gametime_nz

[Slayers East] More previous entries unlocked.

Mon, 20 Aug 2007 00:58:56 GMT

More entries unlocked to players, episodes 4 to 8 including discussion of the overall season plot and profiles of the big bads.

Start here, with the prep for session four:
http://gametime-nz.livejournal.com/10703.html

The most recent unlocking is this post about Augustus Langborn:
http://gametime-nz.livejournal.com/15401.html

Of note in this bunch is a discussion about setting up the end of episode 12, when Zak killed Candy in fulfilment of "prophecy". That is here:
http://gametime-nz.livejournal.com/15103.html

Players, and any visitors who want to check this out, will see the incredible amount of comment, useful criticism, and good ideas I received from my commentariat.

[SE] Prep for episodes 1-3 now unlocked!

Thu, 21 Jun 2007 09:02:03 GMT

As the busy continues, things are slipping further and further away from being relevant, so it's good to get this out now rather than waiting forever...

For each episode of Slayers East I made a locked post or two, or three, or more, to toss around ideas and get feedback on my prep. SE was set up to demand good, if efficient, preparation and I found that this got me excellent comments from excellent commenters who made a big contribution to how the game was going.

I've unlocked the prep notes for the first three episodes. Clicking on this link will bring you the whole bunch:
http://gametime-nz.livejournal.com/tag/session+prep

Of course, if you're already a friend of this LJ and not a player, you'll see all the locked entries as well :-)

There will be more unlockings in due course. Players - any comments about this? Commenters? Etc...

[Slayers East] The roundup, continued

Wed, 30 May 2007 07:06:29 GMT

A couple more things:

buzzandhum has written a pretty hardcore account of what it was like to be in the player-space for the closing episodes. He talks about what he was experiencing, what he was trying to do, and his perceptions of the whole unfolding game-thing. It's a great read; you don't often come across such detailed accounts from a player point of view.

It is in four parts, starting here.

---

At about the midpoint of the season, I circulated among the players this link from Meg and Emily where Meg writes about two ways of playing, "Noone Gets Hurt" and "I Will Not Abandon You".

To quote from Meg's post:

In IWNAY, the social agreements are:
I as a player expect to get my buttons pushed, and I will not abandon you, my fellow players, when that happens. I will remain present and engaged and play through the issue.
I as a player expect to push buttons, and I will not abandon you, my fellow players, when you react. I will remain present and engaged as you play through the issue

In NGH, the social agreement is that we know where each other's lines are, and we agree not to cross them.

It ended up being quite important to us, I think, making explicit a piece of our "social contract" that had always gone unspoken before and giving confidence as a result.

At the link are examples and further discussion and loads of interesting comments. One thing that comes up is that IWNAY play is dangerous - that there are genuine risks being run, even with the best of intentions and mindful, sincere players. I think that's true. We took real risks in this game, all of us I think, but particularly the players who had invested so much in these characters and could only look to me to guide them out of a horrible, horrible place.

I mention this because I took that responsibility very seriously. There are times when I will GM a bleak story. This was not one of those times. I had promised I would not abandon the players and their characters, and that promise was the premise behind the final episode; whatever else happened, I was going to show a way into the light.

--

Soon I'm going to unlock all the player-excluded posts in the archive, so the players can see what went on. Not just yet though - I want to read through it all first and make sure that there's nothing I want to hold in reserve... I'll post here again when the deed is done.

[Slayers East] Candy came back

Mon, 28 May 2007 07:36:24 GMT

So, at the end of the long run of Slayers East episodes, the girl who had died saving the world was no longer dead. She had come back to life.

Was this a mistake? mashugenah suggested it might have been, referring to some deep rules of narrative; he also deferred to the fact that the players all thought it was a great ending, and being the audience, they have a fairly reliable insight into what the audience liked. But Mash isn't wrong. His instincts, that Candy should stay dead, were also to an extent mine.

And yet she didn't stay dead. How did this come about?

During the planning of this sequence of events, I realised that I wanted to end episode 12 with the resolution of the prophecy, so that episode 13 could play out what happened next. This was crucial. It meant that the players didn't feel they had to wrap things up a certain way because this was the last episode. It also meant that the death of Candy wasn't necessarily the end of Candy.

When we played episode 12, as expected, the players followed the most likely course and Candy died to save the world. Players have indicated they were tempted to take other actions and try other things, but in the end the best path was also the worst path. That session ended in stunned silence, and tears, and a desperate eagerness among players to get on to the next part as soon as possible.

Before letting everyone go home, I took Jenni (Candy's player) aside and told her that this wasn't necessarily the end. Jenni hadn't known this was coming, and she hadn't been given much forewarning in-game either (although with hindsight it all seemed terribly clear). I had backed her into a corner where she would be very likely to have her character die, and it was essential to me that I speak to her and make sure she understood what was going on.

I said that this was not the end. Anything could happen the next episode. What I wanted was Jenni to think about how she saw Candy's story unfolding, and then I would build the game from that. I had taken away her authority over Candy's fate to get her into this situation; now I was giving her unprecedented authority over Candy's fate to say what would happen next.

Jenni wasn't sure. I told her that this could be the end of Candy, and the next episode would be about finding resolution, and there were other characters she could play as well. And I also told her there were plenty of ways we could bring her back from the dead, if she wanted to keep playing Candy. Jenni left, agreeing to think about it, but telling me she thought that probably was the end of Candy. Going out saving the world - what is not to love?

However, on the drive home, Jenni decided she didn't want Candy to be gone. We exchanged some emails over the next few days, settling on this decision, and starting to think about how it would come together.

One trip to Melbourne later, during the aftermath of the 48-hour film festival, Jenni and I had a sekret conference and talked about what to do. I shared what I saw as a bedrock element of Candy's return: it has to be something in Candy that brings her back. She isn't a passive character, needing to be convinced by her friends that she must live; her friends are mindful of her sacrifice and are disinclined to see her as someone needing rescue. So I came up with a structure for her survival: Candy, carrying R'Thilliach within her, dies, and then passes to the afterlife. R'Thilliach dissolves away into whatever fate there is for demons, and Candy's soul is about to be drawn through to her final reward - but she won't go. Something in her refuses to let go. This would have the eventual result of Candy's spirit becoming a ghost, except for the intervention of the fae-alike Red Queen, who sees Candy's spirit is stuck and draws her into her own special realm for safekeeping. And it is from there that the characters must find her.

Jenni and I talked, and Jenni agreed to think about exactly what characteristic of Candy was keeping her there - why she was refusing to pass on into death. On game night in a final secret conference, Jenni told me that Candy would not let go because of the people - because of her great love for them, and particularly because of her abhorrence of abandoning them, particularly abandoning and perhaps emotionally destroying her mother. Secondly, she would not let go because she had finally come to understand her role as a slayer and a paragon and a hero.

We both liked these reasons. They felt very true for the character, very appropriate for the story, and also as culminations of the issues driving Candy all season - her alienation from her family and friends, and her doubt in herself.

