The Rule Of Three
In Play Unsafe, I briefly mentioned the Rule of Three. Let me explain a bit more.
The Rule of Three says, broadly, that things are better in threes. Whenever you’ve got a few or a group of something in a story, consider making it three. When you’ve got four, consider losing one.
Consider some literary examples. Since it’s nearly Christmas, let’s start there: there are three Wise Men or Three Kings. They each bring a gift, making three: Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh.
Moving further into religion: there is a Holy Trinity, not a Holy Quaternity; Jesus is betrayed three times before the cock crows, not four or five. There are three parts to most parables (sometimes because there are three sons).
In Greek legend, there were three brothers, Zeus, Poseidon and Hades. They received three gifts, from three Cyclops, and they each ruled over one third of the world: sky, sea and underworld.
In Dickens, three ghosts visit Scrooge: Past, Present and Future. OK, OK, Jacob Marley’s ghost, too, but you know what I mean. In Shakespeare, Lear has three daughters.
Of course, we should pause briefly. Not everything comes in threes: there are four Gospels, nine members of the Fellowship of the Ring. We might note other magic numbers, most obviously seven (deadly sins, ages of man) and twelve (Titans, disciples, labours of Hercules).
But three occurs often. And, although it’s hard to offer an explanation, things that come in threes are satisfying.
The Rule of Three works two ways. (I’m trying to think of a third).
Firstly, with groupings. Try grouping things in threes: have three sages, three keys, three magic scrolls.
Secondly, with plots. Allow things to happen three times, as follows:
- Something happens
- It happens again
- The third time it happens, it changes
For example:
- A dragon threatens me, and I run.
- An ogre threatens me, and I run.
- But when my father threatens me, I face him.
Note that this ties into breaking routines. The first two times, the thing happens the same way, creating a routine. On the third time, it changes, breaking the routine.
Does that make sense? Stop me if I’m talking bollocks.
6 comments
Totally makes sense. Two points describe a line, the third point shows the new direction that the line turns to. Interesting!
Wiki supports what you say. Also third time lucky (or is the charm) seems to suggest that people think something will change at the third attempt, having it do so in a game reinforces their expectations and makes them more likely to buy into whatever is happening.
Perhaps doing it four times is a bit dull.
Oh, also, three is great from a choices point of view. Chosing between three things is more interesting than a binary choice.
Similarly, three external pressures are more interesting acting on a character than two.
Oh, and thirdly you may like: http://www.copyblogger.com/rule-of-three/ a post on using threes in writing.
Those are great links. Thanks very much.
Another thing, of course, is that the Rule Of Three is a comedy thing. It’s used in jokes and so forth. Can’t think of an example now, because it’s too early in the morning.
Graham
[...] really cares for the noble’s daughter and is willing to risk death in the pursuit. Also: the rule of three may or may not be involved in making this seem not arbitrary. Something worth thinking [...]
I seem to commenting a lot-sorry about that, I hope it doesn’t get tedious for you!
Playing Cthulhu I found that the rule of three makes sense, but the rule of four works better!
If you have a GM and three players, you have one player who can go mad/be a secret killer etc, one player to be his first victim, and one player to get scared. With four players you have an extra player who is unsure who the party member that has gone insane…in fact both player three and four are unsure. It adds an element of doubt within a group when things get nasty. Five on the other hand is too many as the game gets unwieldy.
Both three and four work well in Cthulhu though. They are my ideal numbers of players in a game.