Hi and welcome back to Narrative Control.  This week Justin and I are talking about coaching players, helping them to contribute more to the game and get more out of it.

Hosts: Sean Nittner and Justin Evans

Length: 29:39

Show Notes

[00:27] Introduction to the show: Coaching players.[01:17] RPGPodcasts.com promo[01:33] Trying to tell a story without context… it's hard.[02:17] The old saying "It's easier to tell as story with limits" – Is this really an old saying?[03:15] Coaching players: Helping them tell good stories.[03:25] A reading from Play Unsafe by Graham Walmsley. Sometimes at conventions players just want the GM to lead them through an adventure.[04:47] Why players might be afraid of doing something "wrong?"Establishing the theme of the game[05:32] When kicking off a game, make sure everyone is telling the same story.[05:55] In the beginning of a game establishing the theme of the game.  Make sure your players a buying in from the start.[06:39] Example: The spy genre is very diverse.  Pussy Galore and Jason Bourne don't belong in the same story.[07:05] Fear the Boot "Group Template" - Players defining why their group is together and what they will be doing.[09:05] Randy's idea: A reality TV show of drivers on the Doc Wagon.Establishing the goal or objective of the game.[09:45] Up front: What is the goal of the game?  Make sure that the characters have appropriate long term goals[11:03] Giving players short term goals they can achieve right away.  Example: Burning Wheel's beliefs system. [12:27] Shadows of Yesterday uses experience keys to make explicit short term goals.[12:49] Kristin from This Modern Death suggested getting rid of the WoD Virtues and Vices and replacing them with activities you're proud of and those which you use for coping.[14:22] Plot Cards.  Easy short term goals that you can give out randomly to the players.  This encourages certain scenes to come up.[16:27] Incentivizing player generated scenes with in game rewards (fate chips, drama dice, etc)[16:45] Justin's Firefly themed plot cards at www.sinistergame.comGetting players to shine the spotlight on each other.[17:28] Players were more forceful personalities hoarding the spotlight?[18:03] What if the job of a player was to shine the spotlight on other people?  The idea came from Son's of Kryos. You have to endure one of Sean's stories.  Ways to encourage this.[19:42] Burning Wheel: The helping mechanic tends to benefit you more than using the skill on your own.[20:40] Sharing a common pool of XP and limiting how much each character can generate, so everyone has to participate to gain the group it's greatest reward.[21:45] Fan Mail from Prime Time Adventures. Fan mail allows you to enter a scene with a supporting role.Rewards for good role-playing, make both hosts uncomfortable.[22:42] Many games include an XP reward for good role-playing.  Assigning a reward to the MVP and Workhorse.[24:40] Encourages people to continue hogging the attention and can disappoint other players.[25:09] We also see this at con games.  Swag going to the "winner" of the game. A good idea from Rich Taylor. Giving the reward to the player that made the game the most fun for everyone else.Games that rotate narrations, encouraging people to take the stage.[26:45] Prime Time Adventures (I know… again) gives out a random narration element, allowing different people to narrate every scene.  Not mentioned in the podcast but another game that does this is Dust Devils.[27:30] A similar mechanic in Zombie Cinema.  Choose a side in any conflict and decide if you want to ally, giving you a chance to narrate. 

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