And so, we went out and played the game. The other players had no idea that Candy might return. In their minds, this episode was about making peace with Candy's departure. And so it came as a surprise - the final surprise, as Scott has noted - that Candy wasn't lost to them, but was in fact able to return.

It was important to me that every character had a role to play in the return of Candy. Brian, as Blair had indicated to me in email in advance of the session, was going to determinedly seek a way to bring Candy back; he was anticipating a story where he was told this was foolish and eventually he would come to terms with the loss. What he got was a story where his determination was shifted by his wife and his mentor to contacting Candy, rather than restoring her. Brian set in motion everything that followed by refusing to let go.

Cynth and Cass were Candy's closest friends, and that had once meant a lot more than it did now. Candy had retreated from them, and while Candy had forged some new connections to her family, she was just as far from Cynth and Cass as ever. I was determined to put Candy's fate in their hands. It was easy to justify the Red Queen appearing and forbidding entrance to Zak and Brian; both of them could be seen as threatening to the vulnerable spirit of Candy. In a moment of inspiration I had the Red Queen ask Cass and Cynth if they would vouch for the men - and both of them refused. Only when they had brought Candy back to herself were Brian and Zak allowed entry.

Scott's character Zak has developed magic that has been a source of great story and theme, and also a convenient plot device, indicating that he could get Candy back. It was a perfect counterpoint to earlier; Zak had killed Candy, and now he would restore her. It enabled him to symbolically undo his previous action.

It was a special moment for me as I wrote the note for Scott revealing what he was capable of: "You can guide her home."

---

So that is the story of Candy's return, and how it played out for Jenni and for me. Was it the wrong decision, narratively? It doesn't feel wrong. I think Mash was right that there are powerful structures in stories and that this doesn't fit with the ones that might be deepest; but there are other structures, running almost as deep, for which this ending works well. We tapped into something very right with this story resolution.

And, importantly, we weren't just talking about a single story for the benefit of a separate audience; we were talking about the fate of five characters whose players are emotionally involved. And in those terms, this was the best possible decision; the perfect story.

It wasn't my story to tell. It belonged to the players. I just helped them tell it.

[Slayers East] After the final episode

Wed, 23 May 2007 22:07:06 GMT

Tuesday night was the final episode, episode 13, of Slayers East season 4. In a break with practice, I didn't share the preparations on this journal, mostly for prosaic reasons - I was in Melbourne, and then in a new apartment, with no internet connection.

The story that unfolded in the episode is related on the Slayers East website, here. It begins:

Everyone reels from the death of Candy. Cynth attacks Zak in a fury; Zak crumples but doesn't resist. Brian tries to resuscitate Candy, while Meryll wails and holds her body. Cass keeps it together and talks with Alison, setting things in motion to take Candy's body to the surface. Nick watches, silent... [the rest]

Everyone was happy when the game ended. There were hugs.

I will write more about this later, either here in comments or in a new post. Even though I'm too busy just now for extensive reflection I wanted to get this out so players have somewhere to post their comments and reactions, and so my trusty LJ advisers and readers can see how it turned out.

(craigoxbrow, coffee_lifeform, you may be interested to know a certain Millicent Blackhurst was namechecked by one of my NPCs, which led to Mr Escher making an off-screen phone call to one of the characters...)

[Slayers East] Stopping the Sun

Tue, 08 May 2007 12:54:08 GMT

Episode 12 finished about an hour ago. I'm still reeling. It's hard to evaluate what we did and how it all went from so close. It ran long, not massively long, but a bit; and it was intense. I think it all worked.

Candy chose to take on the essence of R'Thilliach, in order to give everyone else a chance to destroy it forever by killing her. Zak, in accordance with the prophecy from season 3, killed Candy.

One episode to go.

---

This was an unusual session in another way, too - I did something I have never, ever done before as a GM. I genuinely broke new ground, and I was nervous as heck about it. What did I do? I sang. I wrote a song and sang it, in-character as an NPC, to the players. I had crazy butterflies. But the players give so much to this game, they take such risks (and not always are they rewarded for their commitment), that I figured potentially humiliating myself was worth the risk.

[Slayers East] Episode 11: "Honesty" aftermath

Wed, 25 Apr 2007 04:17:24 GMT

[Note: this is open to all]

Well, that was intense. The spotlight episode for Jenni's Candy, the slayer at the core of the Slayers East crew, was quite gruelling. In prep, Jenni had indicated she wanted to tackle Candy's dishonesty which is one important aspect of her main issue of 'doubt'. So I didn't hold back, and as an opening salvo threw Candy, alone, against the seasonal big bad Augustus Langborn, who humiliated her and then told her exactly how he'd managed it. In order to protect herself, Candy had to start being honest to everyone.

And so the stage was set for some intense roleplaying, as Candy faced up to her unacknowledged love interest Nick and confessed her feelings to him; and later, as she came clean to her family about her troubles. And, fitting in with the general theme, Zak confessed to a number of people about the magical powers he's been quietly developing for the last five episodes.

It all came to a head with another major shift: Lex Madsen came out of his coma. He revealed that while unresponsive his spirit had spent six months journeying through demon dimensions and as a result all his foolish emotions and compunctions had burnt away. He then started a duel to the death with Candy. I was gutted to farewell this character, who has delivered me so much cool story since his debut at the start of season 2, and who I really liked for his complexity and failings and arrogance and for the fact that he was never a villain. But the theme of this season is Change, and Lex's awful change was part of that. The players should have got a bad feeling way back in episode six when the notoriously ungrateful Lex actually said "thank you" to Candy - that was a sign that things weren't going to end well with him...

The whole thing came together quite well from very scattered notes and a plan that I had simplified greatly from earlier versions thanks to feedback from the Secret Commentariat. (I only used one of the three act breaks I had in my notes, the other two arising naturally in play!) My preparation could only ever go so far - this episode was always going to be driven entirely by the character interactions and how the players explored the dramatic situations. And unsurprisingly they totally came through, and there was some truly wonderful material here.

Weak points in the episode - Langborn's casual invocation of a snake out of Josh, echoing the snake born from Lex back in episode 3, came across as a bit arbitrary and "giving the others something to do". Of course, that's what it was - Langborn wanted to clear the room so he made it happen to distract people - but it was meant to have another layer or two as well. There just wasn't quite enough space in the episode to play with the idea. Josh gets sidelined yet again! Still, it did give Cass and Cynth an opportunity to do some combat awesome, which isn't a strong point for either of them, and it led to the first ever rules-tactics discussion in a Slayers East game. A milestone of sorts!

Cass and Cynth in general are still proving tricky to engage. I haven't found good, reliable ways to get drama for these two characters, and the ways I think are there (Cynth and the band, Cass and her mother) I've been sidelining in order to push forward with the main plot. The scene-framing resource is intended to allow players to make sure their character gets some drama but it's been little-used, not least because the episodes always seem to be packed full of stuff already. Anyway, something to think about, and for Giffy and muggle to hassle me about.

