[zero-prep] Need more Challenge scenarios

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stefoid:
https://sites.google.com/site/zeroprep/files/ingenero.docx?attredirects=0&d=1

stefoid:
The more I think about this, the more my idea of what constitutes a challenge phrase is beginning to morph.

Initially, I started thinking about challenge phrases as more of a description of a certain type of situation - a rebellion, a confrontation, etc...

But now I am starting to think they should be more about a vibe.  Im up to 46 at the moment - almost halfway there.

01   A direct confrontation
02   Make an enemy
03   An unexpected windfall
04   Thievery!
05   A stinging betrayal
06   Sweet revenge
07   Rebellion!
08   Make a friend
09   A chance to shine
10   A tense meeting
11   Attracting unwelcome attention
12   A problem with authority
13   Searching for answers
14   Infiltration…
15   Party!
16   Ambush
17   An interesting proposal
18   Hot pursuit
19   Imminent disaster!
20   A ritual is enacted
21   A reputation is tested
22   Rescue…
23   Stave off the inevitable
24   A tough decision
25   Waiting for the other shoe to drop.
26   A request for aid
27   Sharing the load
28   An obligation
29   Newcomer(s)...
30   Outsider(s)...
31   Contact!
32   A discovery
33   Exploration
34   A claim is struck
35   Establishing relations
36   Improving relations
37   A change at the top
38   Taking the lead
39   A real occasion!
40   Out of the frying pan...
41   Cut and run
42   The truth? You cant handle the truth!
43   A series of unfortunate events
44   Altered states
45   Recognition
46   Be careful what you wish for

stefoid:
I have added the following to the doco, in an attempt to describe to players new to the game, what they have to do and why.  (everyone in the world at the moment, including me)

My specific question is:  Does this sufficiently explain why the phases exist and what each player has to do.  Do you 'get it' from reading this or do I need more?

FLOW OF THE GAME:
The Challenge phase is supposed to be the ‘high drama / action’ part of the game where player characters try to achieve things that are important to them (individually, and/or collectively) and the Story phase is supposed to link those scenarios together, so in that sense, no significant conflict occurs during the Story phase.   In movie parlance, think of exposition scenes, montages, character development, cut scenes etc..

However, that doesn’t mean that the Story phase is inconsequential.  During the challenge phase, the GM narrates the immediate consequences of players actions, within the scope of the scene.  During the following story phase, everyone has a chance to outline the long term consequences of what occurred in the challenge phase – the fallout.  Characters reassess their goals, and players plot the twists and turns that eventuate from that challenge scenario, leading towards the next dramatic conflict.

So at the start of a Story phase, the process can roughly be:
•   What are the consequences resulting from outcome of the previous challenge phase?
•   How does my character react to those consequences?
•   How does the above propel the story into the next challenge scenario?


WHAT THE PLAYERS DO:
•   Agree on and stick to the tone of the game throughout.
•   Help establish the initial situation, and reinforce that situation with their Background and Goal inventions
•   During Story phase, help to come up with a good story by coming up with:
o   suggestions about how the story might move to the next challenge scenario
o   come up with new long and short goals for their own character, and the why/how these goals came about
o   elaborate, when appropriate, new details about how their character is going about achieving existing long and short term goals
•   During Challenge phase:
o   Switch firmly into their own characters viewpoint, saying what their character is intending to do at appropriate times during the scene
o   Attempt to achieve short or long term goals where possible

WHAT THE GM DOES:
•   Guides initial game setup and character creation
•   Checks/passes all official character techniques for suitability – scope and game mechanics
•   During Story phase, help to come up with a good story by coming up with:
o   suggestions about how the story might move to the next challenge scenario
o   acts as final arbiter of all story/goal assertions, where necessary (where players cannot agree)
•   During Challenge phase:
o   Sets the initial scene of the Challenge phase, as established during story phase
o   Narrates anything that happens that isnt an intended action by a PC
o   Decides when players should resolve a particular intended action with dice using the conflict resolution rules (applying backgrounds and techniques)
o   Decides if the scope of an intended action for an improvised technique is appropriate
o   Decides on the mechanical effect of an intended action for an improvised technique, if any
o   Narrates the outcomes/ consequences of character intended actions with a view towards what the character was ultiamtely trying to achieve by employing that action.

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