Merit Badges for Games

#1

Ok, so I saw this on twitter and thought it was a super interesting way to encourage player behavior: https://twitter.com/65thvictor/status/1115279026585841664?s=21

I’m not sure what these badges will be for in particular (the screenshot shows one just for a bad roll I think?) but I immediately thought about it being a great way to encourage a certain play culture. Just having some badges listed somewhere could go a long way to show new Gauntleers best practices for games.

Not to mention, the idea of including them in an actual rulebook (or as a digital add-on or whatever) seems like a cool way to set player and table expectations. I kind of want to add a little handout to every game I’ve written now.

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#2

I like that idea a lot! It’s like gamifying player principles/agenda in a way. My only concern would be if some people might take it too far and break their immersion in favor of getting the pretty, as well as the inevitable “I’m not doing as well as Player X, who has more badges than me” (which since we’re talking about rewarding adequate behavior, might be a feature rather than a bug)

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#3

True! I would kind of love a badge checklist as an end-of-session thing even. Could make it so they’re like fan mail that can only be awarded by other players or the GM? Or proposed by the player and then awarded by the table kinda thing so they don’t feel passed over?

Not sure if it could interfere with the game proper like you say, but if they were properly crafted I’d think it could be pretty cool. Anyway, got me thinking!

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#4

It’s certainly something to consider. We already kinda do it with roses and stars, but I like giving it more weight (“You get the ‘Shared the Spotlight’ badge!”).

The awarding them part would be a little tricky. I think a combination of the two methods you mentioned (players giving them to each other and also making their case) would be ideal. We could even have a badge for awarding badges to others

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#5

Totally! I could even see prepping some achievements or badges for the specific system or game I was running (or better yet, doing it as a ritual with the players the day before the game or something), and maybe even specific ones for the player if I’m familiar enough with them (to encourage coming out of their shell, or listening more, or engaging with the game mechanics).

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#6

I saw something like this in Chronodex. It is meant to be a character journal for longer campaigns and it has an Achievement section with many categories: Meta, Epic, One-time, Repeating, Passed Between Players, Group, ‘Achievements’ of Shame.

Examples:

The Legs
Player who is first to arrive to game 5 times in a row

I Am the Man, Man
Start or run an establishment of law

The Doppleganger
Steal the identity of an important NPC, then successfully impersonate them

The Filibusterer
Passed to the player with the longest recorded monologue

There’s 37 More of Me, Asshole!
Player plays the same class 3 or more times with different characters

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#7

I created impromptu achievements after the fact for each game session I ran a few years ago, but more as a method of categorizing past session events rather than giving players the framework to try and collect all badges/achievements. (I’d link them but alas, lost with G+.)

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#8

That’s pretty cool! Looks like a lot of nice graphic design and effort went into it, too!

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#9

I really like impromptu retrospective achievements, too. At a small house con we had an award ceremony at the end. The “jury” took some time in the afternoon to interview people to find out what was special about each person in a session or between sessions etc. Then everybody by night got their personal award with lots of cheering.

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#10

Burning Wheel does this! Although it’s a lot more focused and serious, and instead of being one time badges, they’re repeatable.

Right Skill, Right Time: have an absurdly niche skill that was perfect for the situation (rare)
Humor: get people to legit break into laughter during the action (really interesting because it’s really about creating intensity and then giving people a way to vent some of that intensity)
Workhorse: be the player who kept everyone going consistently and made things happen (usually earned every session, only one allowed per session, voted on)
MVP: be the player who made the decisive roll, had that one big moment that turned things around or secured success (usually earned every session, one allowed per session, voted on)

Having it all in an end of session phase is great, because it helps you get away from Skinner-esque incentives. Instead of doing things to trigger rewards, you’re going back and reflecting on your experiences. I love that because it lets you relate to your character experiences in a more detached way.

I’d love to see games with less serious rewards like these badges, to keep things fun.

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#11

True! Weird, I don’t remember Humour being one. Was that added in Gold or something?

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#12

I’m not so sure about this. Earning Merit Badges sounds a bit like work and could easily become competetive. I prefer calling out everyone’s highlight after a session via Star or Rose, really.

Having such a system in a game would make me feel insecure and invoke a fear of inadequacy. Like, “will I get a badge? Am I good enough?”, and that would not add to the fun I’d have.

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#13

Also keep in mind that there can be unintended consequences of incentivizing things…

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#14

Maybe! I’m off on a business trip so I can’t check my copies of Revised.

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#15

Yeah, that article is quite the observation. I really don’t like Embodiment in Burning Wheel either. It’s the “shoulder pat for good rp” reward at the best of times.

I think in-game rewards and appreciation of one another should be clearly separated.

I haven’t been to Big Bad Con but their implementation of “con playbooks” is all about doing social thing in the context of the con, not game focused, right?

(Revised does have Fate for Humor.)

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#16

Yeah, they are more about social interaction at the con and around the game. Here’s a link to them:

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#17

Many years ago i made a bunch of humorous gamer badges. You can find them here http://curufea.com/doku.php?id=art:computer:gamerbadges

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