Your narration format and style. . .

[Cdre Bob Wesley]

Since we can't be there as a spectator of your session*, let's hear about them here. How is your game uniquely formatted for the player?

I'll use my narration style as an example.

1. Initial Concept

I come up with a general trope or classic RPG plot and try to put a new spin on it based on today's topics.

"What if a transhumanist illegally download himself into a starship?"

"What if there were an entire Class-M planet ruled by Paparazzi?"

"What if the crew of the USS Bretagne visited a world based on Aldous Huxley?"

2. Preparation

a.) I lay foundational primary and secondary conflicts for the PCs to solve or struggle against. I create the introduction that leads up to the character's realization of my initial concept.

In doing so, I flesh out the details only up to the point where the Captain's log entry would say, "I thought we were ordered to investigate an abandoned vessel (a-la USS Exeter), but it appears that Mr. Celebrity Transhumanist has actually downloaded himself into the ship! DUN-DUN-DUNNN!"

b.) I create a timeline of events that happen in front of the characters without violating their sense of free will or suspension of disbelief.

Say I want the PCs to witness a car accident that leads to the narrative "hook." If they're on a streetcorner, the accident happens in front of them next to a fireplug or hot dog cart. But if they decide to visit a shop or something, then the event follows them. In this case, the car will plow right through the store window. This kind of narrative flexibility gives the players a sense of control and immersion.

c.) I finish the adventure prep by "leaving the problem in their lap." The PCs are given the storyline to solve, the NPCs to interact with, and a huge dramatic conflict or mess to clean up. This is just like the general framework for most of the TOS episodes.

I try not to make conflicts impossible for them to work out, and/or I foreshadow the intro with loopholes they can exploit later. Most of the time, my group comes up with their own clever solutions, "Okay guys, here's our escape plan!"

3. Immersion

a.) Visuals are created. Sometimes I enlist a friend to do up a photoshop or two that illustrates an encounter. Screencaps from TrekCore are a godsend! They can be edited and played around with for just about anything you need. Most of the Bretagne's crew are extras from some of the more forgettable TOS episodes. During tonight's game, my crew will be contacted by Commander Branch back when he was still wearing a gold shirt.



b.) I create music and sound effects that match the situations the PCs will find themselves in, many of which are already available online. While the PCs are on the bridge, I have a soundboard collection of typical bridge noises, turbolift doors opening, red alert, phaser blasts, etc. That sort of thing.

c.) I provide props. Toy tricorders and such are invaluable for PC involvement. If they have to disarm a bomb or encounter an alien artifact, it boosts the fun when they have a tangible prop to relate to.

One time I did a TNG-type game where the players had to rearrange isolinear chips in a certain configuration to solve a dramatic conflict. So I cranked out a ton of one-shot prop isolinear chips and dumped them in the middle of the table following a violent upheaval.

d.) A few days before the actual episode begins, I send the Captain a copy of "Official Starfleet Orders," so that the game session actually starts with the players taking the initiative in the actual role-play, instead of the Narrator. This takes the attention off the GM and on player interaction from the very beginning of the session. I just run the music and sound-effects while my player narrates his own "Captain's Log" to introduce the beginning of the episode.

And that's how I do it. Let's hear yours!

* If the group isn't camera-shy, YouTube vids are next to being there.