If you've read this far then you definitely need to read Jenni's writeup over at Stonesoup.

In two weeks: the 2-part climax begins!

Slayers East episode 10

Wed, 04 Apr 2007 00:10:31 GMT

Episode 10 is now done, and Cynth has had her turn in the spotlight. Not a lie that I found this episode difficult to prep for; in fact, I think this episode got more thinking time than any previous one. It was tricky! But with the help of my secret squirrel advisers I managed to cobble together an effective episode based on Cynth's character issues, and in the process I think I learned more about what an issue and a crisis need to be to get story out of them. More on that in due course, after reflection.

The episode dealth with Cynth's unacknowledged feeling that if she left town at the end of the year she'd be letting down her friends, who (more or less) have to stick around and fight monsters. Her unhappiness with this was manifested, in true Buffy style, in demon form. Both players and characters understand the rules of Buffyverse enough to know how this works. A favourite scene:

---

[after big bad Langborn mentions 'personal demons' to Cynth, she encounters a spooky critter in a bathroom, and promptly heads to the Slayers East HQ]

Cynth: Brian, do you have some spells or stuff to figure out if this is my fault?

SMASH CUT TO Cynth sitting cross-legged in a magic circle while Brian holds an old tome and looks grave

Brian: It's your fault.

---

And the wedding finale sequence was a great way to finish. Thanks everyone!

Slayers East episode writeups

Wed, 21 Mar 2007 09:55:13 GMT

Episode 9 was a blast. Funny, intense, and leavened with decent character moments and a major step forward in the season arc. Hurrah! Four episodes to go...

The short writeups for episode 8 and episode 9 are now up on the website. As usual, thanks to all the commenters on the super-sekret posts who helped me come up with nifty stuff for the game and sort out exactly what I was/am doing.

(But don't reveal any secrets here, because this is an open post!)

[Slayers East] Augustus Langborn

Wed, 14 Mar 2007 04:24:15 GMT

More on the big bads.

Augustus Langborn

Augustus Langborn was born in the year 1700 in Rhode Island. He was a success in business and became interested in the occult. When he purchased land to create a Langborn Estate and build the first Langborn House, he chose a site riddled with caverns reputed to be haunted.

As he aged he turned his energies to hunt for the secret of eternal life. He found it. When the Ashmedai Phylactery came into his hands, he studied the texts of Ashmedai with great care. There, he learned how to live forever, along with many other tricks - how to traffick with demons, how to bind them, how to see the future.

But eternal life takes power. To gain this power, he bound the great demon R’Thilliach into its cyst, and he has tapped into the great devourer’s power ever since. R’Thilliach must stay bound for Langborn’s power to be sustained. If the great coiling beast is freed, Langborn will perish as his longevity catches up with him.

In time, Langborn decided that it was time to move on from this world and into the next, to leave behind his ‘childhood’ and begin his ‘true adulthood’. He prepared to depart. Knowing that the texts that gave him his power also revealed how to end it, but also knowing he might need their magic some day, he decided to conceal them. He built a vault for the Phylactery, and also created numerous false vaults. He came up with a locking mechanism that was quite ingenious; the vaults could only be opened by a “kiss of lust”. This neatly excluded almost all the vampires and demons he feared would come after his secrets.

Then he took his leave of the mortal world. He has been in demon dimensions ever since. Until very recently, when his magical wards on the vaults were breached. Worried that someone was coming to free R’Thilliach from the binding, he returned to Exeter.

He has come to stop R’Thilliach from being woken - but also, to achieve his apotheosis. He has studied the demons long enough. Now, he wishes to shatter the shroud and bring the dark hosts to earth. He believes it is time that the world grew up and faced the truth: “We are nothing, we belong to the darkness.”

Langborn can bind and control demons. (For example, he commanded a shadow demon to fetch for him secret documents from the Langborn Estate library.) He is also skilled in magical combat. (For example, he took on the witch at her own game and killed her.) However, he is not yet all powerful, or he would have broken cover before now.

Currently, he knows the texts of Ashmedai are in the hands of the vampire Taresh Ghul. He has not yet made a move on Ghul.

[Slayers East] R'Thilliach

Wed, 14 Mar 2007 02:44:14 GMT

Still no notes about the next ep of SE, on account of a player asking not to do a spotlight due to personal issues and not wanting the stress. I can respect that, although it does leave me scrambling.

So to get my house in order I've been writing proper notes about the big and little bads in teh game. First, my Lovecraft pastiche, R'Thilliach...

R’Thilliach

R’Thilliach, the Eternally Coiling Beast, dwells in a cyst within the earth. Its physical form is made up of a multitude of worms, each with seventy claws along its side, claws which dig into the flesh of the other worms. Deep within is a churning mass of flesh that spews forth more worms, thus making the thing effectively immortal. Moreover, if R’Thilliach were to be killed, its death throes would destroy the earth.

Its supernatural presence is shrouded from the world by fundamental laws of reality, although this shroud is weakened in the area around Exeter.

Where R’Thilliach’s presence reaches through the shroud, cysts form, which in turn spawn more creatures. The flying spawn and the walking spawn have both been encountered by the Slayers East. They are unintelligent and destructive.

Mortals can develop a psychic connection with R’Thilliach. While R’Thilliach is largely indifferent to them, mortals can gain insight and purpose through this connection. Crucially, R’Thilliach can also be targetted through this psychic connection.

R’Thilliach was bound into its cyst by a ritual performed in Exeter by Augustus Langborn in 1760. Energised by the weakened shroud, it now reaches to free itself. Sending a number of “bad dreams” into the world, it spread awareness of the Ashmedai Phylactery, which has the key to its freedom. This sparked off the ‘treasure hunt’.

The R’Thilliach Cult

There was a small, international cult of R’Thilliach which was led by those who have developed this psychic connection. They used this connection to perform magic and control R’Thilliach’s spawn. Many, but not all, cultists have been vampires.

In 1840 the cult learned that one day an enemy would come from beyond to destroy R’Thilliach; and they learned that a Slayer would lead the fight against this enemy. In 1888, contacts in the Watchers’ Council informed the cult that the Slayer in question would one day arise in Exeter. In response, the cult sent representatives to Exeter to watch and wait. It purchased the Langborn Estate in Exeter in 1902, sensing its connection with R’Thilliach but not understanding its history.

When, in 1999, Candy was identified as a Slayer potential, the cult moved into the Langborn Estate to make preparations. In due course the enemy arrived, and Candy led the fight against it. Unfortunately for the cult, she and her friends didn’t stop there - they also wiped out the cult.

However, this battle was intense enough that it weakened the shroud around R’Thilliach. As a result, Exeter became a place of intense magical energy.

[SE] A Difficult Situation

Wed, 07 Mar 2007 21:18:14 GMT

Episode 8 was a success. It was one of those lighter episodes where everyone gets affected by a magic spell (like Band Candy, Him, and Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered). Everyone got into the spirit, everyone’s favourite B-characters Troy and Alister stepped into the limelight, and major plot arcs were advanced not a tiny bit.

