Narrative causality in Discworld

[robkelk]

Now that there's no chance of this showing up in the new Discworld book - or, at least, not because I mentioned it - I though I'd share this. It's something of a shaggy-dog story.

During the "Landscape, with Quaint Features" adventure from Discworld Also, the PCs have to drain a man-made lake.

The decision was made to blow up the dam that was holding the water in the lake. Does the mage stand off to one side and downstream, and fireball the dam (the way one would expect a UU graduate to act)? No, he might be swept away by the oncoming water.

Instead, the mage rides on a broomstick imported especially from the largest town in the Ramtops for the occasion, and bounces fireballs off the water until they hit the dam.

I had to award a bonus for adhering to narrative causality - after all, the dam-buster was flying a Lancrester.

[johndallman]

Originally Posted by robkelk

I had to award a bonus for adhering to narrative causality - after all, the dam-buster was flying a Lancrester.

Good work, sir!

[Refplace]

Hmm.
I never really thought of this before but I can see this as something like the opposite of Mage.
Do something that the universe supports and you get a bonus TDM.
So a universe where narrative causality is a thing can actually make things easier or harder when your doing things the proper way.

[robkelk]

Exactly. In worlds where stories have power (like Discworld), invoking a story that works the way you want should give you a benefit. In this case, the benefit was a bonus to the roll.

EDIT: Similarly, if you try acting against the story, sometimes the story fights back - in game mechanics, a penalty to the roll. However, I think it's fair to assess that penalty only when the players know in broad strokes what story is being told. (And if I assess the penalty and the player succeeds spectacularly anyway, the story gets re-written because the character forced it to change.)