[TSOY] Um, is this a problem?
dindenver:
Hi!
I am set to GM this next week, I have myself (SG) and two other players, is that a big enough group to get the full Solar System experience?
Eero Tuovinen:
I think so, yes! My ideal Solar System group is a SG and 2-3 players. Less players makes for a more intense and interactive story experience, more for a meandering, exploratory game. I'd take 2 players for a dramatic, perhaps short to mid-length campaign that wants to get deep on individual characters. I'd have 4 players for a game that was supposed to cover a lot of ground in the setting via different pairs of eyes. 3 players is superior to two as regards audience downtime (more time to rest between your own scenes), but 2 is fine if everybody is energetic, rested and interested. If I had 5 players, I'd split the game into two groups unless the setting and situation supported lots of protagonists really well. Also, smaller groups are easier to guide.
(Remember that unlike many other games, Solar System has a near absolute presumption for protagonism - there is relatively little room for players playing support cast the way many groups do; the game often only makes sense if your own character has solid, dramatic motivations, rather than you just following an actually committed player around throwing wisecracks. This means that lots of players = lots of protagonists = lots of stories.)
So I wouldn't be worried at all here, you're set for success as far as group size is concerned. Just coordinate with the players so they either create an entertaining duo of friends, or characters with different social positions and viewpoints on the setting. For example, having one play a Zaru slave and another play an Ammeni noble has lots of mileage in TSoY in all sorts of ways. An insider/outsider split also works very well.
Paul T:
Eero,
I was talking about games, protagonists and screen time with some friends, and I mentioned that you had said the following:
Quote from: Eero Tuovinen on December 10, 2008, 12:36:26 PM
3 players is superior to two as regards audience downtime (more time to rest between your own scenes)
This is something I'm really curious about, and want to hear your thoughts on. It's not an urgent matter, but a matter of curiosity. But it's something you don't really go into in your book (Solar System), and I hope to hear more about it from you.
Here's the question:
What you wrote (the quote, above) makes sense. However, for most roleplayers it's also pretty counterintuitive. After all, the vast majority of players complain that they don't get enough spotlight time, not enough play time. I don't think I've ever heard anyone complain about not having enough "down time" in a game.
That said, I know what you're talking about. I've played games that are sufficiently intense that it really helps to have a scene or two now and then to take a breather. What I'm really curious about is how you see this as a TSoY player and Story Guide.
Why is it that the players benefit from this "down time", while the Story Guide seems to be left out of the consideration?
What does it feel like to you when you're a player in someone else's TSoY game?
The reason I'm curious is because the answer may say something about the way you run the game. How do you consistently generate a dynamic that is a) full-on, intense for the players, such that they benefit from a break now and then, but b) is not exhausting for the Story Guide?
I'd love to hear about the attitude you bring to the game as well as any specific techniques you use at the table,
Thanks!
Paul
Eero Tuovinen:
That's a good question. The short answer is that Story Guiding is not as exhausting simply because you don't have to think on your feet as much. The Story Guide is also often the most motivated participant in the game, and he can pace himself because he controls the dramatic coordination and knows more about where things are going, how scenes are framed and such. I'd say that these factors are the main cause for why I don't get as tired when being the SG as when I'm being a player. (Not that I've had much opportunity for being the player in TSoY, specifically.)
The SG also basically gets to rest whenever the players hesitate. When I do the Story Guiding, players often confront pretty difficult conundrums which on my side are just simple pitches. "OK, the night is drawing near and you only have time to go visit one person more. Will it be your mom or the last suspect?" is simple to say, but it's much more exhausting for the player, who needs to make the choices. In general the SG has it easy when he learns to let go of worrying and realizes that he's actually the one who doesn't have to care about anything; he just throws out stuff and lets the players deal with it.
In a way the SG is always in the same audience mode the other players go into when their characters are not in the scene.
Paul T:
Eero,
How much does that effect vary for you, as you play with different groups and different players?
I've definitely had the experience of playing with very proactive players, or players who spend a lot of time interacting with each other, but I've never seen anyone GM in a way that guaranteed this reliably with ANY player at all.
Can you share any more specific advice on what you do in play that creates this dynamic? I feel that there's some really vital GM advice drifting around in your head that would be of great service to Solar System/TSoY fans everywhere. If you can dig it up in any shape or form, I'm sure they will be extremely grateful.
Your ability to make the game work for you reliably is as much a key to the success of the system as the mechanics and crunch. I'm really happy that you included some great GM advice in the Solar System booklet, but I also feel that you've left out just as much, and that's a shame! (I say that in the most positive sense, by the way.) In particular, there is really almost no advice at all on how a GM's play interacts with players' Keys.
Thanks!
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page