Characters Introduced:
Rose - Father Soto's secretary
Mrs. Fieldstone - Old church lady, has friends who noticed Lucy's wounds one time in church
Dr. Mason called Daniela to warn her that the Diocese had approved her meeting with Father Soto, but that the meeting wouldn't last long. Leaving Brother's Pawn Violet and Daniela got soaked as they rushed to St. Teresa. Father Soto admitted them into his office and explained that he had counciled Lucy when she came to him with strange symptoms of visions and bleeding from her palms.
Father Soto mentioned that Lucy reportedly was visited by angels or apparitions. Lucy was confused by their appearance and seemed reluctant to even admit that they were real. Father Soto said that Lucy didn't seem to understand what was happening to her, which he initially interpreted as childish. In the end he admitted that Lucy's insecurity regarding the wounds and visions were more likely evidence of their validity instead of it all being a hoax that was made up for attention. Father Soto did know where Lucy may have gone and he hadn't seen her for three days before she was reported missing. The Diocese cut the meeting short before anything further could be learned.
During a late lunch Beth called Daniela to tell her that Phil Gardner, a report from the Chicago Tribune, was at the apartment building with a number of other new reporters who were looking for Daniela. Beth was able to put Phil on the phone and Daniela agreed to meet with him at a laundromat called Shiny Dime, that was just a few blocks from her apartment at 7 pm later that evening.
After talking with Phil, Daniela and Violet paid a visit to an old friend of Violet's family to see if she could get any more information about Lucy. Mrs. Stonefield proved to be mostly unhelpful but she did mention that that last time she saw Lucy she was praying at St. Teresa and left after being interrupted clutching a rosary in her gloved hands.
Next session begins outside of Mrs. Stonefield's home
Better gaming through discussion
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The following is a excerpt from the game manual for Burning Wheel (another game system). These two little sections hopefully help make sense of what roll the dice should play in the game:
ReplyDelete*Say Yes, or Roll the Dice*
Every character talks, works, and travels. Every aspect of a character's interaction with the world can be described with immersive, exciting narrative. A conflict emerges when a character needs or wants something that requires overcoming opposition. Opposition can be anything from convincing someone to give you an item, to an actual fight. A conflict represents a break in the normal flow of narrative. The dice should come out only when a conflict arises. If a player asks to do something that causes no conflict, just say, “Yes,” describe what happens and move on.
*Intent and Stakes*
When a conflict arises, the first thing a player should do is declare an intent. This can range from, “I stab him with my sword!” to “I scale the walls of the tavern, silently enter through a window, and stab the dwarf in his sleep!” The most important point in declaring intent is that you describe how you are achieving your goal. Thus, “I kill him!” is a lousy intent, but, “I run him through with my spear!” gets to the heart of the matter.
Once you have crystallized your intent, you and the GM will set the stakes. Burning Wheel is built on risk vs. reward; the more you’re willing to risk, the more reward you can earn. The GM explains what happens if the roll succeeds or fails before the dice are rolled. Success always means that the intent you declared succeeds exactly as you described. The player who succeeded describes it just so! Failure is defined by the GM. Failing does not always just mean you do not succeed. The GM may create stakes in which you achieve your intent, but not in the way you wanted. Trying to pick that lock before the guard comes back? If you fail, you might get the door open just as the guard comes around the corner!
I posted a link to an audio file that I recorded this morning. The link is at the bottom of the blog. Its called "Scene Framing". Click the link, click File tab, click Download, listen to it and let me know if it was helpful.
ReplyDeleteThere is an episode of Narrative Control (podcast) that is good relating to Scene Framing too. Use the links at the bottom of the blog to go to their website and listen to Episode 11 if you want more food for thought.
I'm listening to Episode 11 right now and it's incredibly applicable. I highly recommend listening to that podcast episode. I know I recommended it, but re-listening to it has made me realize how helpful it is. Have a listen.
ReplyDeleteHere is what I want you two to do before next session. I want you guys to frame the Laundromat scene. Post on the blog what your character hopes to achieve by the end of the scene, and how they plan on achieving it. Scene framing is basically like bullet-pointing a rough draft. It shouldn't be exhaustive. I know I have tossed a bunch of stuff at you in the last couple weeks, but this is the most important piece. If you can get the hang of scene framing I think the other stuff will fall into place because good action scene are easy to play and react to.
