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DIRECTING
Intricate, balanced, carefully designed, hand-crafted
plots. A supporting cast of imaginative characters, with a
depth and reality all their own Complete, mood captivat­
ing descriptions of Settings, both exotic and mundane.
Comic relief and high tension. These are the products of
the storyteller's art. They are the main charge of the
Director You, as Director, will create a story to involve
each of the Actors, takmg care to include twists that will
draw in their individual characterizations, push at their
flaws, hold their dnving goals in front of them like illusive
phantoms, and rivet them to their seats. Because you've
been provided with such an excellent system of rules, if
you use them well, your Actors will do half the work
themselves. All for the love of the art of storytelling.
TIME
Character development takes time The intention of
most roleplay Is that the same basic cast of characters will
appear in a linked series of stories, or Episodes. Each
Episode may be composed of several Acts, and each Act
may contain many Scenes A single Scene is a series of
events which compose one unified set of actions, gener­
ally taking place at the same location. Examples of single
Scenes would be a car chase, a business negotiation, or
a combat
A single Episode may take several sessions to
complete, and each session can last several hours. So the
flow of time within your story will be continuous and
unrelated to the passage of time as we experience it. You
may spend several sessions on a few hours of time within
the story, or many years may pass with a brief description.
The Director is in charge of the passage of time and the
pacing of the story. Your Episodes should form a rela­
tively continuous Chronicle of the Actors' adventures like
a series of movie sequels. Sometimes you may wat to
create roles and act out a single Ep1sode, but the most
satisfying roleplay is generally centered on a Chronicle.
SUPPORTING CAST
This 1s where the Director gets into the act. Your
story will probably require more roles than the major parts
occupred by your Actors. Lumbering monster, vile villain,
or powerful benefactor, all of them will be played by the
Director Even the little one line bit parts should not be
overlooked The Actors should feel that every encounter
they have is with a real person. Even a one line part can
add to the story. This 1s your chance to take the Stage. Put
some thought into every role you take. Doing this will
make your plotlines great.
One trick that practiced Directors use, is to assign
supporting roles to Actors whose major characters aren't
present for a Scene. This will keep your Actors involved
and lessen your burden at the same time. You can even
assign the role of an opponent to an Actor, giving that
Actor only enough information about the rote to get
through the Scene. The same technique works well, when
for some reason an Actor is temporarily not in control of
her character's actions, such as when a character 1s
possessed by another entity. Give the Actor involved just
enough Information to continue to play the role, while
withholding the persona's new goals. This is a good acting
challenge, and a lot of fun to watch.
STAGING
The first job of the Director is the development of the
Setting in which her stories will take place. Although we
can provide some first class background material, and
much more is available from other sources (books and
movies are your best guide), you'll still have a lot to do.
You must decide exactly where and when your Chronicle
is to be centered, and more importantly, why? Every
Chronicle should have a focus of attention: some reason
why the characters have banded together, and some
reason, beyond their individual personalities, for staying
together. The Director should help the Actors to create
roles which will provide a good match for each other and
the focus of the Chronicle. To help engage the gears of
your imagination, here are a few examples of well set
Chronicles.
An order of wizards in the 13m century, banded
together for mutual protection against the
hazards of a fantastic Dark Age.
The crew of a galaxy spanning starship, with
a mission to search out and explore new
worlds.
A group of highly specialized agents working
to preserve their culture by traveling through
time, in order to correct mistakes in history
caused by an alien menace.
The remnants of a military company trying to
survive long enough in a post-holocaust
battle-zone to reach home.
c::> A band of gunslinging desperados correcting
injustices in the Old West.
c::> A group of elite spies working for Her Majesty's
Secret Service. They might even be licensed
to kill.
Theat.-lx - The Core Rules 17