the first part of this series. Hereby some further questions useful to build a sounder and sounder character:
what is the character’s greatest desire?
what is the character’s greatest fear?
what tangible good is he looking for?
what intangible good is he looking for?
what is the secret the character has never told anyone?
what is the nastiest lie the character has ever told?
what is the most beautiful event in character’s life?
what is the most traumatic event in character’s life?
Many other similar questions to those listed here above could be asked, the GM should always focus on details which should help the player to have a clear and complete view of his character… but this is not the only benefit! The GM has a huge amount of information to make up a campaign based on some of these answers and create highly fitting situations to maximize players’ engagement and immersions! …at the end of the day, this is only the beginning!