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In the Riddle of Steel forum, Ron said that he would explain how easy play with different characters in different scenes simultaneously could be to run, if asked.

I'm asking: I start my Riddle of Steel campaign tonight, and while two of the characters are brothers, and the other two childhood acquaintances, I can't see all four of them together more than 20% of the time - two are nobles, and two low freemen; two are very urban, and two rural; two are social tricksters and the other two are men of determined action.

How am I going to manage this - or more accurately: Ron, how do you manage multiple scenes simultaneously?

- Clinton

Hi Clinton,

Scene cutting is the key.

Start several scenes in rapid succession. Then play one in detail up until a decision has to be made or, in Sorc terms, a Bang strikes and the player considers or begins to deal with it. The cut to another scene and do the same. Repeat. Basically, you're playing all the scenes simultaneously.

Do not use traditional RPG scene endings as the cue to cut. That would mean finishing, say, a combat, in full. I suggest cutting at points like, "You crash through the fence and skid over the edge of the chasm. Can you hang on? Roll!" He rolls, and you leave him hanging by his fingernails or plummeting downward, and cut fast to the other guy who's staring in shock at the husband who'd caught him in bed with his wife.

NPCs walk into and out of scenes - have them leave one of the scenes and show up, either front & center or just cruisin' in the background, of one of the following scenes with another PC.

Information applies across scenes. In scene A, Bartholemew is trying hard to look up the lore about some funky ring, and he has to deal with some ancient hex about it that rots the brain of anyone doing what he's trying to do. In scene B, Sebastian is being berated by his dangerously ambitious uncle ... and the uncle is wearing that very ring. Bartholemew doesn't know the uncle has it; Sebastian doesn't know anything about the ring in the first place; but both players will be intent on both scenes.

Do make sure that each player has a real decision within each scene, and that they have power to begin and end scenes (or at least to suggest it) too.

The net effect of all of this is to focus everyone's attention on all of the play that's occurring. You will find that players will angle one another's scenes towards one another, and the "group" will "come together" in a much more reasonable, interesting way than if you tie their belts together so they'll all "be together" for your pre-planned combat scene.

Best,
Ron

Found these threads:

Scene Framing and OctaNe
Scene framing (although this one's really more about railroading)

As a player in tonights game:

Clinton, the best advice is to make sure that every character has a goal in mind.  This, of course, should originate from the players as much as you, but also remember what Bangs are for.  Cut to a different player about every 5 minutes.  At least this is what I used for a insane campaign of Feng Shui a few years back and it worked well.

Other than that, I'm sure we'll make things complicated enough for ourselves, especially in the hunt for SA points :)

Chris

PS-if you see me sketching or reading while things are going on, don't assume that I'm bored, I'm really listening.  It's a useful skill I picked up in school. :P

I can't add much to what Ron said, except to say that when it works, this is a lot of fun.  It creates  a lot of energy and momentum, like the story is hurtling along, rather than starting and stopping.

Knowing when to cut is really important.  I still struggle with that, but I made some huge strides in my recent Whispering Vault game, and the effect is creates is pure joy.

The bit about having NPCs wander in and out of the various scenes is fantastic....they become your source of continuity, and help everyone to feel like they're playing the same game, even if the PCs themselves never encounter each other.  As an example, there was a moment in Paul's game of The Pool (which stands out in my mind as the best use of scene-framing I've encountered to date), in which an NPC I was fighting atop a battlement plummets from its heights.  Several scenes later, another player character is engaging a host of undead along a separate rampart, and Paul alludes to the battle going on on the other side of the fortification.  He describes the NPC from my scene, twisting and falling from my position, and suddenly we're all together in terms of our continuity - we know how each person's scenes stack up chronologically, and we feel together on it, even though we as players had never shared a scene together.  Very cool stuff.

Okay, so that was a bit rambly; sometimes I can't help but share.

- Scott

Holy poo.

I just re-read Thor's post about "scenes ending in disaster." How did I miss that the first time around?

And his name is THOR.

That rocks. Time to start writing...

Some advice I would add, which worked really well for a GM I used to play with, is if the characters need to discuss something, cut to another scene and let them do their discussion. Keep an ear on it so you know what's going on, but it allows for the play to continue without having to have long lulls of no action while some of the PCs make plans.

Example: Corwin and Irrizt need to talk about the upcoming trip out of sector. Mike 620 needs to speak with Rooke (an NPC) in private over some matters which have been disturbing him. Eric (the GM) cuts scene on Corwin and Irrizt to play out the private scene between Mike and Rooke, whilst Corwin and Irrizt continue IC play discussing the upcoming events.

This addresses one of my own problems with a lot of GMs I've played with. Gameplay shouldn't just STOP because you're not in a given scene. Exceptions to this are like those that Ron described, cliffhanger scenes where the tension of the story calls for a pause in narrative on that particular scene. That's my own advice, take it for what it's worth.

Quote from: Jared A. SorensenHoly poo.

I just re-read Thor's post about "scenes ending in disaster." How did I miss that the first time around?

And his name is THOR.

That rocks. Time to start writing...

Heh! I'd forgotten about that one (been a while since I dropped by the Forge). I can't take credit for the idea, I picked it up from Jack Bickham's Scene & Structure. But I'd be happy to discuss how it might work in gaming.

Out of curiosity, what sort of inspiration did it give you?

The whole "no" "no, and" and "yes, but" thing is brilliant, especially for a pulp/cliffhanger game (which octaNe is, at its heart...it has about as much to do with the post-apocalyptic genre as...oh, D&D has to do with medieval history) .

Quote from: Jared A. SorensenThe whole "no" "no, and" and "yes, but" thing is brilliant, especially for a pulp/cliffhanger game (which octaNe is, at its heart...it has about as much to do with the post-apocalyptic genre as...oh, D&D has to do with medieval history) .

Cool! I've been looking forward to checking out the new version of octaNe anyway. Now I'm really itching to see what you do with it!