An Example

I spent last weekend writing a new fiction for Emerald Legacy, and got a lot off my chest with the week before's article, so I didn't have an article last week. But today I thought I'd take the easy way out and give you an example of how an RPG created around the Nurture Game might run.   

For this example, I'll use the relatively simple scenario laid out in The Scroll or the Blade.  This scenario is free, not too complex, and is kind of a good example at how close L5R at its most courtly could get to what I'm trying to grasp at.

This example will have spoilers for the module, so please be warned.

STandard RPG

Spoilers for The Sword and Blade

In the module, a child is found by an Imperial Herald that has great magical potential. The Dragon and the Phoenix share parentage of the child.  PC's of different clans are given different direction about how to use the child to get them what they need, and those plans are in direct opposition with each other.  Either the Phoenix or the Dragon get the child, and clans that support one or the other benefit.  A Deer NPC has to invite the PCs to get involved directly.  
A kemari tournament is held that the PCs can choose to join, but while they can gain XP or Glory for winning in the tournament, it does not relate to the decision about where to allocate the girl or how to benefit their clan.  The 'action' is that a duel is declared during the tournament.
An NPC may ask a PC (or a PC can offer to take the place of an NPC) in the duel, but the duel does not require the PCs to contribute and it does not settle the case or change the stakes considerably. 
Then Masako is kidnapped, and again, the PCs can find and beat some opponents, but this does not resolve the issue with Masako.
Finally, there is a final intrigue which will determine the girl's fate, modified by circumstances from the previous events. The whole scenario boils down to two objectives: 1) Win a persuasion to get the girl to your scenario, or 2) Discredit the other side's candidate.  Basically, make your side win, or the other side lose.

The Scroll or the Blade is actually a fine little module, and is very much in the vein of expressing how L5R manages to get to negotiation and compromise rather than being a straight-forward domination game.  It does suffer from a few areas of reasonable criticism.  For the chase and combat, there's no purpose to it for the story, to the point where it's only 'extra' to choose to have the PCs investigate it.  The duel, also, has minimal purpose to the story.  The main reason that these events occur is that the PCs, by dint of having a PC tattoo tagged on their forehead, happen to be there and able to act, and therefore are in a stronger position to go into the final discussion.  And in the end, those negotiations end with someone winning and someone losing.  There's no chance for a middle ground.  

This is not that far off from a full "nurture" game.  Elements of the game, like the combats, seem artificially plugged in, and the concluding intrigue seems like it captures the entirety of the conflict with little use for discussion outside the scene.  If there were a way to let people work together better, set up compromises, and make the conflicts and games more directly serve the overall goal, I'd consider it a good nurture game.

A Non-Domination Oriented RPG

 If I were to improve upon this and make it a full a non-domination style game , I would want to add a bit more depth into the characters of the NPCs. I'd also make sure the PCs had a strong agenda of their own, either shared or conflicting.  This is because because playing in a nurture game requires seeing each of the NPC and PCs as a well-rounded person, with more than one objective.  If the only purpose of the NPC is to advance the main talking point of the clan agenda, and two clan agendas are  directly opposed, then it's very hard to find compromises  The clan motivations also need to be expanded: It is not enough to just know that each clan wants the child, but each clan should have a general idea of exactly why they want that child so badly.

You also kind of need to take the PC tag off the PCs.

To begin the scenario, instead of having the clans or players  be asked to intervene, a GM would first want to make it clear that intervening is in the characters' best interest.   The letters from the clans can do this, or, better, the players could  need assistance from the Dragon, Phoenix, or Deer clans, or from the Miya.  This would cause them to seek out the members of these families who could share this situation with the child with them, and ask them for their help in swaying the decision to be made to their end.

Spoilers

In the module itself, you would use the initial funeral of the child's parents for the first opportunity for the PCs to win favor (influence) in the eyes of the court, by their heroic deeds in dealing with the crisis. The fewer people that are hurt, the more respectful the PCs are, and the more honorably they act towards the child would increase their influence in the court's eyes, giving their first 'deposit' of influence.  

Their participation in the Kemari tournament would give them another opportunity to earn more influence.   As a GM, I would probably add  a few other contests or events that they could use to gain more influence.  There is no need in a non-domination game for the PCs to deal with ninja, though you can treat that as an event that can impress 'the court' too, if you like.  An intrigue about the fate of the child, again, is seen not as 'forcing them' (or persuading an NPC to force them) to give up the child, but is another opportunity for the PCs to increase their influence in the court.

In the table that I set up for the PCs, I would give them the option of 'buying' a rendez-vous with the Miya and the child with their influence, to learn more about them. This puts the initiative in the players hands, if they care to learn it.  

At the end of the game, I, as GM, would look at tallies.  The Phoenix and Dragon will have certain influence they have accumulated in the course of the game (based on how their representatives did in the various events).  The Miya would also have some amount of influence if you want him to factor in.  The PCs will have the influence they earned through the events.

At that point, the PCs are given a choice: Throw their personal influence to the Phoenix, to the Dragon, or to the Miya?  Do they pool their influence together, or does each individual PC spend their influence on their own?  If they give their influence to the Phoenix or the Dragon, do the Phoenix or Dragon offer something they want in return so it was a trade?  Do the PCs convince the Phoenix to spend their influence on something much more immediately useful to them, maybe even spend their influence on something they want from the Dragon and giving up their claim to the child?

Once  the decision is taken out of the realm of black and white choices, but is more a matter of trade, of exchange and negotiation,  then it doesn't have to be a domination game with a single winner or loser.  But influence as currency is the way to make players see how these negotiations can happen.   The way I'd do that is turn this module into a session of The Influence Game.