[ENG] Gestire le azioni al di fuori del combattimento

[Serenello]

Preso dalla news letter settimanale di DriveThruRPGs

Round and Round

Pretty much every RPG has a set of rules - sometimes very elaborate and extensive, sometimes fairly simple - for handling action sequences when combat is afoot. In other words, there are rules for who does what, when.

Not so much for the times between combats, though.

Some groups gain the right kind of rythym and chemistry that things just flow in a way that works and makes sense. Unfortunately, it can take quite a while to build up that kind of rapport and timing with your group. As well, the larger the group, the harder it is to maintain such synchronicity. Then there's the impact that splitting up for different tasks can have on the flow of the shared narrative.

Truth be told, taking turns still works well for non-combat situations. Let's call this the Go-Around Method.

However, there's a good way, and a not-so-great way to approach this. If you just go around the table, starting arbitrarily with whoever got your attention or whoever is right next to you, it becomes easy for the folks who get picked first to dominate the narrative, or to determine the direction of an inquiry or investigation. This can be unfair to those who come later in your Go-Around; worse, if you let yourself get caught up in the actions of the first to go, the rest of the group can end up simply ignored. Many players, not wishing to come off as whiney or complaining, will let it go. Nonetheless, their resentment will build up, and many will come to feel they just don't matter as much.

There are some good protocols to follow when using the Go-Around Method, ensuring a more equitable experience for all:

- If there is a clear leader of the group, start with that character first. Encourage him or her to make assignments if appropriate, and follow the flow that derives from that tasking process.

- If there is not a clear leader, try to start with the character that has the most expertise for the task at hand. This is a good way to honor a particular build or development focus for a character - an especially good idea when the non-combat elements of that character are permitted to really shine.

- Note that the goal of the first Go-Around is to get intentions, not actual actions. Don't let anyone skip ahead here, as it will risk either complete chaos or that resentment you'd rather avoid. By getting everyone to declare intentions first, you give them all a chance to evaluate what everyone else is doing at that time; this has the virtue of signaling clear partnerships and joint efforts before actions are taking.

- Once the intentions are clearly laid out, try to put together scenes that represent the various things going on. Maybe three of the characters are checking out a crime scene directly, while two others decided to head to an office and look for clues. Obviously, you should put the three together in one scene, the remaining two in their own scene.

- Once you have scenes worked out, just take some time with each one to handle some business. Don't try to wrap up each scene before moving to another one. Let some tension build in each scene, as things are discovered or revealed in conversations - cut to another scene while the players in the one you just cut from deal with what they've learned or encountered.

- At some point, one or more of the players will decide it's time to get the group back together, based on what's been figured out or uncovered. Work to make that happen as quickly as makes sense, because you want to minimize the amount of time players are left sitting with nothing to do while others finish what they are up to.

- Unless the heroes are in constant contact (through technology or magic), try very hard to enforce in-character knowledge and stamp out "meta-gaming." Dissuade coaching by players who are not in a scene, as it not only damages the verisimilitude of the experience, it can lead to the players of the characters in the scene becoming resentful of others horning in on their spotlight.

When It Hits the Fan...

There are times when the continuity of the story demands that characters in one of the scenes find themselves engaged in a donnybrook of one kind or another. This makes perfect sense in the movies, but it can be a serious strain on an RPG game if many of the players are left out of a conflict that they'd really like to participate in.

One really excellent way to handle this - one which also derives from great action movies - is to launch conflicts in each of the scenes, and then let everything play out on the same initiative sequence. This gives you that cut-cut-cut action that is often found in caper movies and battle sequences where characters are literally all over the map.

Tricky? Yes, but well worth it as everyone really gets that movie or television series feel from their gaming.

Game on!

~ SPF (07-06-2011)

Conclusioni: col tempo un pò tutti si stanno accorgendo dei problemi del modello "tradizionale" e delle sue mancanze. Con un pò di pazienza troveranno anche delle buon soluzioni

[Mattia Bulgarelli]

In un paio di quinquenni arriveranno al modello IIEE, in un 15 anni a capire che il metaplay è una risorsa da sfruttare, e tempo altri 10-15 anni arriveranno ad Apocalypse World (a proposito di "azioni a turno").