tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4764158821384594980.post7549378890786305311..comments2024-03-29T08:12:28.476-04:00Comments on Age of Ravens: Directing the Game (Part Three: fini)Lowell Francishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02359280169506945906noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4764158821384594980.post-54208633146773181382011-05-09T00:14:26.604-04:002011-05-09T00:14:26.604-04:00Fiasco (and to a lesser extent Time & Temp) ha...Fiasco (and to a lesser extent Time & Temp) have a kind of shared power for scene/event resolution which might be usable for something like this- in Fiasco you either get to set the scene & the stakes OR you get to narrate the actual resolution- the other player(s) pick up whatever you chose not to take up.Lowell Francishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02359280169506945906noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4764158821384594980.post-81382968566514429022011-05-08T18:41:05.243-04:002011-05-08T18:41:05.243-04:00There's the seed of something brilliant in car...There's the seed of something brilliant in card games like Munchkin, where essentially you have on PC at a time, and everyone else is the GM unless someone volunteers to help. I think the concept could be used in true RPGs.<br /><br />It's just a matter of getting rid of the "screw your friends" incentives from Munchkin, and changing into the standard GM tactic of throwing just a little more than the PC thinks he can handle.Gene Hahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07389258008505629339noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4764158821384594980.post-59511214853626582592011-05-08T13:30:25.943-04:002011-05-08T13:30:25.943-04:00Absolutely- the strange positioning of the players...Absolutely- the strange positioning of the players as audience and characters affects this. I think cinema has some things which we don't normally used which might be borrowed- but in a measured way, so that you don't end up with strange devices that throw the players out of the experience more. Though, rpgs do have a greater artificiality of experience than other mediums? Do they? Not sure. <br /><br />Something I forgot to mention is the question of length as well- especially given attention spans. I've heard Fiasco criticized for being too fast an rpg, but in some ways it best replicates that cinematic experience. <br /><br />best example I can imagine for characters commenting on protagonists would be the "Below Decks" episode of Star Trek: Next Generation which had the NPC crew members talking about their experiences with the main crew. I wonder if, in a long term campaign, you could pull something like that off with the PCs playing established NPCs talking about the PCs and what they thought of them. In today's post on Changeling, you'll see I did have two of the players play NPCs interacting with a PC. That had some nice results and benefits. I recall I ran a side-story in a long fantasy campaign where, when the PCs were off on a mission, the players played all of their NPCs defending the base against a mystical assault. It was a two or three part session and people enjoyed the break and the opportunity.Lowell Francishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02359280169506945906noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4764158821384594980.post-89727304202356563322011-05-08T12:17:19.203-04:002011-05-08T12:17:19.203-04:00From a cinema point of view, the odd thing is that...From a cinema point of view, the odd thing is that the Players/Audience are also directors. It's like the problem in "The Icicle Thief", where the characters from "The Bicycle Thief" wander into modern TV commercials when the movie is broadcast on Italian commercial television. If RPGs were a totally passive medium like cinema or epic recited poetry, the tricks you're discussing would be easier. But everyone at the table gets a turn behind the camera.<br /><br />I'm curious how you'd translate the Godfather "Baptism and Murder" scene.<br /><br />It's been said before, but RPGs are closest to theater. You can jump/smash cut by changing the topic of conversation, or you can literally cut by forcing everyone to look in a new direction. The tabletop, props in your hand or passed around, wandering the audience, or even appointing vice-GMs to act out specific roles or duties (important NPCs, SFX, etc). I think great things could be accomplished by having a GM roleplay an NPC against a vice-GM. I've mentioned before the idea of giving NPCs to Players to act out when their PCs aren't active.<br /><br />My favorite trick was the knock knock knock in the Knights Templar RPG you loaned me...Gene Hahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07389258008505629339noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4764158821384594980.post-59104863052647701612011-05-08T11:22:32.827-04:002011-05-08T11:22:32.827-04:00Duhhhr, "from which the the PCs entered the d...Duhhhr, "from which the the PCs entered the dungeon." Though I suspect the trapped PCs would enjoy hacking up a crew of GMs at that point.Gene Hahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07389258008505629339noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4764158821384594980.post-70110285228354466182011-05-07T10:49:37.912-04:002011-05-07T10:49:37.912-04:00True- so I guess the question is how to be aware o...True- so I guess the question is how to be aware of those cut- are there opportunities for tabletop narration which the Gm can better seize on? Are there some techniques of using cuts from films which could be brought over to the tabletop in an interesting way?Lowell Francishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02359280169506945906noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4764158821384594980.post-25732874031522135312011-05-07T08:28:38.771-04:002011-05-07T08:28:38.771-04:00Movies, text stories, and tabletop RPGs are linear...Movies, text stories, and tabletop RPGs are linear forms of storytelling, a sequence of hopefully surprising events. Cuts are inherent in RPGs and in text stories. They use linear montage of scenes too, but it's less jarring than movies because you have no image discontinuity. GM says something. Player 1 goes. Player 2. Etc. Each will talk about something different, and the GM will jump from one NPC to another, describe different objects and places, or may suddenly declare it's the next morning.<br /><br />Say the PCs are fighting orcs in a dungeon hallway. Between actions, the GM says there are lights at one end of the hall. As the fight progresses, he says they're getting closer. Then he says at the other end of the hallway, from which the GMs entered the dungeon, they can hear the door slam shut... Cuts are inherent in any such RPG scene.Gene Hahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07389258008505629339noreply@blogger.com