(Well, okay, a tiny bit. We saw that Nick was up on the hill performing some ritual to try and wake up his still-unresponsive father... This was the final shot of the episode, was not something I had planned, but was a spur-of-the moment thing inspired by questions in-character about where Nick had been.)

But I have a real problem on the horizon. I need help: how do I get one player character to stab another player character?

Back at the end of Season 3, when I was planning for that to be the last ever run of Slayers East, I set up a question for our Slayer-potential Candy. She lost her power and had to choose whether she wanted it back. Did she want a normal life? In a prescient-dream sequence we saw some consequences:

If she abandoned the power, then she would be unable to protect anyone and lots of innocent people would die - and so would she. However, her friends would not be dragged into the fight and would be able to flourish.

If she kept the power, then she would be able to protect people - but not those closest to her. In fact, it is suggested, Zak would end up in prison for Candy’s murder!

At the end of the episode, Candy decided to keep her powers. I want her to face the consequences now.

The way to do this is the Zak-murders-Candy thing. Note that in an earlier episode a prescient vampire told Zak, “When Candy’s blood spills, it will be your hand on the dagger’s hilt...”. Zak’s player, Scott, has Zak currently terrified by this prophecy and driving a lot of his actions.

So, given Zak and Candy don’t want to be involved in a stabbing, how can I contrive a situation where they face the choice anyway? Zak’s choice being “do I really stab my step-sister?” and Candy’s choice being “do I really allow him to stab me?”

I need to set up a situation where the stabbing of Candy by Zak appears to be the best possible way forward for both parties, and challenge them to come up with an alternative or screw themselves over by being unable to go through with it.

And I really want to do it without the active collusion of the players. Ideas? Or am I setting myself up for disappointment by reviving this plot thread?

(Off the table is turning one or both of them evil, by the way.)

[Slayers East] Episode 8

Tue, 27 Feb 2007 00:01:01 GMT

Well, episode 8 and it is time for something frothy and fun!

* all the big angsty stuff is resolved (ish)
* the treasure hunt is over, so the supernatural stuff dies back down
* Halloween night is coming! Which in the Buffyverse is a quiet night.
* Cass is making a film - apparently a documentary about the "cool girls" at school
* Cass and Cynth are introducing uni student Josh to the supernatural stuff in the world

I'm thinking of reviving a plot idea from very early discussion on this LJ:

There's a force in the student body promoting rebellion? The nascent band is directly tapped to take part in a rebellious movement on account of rock'n'roll=rebel yell... Cass/CC has to choose how she's going to fit in... Oh! Even better idea!

The students find that there are two rival 'cliques' forming in the school. Are you with the Xs or the Ys? The band could be courted by both of them, as they're both rebellious groups wanted the rock'n'roll thing. Cass/CC has to choose a direction... Our SP1 characters, Candy and Zak, could be prompted behind the scenes to favour one side of the divide or the other...

Cause: two ghosts from the 50s (Rebel Without A Cause style) who ran two rival gangs, playing out their rivalry in the new student body. This ties into the spooky West Hallway from episode one!

Climax: a rumble!

I really like this. Especially if all the adults get into the groove as well - as authority figures line up on one side or the other, drama would inevitably ensue...

Cass's issue is still 'fitting in' and while this isn't a spotlight episode I want her in it a lot. So having her as magically unaffected sort of works.

Any ideas for how to tie all this stuff together? How does Halloween fit in with the rebel yell stuff? And heck, I'm not at all wedded to the ghosts or the gangs or indeed the plot line at all, if anyone has any other cool ideas they wish to gift to me.

:-)

[SE] Episode 7 aftermath

Sun, 18 Feb 2007 10:16:00 GMT

Well, that went quite well. I've had enthusiastic communications from players, and jenni_talula wrote: "It was also an incredibly moving and emotionally fulfilling night. The Stevens-Knight household is finally beginning to feel like a family... I freaking love this game."

And, that indeed, was what seemed to happen. Brian's breakdown and walkout ended up not being about the slayer thing, but about the family. It was an outcome that showed how the crisis episodes and player-authoring are meant to work - Blair's foreknowledge that Brian was going to lose it didn't pre-script the whole episode, just give it a starting point.

(However, as part of that, the witch as Brian-confidante didn't work as well as I'd hoped. It certainly wasn't dull - Blair playing drunk Brian was a sight to behold! - but it wasn't as revealing as either of us wanted, either. But that's cool.)

Jenni saw Simkiss' betrayal coming; Blair was completely blindsided; other players somewhere in between, I think.

I have laid down a rule for episode 8: No gloomy. Episode 8 will be a lighthearted episode, because we need it! It will include Cass making a movie of the school's coolest girls and their political machinations, and be set at Halloween, which in the Buffyverse is the demons' night off. I'm going to raid the archive of comments from people here to see what ideas I can mine...

[Slayers East] Episode 7 short breakdown

Wed, 14 Feb 2007 11:00:44 GMT

Precredits:
Everyone copes with aftermath of last ep
Break on: Mercenary Simkiss suggests a raid on vamp Taresh Ghul

Act One:
Expedition into sewers will not win much support among crew. Brian leadership put to test.
Break on: With Brian already doubting himself, he discovers that Candy is cutting herself.

Act Two:
Brian has to deal with Candy’s self-harming.
Simkiss sewer mission. Does anyone go?
[Pile on other stresses until] Brian bails!
Break on: Taresh Ghul shows himself?

Act Three:
Faceoff with Ghul while Brian is elsewhere getting drunk, alone
Brian is visited by the little witch (from ep 3, who conjured a snake). She has run away as well. She and Brian talk. She offers to use her magic to do 'whatever you want'.
Break on: the witch ensorcels Brian a little, then kisses him, which opens another treasure vault!

Act Four:
The witch goes into the vault, and finds Langborn waiting! Witch and Langborn duel, which puts them out of the picture. (They go off into magic-duel-dimension or something. Witch will die - her smoking corpse can show up later.)
Meanwhile, everyone converges on the vault, where there's a small chest. It can end up with any party - the game doesn't need a specific outcome here. Simkiss will betray the crew if he needs to so Ghul can get it, though.
The treasure turns out to be the knife, not the phylactery.

---

As usual, feedback and ideas are very welcome!!

This is much more pre-planned than the last ep, but I don't feel like it's too railroady - Blair knows Brian's breakdown is coming, so its how we get there and how he gets out of it that we'll be interested in discovering. The little witch kissing him will be more a magical imposition than a genuine seduction, by the way. Everyone was scared pantsless by her in her last appearance.

I want to add at least one more big stressy thing that sparks Brian's breakdown. Maybe his devoted wife Meryll should be part of this - perhaps he overhears her talking about him to Candy, 'he's wellmeaning but ultimately you're just indulging him' or something that will shake his confidence... thoughts?

