A worthwhile exercise

[TonyLB]

Check out this AP thread and then maybe this one and this one.  You know what they had in common?  They all started from a common ground of strong preparation, and everyone took some time at the beginning of the session (and in some cases at the beginning of the scene) to get on the same page about what the scene was about and what it wasn't about.

So here's something I recommend.  It'll only cost you 15 mintues.  The next time you sit down to play Capes, take fifteen minutes and use it to talk about the scene you're about to play.  Not what's going to happen, and who should win which conflict, but "What's this scene going to be about?  What are these people, fundamentally, about?"

Then play the game.

I'd really like to hear what kind of results people get from such an addition.

[oreso]

prepping beforehand doesnt have the benefit of the rules negotiating people's input, so if there's a guy with a strong vision, and its not something the other players can get into then you could do more harm than good. In a no prep game the play itself guides the play so everyone is involved.

Saying that though, i havent had this problem myself because my players are easy going and i know what they like, and as your AP showed, even strangers get on fine. 

This kinda thing can easily be discussed when the comics code is made though, so maybe i'd do it after the first session when everyone has an opinion on things.

[Andrew Cooper]

Tony,

I did this at GenCon and I've done it at home before GenCon.  I didn't think it was that novel an idea so I never really just hammered on it here though.  In my Fantasy Capes game we spend 15 or 20 minutes discussing genre and setting conventions before playing.  It worked out really well.  The game was coherent and fun.  At GenCon this year I had 4 or 5 players and we discussed the style and the characters we wanted before playing.  It took about 15 minutes or so.  The game gelled a lot easier this way for us and didn't take off into the land of the silly.  I'm a fan of Capes prep.  While it isn't as intensive as many games, I'm surprised people get serious, coherent games without it.

[Eric Provost]

I think that the failed game that we played would have benefited quite a bit from something like that.  We were really all over the board, having no clue where the game was taking us.  Fifteen minutes seems like a long time.  And I suppose that kind of illuminates a potential issue with our pacing too.

-Eric

[Hans]

The Capes in Missassauga project also began with this kind of process, and I think it benefited, even though in the end it was not completely successful.