Page 108 - Chronicles of Darkness

on a character concept that will be too difficult for the other Providing Regalia: Having character portraits, maps of
characters to deal with. Other times, it will mean backing off the city, journal entries, and physical representations of clues
on a concept that makes the other players uncomfortable. or puzzles can do a lot for a game, and providing regalia is
Typically, the final say as to what does and doesn’t fit at some next-level Storytelling if you’re not used to it. Printouts,
the table is in the hands of a central Storyteller. However, fake newspaper articles, and so on can be exciting and provide
as a shared responsibility, consider a blind vote or an open additional sensory input. However, this doesn’t have to fall
discussion if any characters seem like they’d be more disrup- entirely on a single Storyteller, especially if players are sharing
tive than challenging. Destroying the themes and vibe of a storylines or managing Storyteller characters. If you bring
game, and making players uncomfortable out of character, a real puzzle box to a game session and put it on the table,
is not actually subversive; everyone needs to work together simply saying, “Let me know if you manage to open that out
to find better ways to create in-game disquiet and make the of character,” then, one way or another, players will find a
game interesting. way to bring that puzzle box into the game’s story.
Cheerlead for the Player Characters: Too often, having a
separate and authoritative singular game master role creates Spines
an assumption that a Storyteller is somehow the enemy of
the characters, and the antagonist of the players. In fact, any What holds your scene upright? What gives you the frame
player acting as a Storyteller should be the characters’ biggest and basic shape on which to hang the moments of roleplay,
fan. This position doesn’t mean characters should always get action, and exploration? What makes up the skeleton of your
what they want and never have anything bad happen to them. chronicle, which holds the meat and muscle of your stories?
On the contrary, if the Storyteller is the number-one fan of Simply put, it’s your scene framing. The scenes them-
these characters, she wants to see the characters challenged so selves, how they play out, and what your characters do is the
they can grow. Since character growth is tied to Conditions meat and skin and connective tissue, but how you frame
and Beats, for them to grow they must be put in difficult situ- scenes helps to hold the rest of that up. Weak scene framing
ations. Think of challenging these characters, on some level, means that the meat of your story hangs limp and feels dis-
as nurturing them rather than attempting to destroy them. connected from moment to moment. With a strong, flexible,
Storyteller Character Management: Depending on how healthy spine, though, you can build and grow your chronicle.
you develop your chronicle, whether you use a chronicle Pitching the Scene: First, you need to pitch the scene to
starter like Missing Person, below, or find some other way the table. “Pitching” makes it sound like you’re giving players
to populate your chronicle, you will have characters that are the choice of which scenes to follow through and what they
not player characters. These are characters with dim spot- want to explore next. That’s correct, and in fact, whenever
lights, whose agency is often focused on propping up the possible, invite players to pitch scenes when you’re stalled or
player characters’ stories. If the group is sharing Storytelling they’re brimming with ideas. To pitch, you want to suggest a
responsibilities, Storyteller characters may be left up for grabs, place, a storyline to follow, Storyteller characters who can be
letting any player bring them into play in a specific scene. involved or at least sought out, and which player characters
In that case, any secrets they hold or motivations they have should be in the scene to begin with. Once everyone agrees
should be on the table, though not abused as out-of-character on the basics, you can start outlining the scene in a little
knowledge. The best way to reflect these open secrets and more detail.
keep the characters consistent is to give them Aspirations, Central Conflict or Theme: This is optional, but it’s a
so if a player is temporarily taking control, they get a better helpful step you can use whenever possible. As well as de-
idea of how to motivate the character. Even if a group is scribing the who, what, and where of a scene, you can also
using a single, dedicated Storyteller, she might assign some frame it in terms of why. You can do this directly by saying
players Storyteller characters as side characters to manage something like “think in terms of lust and envy here,” or you
and motivate, which can help keep the world feeling alive can do it subtly through your descriptions, music you play
and populated. lightly in the background, or other symbolic representations
Storylines: As mentioned before, a single Storyteller can of the vibe you’re trying to create. It’s a great idea to quickly
hold all the secrets and present all of the challenges in a jot down what everyone wants from the scene, perhaps related
storyline to considerable success. Conversely, these storylines to their Aspirations, and check in at the end of the scene to
can be broken up between any number of players or left as figure out who got what they wanted and who didn’t. What
open plot kits that any player can pick up and use at any time. will that mean for the next scene?
Scene Framing: You can read more on scene framing later Lights and Camera: Set your scene. If you know where,
in this chapter. Storytellers are often handed all the respon- who, and maybe a few other things, you can dress your scene
sibility when it comes to “Where do we go next?” and even with a few key details to suit the theme and mood. Describe
“What do we see?” Of course, pitching scenes can be put on it like the blurb in a screenplay if you like, with camera angles
rotation, with players taking turns deciding not just where and lighting suggestions. Players eat these details up. The idea
the story should move next physically, but tagging which is that the physical aspects of a scene should never be left
storylines they want to follow up on or which characters’ as a blank, white room. There is no such thing as a blank,
struggles they want to explore next. white room, unless characters are literally in a blank, white
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invisible hands-storytelling responsibilities