I'm heavy-handedly dragging Jenni's private-story of the self-harming out into the open this episode. I considered asking her permission but then decided not to. There's something important in there about how story authority is shared but I can't tease it out just now.

I'm going to ask all the players to frame their own scenes for their own characters this episode - even though they're all Screen Presence 1 they'll still get some time for angstin' and comedyin'.

Slayers East Episode 7 - first thoughts

Fri, 09 Feb 2007 12:09:56 GMT

This is quite long, so it is behind the cut...

Before I get into ep 7, I'll just respond quickly to suggestions for ep 6. The key thing I left out of the previous post was the fact that the caverns under Langborn Manor are highly sensitive for the players - in these caves fellow player-character John was killed, and deep under the Manor lurks the dread R'Thilliach. The players and characters both are highly attuned to anything about the caves. So they all sat up straight when I ended the precredits with Lex going down into the caves, and they all were shocked/sombre when, right near the end, Lex Madsen was found much the worse for wear. Giving Lex a precredit focus and a climactic return worked fine.

I definitely didn't want the players involved in Lex being removed from the action. I want to convey forces working behind the scenes, and big-new-badguy takes out previous-badguy is a time-honoured tradition (see also: Spike and Dru take out the Anointed in Buffy Season 2).

Jarratt's suggestion of a two-part episode has definitely been taken on board - ep 7 will tightly link in with ep 6.

Two new recurring characters introduced - one, Terrence the demon, is like Andrew in season seven, a goofball villain who might end up becoming sort of part of the team (currently he's locked in the attic); and the other, Blake Simkiss, is a returning character who has worked with the team before and will now do so again.

---

Episode 7 is the third of our spotlight episodes. This one is about Brian, the father of Zak and step-father of Candy, and the contact point between this crowd and the Slayer-network via Candy's ex-watcher Alison (who is now in Scotland, I think). Brian's overall issue is "feeling marginalised", specifically because he is failing to create a functional Slayers East group.

Blair, Brian's player, has come up with this crisis for the episode: "Brian can't take everyone going their separate ways and not appreciating his efforts/sacrifices as he's trying to keep everything and everybody together as a team, and he has a meltdown and literally walks out." Or, to parse that more cleanly, Brian reaches the point where he can't handle it any more and his first response is to bail. What happens after that is up to how the group plays out the situation.

It's a good crisis, and with good timing as the midpoint of the season. I'm looking forward to seeing how they put Humpty together again, or even if they do so.

---

All the other players are Screen Presence 1 this ep - it's all about Brian, and the other players will be keen to help support the storyline. I'm going to tell them the basic outline of what to foreground this ep, namely, not listening to Brian's guidance and not coming together like he wants. This aspect of the character interaction is already well in place, it will just be a matter of showing it off.

I'm aiming for Brian's meltdown and walkout to happen at the end of Act Two; but part of me thinks it should be at the end of Act One, if we can find a way of justifying it, to give maximum space for playing out the consequences and resolution.

---

The actual plotline running beneath/alongside Brian's character stuff is completely open. I want this to followup stuff in the previous ep, so important elements at the moment from the character's perspective:

* something happened to Lex down in the caves beneath Langborn Manor, where R'Thilliach is strong
* the "treasure hunt" is for the texts of Ashmedai, which show how to see the future
* this treasure was hidden and protected by Augustus Langborn, founder of Langborn Estate
* according to a demon who was trying to steal some of Lex's papers, Augustus Langborn has returned
* Blake Simkiss is in town to hunt down a vampire who is seeking the treasure

And with GM-secret info thrown in:

* the texts do reveal how to see the future; they also outline how R'Thilliach was bound, and therefore how R'Thilliach can be freed. R'Thilliach is trying to uncover them, and will then find someone to use them and be free.

* Langborn has returned because he is aware that people are trying to uncover his treasure, and that this could lead to the revival of R'Thilliach. He requires that R'Thilliach remains bound. But Langborn is not a good guy. (Although his exact evil scheme is yet to be determined, it might be to turn the world into a demon-dimension, a Jarratt suggestion that I kinda like.)

* Lex was going down into the caves to strike a deal with R'Thilliach, and ready himself for Langborn's return. However, Langborn ambushed him down there, and wiped his mind. Langborn knows his way around the caves.

* the papers the demon was after were plans of the manor. (It was on a mission for Langborn, who wanted to know what had been done with his old place when Lex rebuilt it.)

* Blake Simkiss has actually been hired by the vampire he claims he's here to kill, to steal the treasure if it falls into the slayer's hands. Betrayal is in the offing!

* R'Thilliach has a vessel through which it is stage-managing events. This vessel is likely to be one of these characters: friendly researcher Josh, Brian's wife Meryll, doubting teenage girl Petra. I'm leaning towards Meryll for maximum stress and impact in the final episodes. I deliberately am leaving this open; it doesn't matter at the moment, because the vessel doesn't know he/she is a vessel.

---

So, with all that, here are the questions I am pondering... should Langborn show up this episode? If so, what do I do with him? And what role might he take in the next six episodes? Should I base this episode around Taresh Ghul, and reveal that Simkiss is a traitor? (Simkiss actually gets on very well with Brian - they were designed to spark off each other.) Should I arrange for the crew to recover the Ashmedai Texts this episode? (I'm kind of over the Treasure Hunt gimmick, and once the McGuffin is out in the open things start getting hairy.)

---

Oooh, I just thought of something - part of Brian's backstory is that in the period between season 3 and 4, when he was in the UK, the Watcher-friendly Coven over there improved his injured leg a great deal, in return for a future favour. Blair put this in specifically so I could use it as a plot point if I ever wanted/needed. That should definitely come due this episode... but what could they want?

Langborn, I guess, is trying to find out who orchestrated the treasure hunt, and whether it is an attempt to raise R'Thilliach or just to get the texts. He doesn't yet suspect R'Thilliach is directly involved in trying to free itself. So he's info-gathering right now. He sucked out Lex's mind to get up to speed fast, to remove a potential complication, and to lure the troublemaker out of the woodwork...

---

Man, *three* big bads this season. R'Thilliach, Langborn, and Taresh Ghul the vampire. Whatcha gonna do?

Slayers East: Website Updates

Wed, 07 Feb 2007 11:13:26 GMT

Episode 6, the first back after hiatus, was run on February 2nd. It went well. It was interesting to watch the episode flounder for shape and struggle to run to time, after a conscious decision to give it a more open structure than other episodes this season - in other words, to run it much more like an episode from the earlier runs of this game. The experience made clear to me that the changes I've made have had an impact. This episode felt like all the old stresses, so it was a worthwhile experiment but not one that I'll be repeating.

Anyway, over on the website there's an episode entry for episode 6

and an episode write-up for episode 4

and, last but certainly not least, more pictures! Including the only known pic of the group with Andrew Salmond in the line-up! We all look so young and fresh-faced... The pictures page is a great source of pleasure for me. All gaming groups should take pictures of themselves!

