DB

There was a fun blogpost by Prismatic Wasteland that encouraged designers to make a new resolution mechanic–

and naturally, I wanted to make an un-resolution mechanic.

Wave Function Collapse

What happens when something resolves? Well, that means that something happens. There is a period of uncertainty as to what could happen, and then it settles into our sense of reality. It’s sort of like a wave function collapse in quantum mechanics.

I’m not a quantum physicist, but I’m gonna give a shot at this.

Remember Schrodinger’s cat? I think it was a thought experiment to illustrate how quantum superposition was silly. There’s a cat in a box, and it’s uncertain whether a poison(?) will denature and kill the cat or not. That means, until the box is opened, until the results of the events are observed, the cat is both dead and alive.

Which is silly, right? But hey, it describes the idea of quantum superposition, and the wave function collapse. When you observe something or measure something that’s happening for quantum things, they settle into one state.

So, what’s the opposite of the wave function collapse?

That’s right, quantum superpositions.

Uncertainty.

We’re getting crazy now, kids!

Inspiration

Like a fever, I began to cackle. This was stupid. I am drawing on Everything Everywhere All at Once, that one episode of Rick and Morty “A Rickle in Time“, and that one episode of Community “Remedial Chaos Theory“. And also, the improv games of New Choice and the game that I know as Terrible T-Shirt. It’s also a play on classic Choose Your Own Adventure books!

And as an improviser, I of course am imagining my fellow teammates cackling as we try to play through this deranged mechanic.

The Resolution Mechanic

We’re gonna work with a few things here. One, is the assumption that we’re gonna play a GM-less game. Everyone has equal power in the narrative and what can happen.

The other, is the dice. The Quantum Die changes as the game progresses, following the progression of:

d2 > d4 > d6 > d8 > d12 > d20 > d100

And then, we count back down:

d100 > d20 > d12 > d8 > d6 > d4 > d2

When do we think about rolling? Well, when we think something uncertain is about to happen. It can be when your character feels uncertain about something, or if you think that a character or an aspect of the scene could potentially be uncertain at any given point in the game.

But, you don’t roll a die to see if something does or doesn’t happen, or if something good or bad happens–

You roll a die to see which event happens.

At any point of uncertainty, a player can pick up the current quantum die and say: “Someone said something, and I’m not sure…”

“Joe said ‘I like your pants’, and I’m not sure how my character will take it–“

“Jane said ‘the room is small’, and I’m not sure why that is–“

“Geoffrey said ‘I punch you in the mouth’, and I’m not sure if I’ll clap him–“

The idea is to acknowledge what someone said as a jumping point for ways that the story and the world can change. By restating what someone else already said, you do a few things: you acknowledge that you heard their contribution, you remind others of what they said, and you give your fellow players an understanding of what the inspiration for their choices is.

After someone declares that something is uncertain in the scene, all players chime in with new choices, paths, and alternate realities of how the uncertainty can resolve based off of the point chosen.

If the uncertainty is the effects of a character’s choice, the choices and paths can be possibilities of how a character or the world responds to the action. If the uncertainty is an aspect of the world, the choices and paths can be any additional justification for why that aspect of the world is the way that it is. If the uncertainty is the feelings of a character and how they’ll act on them, the choices and paths can be the many different ways that that character will act.

Players only present as many choices as there are numbers on the quantum die. If the quantum die is a d2, they may only present 2 choices. If it is a d100, they may present up to 100 choices. They must be said rapidly, without a significant amount of time spent between when each choice is said, and the players must do their best to remember the order that the choices are presented in.

When the player holding the quantum die receives maximum number of choices, or if they feel that the silence between choices is too long, or if they just want to roll the die, they roll it. The number on the die represents the number of choice that is made, and that is the new reality. You resume play with the new reality set.

After rolling, determine if the die size increases or decreases.

The die size decreases if:

1. The group did not present the maximum amount of choices
2. The group can’t remember what the choice associated with the number was

If the die size decreases, the roller can decide what happens.

If the die size does not decrease, it instead increases and is placed back on the table until a new uncertainty shows up.

As the die size gets bigger, your choices may get wackier and stranger, so long as you honor what was chosen and what was already said at the table. Think of departing to the strangest, most unlikely alternate universe. If your quantum die is near or at d100, you have the freedom to establish and change the world in weird ways!

And as you wind back down in die size, these choices are closer to enforcing what was already established. Choices around a d4 emphasize a character’s love for another, gives tumultuous weather during conflicts, and highlights a compliment and how it affects the receiver.

So, are you going to stay in a familiar world, or will it go strange? I guess ya gotta play and see.