Becoming A Story Guide
“The first bump on the road to becoming the Story Guide for most is letting go of the spotlight. Becoming the Spotlight, then shining it on all the crazy diamonds.”
We have all seen the stories of how the Story Guide ends up in their role. “The table lacked one, and I was voted in.” “Somebody has got to do it!” “I had been playing for years.” and the occasional, “It was the role which called my name!”
Whatever moment turns you, the door behind the curtain is more intimidating than a low check against a door which isn’t locked nor trapped. There are plenty of resources to make your way to being the technician behind the show adding all the icing on the cake for the superstars.
Where to Begin
Some say give the rules a read. That makes sense. Unfortunately after years and years of playing dozens of different systems. I would advise you to keep the rules within reach. If you are starting out as a Story Guide and have never been a Player, then I’ve prepared a small list of items you need to focus on more than anything else.
Set: A set is a webbed structure with how all of a location is connected to other locations from map overviews to supporting character connections.
Location: Make a place. In our Table Top, we encourage our players to start doing these things as part of character creation. You don’t have to fuss with Character Creation much. You get to start with location. The Tavern is the common local in pop culture. Other good starters include anywhere relatively simple where people gather such as the adventure guild, the streets of a very small village, or a barracks. An experienced player will have a domicile and a few locations attached to their character which you get to add to their Lordock!
Supporting Characters: Units follow a different standard than Player Characters. We start with the SupCblock. Stats, connections, basic life story, stasis quo and status quo. For the individual unit, this is a digestible amount of information which gives us a strong anchor to improvise the presence of the supporting character. It also stands as a web structure for how they are connected to the rest of the town. Their support structure, who knows who, general reactions, and all the story magic is simplified into the SupCblock.
Things: Objects are just about everywhere. Items as detail or props are great, but when a Character picks something up, it has a data set connected mechanically to interactions and other possibilities. Having a few generic lists associated with location types is a continuity saver, but it is even better to have specified lists in locations where our players will visit often. Taking a generic list and throwing in a few special items is quite the spice.
It’s a lot to take in
I suggest getting a few sessions in before you continue to take on more advice. Learning by doing is what it takes to get the initial confidence to start bringing in new elements. If you’ve run a few sessions, carry on with the more coming your way.
Session Scope
An early element to get a hold of which will bring you closer to competence over confidence is going to be your Session Scope. At first Scope will feel hard to nail down. Until you get a hold on your rhythm, and your player’s rhythm, and start rocking the dynamic, Session Scope is rough to measure.
The Session Scope is simple. What is the one thing our players need to learn for the session? The how here isn’t important. The Session Scope is usually part of the main story line. The Session Scope may also be something simple, like which engagement or scene has to be covered this session, regardless of what the players do? Adding more than one session scope objective can put a lot of pressure on the narrative.
We shouldn’t use Session Scope for individual player’s character story lines. It should be added to such themes as a key for the whole group. When you keep your session scope strong and simple, it helps keep the main game running, regardless of derailing.
The Story Guide’s Ultimate Power
We have near uncontested power over time as a Story Guide. How we use time is the element which has the biggest effect on the group. Using Timescale as a tool will be one of the best lessons for a new Story Guide. Timescale will be mentioned often.
One quick way to use Timescale is with a Split Party. Our Party members can be HOURS apart from each other while split, without ever communicating such a thing. With this in mind, if one of the groups Split gets into a fight, it is possible to have the other group show up. We’re not talking about two groups exploring the same place at the same time going through different rooms. I’ll definitely give more examples later.
The Five Big Tropes
Ah HA. Among the media I see these five more than the rest. You could easily span them out to fifty perspectives, but let’s reduce it to the basics of what they are here, and how to handle it in a way which will keep the table on mark.
Pointing the Spotlight
When our player’s characters are all together, there is a good chance one or two of them, your ambitious players, will take the spotlight as naturals. The observers will take second seat and for the most part enjoy what happens as a group. This isn’t always true. While some players are good at being on the sidelines more than a fair share, they will still enjoy the game more if given the chance to shine. Cultivating this is often best done by splitting the party.
Do Split the Party
Split them up as much as you can and bring them back together for the moments they need each other. Personal story lines bloom in the absence of the crowd. Don’t warn them it is dangerous. Create environments where it is safe for them to go it alone sixteen sessions out of seventeen. Wait to traumatize them to where they don’t want to be alone.
Make truly safe spaces for them. Declaring a place always safe and never breaking your ruling there will foster an environment for less traveled roleplaying. If they are always preparing for danger, they’ll never enjoy the shopping episodes or camping episodes.
While splitting the party, keep a timer on your events. Every five to ten minutes switch scenes to another player or group of players. Keep the show rolling often enough your player’s attention doesn’t wander, and they don’t forget where they’re at in their own scenes.
The Minimized Maxed Specialist Players
Yes. This includes popularized builds. Flavor of the most recent update. Even without the presence of one who is making the attempt to put as many damage points into a single round, or be able to perform some type of action flawlessly every time. We should pay attention to how each of our characters can be in a situation, and always pay attention to how each player likes to apply their characters to situations. We want to keep our content diversified where it both allows them to shine in what they specialized in, and present these situations where each player gets the moment of brilliant success.
The other side of the coin is presenting them scenarios where their character is not the top choice. Where no character at the table has a ready made solution to the moment. A good mix will keep the table guessing on what is needed, and later campaigns with the same players will see less specialist players, and a lot more delegation of the spread across the table to keep the bases loaded.
Hand Wave & Homebrew
I’ll start this off by saying, if the game system you’re playing doesn’t cover what you want to do as a Story Guide or Player, then consider a different table top roleplaying game altogether. It is fun to make homebrew or sometimes hand wave out or in some rule of cool. It’s also fun to try a system which may have mechanics doing exactly what you and your players want. Do I want you to use our system? Of course! Play whichever one you want. Most of what we offer here are supplementary tools for any game.
The Problem Player (Or Story Guide)
Coach once, fire fast. Don’t waste your time with a player who consistently damages the fun of the group. If they can’t adapt to feedback the first time, don’t let them obliterate your whole table by letting it slide. Find someone else for the spot. If you’re a player, and it is the story guide. Just find a new game.
Alabaster’s Memoir “The First Book,”
I was young when I began my self indoctrination into table top role playing games. I liked fantasy and science fiction books and wouldn’t you know? The rule books for playing most table tops are right there next to those kinds of stories in the big box book stores. Of course I found one. It looked interesting even though I had no idea what they were when I picked out the book with a cool picture right up my alley with the genre I was most entertained by in my reading.
The overview was interesting, it got me formulating how to find myself a game. Showing off the books to my friends was enough to get them interested, too. As the initiator of the hobby, it fell on me to become the host. A job where my only skill was me vs. the players. Eventually I grew in capability. It became more than a hobby, but my way of life.
