I've been talking theory in all the previous essays; in this one I shall sketch out how I would implement my Arthurian storyworld using the new concepts for the Encounter System.
Three Act Structure
First Act
The first group of encounters would be introductory in
nature, helping the player get a feeling for the social,
economic, and military situation in early 6th-century
Britain. Arthur is the leader of the Romano-British
forces defending against the advance of the Saxons
westward across southern England. These encounters are
primarily expository in nature, providing--but more
important, requiring--little interaction. For the most
part, the player's choices will be simple choices
between self-assertion and personal goodwill. The
question the player will have to answer is: is it better
to be feared than loved?
This act will include 200 encounters, with the player experiencing 20 encounters per playing.
Second Act
The second group of encounters would provide deeper and
more complex interactions with the characters. This
would include a major cluster, the battle cluster,
already developed using SWAT; I would have to translate
the SWAT material into encounter format. I also intend
to include some other encounters that force Arthur to
decide how often to respond to characters' pleas for
intervention against Saxons. Some characters would
exaggerate the threat, taking Arthur on a wild goose
chase, while Saxons elsewhere wreak havoc. Players would
spend perhaps three-quarters of their time in the second
act.
The battle scene already includes about 200 verbs. The remainder of the second act will include another 200 verbs.
Third Act
The third act is initiated by Mordred raising the flag
of revolt. The characters then choose up sides. The
player's and Mordred's forces meet at Camlann, and a
battle is fought. I will probably want to use different
battle mechanics than those used in the second act's
battle cluster. This final battle resolves the story.
The third act will not need many encounters; the battle will be short and will not depend primarily upon tactical skill on Arthur's part. Most battles will be decided before the third act begins.
Every encounter would be specific to a character; there would be no abstraction in encounters. Unlike previous designs, there would be no female characters. I don't want to make matters even more complicated with romantic interactions.
I'm not sure how many characters I should use. I think I had 16 characters in the SWAT battle sequence; that's too many. But seven characters, the default size, is too small because victory or defeat at Camlann could be decided by a single defection.
Although I intend to hew closely to the standard system with three personality traits, I'll have to include the measures of the military strength and prowess of the different characters. This will require substantial changes to the encounter editor.