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Respect Mah Authoritah: Thoughts on DM and Player Authority in 5e
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<blockquote data-quote="Manbearcat" data-source="post: 8439537" data-attributes="member: 6696971"><p>I think this is a good chance to talk about the differences in Story Now backstory usage that delineates it from other usage. This is a constant feature FYI.</p><p></p><p>1) In the session before this last one, 13 new NPCs were created from whole cloth that were essential to play. I had to notes on them prior to their deployment:</p><p></p><p>* Master Sergeant Rosco Hicks of the Bluecoat Precinct in Coalridge.</p><p></p><p>* 4 x Ministry of Preservation mercenaries that were imposed on the Coalridge force to be deputized so they could serve the wicked factory foreman that had been pulled out of retirement and placed back in Coalridge as an enforcer to quell a worker uprising.</p><p></p><p>* 4 x escorts that were secured from a brothel that the Crew are enemies with.</p><p></p><p>* Clerk who manages the logbook for hotel/apartment building where the mercs were staying on the top floor during their deployment.</p><p></p><p>* 2 x upper-crust/nobility looking fellows who were attending a card game with 4 aforementioned MoP mercs.</p><p></p><p>* 1 x maître-de of the hotel/apt.</p><p> </p><p></p><p>These were all authored in that session for that session because they were situation-necessary (responsive to player action declarations, goals, or consequences of those action declarations).</p><p></p><p>Also authored in that session was the locale:</p><p></p><p>* The apt/hotel building including its features, its clientelle, where the mercs' apt was, and (very importantly) the features of their apt.</p><p></p><p>Notice the variance in resolution. That is key. Author only what is necessary and no more.</p><p></p><p></p><p>2) Last night? The Crew decided that 3 of those NPCs were very important players for the Score that was accreting in their minds. Consequently, I had to respond to their action declarations with fiction that was responsive to "player say" and "system say:"</p><p></p><p>* The Clerk was a young aspiring singer/songwriter named Evonia who does her thing at open mic night at an all-night Charterhall University Cafe called Insomnia. Sort of a Jewel figure with an enormously growing crowd.</p><p></p><p>* One of the 2 upper crust/nobility types was a renowned stage magician named Danton the Montebank. He works constantly for the upper crust of Duskvol and obviously has a bit of a card problem as well (like a Worms character from Rounders) as he gets in with some dangerous people for play.</p><p></p><p>* The other upper crust/nobility type was actually Charterhall's Dean of the Arts/Music Conservatory. He has a secret relationship with Evonia (she's a poor street performer and he's promised her a place in Charterhall's Orchestra...and he may have a more...intimate relationship with her...unclear). This relationship bought these two guys the ability to not sign in to the hotel/apt logbook.</p><p></p><p>* Later I had to author a bit of terrible fiction as their Transport Score found them in the middle of a high-rated Occult area in Six Towers. The Demon that is one of the Crew's Rivals (formerly possessed his physical rival; Bluecoat Darmot) has just finished her clock to reconstitute. So she is now "back in play" for me to use as a complication (though we didn't know who she was possessing). Well, I brought her in during a major complication last night on the rooftop where the group's Lurk was in an overwatch position with a long-gun; Lillith (the Demon) was possessing their oldest Crew Friend and a very important Crew-adjacent party; Esme the owner/operator of the tavern Just Booze.</p><p></p><p>[HR][/HR]</p><p></p><p>I hope this firms up what is happening in Story Now games. My authorship (or the table's if I ask questions and use their answers) is respondent to the immediate needs of play. Need new people...new places? Author them? Do they need to be high resolution? No...leave it loose. Do they need to be high resolution now? Ok, firm it up.</p><p></p><p>This is not the same as other games (and again...this is a constant feature...this isn't a one-off...this is a constant feature of play).</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Manbearcat, post: 8439537, member: 6696971"] I think this is a good chance to talk about the differences in Story Now backstory usage that delineates it from other usage. This is a constant feature FYI. 1) In the session before this last one, 13 new NPCs were created from whole cloth that were essential to play. I had to notes on them prior to their deployment: * Master Sergeant Rosco Hicks of the Bluecoat Precinct in Coalridge. * 4 x Ministry of Preservation mercenaries that were imposed on the Coalridge force to be deputized so they could serve the wicked factory foreman that had been pulled out of retirement and placed back in Coalridge as an enforcer to quell a worker uprising. * 4 x escorts that were secured from a brothel that the Crew are enemies with. * Clerk who manages the logbook for hotel/apartment building where the mercs were staying on the top floor during their deployment. * 2 x upper-crust/nobility looking fellows who were attending a card game with 4 aforementioned MoP mercs. * 1 x maître-de of the hotel/apt. These were all authored in that session for that session because they were situation-necessary (responsive to player action declarations, goals, or consequences of those action declarations). Also authored in that session was the locale: * The apt/hotel building including its features, its clientelle, where the mercs' apt was, and (very importantly) the features of their apt. Notice the variance in resolution. That is key. Author only what is necessary and no more. 2) Last night? The Crew decided that 3 of those NPCs were very important players for the Score that was accreting in their minds. Consequently, I had to respond to their action declarations with fiction that was responsive to "player say" and "system say:" * The Clerk was a young aspiring singer/songwriter named Evonia who does her thing at open mic night at an all-night Charterhall University Cafe called Insomnia. Sort of a Jewel figure with an enormously growing crowd. * One of the 2 upper crust/nobility types was a renowned stage magician named Danton the Montebank. He works constantly for the upper crust of Duskvol and obviously has a bit of a card problem as well (like a Worms character from Rounders) as he gets in with some dangerous people for play. * The other upper crust/nobility type was actually Charterhall's Dean of the Arts/Music Conservatory. He has a secret relationship with Evonia (she's a poor street performer and he's promised her a place in Charterhall's Orchestra...and he may have a more...intimate relationship with her...unclear). This relationship bought these two guys the ability to not sign in to the hotel/apt logbook. * Later I had to author a bit of terrible fiction as their Transport Score found them in the middle of a high-rated Occult area in Six Towers. The Demon that is one of the Crew's Rivals (formerly possessed his physical rival; Bluecoat Darmot) has just finished her clock to reconstitute. So she is now "back in play" for me to use as a complication (though we didn't know who she was possessing). Well, I brought her in during a major complication last night on the rooftop where the group's Lurk was in an overwatch position with a long-gun; Lillith (the Demon) was possessing their oldest Crew Friend and a very important Crew-adjacent party; Esme the owner/operator of the tavern Just Booze. [HR][/HR] I hope this firms up what is happening in Story Now games. My authorship (or the table's if I ask questions and use their answers) is respondent to the immediate needs of play. Need new people...new places? Author them? Do they need to be high resolution? No...leave it loose. Do they need to be high resolution now? Ok, firm it up. This is not the same as other games (and again...this is a constant feature...this isn't a one-off...this is a constant feature of play). [/QUOTE]
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