Reply to thread

Message

<blockquote data-quote="aramis erak" data-source="post: 9504611" data-attributes="member: 6779310">From what I recall from the theater majors I used to hang out with, Blocking was a subset. Blocking is, as I understand it, putting situations where the action prevents another from taking a reasonably likely action by either being out of genre or by explicitly limiting the other player's character, or by dictating actions of that other player.Its the difference between &quot;I Shoot at him&quot; and &quot;I blow his brains out.&quot; The first allows for a variety of responses, including, &quot;But you missed,&quot; or &quot;But the cigarette case stopped it.' The second blocks any of the various responses by requiring negation of the stated action, and results in the recipient having to either bow out, or narrate how being brainless is no impediment... which may be out of genre. A verbal equivalent being something akin to, &quot;I ignore you since you don't speak French and I don't speak Catalan.&quot; - doubly defining two things about the other player's character - it prevents communication in scene between the characters and it dictates that the other character can't do something important. Meanwhile, the non-blocking, &quot;Pardon... Parlez-vous Français, si vou plait?&quot; (do you speak french?), which invites the other guy to define if he can... It still limits things, but doesn't close off the venue - the other player can decide if it's appropriate for them to speak french. (and I've used most of my French skills on the above.)It's a matter of degree and the limits of who gets to define what about the other.It's likewise a good exercise to remind players to only narrate up to the point where the roll should happen in any game. &quot;I run up and swing at him&quot; is better than &quot;I run up and chop off his head.&quot;... that latter can be negated by the die-roll. Or, &quot;In hopes of aid, I present our previously described plan to the Duke&quot; being superior to &quot;I convince the Duke of the brilliance of our plan.&quot;... because it allows for a reaction to a failure or even a fumble or overkill.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="aramis erak, post: 9504611, member: 6779310"] From what I recall from the theater majors I used to hang out with, Blocking was a subset. Blocking is, as I understand it, putting situations where the action prevents another from taking a reasonably likely action by either being out of genre or by explicitly limiting the other player's character, or by dictating actions of that other player. Its the difference between "I Shoot at him" and "I blow his brains out." The first allows for a variety of responses, including, "But you missed," or "But the cigarette case stopped it.' The second blocks any of the various responses by requiring negation of the stated action, and results in the recipient having to either bow out, or narrate how being brainless is no impediment... which may be out of genre. A verbal equivalent being something akin to, "I ignore you since you don't speak French and I don't speak Catalan." - doubly defining two things about the other player's character - it prevents communication in scene between the characters and it dictates that the other character can't do something important. Meanwhile, the non-blocking, "Pardon... Parlez-vous Français, si vou plait?" (do you speak french?), which invites the other guy to define if he can... It still limits things, but doesn't close off the venue - the other player can decide if it's appropriate for them to speak french. (and I've used most of my French skills on the above.) It's a matter of degree and the limits of who gets to define what about the other. It's likewise a good exercise to remind players to only narrate up to the point where the roll should happen in any game. "I run up and swing at him" is better than "I run up and chop off his head."... that latter can be negated by the die-roll. Or, "In hopes of aid, I present our previously described plan to the Duke" being superior to "I convince the Duke of the brilliance of our plan."... because it allows for a reaction to a failure or even a fumble or overkill. [/QUOTE]

Verification