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Story Games:
So...
Grey Ranks. First things first, in the rules there are two ways to play the game: one focuses more on the characters, looking at what they want and trying to get it (so, I
always try to win a personal scene, because I
alway focus them on something the character badly wants).
The other is more casual/tactical; I'm referring, for example, at looking at the Grid choosing whether to lose or to win a mission and/or personal scene based on it ("If I lose personal and win mission I get a d12 from the Grid!"), or at choosing who single out based on who brought the chips.
Here I'll speak about the first way, since I think the second undermines the game, so I never played it; in the first way, I make the character choosing things I - as a person - care about. So, the Thing my character Hold Dear is something that, with that particular character, I can also care about, at least a little.
That said: I'll write about a lot of things, hoping to address what you want; if you had any doubt after reading my post, please feel free to ask. I'll be glad to try to answer.
Facilitating the game is, at least for me, quite simple: its rules are very simple, and usual I explain them on the fly, so don't worry about this; you can explain them when you need it (for example saying only in second Chapter that people can begin a personal scene in
any moment).
I think it's more important to understand what is behind them; in my opinion:
Grey Ranks it's about being a teen in an "adult situation", dealing with what you
have to do and what you
want to do.
Mission scenes are about what you have to do: will you do it? It's worth it? There is no a wrong mission, as long as it's something the characters have to do and it's something somewhat bigger that them. Obviously, "I have to do this" doesn't mean "I will do this".
In the game I'm playing, our first Chapter mission was simply to mark Igo (the betrayer in first Radio Lighting broadcast) with some paint in a station; it was bigger than us because there were nazis; there were danger; there were weapons; and we... we are kids.
On the other hand, personal scenes are about something the character cares about: it could be related to the war, or completerly unrelated, but the "care about" part is very,
very important.
A couple of examples: Thing Hold Dear, My friends. Symbol: a non-Grey Ranks German teen, blamed to be a traitor. In the mission we took a list of possible traitors and his name was on it. So... personal scene: flashback. A bunch of guy bullying him; I tried to defend him and I failed. Back to the present: I deleted his name from the list: I wasn't able to defend him then, I'm trying now. This actually goes
against the mission.
Second example: in the mission two PCs met a child, who running lost a shoe. One PC took it and for some reason really cared about it, but she lost it. Personal scene of her brother (the other PC): he went to take it again. Goal: not to be seen by nazis. It was - as the player himself said - a weak scene; why? In my opinion, because "The nazis don't see me" is a
mission goal; in a personal scene, the goal should have been something like, "I find the shoe", because
that was what the character cared about. The
personal issue at the stake.
Obviously, "have to" and "want" can coincide, and maybe nobody ordered the PCs to do the mission: Chapter nine, I framed the mission: the nazis attack our camp. No order: we had to fight to survive; we wanted to fight to survive (and if someone didn't want... great stuff for a personal scene).
Another example: a Grey Rank is lost in action, the squad decide to go and rescue him. No order, they have to do it only because they
feel they have. Nevertheless, they
have to do it (and if... as above).
Mission and personal scenes then can easily overlap to some extent (framing: the artillery hit the hospital tent where you first love is).
Then: in the first two/three Chapters, the game could seem somewhat "lame", but if it happens don't worry: in my experience, it's quite normal. You start with a buch of kids and little more, so the first Chapters are useful to build some common ground and (if needed) to kwnow the other players; but then it becomes very, very better.
But, a very important thing, don't run in the first Chapter: it could be
very defining. My idea about Thing Hold Dear for my character in the game I'm now playing was My family, but in first Chapter, when the four of us was running from nazis, I said something like, "I look at the three of you, to be sure you're safe". I said that without thinking, but then... it was quite obvious the Thing my character Hold Dear is My friends.
In general, one thing I'll never stress enough is that
everyone can (and should) add elements: I narrated two PCs heard a cry from an alley, another player said, "It's a girl"; and then we found she was a child, the one who lost the shoe, so she become important for a
third character (and incidentally also for the fourth, who was the PC's brother).
Something endangers you, something helps you, a simple color element ("The clouds cover the Sun")… the game needs this; if someone gets in "audience mode" it's possible you'll miss something (maybe with some "… and now?" moment).
And now, what I call "Grey Ranks 2.0": it's simply some tweaks I developed with Luca Veluttini, a friend of mine, but we think they are really useful and make a better game.
• The "corner scenes": when you hit a corner, make a short narration with your character showing the corner. Hanna was a Jewess, but hid this and use her pseudonym - Alicja - as a name. She hit Nervous Breakdown, and the player narrated Hanna in front of a mirror, asking to herself if she was Hanna or Alicja.
• The "opposite notes": when in a personal scene you win, you win; but with a negative note. When in a personal scene you lose, you lose; but with a positive note. I made a personal scene in which my character was trying to derail a deportation train to set free some friend of his. I managed to do it, so I said the train's driver saw me and accelerated; I managed to derail the train, but due to the velocity it rolled and some people inside was hurt. I freed my friends (success), but hurting people (negative note).
• Personal scene: by the rules, you state a question - Will Janek kiss Halinka? - and frame the scene you'll play. What if I have a scene I want to play, I know it's important, but no question? We can do better; each scene, we choose among three options:
- Question first, but not quite: as in the rules, but you can change the question mid-scene. Example: the bullying scene I wrote about before; I didn't explicitly state the question, but it was quite obvious from the beginning.
- Question in the middle: you begin a scene and, when you find something worth, you state it and roll. No example, sorry; at now I can't think about a scene resolved this way.
-
Fiasco-style: the roll doesn't resolve a question, but the whole scene (as in
Fiasco, if you'are familiar with it). Example: in the last whole game I played, my Thing Held Dear was My friend and the symbol was another PC; I knew it'd be worth a scene with him before the Uprising, but I had no idea about a question. So, I simply framed it: a couple of years before, in the training camp. He was training in shooting, without bullets, I was helping the instructors. We rolled, I failed, and... I corrected him, and he took my perceived hardness as an incentive, building the ground - he really respected me - for all the trouble this would bring next in the scenes we already played.
Another tip for you: it's better if mission leader has in mind a missione scene, when proposing the mission, in order to give a start to mission scenes if needed; in my last game, last Monday, a mission was proposed, but there was a "... and now?" moment, since none had an idea about a first mission scene.
Oh, look at
this; I found very useful to have an idea of what Warsaw was like during and after the war.
And, I think
The Wall, by John Hersey, is great for ideas.
