Conflicts and Conflict Resolution

From StoryCodex

Conflicts and Conflict Resolution are a fundamental element of most Story Games. A conflict occurs when a scene may have more than one possible outcome. The most straightforward form of this is a simple question of whether or not the character(s) involved in the scene get what they want from it (Do I escape the monster? Do I find the clue? Do I keep my secret?). A broader and more useful context is, when faced with a variety of interesting outcomes, which one serves the narrative best. An added complication would be two or more players pursuing competing outcomes to the scene. Conflict resolution is the technique used to choose an outcome.

A game's conflict resolution system is there to help you create new and interesting situations. Therefore, you can argue that conflict resolution is really the heart of what makes a story game what it is.

The word "conflict" here doesn't necessarily refer to conflict between characters, or to characters at all. More importantly, it definitely doesn't refer to real conflict between players. If two people in the game are really at loggerheads over where things should go, and they aren't leaving that competitive aspect in the game or are taking things personally, no game's conflict resolution system is going to help you the way that just talking it out can.

In improv theater, there is (nominally) no such thing as a conflict as described here. The rule of "Yes, And..." stipulates that whenever anyone introduces anything into the scene, the other performers accept and build on it. There are very, very few instances where it's even allowed, let alone dealt with in some special way, to put forth two different ways in which the story could go. The story goes in one direction: forward, step by step and input by input.

In most story games, this is not the case. Instead, they have times where the players use rules, and usually "step outside the fiction" or out of character, to choose between two (or more) possible new situations that could arise from the current situation.

[edit] Conflict Resolution vs. Task Resolution

The phrase "conflict resolution" has also come to mean (in some contexts) a particular approach to directing play, noteworthy for being conceptually different from how character actions are perceived in traditional table-top play.

Historically, role-playing games have used "task resolution" to adjudicate scenes and move the narrative. In such an approach, each individual action performed by a character (swinging a sword, attempting to break a lock, singing a song) is isolated and tested according to a rule to determine whether that one particular action resolves as the player intends. The character may then perform another action that takes into account the result of the previous, and so on. The accumulated results of several actions than indicate how the overall scene is resolved. This can add suspense and uncertainty to the story, by drawing out the resolution into many incremental steps. However it can also slow pacing and imbue an analytically mechanical feel to play.

In contrast, "conflict resolution" means taking a step back and using rules once to determine the outcome of what would have been several rules interactions under "task resolution" - essentially focusing on what the entire scene is about in a dramatic sense and resolving that instead of the many steps executed in the pursuit of it. Usually this takes the form of resolving a character's (slightly) larger goal - killing an enemy, getting what's inside the bank vault, comforting a loved one - and then going back and figuring out the specifics of how it happens. This has the advantage of focusing play squarely on drama and leaving participants a lot of room to invent details, however it also works against verisimilitude, since it encourages players to maintain a metatextual awareness of the narrative.

A more concise example/explanation credited to (and paraphrased from) Vincent Baker:

TASK RESOLUTION:

A: I try to bust open the safe!
B: Why?
A: To get the dirt on the supervillain!
B: Okay - roll the dice to see if you bust open the safe.

CONFLICT RESOLUTION:

A: I try to bust open the safe!
B: Why?
A: To get the dirt on the supervillain!
B: Okay - roll the dice to see if you get the dirt on the supervillain.

In some games, conflict resolution is associated with complementary mechanics (setting stakes, for example) and it is implied that such mechanics are inherently part of the conflict resolution process. But they're different things! Also, it's important not to assume this "standard" means of resolving conflicts is present in a game's rules just because you see the phrase "conflict resolution." It might mean the general meaning rather than the specific one. It always pays to read the rules in full!