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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Imaculata" data-source="post: 6891493" data-attributes="member: 6801286">Cut scenes where the players are presentSince a table top role playing game is an interactive experience, I'm not sure if what we call a cut scene is actually a cut scene. When I think of a cut scene, I think of a linear script that plays out in front of an audience. The type of scripting you'd see in a video game. But scenes in my games are always interactive.A story can have scenes, in which certain pre-written things can happen. But the players always have agency. They can do what ever they like. They are not watching a play unfold while they stand by frozen in place.For example, I recently had a scene in which a pirate captain brought tribute to his holy temple, by dropping a treasure chest into a volcano. The players were there to await the blessing of the head priestess. Little did they know that the pirate captain was in fact a master illusionist in disguise, and the treasure chest was filled with black powder. The chest exploded, igniting the volcano. In the chaos that followed, he stabbed the priestess in the back and then teleported away. Was this a cut scene? The players were entirely free to react in what ever way they wished. But they were simply caught unaware by a clever villain. Occasionally something like this will happen in my campaign, because you need to move the story forward. When an evil cult assassinated the Marquis of an important coastal city, that was also a scripted thing that happened. But is this a cut scene, or just "a scene".Cut scenes where the players aren't presentI rarely do this, because I prefer to tell the story from the point of view of the players. However, on rare occasions I might make an exception. One such case was when one of the players sent an elaborate letter to an npc, to ask if he would pardon a prisoner and put him in their service instead. I paused the game play to relate what happened in another city when the letter arrived. I thought it would be fun to let the players know what the reaction of this npc would be to the contents of the letter.</blockquote>

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