On Storytelling
Consolidation of essays and perspectives from the nWoD corebook and Chronicles of Darkness corebook with comments by Jerad Sayler
Many roleplaying games are more concerned with rules and statistics than the drama created within the game. Some people call those roll-playing games since they are more focused on dice rolling than role playing. Storytelling certainly provides for a simple and consistent set of rules, but it seeks more than just dice rolls and character sheets. Storytelling is about drama, the wonder of a make-believe tale told by the players. Good Storytelling is always surprising, taking unexpected twists and turns, and players often find their characters speaking and acting in ways that are strange and novel, taking on a life of their own.
Unlike child’s play or corporate roleplaying, Storytelling can strive to be an art form. This might sound pretentious, but anybody who’s played roleplaying games long enough has experienced more than one epiphany, a moment when the game seems to become a living entity, a Muse dictating strange and wonderful things to the players. These moments are worth striving for.
Just don’t get lost in the Ivory Tower. Don’t deride those who see gaming as a fun hobby (which it is), or those whose roleplaying stories don’t aim higher. Instead, encourage and persuade players to stretch their boundaries. Storytelling is about achieving something great through an interactive tale, but not at the expense of fun.
Storytelling isn’t about standing before an audience and reciting memorized lines. It’s a shared experience in which every player is involved in creating the story as it unfolds. Unlike interactive computer games, there is no prewritten script and players don’t just stumble along triggering occasional video playbacks. They create events as they go, in cooperation with the Storyteller.
The only limit is your imagination. This has been said many times before about many different media, but roleplaying is the truest example of it. Since Storytelling takes place in a collaborative imagined space, uninhibited by the limits of screen pixel count or broadband connection speed, anything can happen as long as it’s agreed upon by the players and Storyteller. There are certainly some rules, but they are intended to aid consistency and believability. They can always be thrown out if the Storyteller thinks they impede the actual story.
Thinking Mythically
Storytelling games are about amazing things happening to characters in interesting places, described with passion and intensity by players. The details of a particular villain or an ominous graveyard are vital to evoking a scene. But don’t get too caught up in the literal. Events resonate on deeper levels, the levels of myth and poetry. In other words, events can be metaphors for powerful ideas.
Storytelling allows us to make the metaphorical literal, to take what would otherwise be fantastic or unreal and make it seem real within the context of the story. Ghosts and Spirits in this world are very real. In our world, however, they seem to exist only in the imagination, as metaphors or dreamlike images signifying truths we can’t grasp consciously, but truths important to us nonetheless.
The great advantage of a Storytelling game is that we can bring these metaphors to life, to confront them and interact with them in the guise of Storytelling characters. Moments of epiphany come when the Muse speaks through us as a spontaneous encounter with art. This is myth, metaphor come to life. The literal or imagistic means used to convey it are just props and stage decorations.
This doesn’t mean Storytellers should artificially construct their stories and characters around cardboard archetypes and prefigured “hero quest” templates, following some formula set forth in a screenplay-writing book. It means you should be aware of the power of myth in living metaphor and to greatly enhance a story, to add depth through resonance with mythic themes. To this end, think mythically, not literally.
Coaxing Performances
Some players are more outgoing than others. These types tend to overpower the game and hog the limelight. Sometimes this is a good thing, especially if such individuals are entertaining, enlightening or liked by all. They might just provide the axle around which the wheel of the other characters spins; they’re the focus and spur for all actions.
But if one player doesn’t do a good job of it, the Storyteller needs to step in and drag others on stage, even if it means forcing the roleplaying hog off for a while. Some players are very quiet and nervous and don’t like to express themselves often. That’s okay; try to recognize whether or not they still enjoy the game. Maybe they like it that way, and simply prefer to watch others and be a part of the whole zoo. Don’t drag them on stage if they don’t want to go. At least, don’t do it too often.
The players are in a sense the actors in a Storytelling play, and you’re the director. It’s your job to coax the best performance possible out of your actors, whether they’re prima donnas or wallflowers.
