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ecome their own screenwriters. The net effect of this will
hopefully be more attention to the characters and conflict
within your Episodes, ie more drama.
INFORMATION
During the telling of a story most Information rs built
up in pieces, rather than presented as a single package.
This natural process allows everyone involved to take a
hand at developing some of the Information available to
them. Rooms the Actors enter aren't usually fully de­
scribed in every last detail. Rather, enough of the details
are given to create a sense of completeness. The rest of
the Stage may then be filled in improvisationally, provid­
ing appropriate props for the ensuing action. When prob­
lems occur, their symptoms give only partial Information
as to their causes. For example, the plane's engine starts
making stalling sounds, or the hero's car won't start as the
villain makes his own getaway, or one of the tiles on the
ancient Aztec temple floor just depressed with an audible
click when stepped upon. These moments are incom­
plete, waiting for either research or action to discover their
meanings. Similarly, many initial sensory perceptions are
vague to some degree. There's the dark shadow in the
alley, the odd reading on the sensor panel, and the sound
of motion made by an unseen foe. The possible requires
time and exploration to become the real. With a fair sense
of timing, anyone may complete these moments appro­
priately, manipulating the reality behind them in an impro­
visational way. This pliability of Information will become
70 Theatrix - The Core Rules
the basis upon which the Actors in your Episodes may
fully enter the world of their character's knowledge,
perceptions, and Skills.
MACROSCOPIC VS. MICROSCOPIC
In order to understand the following guidelines,
you're going to have to start thinking about your plotlines
in a Theatrix way. In Theatrix, we consider a story to be
enacted upon two levels at once. These levels of abstrac­
tion we denote as the Macroscopic level (meaning liter­
ally, 'visible to the naked eye'), and the Microscopic level
(meaning literally 'invisible to the naked eye'). The Actors
in a Chronicle may improvise upon an Episode at either
the Macroscopic, or Microscopic level. However, these
two types of interventions have two very different effects
within the game, and will be handled w1th two different
sets of guidelines and rules. The following sections will
further define the Macroscopic and Microscopic levels of
plot abstraction, in terms of the structure of an Episode
Vs. its process.
STRUCTURE
Theatrix makes a distinction between the structure
of an Episode and its process. The structure of an Episode
is the framework of plot, character, and dramatic neces­
sity that holds the action of the story together. Dramatic
necessity, in turn, is the motivation behind each Episode's