Untitled - Index of - Free

Johnny- Yeah, the instant I drop this gun, I know
that's when he'll get up I'm staying right
here.
Director- O.K. Scott, you've reached the end of the
corndor The door to the hangar deck is in
front of you
Scott- I open it up and look around for a plane, or
another way off this ship
Director - You pull open the door, and hazily, almost as
Scott- What?
if in a dream, you hear the sound of gunfire.
Director - Someone takes a hot tron and forces it
across your upper arm You look down and
see a small spray of blood. Distantly, there's
the sound of a bullet striking a metal wall far
behind you. And then you hear the sound of
a second shot, almost in slow motion. You
wish you could do something about it. Oddly,
a spray of blood and small bone fragments
explodes out of the back of your left shoulder.
Your sure they were bone fragments And
then fhe pam starts, like it was being held
behind a dam that JUSt broke The metal floor
knocks you on the back of the head. Johnny
and Abe, you two hear the distinct sound ot
a Luger being fired twice. You're very famil­
iar with that noise
Johnny - Damn! I turn around and look for whoever's
firing that gun I knew this was going to
happen
Director - Abe, what are you doing? Are you gorng to
concentrate on the Colonel, and hope you're
not the next target, rolling there in the middle
of the half You seem to have rolled over near
the stairway and knocked that flashlight
around. It's near your head, pointing right at
you and the Colonel, making you a bright
targelm a dark hallway.
1 08 Theatrtx - The Core Rules
In the prevtous description of combat, if the D1rector had
wtshed, he (we use the male gender here to Indicate that
the Director was 1ndeed a 'he', as this is an actual
transcript, more or less, of an actual game) could have
gone into greater detail, describing the opponents' chang­
ing positions, and asking for spec1fic maneuvers tn re­
sponse. In this case, however, the D1rectorwants to keep
the action moving faster, while keeping the other Actors
on their toes
In Theatrix, perception 1s a function of Success and
Failure. Here, Scott, in his slightly panicked state, has
Failed to notice a gunman as he opened the door.
-..:·-:.
Try to lim11 the
Damage
to su•1 me
Lesson Easy Very Capable 1
( You advance o n you r foe, pressing him back A small rin on your hps as you
g
Hold 111 What's
l
hat shadow behlnCf you? Thud Palnl
Step 4 - Description of Results
q Describe Each Result In Terms of
Subjective V1ewpornt
Here's an example of a character who ts unaware of the
exact nature and reason for h1s Failure The Director has
decided that Scott's character was surprised by the
assault. stunned, and confused. The Director describes
the following events to Scott, from his subjective frame of
reference. The Director is making the Actor portrayrng
Scott aware of Scott's surprise and shock. The description
of the wounds tnfl1cted provtdes a basis for the subse­
quent portrayal, In character of this experience. This
Failure is a natural extens1on of Scott's prevtous roleplay
You get freaked out in a situation like this, you move too
quickly, and you get hurt Thts could have been simply a
warning, or it could have been much worse The Director
has chosen this Result, because it's severe enough to
challenge Scott's character, while avoiding being overly
punrttve (eg. by taking Scott out of the rest of the
Episode) The challenge to Scott's portrayal is whether
this incident w111 make Scott more or less, prone to
seek1ng his own safety. Will he demand that somebody
else now go first through each door? Or, havtng lived
through this experience, wtll he gain a score m the
Personality Tratt of Brave?
)