Jerad: You may be a director, but never forget that you are not the writer and producer. Those roles include everyone.
The Commandments of Storytelling
Jerad: Since I felt the need to add more than ten...
1. Involve Players Whenever Possible: Incorporate their ideas and backgrounds into your city and chronicle. Doing so interests them immediately, gives them a voice in your story, and can go a long way toward forestalling unpleasant surprises. The players’ characters should be the most important, though not necessarily the most powerful, ones in your chronicle. It’s well worth your time to work with players to develop their characters, even between game sessions.
Jerad: We have many ways to go about this. If we only have one player in an Order they have more weight in shaping how that Order behaves at the local level if not further. The Character Development Document and Breaking Point Survey help us do that. Even better, social merits like Allies, Retainers, and so forth, give players the perfect “in” to helping design part of that world.
2. Be Aware of Players’ Expectations: Giving players the general kind of challenge they want is a good thing. Being predictable is not. If the characters think vampires are sleek, powerful predators, you can change it up on them by presenting one of the recently undead who’s psychologically co-dependent on his living girlfriend. Or you can introduce a vampire with little brainpower and impulse control, but with lots of wicked powers. Or something that looks like a vampire but that’s really a creature of a different kind entirely.
Jerad: But… don’t be a dick about it. You should know the Player’s expectations and work a balance between giving the Players the type of game they want and breaking expectations and adding twists. Make them work for the stuff that should be hard, give them credit where it is due. As far as the most important step, actually knowing the player’s expectations, we use tools like Character Aspirations and include them in the development of our Theme, Mood, Setting, and so forth.
3. Work Things out in Advance: Every erg of effort you spend preparing saves you 10 ergs of desperation during an actual game. If you know in advance what’s in a place, or what motivates an important character, you pay more attention to describing what you know instead of making things up on the spot.
Jerad: If you can break down your story into component set pieces, you can improvise the story to best use what you have spent time building. Just make sure it doesn’t get too Deus ex Machina… unless that is a Theme in your story. ;)
4. Story First, Rules Second (Fun First, Rules Second.): Rules are tools. Use them, but don’t let them trap you. If you make the odd change here or there to encourage the flow of the story, no one will notice (or at least care).
Jerad: The only caveat I have to that is that the Rules for the hard-earned abilities of the characters should be respected. If glossing the rules leaves a bad taste in someone’s mouth you have to balance that too. Stats on someone’s sheet lends a certain level of fierce pride and self-entitlement. That’s good, it means they also have buy-in in what happens to their characters, respect it.
5. Description, Dialogue and Action: Intense, well-imagined description creates a sense of immediacy. It makes people pay attention to the story. Interesting, consistent, frequent action keeps them interested. Hook them by making it feel real. Reel them in by making them want to know how things turn out.
6. Avoid Stereotypes (Break Expectations): Perfect examples of type are rare. People who try to fit into a stereotype usually do so to cover up some secret insecurity, and may not be able to carry it off on close examination. People who naturally tend toward stereotypes often rebel against being just like everyone else, and may go to great lengths to show that they’re unique.
7. Be Fair to Your Setting (Be Fair to Our Story): If the players work hard and make smart decisions, their characters’ success must be in proportion to the challenges faced or the players will feel cheated. Conversely, don’t reward characters if they don’t earn it or the reward will be hollow.
Jerad: And sometimes… just sometimes, it’s okay to alter the plot, monster, or mechanic to promote better story. Just make sure they never know when you do it.
8. Don’t Tell Them Everything: Much of the challenge of a game is in the mystery, the parts of the story that you hold back for the players and their characters to discover on their own.
Jerad: I’m still horrible at this. But if a storyline is over, feel free to discuss out of character knowledge, revealing parts of a story they didn’t see or how they changed your expectations. Even better though, squirrel those loose ends away for later. I promise you will use them. The mind of a Storyteller becomes a closet of lost story fragments, forgotten NPCs, and consequences yet to come to fruition.
I have learned, that when it comes to bad guys and monsters, the less you tell them the better. The blanks they fill in and the worries they speculate over are far worse than the truth. Think Ridley Scott’s Alien, the full reveal is the climax of the story.
