Untitled - Index of - Free

Director- [He would have to know better.] Backwards,
down a curved staircase?
Scott- Right. I go over the side then, leaping the
banister.
Director- O.K. Scott, you hit the ground hard, but on
your feet. However, you lose that flashlight in
your haste over the banister, and it goes
bouncing down the staircase, the beam swing­
ing wildly in the hall. The flashlight lands a
moment after you do, at the bottom of the
stairs, pointing directly at Abe behind the
stairwell.
Abe - No it isn't, because I'm moving for that SS
Trouper's gun down the hall.
Director- Hold on. You get moving forward, just as a
metal claw slams into the floor by Scott's
feet, trailing a taught metal cable back up the
stairwell, towards that unblinking red eye in
the darkness. Scott has just leapt down the
staircase, is off-balance, and unprepared for
an attack.
Abe - Damn! Damn! O.K. I use my momentum to
push Scott out of the way. I want to take the
attack instead of him.
Johnny - Good. I'll go for the SS trouper's gun. I'm the
closest one to it anyway.
Scott- I'm getting out of the way of the Colonel. Abe
can have him.
Director - Scott, getting out of the way is easy, because
Abe bowls you right over. You go sprawling
against the wall of the corridor. An instant
later, the Colonel's form comes hurtling down
at Abe. Abe, the Colonel is being drawn down
by more than gravity. The other end of that
steel cable is attached to the Colonel's me­
chanical arm, and it's literally pulling him
down upon you like a battering ram.
Abe - Can I leap out of the way and let him hit the
floor?
Step 1 -
Gather Statements of Intent
¢ Deliver Warnings
Scott's action is so quick that it's being resolved before the
Director seeks statements of intent from anybody else.
The other Actors will be responding to Scott's action,
which is appropriate, since Scott was the first to see the
Colonel, and is initiating this segment of combat.
Another attempt by the Director to put Abe on the spot.
Which Abe responds to in action this time, rather than
improvisation.
Another important point. The Director is in charge of the
timing of all events within the Episode (although these
may be affected improvisationally by the Actors as well).
In this case, the Director is stopping the action in mid­
motion, in order to provide perceptions which the Director
feels may change the character's stated intent.
The Director is also forcing the Actor to make a choice
which will help to define Abe's psychological makeup.
And here's a similar opportunity for the Actor portraying
Scott. This is still on the surface level though. The more
personally meaningful the choice, the deeper the under­
standing of the character will be. Whether the characters
win or lose the fight is secondary, becuase this is where
the roleplay is.
Now, if the Director were to allow this, what would happen
to the meaning of the choices which Abe and Scott have
just made?
Theatrlx -
The Core Rules 1 05