(I've been stupidly busy, but will try to reply to the advice I received from people for episode 6 shortly... rest assured your suggstions were heard, if not always followed...)

[SE] Episode 6 plan

Tue, 30 Jan 2007 10:23:49 GMT

Bigger picture stuff was discussed in the previous post. This one is the layout for episode 6.

Before I get into that, I want to direct those of you not subscribed there to the Gametime community, gametime, which features an interview with another Buffy RPG GM, whose game runs in a very unconventional way. Check it out.

Now, on with the show:

Episode 6, coming after the intense emotional hits of the past few eps, is going to be a lighter episode - mostly. I have specifically designed it to allow the players to fool around with secondary characters and subplots and silly running gags and so forth. That stuff is often squeezed out with the tight games we've had so far.

Candy and Zak are both on Screen Presence 2 this ep. Zak will be dealing with the aftermath of his 'going bad' last episode. Candy will have to face up to her emotional connection with Nick. They'll both have some freedom to pull in scenes about whatever aspect of their issues is of interest to them.

Setup: Lex Madsen, the wealthy occultist and collector who lives in a mansion on the hill, is going away for a few days. While he's gone, his son is surprised by a birthday party. A great big birthday party right on top a world-class centre of supernatural evil - nothing can possibly go wrong with that, right?

Precredits: Lex is center-stage, and he makes phone calls to student researcher Josh, his son Nick, and slayer Candy to say he's leaving for a few days. Then he hefts a shotgun and goes down into his own cellar, where there's a door leading into a forbidding cave system...

Act One:
Candy has previously been recruited by Lex to teach Nick how to handle supernatural threats. She will have to act on this in this act.
The cool girls at school, aware Lex is away for Nick's birthday, talk Nick's girlfriend Petra into arranging a big surprise party for him at the Langborn Estate - they're all just keen to get inside the house and look around. Invites go out at speed.
Meanwhile, a disturbance outside Candy and Zak's home...
Break on: There's a big scary demon at the door!

Act Two:
The demon is actually a captive of mercenary Blake Simkiss, a returning character from previous seasons. He's arrived in town hunting a vamp, and learned about the treasure hunt. He has some information about it, which he shares. He's going to be in the next couple episodes probably, as will the demon, who I plan on running as an amiable doofus-type.
The party happens. People head up. I doubt the characters will need much prompting to get up there - the danger from drunk teens messing with supernatural treasures is too great.
On arrival, the players get to run their own scenes for a while.
Break on: Realize some of the guests are demons!

Act Three:
The demons are just hanging out enjoying the party, it seems! What can Candy and the others do?
A drunken Petra tells Candy to tell Nick she's over him so he'll stop waiting for her...
Circumstances contrive to have Candy and Nick locked in a room together.
Cool girl Stephie insults Zak. Zak's bandmate Lolly defends him - then drunkenly hooks into him!
The demons start looking for treasure.
Three possible break points:
Break on: Candy and Nick kiss, opening up a treasure vault - and being found out by Petra!
Break alternative: Demons turn aggressive!
Break alternative: Someone finds Lex - he's still here, but unresponsive!

Act Four:
The demons search and cause chaos, while bandmate Max's date turns out to be another supernatural infiltrator (it was she who locked Nick and Candy in together). She is here to steal from Lex.
Things progress until the demons are killed/escape, Thea is stopped/escapes, and Lex is found.
Conclusion of episode, Lex unresponsive, Nick looking after him.

(As always, comments welcome. The responses to the last few posts have been invaluable.)

[SE] Overall Seasonal Plot - the Big Bad

Mon, 29 Jan 2007 14:01:15 GMT

Okay, session 6 is, as previously noted, where I want to change things up a bit and get the seasonal plot in motion. So, riffing off things from various commenters dating back to the first few eps, I now have something to go on. Further comments and refinement and cool ideas welcome!

---

Bound under the Langborn estate in Exeter is the creature R'Thilliach. It has previously been established that R'Thilliach is a Cthulhu-style big unknowable alien entity, huge beyond understanding, and so intertwined with the world that to destroy R'Thilliach would destroy everything. R'Thilliach's weird and disgusting spawn, and a vampire cult in its name, have caused problems before, but there has never been any hint that R'Thilliach has any particular agenda. It's too big to have an agenda.

That changes now.

An aspect of R’Thilliach has started acting in the world. It is a possessing force - a living, evil idea, a *bad dream* that has propagated. It isn't a plan so much as a function of an alien god's will. R'Thilliach is now trying to free itself, and in order to do that, it must locate the knife and the ritual that were used to bind it.

Augustus Langborn bound R'Thilliach. Langborn is an occultist who discovered the secrets of the demon Ashmedai and used them to achieve immortality and to glimpse into the future. He discovered R'Thilliach and used a ritual from Ashmedai's texts, and a sacred ancient knife, to bind R'Thilliach deep under the earth. Then, knowing that he could not take the texts or knife away from Exeter without weakening the binding, he concealed them as best he could, using another of Ashmedai's rituals to hide them in hidden vaults that can only be opened by a kiss born of love/lust [one or the other or both, haven't yet decided].

R'Thilliach's influence has raised awareness of these hidden treasures. This, in turn, has sparked a treasure hunt - the Ashmedai texts reveal immortality's secrets, and how to see the future! They are clearly valuable in the supernatural community.

The opening of one of the false vaults [in episode 4] has alerted the immortal Augustus Langborn that there are people seeking to undo his efforts. He will return to Exeter - but he is no hero, Augustus Langborn. He carries the secrets of demons in his heart, and his designs are also dark...

---

So this series has two Big Bads. One of them is Augustus Langborn, whose name is well known to the players through the Langborn Estate, scene of much activity and horror; and the other is R'Thilliach. Previous Big Bads worshipped this season's Big Bad. Yeesh.

---

So, in terms of this episode, I still want Lex taken out - but I'll hold off on the return of Augustus Langborn. I want the characters to get some backstory first, so they known Langborn was a real person first; his being alive should then come as a surprise to them.

Lex will instead be taken out by a R'Thilliach dupe. Who might R'Thilliach be using? Perhaps Josh, the friendly researcher? Perhaps... Meryll, mother of Candy, wife of Brian, stepmom of Zak? Hmm...

---

How does this fit in with the prophecy of Candy and Zak? Well, I'm not sure - but that's why I'm throwing in a plot-crucial knife. We'll work on the rest soon - I think I'll post after this Friday's game about how to approach the prophecy. I seriously will need advice on that.

Coming soon (after I think on this post a little bit more): Episode 6 breakdown

[SE] Website Update

Thu, 25 Jan 2007 04:40:32 GMT

For the curious, the Slayers East website has been updated with episode guide entries for all Season 4 episodes to date, and with a full write-up of the first three (just posted the third one now).

See the episode list here.

[Slayers East] Episode 6 prep

Fri, 19 Jan 2007 01:16:16 GMT

Right - as we come into episode 6 of Slayers East I feel it's time to change things up a gear and get the season proper humming.