9. Don’t Abuse Your Power (Your Role as ST): Remember that you’re there to provide entertainment for the players, as well as for yourself. Respect your control over their characters. You both initiate and arbitrate events. Use your power to prolong the story, not to force your friends to play out your vision of how their characters should act.
10. Don’t Panic (But it is okay to go off script): If the players pull the rug out from under you, don’t be afraid to call a break and take some time to collect your thoughts. It may happen a lot at first, but after a while, you’ll be able to handle anything they throw at you.
Jerad: And don’t be afraid to draw on your players. Feel free to pull a senior or responsible player aside and see what ideas and expectations they have. Sometimes you can pass the torch to them with a “well, what happens there?” or “what do you find?”
11. Jerad: Respect each other’s’ Time: I think this should be added. Players and Storytellers work very hard and put in a lot of time making a game happen. It is a commitment. Don’t waste each other’s time, don’t focus too much on any one person, and don’t forget to reward the dedication of time with Experience, items, progress, and some degree of resolution.
12. Jerad: Play with People you Like: Again, with all this time and dedication, why do you want to waste it making stories and playing with people you don’t like? A bad player can poison a good group and make a game less fun for everyone. Through time, at least in my case, the people you game with will become your very closest friends. Pick quality players, but don’t be afraid to give new people a chance. I wish I had any good advice about how to slim your group down if you pick up a bad egg. That is even more painful, an ugly business that promotes dishonesty. Try to make the game collaborative, try to help a struggling player.
13. Jerad: Be Responsible Players: This isn’t a struggle between the players and each other, or players versus the Storyteller. Be willing to open yourself and your character up to collaborate with others. If what your character would do would ruin someone’s fun, maybe consider alternate means. The Storyteller is there to mediate this collaboratively. Always know when you’d be willing to allow your character to have a worth maiming or death. Does it make the story better? Does it promote fun? Does it generate fun for the majority? And also, help new players, don’t exploit them, mentor them.
14. Jerad: Keep your Session Groups Small: The system just isn’t built for an enormous group but there are a variety of techniques involving salon-style games and multiple assistant storytellers or mediators to get the job done. Ultimately the size of the group will limit the types of stories you can tell. An action-packed table-top gaming Session (A Chapter) works well with anywhere from 2-6 people, excluding the Storyteller. The ideal groups usually have 4-6 people, including the Storyteller. The more players you add to this the more abstract the gameplay must become in order to facilitate the best use of time and effort. I’ve run games with 12 people and tried to run combat without using any summary combat rules, it took forever. Like five hours to cover 5 rounds (15-50 seconds of in-game time). You can have more players and three times as many characters, I just don’t recommend running a traditional Chapter with a group that big. You may have to have multiple sessions with different characters to break things up.
15. Jerad: Goob about Game: After the game have hot washes (a break/meeting while the game is still fresh in your mind) talk about rules or rule calls that they liked or didn’t like. Talk through it all and see what the player or storyteller should do better in the future. These need to be 100% constructive and helpful or they do more harm than good. Most importantly, this is the chance for the Storyteller to get honest feedback on the story’s content and how it was executed. Praise and share laughs over awesome moments the characters had, awesome lines, what scared them, what was funny. It does the soul good, it makes all the hard work and worry worth it.
The Storytelling & Player Covenant
Jerad: I renamed this section because I see this as things that both Players and Storytellers create together. A Storyteller is really just the Hierarch of a council that helps build the story together. Really there to serve the players. Responsible for arbitration and facilitating fun. There are shared responsibilities and the ST and characters should work out how they are handled.
1. Provide Space (& Time) to Play: This is often a Storyteller’s responsibility, but should it be? This is a good thing to go over with the group to help ease the burden on any one specific player. Leaving all the details of when and where to play to only one player can lead to burnout, fast.
2. (Divvy up) Food and Drink: If you’re gaming for any real period of time, are players responsible for their own food and drink? Is everyone pitching in to provide for the group? Again, these logistical details shouldn’t be taken for granted, and shouldn’t be left entirely to the game’s host or a central Storyteller.
