Page 192 - World of Darkness

that answers never come easily and that choices are never • Second Act: The characters investigate who the
simply right or wrong. Or the Storyteller might go for thugs are and why they attacked. The characters find out
something more subtle, such as “ominous significance,” about the crime boss.
wherein everything hints at a darker meaning beneath • Third Act: The characters work to overthrow the
the surface, much like the mood evoked in the Twin Peaks boss’ empire.
television series. Threats lurk everywhere. Nothing and • Fourth Act: The crime boss threatens a character’s
no one can be trusted. Even the swish of pine trees in the loved one, and cruelly kills her even if the character ca-
wind seems to forebode a sinister revelation. pitulates to his demands.
Mood isn’t as easy to orchestrate as theme. It’s more • Fifth Act: The characters win, or the crime boss
ephemeral and requires some off-the-cuff creativity to kills them or sends them packing to a new city.
implement, especially when players surprise you by tak- The fourth act is a bit tricky (the characters might
ing their characters to places you weren’t ready to intro- rescue the loved one and send her far from harm), so it
duce. But don’t sweat it. Consistent mood is just a tool, might be amended: “If thwarted, the boss takes out his ire
not a requirement. It’s there to help you focus on the theme on an innocent and makes sure the character’s know
through imagery and other sensory data — sounds (moan- they’re to blame.” Otherwise, none of these acts is too
ing wind, piercing screams), tactile sensations (greasy, hard to achieve, even if the players have different ideas
sharp) and even smell (peppermint, rotten eggs). If your about what to do. (For example, even if the players’ char-
mood is “film noir,” you might avoid describing smells or acters refuse to investigate the thugs who attacked them,
tactile sensations and concentrate solely on sight and they can still be drawn into the crime war in other ways,
sound, to reinforce the stark nature of the story, devoid of willingly or not.)
any real human touch. Another complication might be that the crime boss
Ultimately, mood makes it seem like your story’s is really a supernatural being, wielding sorcery to main-
theme pervades every part of the world. Not even the night tain his empire. This secret could be discovered in any of
sky, wind or the shadows appear to escape the significance the acts, depending on character ingenuity. Or the char-
of the story’s events or meaning. acters could win without ever really knowing what they
were up against. Or maybe by destroying the boss, the
What Happens in a Story? characters unwittingly release a ghost whose restless soul
was appeased by the boss’ sacrifices. Now it wants revenge
Apart from the meaning you impart in a story, you against those who thwarted its servant.
must consider what happens in a story. Everything is tied The bottom line is that plot is merely an outline of
together; meaning and the events that evoke it. Consid- what the Storyteller wants to have happen, a series of
ering the events of your story as separate units is a useful events that helps to illustrate the theme.
means of getting a handle on them. In the end, they form
an unbroken continuum. Conflicts
It’s been said before and it’s worth repeating: Con-
Plot flict is the essence of drama. Conflict does not have to be
Plot is what the characters do. They act out a series of physical (although it quite often is in roleplaying games).
events that, considered as a whole, tells a story from be- It can be as simple as a character striving to discover the
ginning to middle to end. No Storyteller is completely in location of a store in downtown New York. The conflict
charge of his plot; the players provide many twists. How- is represented by the obstacles he encounters, even if
ever, a basic plot is helpful when presenting a story, even they’re merely other shoppers or the temptations of other,
if it’s doomed to be derailed, hijacked or shanghaied into easier-to-find stores. This is perhaps the most boring ex-
new lands of development. ample possible, but it shows that conflict is simply about
The simple plot of a crime-fighting chronicle might setting an obstacle before the characters, giving them some
be broken down like so: challenge that bars their way to easy victory.
• First Act (Beginning): The characters are made Of course, the most popular and ready conflict for a
aware of the problem: the city’s crime boss. story involves action and adventure. In other words, com-
• Second Act (Middle): The characters work to over- bat. Scenes of physical prowess and daring-do, clever es-
throw the boss. capes and close misses are the gold in the treasury of
• Final Act (Conclusion): The characters win (but Storytelling. They rarely get tiresome, although it’s still
at what cost?), or the crime boss wins. wise to vary them as much as possible. Too many bold
Plots don’t have to be confined to three acts; they swings on frayed vines and the schtick gets repetitive.
can have many. But three is a nice, easy way to keep to a The best form of conflict is characters themselves,
thread simple without confining events than inevitably both Storyteller-controlled and player-controlled. Stirring
veer in new directions during play. The above plot could up the hornet’s nest of envy and pride among the players’
be complicated as follows. characters is often enough conflict to fill an entire chap-
• First Act: The characters are attacked by thugs. ter. Think of D’artagnan’s first meeting with the Three
Musketeers. A series of misunderstandings results in a

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TELLING TALES-WHAT HAPPENS