In this ep. the big change I'm thinking is to change the situation with Lex Madsen. Lex, the man on the hill with his massive occult collection and dubious business practices, has been a foil to the SE crew for two seasons - never an outright villain, but often working at cross-purposes. His son, Nick, is Candy's key love interest.

I want this episode to have Augustus Langborn come back to his estate.
I want Lex to be taken out of the game, but not killed.
I want Lex's son Nick to remain on the scene, still living up at the Langborn mansion.

So what I'm thinking is, Langborn comes back, and breaks Lex's mind, probably on purpose. Lex is left a gibbering madman, or comatose, or something.

The actual drama of the episode: with Lex away on a business trip (actually, he is lying in his cellar unconscious - he never made his flight), Nick decides to host a big party for his girlfriend's birthday. Lots of drunk teens milling around a manor with tunnels leading down into who-knows-what. It'll give lots of room for character stuff, too.

The threat, if we need one, comes from some supernaturals who sneak into the party disguised as ordinary teens. Demon hot guys, coming to search the place for secret stuff.

Maybe the true phylactery is hidden under the Mansion?

So, that's a brain dump of what I'm thinking.

===

Previously established in play:
* the Lovecraftian creature R'Thilliach is trapped under Exeter
* the tunnels under the Langborn Estate lead down to R'Thilliach
* the presence of R'Thilliach (and dimensional weakening in season one) make Exeter a supernatural hotspot
* a number of supernaturals are turning up in Exeter on a Treasure Hunt.
* the treasure is apparently a phylactery; a trap-filled false chamber with fake treasure was found, which opened when two people kissed above it
* some perhaps-unreliable glimpses into the future suggest that Zak will kill his stepsister, Candy, with a knife or dagger - currently, Zak's player is the only one who seems to remember these parts of the backstory

Secret backstory (current version - subject to change):
* the treasure is the Ashmedai Phylactery, reputed to contain the texts of Asmodeus, written at the time of Solomon when the demon worked on the construction of the temple.
* there is another part of the treasure - a knife, exact supernatural aspect to be discussed
* these treasures were concealed by Augustus Langborn, the immortal creator of the Langborn Estate, who has been on a long journey somewhere and absent for a century
* Langborn hid his treasures with magical locks that could only be opened by genuine kisses of love between two people - ruling out many hate-filled supernaturals

What I'm still figuring out: why there is a treasure hunt now; what the Ashmedai texts reveal (perhaps the secret of immortality); why Langborn went to such lengths to conceal them; where Langborn was; what Langborn wants now; how Lovecraftian R'Thilliach mixes with the Abrahamic God-mythology of Ashmedai.

Since the theme of the season seems to be 'change and transition', I like the idea of the big threat echoing this - perhaps Langborn is coming back to put things back the way they were?

Slayers East Episode 5 'Hideaway'

Thu, 21 Dec 2006 20:44:17 GMT

Last night we ran Slayers East episode 5, which was the spotlight episode for Scott's character Zak. Scott has been seeding the setup for this episode for a while now, repeatedly having Zak closet himself away in his room and showing real discomfort at being out and about. In this episode, this growing problem came to a head as Zak's reluctance to leave his room - and face the things in his life he's hiding from - took on a supernatural dimension.

Non-player readers have already seen Scott's initial notes for the episode. After going round in circles for a while, I ended up going with a lot of that, just bulking up a lot of other stuff and making good spaces for the other characters to get involved.

And it went well, according to player reports, but was very different in how we played to other episodes. The first change was that Scott decided he was going to take a different approach to the spotlight character idea - instead of using it as an opportunity to go completely into character, he used it as a chance to step half-out of character and take a serious GM role in the direction of the plot. I was initially hesitant but it came off well.

A major concern of mine was in the resolution to Zak's situation. He had pre-scripted an end sequence, because he had known all along exactly what Zak's problem was and exactly what circumstance would prompt him to break through it. I don't like going through to a preset ending point - all those terrible adventures where you battle to a final room and then watch two NPCs fight it out grump me out - but I talked myself into it in this case because I knew that Scott would be open to incorporating any other changes as we went, because there was still lots of space for the unexpected in and around this result in the response of other characters (relationships being at centre here, after all), because it was in the context of a spotlight episode and also because Scott was right, this was the best way to push the game onwards. It breaks every rule in the GM handbook but the players say it ran all right. To my face, anyway :-)

There was some dark stuff in there, again. All the players bring serious chops to this table. It's gonna be a long six weeks til next time!

[SE] Episode 4 "Lovebites"

Thu, 07 Dec 2006 22:31:21 GMT

In this episode, Cass' boyfriend Bene came to town to shoot a short film, and ended up breaking up with her. Also, there were vampires and the treasure hunt came up again.

Episode 4 was, I think, the shakiest SE episode so far in terms of its momentum and drive. I found it hard to get anything rolling. There were several reasons for this, such as deciding to push a more character-focused angle this episode, sinking energy into secondary plotlines, and not having an NPC villain pushing action towards a climax. I am sure I could have mitigated this with better use of the screen presence rules - my SP1 allies, Blair and Scott, were both eager to help run whatever I threw their way and stepped in as film crew, students and even vampires before the night was out. I should have told 'em what act break I was heading for and had them use their brains to help get us there, instead of scrabbling a bit to do it alone. This is precisely what those rules are for, after all!

Outside of my own difficulties getting the material humming, the players seemed to have a ball and as usual I was in awe of some of the coolness they delivered. This was the spotlight episode for Giffy's character Cass and she was incredible. She ran the entire precredits sequence of her on the phone to Bene talking about life in town, cutting away to scenes showing what she was talking about; once the episode was underway she was able to just explore Cass. You can read Giffy's take on it here. (And Jenni mentions the ep here, while I'm linking to player posts.)

All of the players were wonderful, and as usual for the best SE episodes there was both hilarity and heartbreak. Everyone is eagerly anticipating the next session, which is Zak's spotlight episode, in which we'll finally find out what the hell is going on with that boy!

Only one major change from my prep notes - I had anticipated the halfway act break to be Bene breaking it off with Cass, but changed it to Cass overhearing Bene's friends talking about how he was waiting for the right moment to dump her. The moment Bene walked onscreen I knew he was going to put off telling her as long as he could, and he'd act as though everything was fine. I think the bit at the end when he dropped the bomb of 'I think we should split up' did come out as really abrupt, but in my playing of Bene he'd been trying to find a good time to do it the whole episode! So I liked it. It felt pretty genuine and organic to me. Poor Cass.

So, overall, a damn good episode, but a tricky one to run. The game is still going really well!

(I plan on a followup post about how the new rules are working out, but that can wait...)

[SE] Episode 4 final version

Mon, 04 Dec 2006 11:56:15 GMT

Here's a final-ish version of what I'm taking to the game on Thursday. The episode's called 'Lovebites' at the moment. I still need to figure out some more details of the treasure hunt angle, but the overall idea is that there are several groups searching for an item that gives some fabled power connected with R'Thilliach. The item was originally owned by Mr Augustus Langborn, founder of the Langborn Estate. It transpires this episode that Langborn hid false duplicates of the item in one or two places to lure the unwary - and one of these false duplicates turns up in this episode.

