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 strings behind the curtain can be more intimidating than a low Awareness 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 instead. 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.
The Set
The Set is the Location of a Scene. There are many ways to build a set for each scene. We can use modern virtual table tops or a few strong descriptive lines in the theatre of mind.
Where the modern virtual table top is a picture worth a thousand words, a strong Set description may be as simple as location, position, and characters and supporting characters in the scene. A mix of both is possible too.
For example, the tavern, at the table in the back corner, you and so and so are sitting having this discussion. Food and drink already on the table. So an so the supporting character says, “Important dialogue.“ From there you’ve set the scene and the players you assigned to the scene have an immediate Plot Directive to start.
A blank whiteboard with a quick sketch and a few tokens or figurines is enough for the minimum spatial awareness. The dialogue and descriptive verbiage will do all the work.
Locations
Pick any place!
We encourage our players to start declaring their home, work, and third places as part of character creation and filling their Lordock. The Life Statement for each character will include at least one location if you ask them to make a Life Statement then you already have a list of locations from your players.
The Tavern is the common local in pop culture. Other good starters include anywhere relatively simple where people gather such as an outdoor stage, an 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 can start things right off!
Supporting Characters
Units follow a different standard than Player Characters.
We start with the Supporting Character Panel (SCP). 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 (SCP).
Props
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 story 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 two sessions out of three. Try not to traumatize them to funnel them into a single group all the time.
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 your tavern, and shopping or camping episodes where they get to express themselves in different environments will turn into a paranoid walk through the city in every scene.
While splitting the party, keep a timer on your events. Every five to fifteen 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.
Keep in mind a five to fifteen minute scene may turn into a big scene. The big scenes with emotion and big connection between two or more players sometimes take thirty minutes to an hour. Let them breath in these moments so they can have enough time to bloom.
Other players might step away during this time, and that is okay, but you will find more often than not, they’ll stay for the whole show. If you are clear with the table this may happen, let them know they can send you a private note they are stepping away for a bit, and give them a response with about how long they have until you need them back so they can start their turn.
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 character design, 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. Mix settings with different ttrpgs! Play Vorcrux with… or … with Vorcrux!
The Problem Player (Or Story Guide)
Coach once or twice, fire fast, and hold like screws to a coffin your session 0 and consent sheets. Don’t waste your time with a player who consistently damages the fun of the table. If they can’t adapt to feedback in the first few tries, 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 it was 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 learned dozens of tools which I hope to pass on here. Being a Story Guide became more than a hobby, it became my way of life.