ReplyDeleteAnother way to think about would be like a TV show preview. Previews show you what action/conflict will appear in the next episode, but it never shows the outcome. You have to tune in to find out how it all turns out. The same idea applies to role-playing games; you plan out the a scene before you begin it, and then wait to see how the dice fall to see how well it goes for the characters.
Okay, I will shut up now.
This is all very helpful, plus it pushes me (or should I say: motivates) to keep thinking about my character more often. Also we are both pretty new in the RPG business, and we still need a lot of training. So do not shut up, Adam unless you need a break. :)
ReplyDeleteI have listened to the podcast (episode 11) yesterday. They really did have very similar conversation to ours. I particularly liked what was told about skipping the boring stuff and getting straight to the action scene. Sometimes I feel (and I think I said that at our last post-game discussion) that every time Daniela meets a new character she keeps repeating her back story. It certainly does not contribute to the plot moving forward. I need to find different ways to do it.
Another busy week but I should have some spare time to do my scene framing homework this weekend.
Apparently the recording I made was locked on GoogleDocs. It let me retrieve it but nobody else. I fixed it. Now the recording at the bottom of the blog called "Scene Framing" is unlocked, you should be able to download it and listen to it. Sorry about that, I won't make that mistake again.
ReplyDeleteI got back from 3 days of hiking in the Appalachians a couple hours ago and I did a big brain dump of all the thoughts and ideas I had about the game over the trip. Hiking is great for thinking and being creative. I have the major scene and action sequence framed out that will follow your meeting with Phil Gardner from the Chicago Tribune. I am curious to see how you two want to frame the meeting at the Shiny Dime. Make sure you post something before Saturday (at the latest) so that we can discuss and comment the scene frame and work through it before we meet and play.
ReplyDeleteOK, so Daniela is meeting Phil to get him to divulge some information he has about Lucy, Father Soto, the church... pretty much anything. Violet's goal is to remain hidden in the laundromat, in a place she can eavesdrop and/or spy. She doesn't want the reporter knowing her, because of course she's very paranoid and is trying to lie low.
ReplyDeleteI think it's time for Violet to do something a little tricky. If the dice allow... :) I'd like to recruit a bickering old couple, who are homeless con-people (conman/ conwoman?), to pose as Shiny Dime customers. They'll be inconspicuous, and they are homeless so people naturally try to avoid them (except maybe nuns!) Violet wants the conwoman to tell Phil hey, she knows him - he's the guy who's accusing Fr. Soto of having something to do with the disappearance of some girl.
Violet plans to be hidden from sight but listening/ watching. This can go along with what Daniela's saying to Phil, or if she's getting nowhere, it can force Phil's hand.
The conpeople are old regulars at the bar around the corner, and the man's a loose cannon. He's not supposed to talk at all, but of course the threat of him butting in and really fucking things up would loom over the scene.
If the conpeople don't come into play, Violet will have to play that role herself.
I think she won't tell Daniela what she's planned. She doesn't want to compromise Danila's moral high ground.
I'd be using Neighborhood knowledge, observant, possibly language (Spanish).
You have framed the drunks well: Violet believes that Soto has something more to do with Lucy so she wants to bribe some desperate drunks to cut into Daniela's conversation and suggest that Phil is the reporter that has accused Soto of covering up Lucy's disappearance. Success in this situation will trick Phil into revealing the full extent of his knowledge relating to Lucy's disappearance. Failure will result in the drunks not cooperating or perhaps cooperating but blowing Violet's plan to remain hidden and anonymous.
ReplyDeleteYou mention: "Violet's goal is to remain hidden in the laundromat, in a place she can eavesdrop and/or spy," get more specific (like you did with the drunks), how do you intend to hide yet still eavesdrop? Remember to use the location to your advantage, we have already determined that you are very familiar with the location.
Phil suggested the location first, you can be sure that he choose it for a specific reason himself.
Hi guys! Working on my part. Should be ready soon. About Violet; since she nows the place so well, could she maybe choose a table near a corner/hiding place where she would be able to hear us talking? Or Daniela could also have her cellphone on, calling Violet so she could listen to us over the phone?
