In some of all the literature I read and used when I worked as a game design teacher, I picked up the simple formula: premiss=tema+förutsättningar+konflikt. A formula I still come back to today. However, it only tells what a premise is, not what a good premise is.
For me as a creator, the premise is really what makes me constantly come back and continue to develop, twist and turn. Simply because the premise for the story/game is so good. Some recent examples that have nailed an excellent premise are the TV series Pluribus or the book There Is No Antimemetics Division and also the first book in N.K Jemisins Broken Earth series. I imagine it must have been a joy to work on the stories after chiseling out such outstanding premises.
Most of my creative work has for some time revolved around role-playing campaigns or my own games. It has happened that, like an annoyingly dominant director, I have sent back character concepts because they didn’t add enough to an interesting premise. I can’t always put my finger on what’s missing, but it’s something that makes me wonder what will happen to that character, which in turn has made me feel no desire to explore the story at all.
However, when I play role-playing games with my friends, a good premise is not enough to spend a year of recurring game sessions. Some form of character arc feels important to me that it happens. But as is well known, it’s entirely up to the individual player whether it happens or not. I can entice, provoke, and challenge the player, but I cannot force a player to play and challenge their character. And don’t get me wrong – it’s not about my view on how the character changes that’s important – it’s just that some form of change occurs that I feel matters. But this deserves to be developed in its own post.
I have a couple of my own premises that never stop delivering. That I almost have to stop myself from continuing to work on. In the very latest, it’s the premise in Infernal Ventures: in an over-industrialized turn-of-the-century world, hell itself is the last unexploited outpost. Play as special forces recruited to protect “The Sanctuary” where industrial magnates have chosen to set up their operations.
The other one that I never quite finished but that somehow is always there is the premise, which is also the name of this site: “A Mythomaniac in a Lie Detector Factory”. You are a compulsive liar working in the factory that produces the technical artifact that can actually expose you. One might think it’s fun.
By the way. Did someone say Severance? What brilliant premises have I forgotten?