Alternative scenes

[Keiko]

Has anyone tried Capes for non action even "social" scenes? How did it work out?

Also could it be used for long term "scenes" like montages and other scenes that stretch over long periods of time?

[hix]

At the 3-hour con game I ran a couple of months ago, the most gripping section of the game was a montage sequence involving two conflicts:

-- will the mysterious guy who's been following us track us down, and
-- will I get a date with the smoking hot babe in our superhero team before my brother does?

Both conflicts covered a period of about a week of gametime, and cutting between the two of them really helped us create that sense of time passing.  In doing it, we found it natural to also use techniques like flashbacks and flashforwards, and cuts to newspaper articles.

(Also, that "I'll date the babe in our superhero team before my brother does" conflict was the first time I really felt Capes fire in the way it's supposed to - with a conflict on the table that everyone cares about. Very cool.)

[Hans]

It works for "social" scenes quite well.  I've had conversations, conferences, and other sorts of things happen in Capes scenes. 

However, they will only happen as "social" scenes if everyone is into the idea of a "social" scene.  Since there is no controlling authority, as it were, a scene might start as a "social" scene, but then someone plays "Event: the bomb goes off" or similar, and suddenly it isn't any more.  By all means, propose a scene rife with possibilities for verbal sparring and emotional tension.  But be ready to have fun if someone pulls it another direction. 

Interestingly, it rarely works the other direction.  That is, propose a scene that seems obviously about throwing cars around, and have it turn into a scene with mostly conversation and social intereraction.  I can't think of any examples in my experience.

Consider these as possible first conflicts if you are starting the scene, to try to channel things into a fair amount of social interaction, at least at first. 

"EVENT: Someone cries uncontrollably."
"GOAL: Convince XXXX that you are right."
"GOAL: Needle XXXX into a violent outburst."

etc.

[Andrew Cooper]

I've had a scene that was a political debate between opposing candidates.  It worked there quite nicely.  No thrown cars or smashed buildings at all.

[Keiko]

This is a strange questions but could the system handle romantic/erotic scenes?

[Hans]

"EVENT: Someone achieves erotic bliss"

[TonyLB]

"EVENT:  Was it good for you?"

I've played a montage scene ... I was playing a certain well-beloved gamma-green muscle-bound clod, and someone else was playing a supervillain who had taken over the U.S. and was setting about to make it into a utopia.  We decided to play out the next few months in montage.

Dr. Nefarious:  "I use 'Technical Genius' to modernize the transportation system, reducing the cost of goods and services, and empowering people to seek employment easily at a distance."
Me:  "Green Giant leap across country.  Boom!  Land in fancy highway.  Why humans always make me angry?  SMASH!  I use 'Superleap' to counter your technical genius."
Dr. Nefarious:  "That jade menace is the only thing standing between this nation and true greatness!  DAMN HIM!"