Untitled - Index of - Free

people will hold. In either case, the following questions
should be answered ...
¢ Highest Value - What is good in life? What
should a person be willing to die for? Which
is more philosophically important; piety,
wealth, honor, or fame? Which one is most
important in actual practice? And how does
this vary amongst the strata of society?
¢ Religion - What religions are in use? What
precepts do they teach? Who interprets the
religious guidelines? Do the priests have
political power, and if so, what is its nature
and extent?
¢ Obligations - What is the social contract
between the rich and the poor? What
obligations do those in power hold to those
who are not? Are these obligations generally
upheld, or only given lip service? What bonds
hold the society together; might of arms,
religious conviction, shared values, or all of
the above?
¢ Justice- What systems of justice are in use?
People
Do systems of justice vary amongst the
classes of society? What is the highest
offense? How is punishment meted out?
Tinker, tailor, soldier, spy; what role do people play
in the fabric of society? These are the questions you'll
need to answer ...
¢ Professions-What professions are available
in your Setting? How are the Skills associated
with these professions transmitted? Are there
Universities and/or apprenticeships?
¢ Classes - What station in society do the
various professions hold and why? How
common are they? How rigid is the class
system? Is it possible to rise up the ladder of
society? How protected are people from falling
down the rungs of power?
The above professions are also useful as sample
characters, and character templates, because they pro­
vide a guide to what's appropriate for your Setting.
¢ Culture- What values are expressed by the
people in their varied art, architecture, fashion,
foods, languages, music, dance, and
entertainment? What are the esthetics of
society like?
Dramatic Context
Drama, as we've defined earlier, is conflict. Dra­
matic context is the 'who', 'where', and 'how' that sets up
that conflict. That's who makes up the conflict, both Main
and Supporting Casts, where the conflict is to take place,
and how the events will lead to that conflict. If the context
of your Chronicle doesn't promote drama, then it's going
to be hard to come up with decent Episodes. If, on the
other hand, you design the Setting of your Chronicle with
dramatic context in mind, then Episodes will almost
present themselves.
In chapter two, titled 'Roleplay', under the 'Staging'
section, we urged that every Chronicle have a focus, ie.
some organization or group that would act as a rationale
for holding the Main Cast together. This organization may
then be used as part of the Setting's dramatic context.
Because the organization transcends the individuals which
make it up, it acts as a common Plot Device, binding the
Main Cast together within your Episodes Conflict can
then be played out between the organization and its
enemies, between the Main Cast and the demands of the
organization, and between the Main Cast members them­
selves, who must overcome personal conflicts in order to
keep the organization intact. Instant dramatic context,
just add villains.
VILLAINS
Villains are the very essence of drama. They pro­
vide you with both conflicts in their motives, and adver­
saries in their persons. The better you know them, the
better you'll portray them. The better you portray them,
the more alive your plots will become.
Not all villains think of themselves as bad. Many
opponents will have legitimate goals, which are Simply
irreconcilable with those of the Main Cast. Some villains
may even be unfairly oppressed by the organization to
which the Main Cast belongs, which may lead to your
Main Cast actually sympathizing with the villain. Such
moral grey areas often make for interesting Episodes.
However, they also leave the dramatic context of the
Episode on fairly loose and shifting ground, and so should
be used to vary the themes you present as Director, rather
than as a mainstay of the Chronicle.
Often, the most satisfying villains are the ones you
love to hate. No difficult internal struggles there, just pure
unadulterated 'good guys against bad guys' action. Use
Cut Scenes to show these villains being bad. Have this
kind of villain maliciously hurt the Main Cast, then let your
Actors loose.
Theat.-lx - The Core Rules 117