I expect Langborn himself to turn up in about episode eight or nine, probably as the big bad, but possibly as a good guy - not yet decided. In any case, he turns up to take this storyline to a close.

Right, on to the episode:

Problem
Cass’ boyfriend hits town - but his visit isn’t destined to go smoothly. A kiss cracks open the earth, and some treasure hunters are keen to take what is revealed...

Act Breakdown

Precredits
Put largely in Rachael's hands. It can all be Cass leaving a message for her boyfriend on his phone, with jumps out to show what people are up to...
Break on: Cass bereft - "maybe I’ll see you sometime?"

Act One:
Cass wants to hang out with the girls, but Cynth has band pressure from Zak, and Candy has slayer duties from Brian, so Cass ends up at a loose end.
Cass invited to Ms Preston’s cool crew after school. It’s... Stephie and Clarice and Christian, the cool kids! Ms Preston is making a short film. She’s got some of her friends from New York coming out for a few days to make it... might have a role in it for one of the girls...
Break on: Reveal that Benny is there among the short film people! [GM determines timing]

Act Two:
Cass can help with the film crew maybe? If so, something will go wrong. Humiliate her. On film, Benny and Ms Preston hook in, for a scene... the earth moves, literally! It’s actually a magic thing, a kiss that unlocks a secret cellar...
(Zak no-shows to band practice. Cynth has a moment with Max. Lex job offer to Candy.)
Cass and Benny hang out
Break on: Benny dumps Cass! [GM determines timing]

Act Three:
(Candy approached by Nick. Lolly tells Cynth stuff.)
Get Cass at the filming! Callie Preston and Cass have a chat? But Ms Preston and Benny then immediately start with the flirting...
Then the film crew get in trouble. Vamps turn up, they come because they believe the film crew have stumbled into the treasure via the kiss-quake... 'Take one of them with us when we go in... they can go first. Any deadly traps or anything, they can find em.'
Break on: And they take... Benny! Cass has a choice - let Benny go? Or volunteer in his place? [GM determines timing]

Act Four:
Vamps with hostage go into the caves... but it’s a false treasure! And a deadly one!
(Word gets to others for rescue mission and involvement in finale)
Conclusion of episode, Cass can say where she stands on the Benny issue... last scene is Cass’s.

The story is basically a personal growth/empowerment one. As Cass is the only one of the Slayers-connected folk on the scene when the vamps come, she'll be the only one who handles it with any aplomb - thus empowering her to make whatever choice she wants to make regarding her life. It's a nice angle for this, because it doesn't presuppose any of her decisions, just forces her to realise she's capable of making them.

Any other suggestions? (And thanks to Rattie for the filmmaking angle!)

[SE] Episode Four

Thu, 30 Nov 2006 21:57:55 GMT

Been quiet because still waiting for giffydoll to get back to me about some stuff. This episode is her character's spotlight episode. At the end of the system development that was going on in this LJ beforehand, I ended up with this Primetime Adventures-inspired 'spotlight episode' plan:

At the beginning of the season, players will choose a general character issue. This issue is the basis of the character’s internal conflict and a source of drama for the character. In play, the character will face challenges associated with this issue.

In the character’s spotlight episode, the character will resolve this issue in some way. It is the player’s responsibility to supply a crisis for their spotlight episode. A crisis can be defined here as ‘a situation that forces the character to deal with the issue this episode’. (A crisis is something like the Kicker used in other games, but is different enough I’ve given it its own jargon.) This means that, in practice, players will spend the episodes leading up to their character’s spotlight episode building up and exploring their issue so as to find a good crisis for the spotlight episode.

Giffy is running the character of Cass (formerly CC), transplanted back from New York city to her old vamp-infested town due to a family matter. She has been forced to leave behind her much-older boyfriend, and has used several self-framed scenes in the first episodes to talk with him on the phone.

Cass's issue is 'fitting in' with a specific angle of 'how do I fit back in? do I even try or do I just wait until I can escape this town again?' The crisis Giffy chose for Cass's spotlight episode is her boyfriend comes to town and breaks up with her. Which is incredibly perfect. She also expressed an indication that she expects this episode to end with her resolving to become a proper part of the Slayers East crew. In email I asked:

First, where in the episode do you see this crisis hitting? It would rush it a little to have it hit in the pre-credits - but it could be a first scene, or a sting for end-of-act-one, end-of-act-two, end-of-act-three or end-of-episode. But probably not end of episode. The point of the spotlight is that it gives the character a chance to
work through their issue, in this case Cass's doubts about where she fits in. So by the end of the ep we want Cass to know where she fits in, or at least have some confidence that she's gonna figure it out, so she can move on to a new character issue in due course.

I think the dumping would be a good end-of-act-1 or end-of-act-2, giving us a whole chunk of episode to explore how Cass responds to this situation.

Do you have any ideas for a pre-credits sequence? Ideally this will (a) present some kind of supernatural element and (b) set up the issue that is the episode's focus, namely Cass' doubts about where she fits in.

Anything else you want addressed in your spotlight episode?

To highlight the choice Cass faces about where she fits in, I think we need to go archetypal in the supernatural element of this episode. I'm thinking of having the Slayer folk decide to go into the sewers to investigate the vampires meant to be hiding down there - this is also good because it emphasises the nasty and unglamourous side of the vampire hunting. (I think it's time to start ramping in the seasonal plotline, too, but that's another post.)

Other notes:
There's more complexity to the 'fitting in' dynamic than first appears. The SE crew is fractured at present - all the players have given their characters reasons for the group not to be a group. There is, for example, clearly going to be conflict-of-commitment between the band and Slayer stuff down the line. What exactly is Cass going to fit into?

The 'cool' drama teacher intro'd in episode 2 is recruiting 'interesting kids' into her special circle. I intend to have her try and recruit Cass, but I'm not sure how to angle this - is the teacher genuinely cool and offering another real option for Giffy the player, or is she a hypocrite and her circle is just the nasty cool kids Cass dislikes? Likewise reigning queen bee Stephie trying to recruit Cass into her crowd - can I, and do I want to, angle this as a genuine choice for Giffy the player?

I'm considering adding insult to injury by really pushing the teacher as a sympathetic character in the wake of Cass being dumped - then having Cass' newly ex-boyfriend and the teacher sleep together, and Cass finds out. Double betrayal! I don't think it goes anywhere in particular, just makes her have a really, really rough day!

Right, that's the idea dump as it stands. I think this ep will feel quite different in tone to the others. The two other girls, Candy and Cynth, are both screen presence 2 so their friendship with Cass is also in focus and their own issues will get bumps as well, but I'll figure out the main spotlight thing first.

(By the way, all those cool episode ideas I've received from you guys so far are serving as mad inspiration...)