As a primarily narrative game, it should not be surprising that good communication is essential for players to best enjoy themselves. By sharing ideas, describing character actions and intentions, and planning together, the players and GM run the game – as much in words as in imagination. How the conversation flows between players may change between types of games though
ttRPGs vs LARPs
Within a ttRPG, the GM has a more direct, consistent, and close interaction with the rest of the players. They can detail new scenery details in the moment as needed, answer questions, and respond to character actions with events and NPCs.
For LARPs, outside of secular small-scale scenes that closely match a ttRPG, much of the initial scenic descriptions may be done at the start of the game when describing the various locations players may visit. (The descriptions may even be written on a card at the spot representing the location). In play, players are encouraged to embellish scenes with additional details, though not in a manner that gives them an advantage over others or the story.
Regardless of the game type, players are encouraged to
- Take action and make decisions as proactive protagonist within the story.
- Ask and answer questions, whether they be about the mechanics or story, how to approach a problem, or for suggestions on what course of actions to pursue
- Maintain verisimilitude.
As a storytelling game, the game should attempt to emulate reality and narrative consistency when not explicitly told otherwise. Yes, there might be fantasy creatures and magic, but players can expect normal logic and reasoning to apply when those elements are not involved. If something is unusual, it should have a reason – be it magic or because some other mystery is playing behind the scenes, yet unrevealed.
Spotlight Management
The spotlight shines on where narrative attention is. At times, there may be multiple spotlights as players have their characters interact with each other and GM(s) focus in on a smaller subgroup of characters or individual. Ultimately, the purpose of spotlight management is to ensure that all players are engaged in the story and having fun. This is done by providing them with opportunities to act and avoiding actions that remove player agency.
Witchgates does not explicitly list out a turn-order by which player actions must occur in. Players may freely jump in and out of the spotlight, just as in a normal group conversation. However, players should always be ready to switch from their own spotlight moments to those that a GM requests their attention on. Furthermore, players should look for opportunities to share the spotlight with other characters.
Despite this, there may still be times, such as during a fast-paced encounter, where players may want a more proactive approach to balance the spotlight With an Action Tracker, character actions can be split into roughly two categories: active and reactive. Active actions represent times when a player takes initiative to have their character perform an action. Reactive actions, on the other hand, are instances whereby a player is prompted for a character action due to an event within a scene. 2 reactions can roughly be considered equal to 1 action, but if a player is noted to only be taking reactions, check with them to confirm if they are comfortable with that and the current action.
Generally, the GM should apply an event, such as an NPC’s action or environmental change, every 2-3 player active actions – adjusting the frequency of events as needed by the urgency of the scene.
Generally a character’s movement can be included as part of another action, with players able to move across nearby locations within a single action, barring specific merits that may let them move faster.
- GM managed action tracker: List
- The GM starts with a list of the players in the scene. Each time a player character takes an action or reaction, write an A or R beside their name.
After a character takes their action, or reaction, shift the spotlight to one of the player characters with the fewest letters beside their name.
- The GM starts with a list of the players in the scene. Each time a player character takes an action or reaction, write an A or R beside their name.
- Player managed action tracker: Token Piles
- Give each player a pile of 5-7 uniquely colored tokens in front of them on the table. When that player takes an action or reaction, have them take out a token from their pile. Focus can then be given to players with larger piles.
If the piles are close to depleting, and remaining players don’t want to jump in the spotlight, all players can refill their pile with the previously removed tokens.
- Give each player a pile of 5-7 uniquely colored tokens in front of them on the table. When that player takes an action or reaction, have them take out a token from their pile. Focus can then be given to players with larger piles.
Additional Spotlight Considerations
While fair spotlight time is important, several nuances make managing the spotlight an imperfect task
- An equal number of actions does not equate to an equal amount of time in the spotlight
- The location of characters within a scene, available skills and abilities, and in-character relationships may naturally make the actions of specific characters more narratively impactful than others.
- Overloaded Actions can remove opportunities from other player characters
- When a character takes an action, the more things they do within that action the less opportunity they are providing for other players. Generally, players should limit their action to a single movement and additional verb to give other characters opportunity to react. However, in scenes where a player is alone, they may have more leeway to take more involved actions.
- Sometimes actions are not representative of time in the spotlight
- While actions often represent many climatic moments, there are many other instances where players may take the limelight.
- Is a player character leading party discussions or partaking in them?
- Is a character sharing ideas that others in the party are acting on?
- Sometimes a character should have the spotlight more than others
- When characters have parts of their backstory or motivations woven into the story, in scenes where a those specific plot points come up, that character should have additional spotlight time. Over the course of a story, all players should have opportunities for their own special moments, but on a smaller scale, it can be fine to let those moments outshine others.
- Sometimes a player doesn’t want to be in the spotlight as much as others.
- A fairly direct consideration, there are many reasons why a player may not want to be in the spotlight as often as others. From tiredness, general shyness, desire to support another character’s big moment, to simple uncertainty in how to act within a moment.
- Sometimes one or a few big moments are worth as much as many smaller ones, and likewise, sometimes many small moments can get lost if a character never gets the same big moment that others do.