Continuity
“From one scene to the next, it is important to string the plot and story together. The future should relate to the past. Events should cascade into storylines.”
Storylines are the keystones to having our players return week after week. Continuity is an excellent tool made of the impact the players have on the world, and continuity is made of parts we all know well. Continuity is often a measure of consequences or payoffs.
Many times when I am writing I will have a single consequence or payoff for a moment way back four sessions ago. Even better to write it into continuity. These recurring issues from a moment become a series of events. All the better for the story.
Supporting Characters and their Timelines
One amazing tool for continuity includes Our Living Setting moments. These stories are often attached to a single supporting character or location. Beautiful little scenes which are filled to the brim with lovable, or worse, moments. They progress when the players move their character into or throughout a setting. They let us show growth or continuation of the lives of the characters they get to know throughout their adventures.
Most of our supporting characters have an opening scene. Full of description, some possible interactions, and have things they’re dealing with in life which they may or may not be open about.
First Note, Last Note (Titles)
Any First Note and Last Note are relative to an element on our setting sheets. In my setting sheet for any one of my campaigns includes dozens of trackers. It is far more difficult to track all the tiny subplots than it is to keep track of the big main story. We go over tracking a lot more in our Lordock panels. When it comes to subplots and their scenes, having them set up in preparation which a checklist is easier than taking new notes when I put them out into the campaign.
Action Outside Active Phase
When we are going around the table watching a combat engagement, our players are engaged. They’re waiting for their turn, sitting ready with their possible actions. They are keeping track of enemy movements, how their allies are getting messed up, and deciding on what they’ll be doing when they’re called on. Outside Active Phase Engagements, we can squeeze in cinematic fights. A quick couple of checks to see if attacks are hits. If they kill or the assailant escapes. Outgrowing the challenge is part of the story.
Progressing a Storyline
When we move our moments forward, the Status Quo changes. It is difficult with major plot items to nail down the direction events will unfold. No two parties will be the same for every situation. In my Plot Lines, I have a list of eventualities which may or may not come true. If my leads are good, and I don’t let my players theorize too much about what the Setting will do as recourse to their actions, it is far easier to move things in the direction I originally planned.
Player Theory Problem
Above the table and outside session times, the players will speculate. Some of this speculation will take place in my presence, and if my players are the scheming kind, a lot will happen in chats where I am not involved at all. Letting players speculate too long, especially if it is only one or two voices, encroaches on the Story Guide’s Agency. What a shock! right? How the world reacts is ultimately up to the Story Guide. Yet, many players will drone on about outcomes instead of actually pressing their characters against the world, and all the speculation will also hurt other player’s agency.
That said, I don’t prevent my players from doing so, but I keep the time available for such speculations to ten minutes or less, often I’ll break it up after only a few minutes. Thinking about what might happen because because stops things from happening, because the in game time is at a halt during these group think moments.
The reason this can be a problem is these theories later can create confusion in the continuity. As a Story Guide, I sometimes have to remind players as the simple facts of the notes, the history the players and the story guide all come down to the notes we keep
Accurate Lordock
Keeping an accurate lordock is paramount. Knowing what has been is the key to future moments. Recurring locations with growing storylines, or supporting characters out of place to do one thing or another is the essence of a consequential world.
Alabaster’s Memoir “Figuring out Payoffs”
This could easily also be called figuring out consequences. Of course my players are aware their actions have repercussions. It is their reward for doing what they do, either good or bad. Writing my titles and keeping my notes up to date allows for me to draw upon all their previous experience.
This is probably one of the few practices which took me a long time to become thorough with, but likely has had the highest payoff. Knowing the history of the table more often than not is all I need to run the Status Quo. Everything they’ve done in the campaign so far is back story we can use to further along our plot, and levy our devices.