3. (Make) Setting and Theme: It can be tricky to do this alone though traditionally it’s expected that a single Storyteller is totally responsible for this. However, figuring out the setting and theme for your Chronicles of Darkness games can be a communal experience, a conversation between players. Try starting with a piece of media, an existential question, or an urban legend you want to explore. Alternately, start with a strong “what if,” such as, “What if the covered bridge downtown really was haunted?” or, “What would it look like if Wall Street was actually home to roaming packs of werewolves?”
4. (Develop) Interesting Characters: Within the group, it’s everyone’s in the group responsibility to bring interesting characters to the game that will also suit the settings and creative themes of the game. Sometimes that means a player has to back off on a character concept that will be too difficult for the other characters to deal with. Other times, it will mean backing off on a concept that makes the other players uncomfortable. Typically, the final say as to what does and doesn’t fit at the table is in the hands of a central Storyteller. However, as a shared responsibility, consider a blind vote or an open discussion if any characters seem like they’d be more disruptive than challenging. Destroying the themes and vibe of a game, and making players uncomfortable out of character, is not actually subversive; everyone needs to work together to find better ways to create in-game disquiet and make the game interesting.
5. Cheerlead for the Player Characters: Too often, having a separate and authoritative singular game master role creates an assumption that a Storyteller is somehow the enemy of the characters, and the antagonist of the players. In fact, any player acting as a Storyteller should be the characters’ biggest fan. This position doesn’t mean characters should always get what they want and never have anything bad happen to them. On the contrary, if the Storyteller is the number-one fan of these characters, she wants to see the characters challenged so they can grow. Since character growth is tied to Conditions and Beats, for them to grow they must be put in difficult situations. Think of challenging these characters, on some level, as nurturing them rather than attempting to destroy them.
6. Storyteller Character Management (NPCs): Depending on how you develop your chronicle you will have characters that are not player characters. These are characters with dim spotlights, whose agency is often focused on propping up the player characters’ stories. If the group is sharing Storytelling responsibilities, Storyteller characters may be left up for grabs, letting any player bring them into play in a specific scene. In that case, any secrets they hold or motivations they have should be on the table, though not abused as out-of-character knowledge. The best way to reflect these open secrets and keep the characters consistent is to give them Aspirations, so if a player is temporarily taking control, they get a better idea of how to motivate the character. Even if a group is using a single, dedicated Storyteller, she might assign some players Storyteller characters as side characters to manage and motivate, which can help keep the world feeling alive and populated.
7. (Collaborate on) Storylines: As mentioned before, a single Storyteller can hold all the secrets and present all of the challenges in a storyline to considerable success. Conversely, these storylines can be broken up between any number of players or left as open plot kits that any player can pick up and use at any time.
8. (Frame) Scenes: You can read more on scene framing later in this chapter. Storytellers are often handed all the responsibility when it comes to “Where do we go next?” and even “What do we see?” Of course, pitching scenes can be put on rotation, with players taking turns deciding not just where the story should move next physically, but tagging which storylines they want to follow up on or which characters’ struggles they want to explore next.
9. (Build) Regalia: Having character portraits, maps of the city, journal entries, and physical representations of clues or puzzles can do a lot for a game, and providing regalia is some next-level Storytelling if you’re not used to it. Printouts, fake newspaper articles, and so on can be exciting and provide additional sensory input. However, this doesn’t have to fall entirely on a single Storyteller, especially if players are sharing storylines or managing Storyteller characters. If you bring a real puzzle box to a game session and put it on the table, simply saying, “Let me know if you manage to open that out of character,” then, one way or another, players will find a way to bring that puzzle box into the game’s story.
Jerad: And not just props for a story! Give a little experience for music, playlists, character journals, drawings, short stories, recordings. This gives you stuff to use to make the world more real. It also comes in handy later to both player and storyteller alike. And, someday you will look back at the time well spent.
No comments:
Post a Comment