Cut scenes in RPGs

[cyst13]

The Star Trek Narrator's Guide has a recommendation for using 'cut scenes' in the game. This is the equivalent of a movie when the action cuts from the heroes to the villains to let you know what they are up to. The Narr. Guide says you can use this device selectively to give your players just a small taste of what the opposition is planning in order to build tension. The PCs, of course, would not have access to this knowledge; only the players.

My question is: does any one use cut scenes in their games? I've always run games exclusively second person, from the players' perspective. I wonder whether something like this works well in reality. Or is it a device best left up on the silver screen?

[The Horror]

Cutscenes are fantastic. They are your friend. Use them liberally.

I like to start off games describing a moving camera angle, panning into the action at hand. A lot of times, describe the camera moving in straight into the cutscene. Describe the cutscene to it's conclusion, then switch to the players.

Think Star Wars here. Watch Ep I again (shudder). Picture the main characters as the Jedi and the Queen, and the big bad guys as the Sith. Whenever there is a cutscene with the Sith, that's when you would do a cutscene in the game. Use it to build up tension and a sense of urgency.

For example, in my current Champions game I sprinkle in cutscenes of a spy/saboteur in the midst of the PCs organisation doing his sneaky stuff. This is for my villains game incidentally. They know there is a saboteur there but they just can't find him. And whenever they think they have him, the damn cutscenes taunt them again.

The other good thing to do is frame scenes with the players themselves in a cutscene sort of format. For example, you have a group of players who are conniving and plotting each to further their own goals. To build up tension, ask each player what they want to do before the first game. Then during the game you can frame those scenes with each one of them. They might have a problem with that, since they want to keep their plots secret from the other players. That's why what you do in these cases is to have the scene work in vague terms, or have the scene start half way through an event. That way the other players will still have no idea of what is going on.

Example: Last session a player told me before the session that he wanted to have some business cards made up. I told him I'd frame a cutscene during the game for him on this matter. During the game I framed the scene for him. It went something like this:

--------------------
The camera pans up from the black underside of a desk, revealing a man sitting down. You can see in the dim light that he is wearing an old worn brown suit, with a faded yellow tie. He's puffing on a cigar sending out thick clouds of smoke rolling across the room. The camera pans across tracking the smoke, revealing on the corner of the screen a 10 foot Silver robot (motion to PC). The smoke washes across his Silver mask, and he brushes it away with a motion of his hand.

The cigar smoking man mumbles "So, how many do you want then?"
[PC] "I want one thousand units."
[NPC] "And what sort of materials do you want them made out of?"
[PC] "The best materials available. And I want them ready within the next two days. Time is of the essence."
[NPC, leaning back on his chair] "It will cost you extra."
[PC] "Money will not be a problem" and drops a large suitcase full of cash on the table.
[NPC, eyeing off the cash] "I think we are going to do excellent business together."

Fade to Black.
----------------------

Result: All the other players in that game were wondering wtf that PC was up to. It built up a fair amount of tension, when in actual fact he was just purchasing some business cards. When acting the NPC I left it completely open for the PC to spill the beans as to what was going on, but he didn't. Most of the time, players will play along with whatever scenes you frame for them. They're not only glad to have the spotlight, but they also want the other players to think there is more going on with them than what they suspect. A perfect situation for a conspiracy or political intrigue game.


Anyhow, enough typing. Hope this gives you some ideas.



The Horror

[keithcurtis]

Excellent thoughts, The Horror. I hadn't considered using cut scenes in a vague, shadowy sort of way. I must do this soon.

I've often considered using second-person perspective and have the players RP the point of view of a victim (not their main character). In this way, a monster or villain can kill or capture a normal and the players get to have a vicarious thrill of vengeance. Vanquishing the bad guy is more visceral than it might otherwise be. Again, showing a hapless victim to introduce a threat is common in literature, but rare in rpgs.

Keith "a <I>suitcase</i> of cash for business cards!?!" Curtis

PS. Good topic, cyst13.

[The Horror]

[QUOTE=keithcurtis]
I've often considered using second-person perspective and have the players RP the point of view of a victim (not their main character). In this way, a monster or villain can kill or capture a normal and the players get to have a vicarious thrill of vengeance. Vanquishing the bad guy is more visceral than it might otherwise be. Again, showing a hapless victim to introduce a threat is common in literature, but rare in rpgs.

Keith "a <I>suitcase</i> of cash for business cards!?!" Curtis
[QUOTE]


That might actually work out quite well. I'll start the game one of these days by handing out expendable characters and framing a situation for them. Then some villain will bust in, break half half of them and steal the other half. He he he. I like it.

The suitcase of cash was pretty funny. I didn't expect that either, but the villains had just taken a good billion+ dollars in cash from the Federal Mint just the session before, so it did kinda fit.



The Horror

[cyst13]

Thanks Horror and Keith,

Those were very insightful insights. I especially like the idea of allowing the PCs to play victims. That's great! A minor quibble to satisfy my pathological perfectionism: 2nd person isn't when you allow the reader to adopt a different viewpoint. It's when you describe the action as if the reader were experiencing it.

examples:

1st person "I walk into a room."

2nd person: "You walk into a room"

3rd person: "He/she/it walks into a room."

Normally, RPGs are described in 2nd when directed towards the players.