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteLaundromat scene:
ReplyDeleteIntro:
Earlier that day, Daniela finally reads Phil’s article in Chicago Tribune, which clearly tells her that the local diocese will not be willing to cooperate with her. She still would like to meet with the Bishop and ask why Father Soto wasn’t allowed to talk to her. She does know that only the Bishop has the power to proclaim the stigmata case as real or not. Nevertheless she has the reasons to suspect that local Church will not be helping her.
Daniela does not really trust Phil more than she trusts father Soto, but she does have the feeling that in Phil’s best interests is to reveal the truth while Father Soto’s goal is to hide it. He could be hiding Lucy to keep her safe from media, gangs or even the Church itself. He could be also planning on hurting her for his own selfish reasons or just because he received orders from the top. So I guess it is less complicated for Daniela to try and ally with Phil. This way she could also have a chance to control the information that gets out in public.
An important info that Daniela relies on is, that the church can only fully investigate stigmatic after her / his death so the authorities can do a full examination of the body with no hindrances… This combined with all the obstacles the local church has welcomed her with makes her very suspicious.
After this long intro, I am ready to frame:
• Intent #1 – MAKE PHIL TALK BY FORGING STIGMATA
I want Daniela to make Phil give her all the (true) information he has about Lucy or at least enough to find her. In exchange Daniela would offer Phil to meet someone who is able to self inflict stigmata by self-hypnosis or forge it by chemicals (or both). I was thinking that Daniela herself could be that person since she thinks she is an expert in this area. Depending on how things go with Phil she could tell him she is faking or pretend that she is a real stigmatic.
• Intent #2 – KEEP PHIL QUIET AND REMAIN ANONYMOUS
For her own sake and the success of her thesis, Daniela wants to force Phil to help her protect her identity and remain anonymous as long as possible. She does not want to be mentioned in media and if possible she wants Phil to correct the article that turn diocese against her. In return she wants to make him an offer to use parts of her thesis after it’s finished. It will be very controversial and it will reveal unknown information about Vatican’s and stigmata.
• Aspects and skills used:
• Reckless (no need to explain..)
• Detecting lies (while asking Phil direct questions)
• Observant (to suspect that maybe "drunks" could be "hired by Violet)
• Trustworthy (making Phil trust me)
• Psychology (being able to interpret Phil's body language and behavior)
Bozena, I like the idea of possibly having Daniela call Violet and having her listen to the conversation that way. :) The idea I was thinking of involved a one-way mirror (or is it a two-way mirror?) where the office looks out onto the laundromat, but customers can't see into the office. If I'm able to roll and get in there, I might not be able to hear what's being said, but Daniela could call me so I could get both audio and visual. I think in any case, Violet will show up at the Shiny Dime with a bag full of Lucy's clothes just in case she has to pose as a customer while hiding behind a newspaper or hunched over a laptop, phone, e-reader, etc. with her back turned. That would be a last resort because she assumes this reporter is going to be an observant guy, given his profession, and she really doesn't want to be anywhere near him. She may, in fact, want to turn Daniela against Phil through the ruse with the drunks, by accusing him of being critical of the entire Catholic church and dismissing religion as hocus-pocus.
DeleteThe mirror idea is a great use of your characters knowlege of the location, nice work. Its hard to have major intent in a scene where your character is trying to eavesdrop, you are handling it well.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like both of you believe that Phil has some good info, but at the same time you both have side plots to sabotage him. I know you don't have reason to trust him yet, but you could frame the scene so that one of your goals is to build trust with him.
Bozena already made it clear that she wants Phil to give her enough info to locate Lucy, so that will be one thing at stake. Perhaps the second goal could be that you two try to establish a good working relationship with Phil (set some boundries or rules up front). Phil can be a great ally if you want him to be.
My caution to you both is that you don't try to trick him and try to get him to work with you in the same scene. If you want him as a friend it will happen (as long as we frame it beforehand) regardless of your dice rolls. The dice will only serve to define how much your character will need to do to make it work.
It's like I keep telling you, the story always moves forward, the fun part is discovering how far you will have to push your character to get want they need. Complication and strife are what keep things Interesting. Think about what you want from Phil once more before we play. Before we begin I will ask you again to define the stakes of the scene, then we will play it out.