The Primetime Adventures PDF Wish List

[Matt Wilson]

Someday, far from now, the book will be revised, and it will have neat new things in it that everyone wishes were in it.

But first it will be a pdf, and as I announced in a thread that was lost in the hack fiasco, the pdf will be free for everyone who's purchased the current book. Also, probably if you buy the pdf, you can get a discount on the book later on. But I have to sit and ponder all the whys and hows.

Anyway, so here's the thread where you say "I wish the pdf had..." and finish that sentence.

Let's hear them nifty wishes o' yours!

[Chris Goodwin]

How about lots of examples from actual play about things like scene framing, deciding on stakes for conflicts, and following it through to the resolution of the conflict?

[Ben Lehman]

...examples from non-Geek shows, like Sesame Street, the Sopranos, etc.

yrs--
--Ben

[lumpley]

Using cards instead of dice!

Fan mail-enabling your visiting friends.

-Vincent

[Ben Lehman]

... A better mechanism for resolving ties.  One that didn't take forever.

yrs--
--Ben

[Danny_K]

A PDF or Word document with all the relevant tables and rules on it -- basically, the last few pages of the book, but in a format that I can copy onto my PDA.

[JMendes]

Hoy, :)

Add one more for lots of examples.

And by lots, I mean lots. Like, include all the possible combinations of outcomes, under at least three different genres of shows.

It's all well and good to have a complete example of a conflict in action, but there should be examples where the winning player also wins the narration, examples where the loosing player wins the narration, examples of investigative stakes won or lost by the players, with and without narration, examples of protagonist-vs-protagonist conflicts and the producer's role in them, examples of conflict-driven bangs and bang-driven conflicts, and also, I'm failry sure, examples of other things I might be forgetting right now... :)

Cheers,

J.

[Danny_K]

To build on what J. said, examples are good.  I've been spending some time today trying to figure out exactly how one uses a Contact for extra dice in a conflict, and I think I've got it, but it would be great to have an example to know for sure.

It might be nice to have a lot of the examples come from the same example campaign -- I know some Forgeites scoff at things like signature characters and vignettes, but they can be useful tools.  Particularly after spending a lot of time and space bringing the "Rescue 2148" crew to life, it would be nice to see more examples using them.  I think game examples are more helpful to me than examples using Buffy or other TV shows, especially since I (ironically) hardly ever watch TV.  Also, ongoing characters can build excitement in the reader -- they want to make a character and see them do stuff like that.

Finally, some troubleshooting advice would be great.  This is a cool game, but it takes some time to "click", I think -- it would be really helpful to have some hands-on advice for various pitfalls and how to surmount them, especially for the Producer.

[Emily Care]

More advice on when & how to introduce a conflict.  Talk about the "pre-play" issue (ie talking about the implications of a scene when introducing it).

Scene framing variant suggestions, or a dial, giving options for players to frame scenes as well as request them.

[KingstonC]

Advice to novice players on how to switch between author stance and actor stance. Especially hard for my group was switching between asking for a scene and being in a scene.

[Yokiboy]

I agree with Emily and KingstonC's suggestions, I would love more about introducing conflict, and how to switch between author and actor stance.

Perhaps some suggestions on playing mini-series type campaigns, basically each episode ends with "to be continued." We just tried this and it went great for the first 3 episodes, the 4th was pretty bad, and the 5th didn't even work out. We had way too many things going on in the game to tie it up in the season final (or "finale" of the mini-series). I'd even go for a note that it should be avoided, or doesn't work at all, it certainly didn't for us.

I'm behind the cries for more examples as well, especially for the Agenda part of requesting a scene, we had some issues there in the end.

TTFN,

Yoki

[Andy Kitkowski]

Examples, in script format, that briefly show how four friends can sit down to a game of PTA with NOTHING in mind, and then in a few sentences show how they can map out what kind of show to play, but also what kinds of characters they would like to run.  Do this for one geek show and one non-geek show.

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Note the possibility (mwah-ha-ha-haaaa see my upcoming actual play thread) of one of the players playing an antagonist to the other protagonists.

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Fun stuff in sidebars:
* As a group, coming up with the theme song/opening montage
* Commercial breaks, etc
* Other fun 4th-wall stuff that PTA players invariably seem to do.

EDIT: For a future Print Edition of PTA, I would LOVE to see a sturdier (cardboard) cover, and possibly not spiral-bound. Any chance of that? :)

[Jasper Polane]

Playing without a producer.
The producer playing a protagonist of his own.

--Jasper

[Jonas Ferry]

Yay, a wish list!

I wish the pdf had...

* A copyright notice like Capes’, where you clearly state what the owner of the pdf can do with it. It’s really nice for the owner to know if he’s allowed to share the pdf with his group without feeling guilty.

* One or a couple of pages of introductory material that you could send to your friends when you want them to try the game. Not detailed rules, but perhaps an overview of the most prominent ones, and a description of what the game’s about. This could be a separate pdf or the last pages of the game.

* I have to agree with the suggestion of non-geek shows. Even if I won’t use Gilmore Girls as an influence, the fact that I can is so cool. Perhaps something a bit more serious as well like, I don’t know, West Wing or something? I don’t think you need both Buffy and Angel, or both Farscape and Firefly, one of a kind would suffice.

* I like the idea of both getting the book and the pdf, since they serve different purposes. I’d like to bring the book to the gaming table, but also to cut material from the pdf to show the players before the first session, like pages 58-59 “Jobs to Do” and other stuff.

[xenopulse]

Yeah, more examples.

Actual Play, specifically. Show us what it looks like when people play PtA, word for word.

I am considering sending a copy to a friend, who's an aspiring screenwriter. But she's never RPed, as far as I know. So I think it would be hard for her to really figure out what to do with the game, unless you put some good concrete advice and examples for beginners in it.