I still wonder how my players will react when I spring on them this change in perspective. I can see them all thinking to themselves, "Wait a second, how does my guy know about this?!" I've always had an iron rule not to give info to the players that the PCs themselves would not know. Cut scenes deliberately violate that rule. I'm going to have to think out the implications before working them into my game. You have made it sound very tempting, though. Thanks again for the input.

[RPMiller]

We also had a really wonderful cutscene experience siimilar to what Keith mentioned. We were playing a swashbuckling/3 musketeers game and it went something like this:

GM: Forget for a moment that you are your characters. Instead you are all soldiers in his majesty's army. You are travelling along a cliff over-looking the ocean. (He then gave each of us a quick rank. Ie you are the captain, you are the sargeant, the rest of you are regular soldiers.) In the distance you see what appears to be a small light moving down the beach.

PC: Various quick questions then we head down to a known path that leads down to what we discover to be a boat.

I'll shorten the rest of the scene. It turns out that British spies have come ashore, and are up to something. We try to stop them, but in the end everyone gets shot or stabbed except for one soldier who is able to make it away, but injured. Fade to black.

GM: So as you are traveling along a dirt path through thick forest you hear a cry for help... Go ahead and pull out your character sheets now... A soldier on horseback is riding toward you, but seems to be badly wounded.

I have to admit that the session was really awesome because we all knew what happened, but we played as if we didn't really know, and by the time we got to the beach (from the soldier's description) the spies were gone. So now there was a lot of urgency to find them and put a stop to their plans. At the end of the adventure we finally met up with them, and you could sense the real feelings of hatred from the players for having killed "their NPCs". I would highly recommend cut-scenes in whatever context you decide to go with. It really seems to make the game move faster and provides far more motivation for the PCs to even do anything.

[keithcurtis]

Thanks Horror and Keith,

Those were very insightful insights. I especially like the idea of allowing the PCs to play victims. That's great! A minor quibble to satisfy my pathological perfectionism: 2nd person isn't when you allow the reader to adopt a different viewpoint. It's when you describe the action as if the reader were experiencing it.

examples:

1st person "I walk into a room."

2nd person: "You walk into a room"

3rd person: "He/she/it walks into a room."

Normally, RPGs are described in 2nd when directed towards the players.

Yes, that's why I used the term "Second Person" to indicate I would be directing action toward the players in the persona of victims. "You are walking down a dark alley when the cephalophage leaps out and eats your heads."

Keith "knows basic English " Curtis

[nexus]

Cut scenes are great. When done well, they add tension and a sense a "realism" to the world. As in the PC don't get the impression that things just stop when they leave a room. You have to be careful though, some players will try to abuse the information. I've found the best cut scenes give just enough of a hint to tantilize but don't give away the entire thing. A glimpse of a feature, a name dropped or a power demonstrated. I think its best if a cut scene leaves the players with more questions that answer.

[Vanguard00]

I use 'em religiously. In fact, many of my PBEMs start with an NPC-related cutscene before I every do an intro for them. Periodically, between "chapters", I'll do another, to show action going on around the PCs. There's rarely any earth-shattering clues, but I do use them in an attempt to show that the villains haven't been sitting still, and to provide flavor, foreshadowing, etc. I love going back to something I used in a previous cutscene.

Also, we allow character cutscenes, as well. Normally in a PBEM one transistions from chapter to chapter and glosses over the stuff in between. A cutscene is something the PCs can write up on their own, something that rarely affects the story as a whole but provide excellent characterization. It's a good way to let the PCs stretch their writing muscles, too. They can often give you more ideas than you thought of with their personal cutscenes.

I'd have to recommend this greatly, especially in the PBEM/Sim gaming circles.

[Blue]

I've drawn comicbook-style panels as aids before because of my love of the batman-style Meanwhile...

[cyst13]

I had no idea these were so popular. I've never had a GM use one with me in a game. Now you guys have got me stoked to try it. Just have to figure out the right moment.

[Dust Raven]

I had no idea these were so popular either. I rarely, if ever use cut scenes. I'm a big fan using an introductory narravite that doesn't involve the PCs, but introduces the villain/challenge of the adventure.

Sometimes, I'll write up the "meanwhile" scenes after the adventure and show them to my players though, but really as close as I get unless there's something important the PCs should act on, but don't have a way to get the information.

[concord]

I haven't used cut scenes in an active sense as part of a gaming session, but I have used them on the campaign website.

I call them Interludes and here is a link to the ones from my last campaign...

http://wardens.fuzioncentral.net/int...interludes.asp

++++++++++++++++++
What is one of the things missing from the Wardens Chronicles that normally is part of a comic book?

A glimpse behind the scenes. A look in to the adversary's mind.

That is the purpose of Interludes.
++++++++++++++++++

[Soulcatcher]

Cut scenes actually sound like a very useful campaign tool that would spice up things and make them more interesting for the players. Its like reading a novel that provides different character perspectives but in a cryptic and mysterious fashion. This technique is used by Glen Cook to a degree in his novels and I have rather enjoyed them. He is an excellant writer.

[nexus]

One of the most feared villians I have had in game was introduced and only encoutered in cut scenes that depicted her powers (she could interrogate the dead) and just how ruthless she was (she was responsible for most of the atrocities that PCs came across). They were pretty creeped out by Natalya. They put it like:"She really -can- shoot first and ask questions later."