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Message: <blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 8653481" data-attributes="member: 42582">Anyone who is interested in what scene framing is, as a technique, can read <a href="http://www.indie-rpgs.com/archive/index.php?topic=1361" target="_blank">this from Paul Czege</a>:although roleplaying games typically feature scene transition, by "scene framing" we're talking about a subset of scene transition that features a different kind of intentionality. My personal inclination is to call the traditional method "scene extrapolation," because the details of the Point A of scenes initiated using the method are typically arrived at primarily by considering the physics of the game world, what has happened prior to the scene, and the unrevealed actions and aspirations of characters that only the GM knows about. "Scene framing" is a very different mental process for me. Tim asked if scene transitions were delicate. They aren't. Delicacy is a trait I'd attach to "scene extrapolation," the idea being to make scene initiation seem an outgrowth of prior events, objective, unintentional, non-threatening, but not to the way I've come to frame scenes in games I've run recently. More often than not, the PC's have been geographically separate from each other in the game world. So I go around the room, taking a turn with each player, framing a scene and playing it out. I'm having trouble capturing in dispassionate words what it's like, so I'm going to have to dispense with dispassionate words. By god, when I'm framing scenes, and I'm in the zone, I'm turning a freakin' firehose of adversity and situation on the character. It is not an objective outgrowth of prior events. It's intentional as all get out.So while it's true that 5e D&D play requires the GM to "set the scene", my impression is that a lot of 5e D&D play doesn't involve scene framing in Czege's more specific sense: of deliberately framing a scene that turns a firehose of adversity and situation onto the character(s) in it.For instance, in the example of play given in the 5e Basic PDF, we get the following:Dungeon Master (DM): After passing through the craggy peaks, the road takes a sudden turn to the east and Castle Ravenloft towers before you. Crumbling towers of stone keep a silent watch over the approach. They look like abandoned guardhouses. Beyond these, a wide chasm gapes, disappearing into the deep fog below. A lowered drawbridge spans the chasm, leading to an arched entrance to the castle courtyard. The chains of the drawbridge creak in the wind, their rust-eaten iron straining with the weight. From atop the high strong walls, stone gargoyles stare at you from hollow sockets and grin hideously. A rotting wooden portcullis, green with growth, hangs in the entry tunnel. Beyond this, the main doors of Castle Ravenloft stand open, a rich warm light spilling into the courtyard. Phillip (playing Gareth): I want to look at the gargoyles. I have a feeling they’re not just statues. Amy (playing Riva): The drawbridge looks precarious? I want to see how sturdy it is. Do I think we can cross it, or is it going to collapse under our weight? Dungeon Master (DM): OK, one at a time. Phillip, you’re looking at the gargoyles? Phillip: Yeah. Is there any hint they might be creatures and not decorations? DM: Make an Intelligence check. Phillip: Does my Investigation skill apply? DM: Sure! Phillip (rolling a d20): Ugh. Seven. DM: They look like decorations to you. And Amy, Riva is checking out the drawbridge?The GM in this example is setting the scene, but there is no adversity and the situation is not that intense - can we enter Castle Ravenloft despite its precarious drawbridge and intimidating statutes? The emphasis of play - as we see in the example - is on the players exploring the setting that the GM is presenting, by "poking and prodding" and thus triggering more narration from the GM. This fits with Czege's description of "objective outgrowth" and "extrapolation" from prior events and bits of the fiction that (initially) are known only to the GM. There is not the "intentionality" that Czege refers to, of deliberately framing the PCs into a tight spot and forcing them to make irrevocable choices.A kicker combines Czege's sense of intentional, non-objective, adversity-laden scene-framing with player authorship of the scene.</blockquote>

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