[Practice] Guardian Angel

[Ben Lehman]

So I'm going to try writing one of these puppies.  This is for 2-5 people and it's called "Guardian Angel."  It's inspired by the fact that I just read the Screwtape Letters, and I suppose you could do it with devils as well, but it'd be harder, because you would have to think backwards.

"The next person" is just the person to the left.

It starts out with one player saying "if only he would..." some sort of thing "... everything would be all right."

Example: "If only he would tell her how he feels, everything would be all right."

Everyone now looks at the next person, and asks "why?"

The next person fleshes out the details of the situation to make it clear what's going on.  They cannot address anything in the future.

Example:  "Ever since he saw her, she's haunted his mind, and he can't pay attention to his family, his friends, his work, or anything else."

Everyone looks at the next person and asks "why not?"

The next person describes why he'll never act on it -- either in terms of elements of his personality, of the situation, or the perceived consequences of the action.

Example: "For him to tell her, he'd have to admit to himself that he could love someone, which would mean that his whole family -- his whole past relationships, were built on false grounds.  He can't face the shame."

Everyone looks at the next person and asks "what does he do?"

The next person simply answers what he does.

Example: "He starts drinking more and more heavily, and not coming home hardly ever.  He starts avoiding her."

Everyone looks at the next person and asks "what happens?"

That person summarizes the consequences of the decision.

Example: "She moves away, and he never told her.  He gets more and more distant from his family.  His kids barely recognize him.  Eventually, his wife divorces him."

An important thing:  It doesn't matter if you think someone's statement was bogus, or wasn't interesting, or whatever.  The game isn't about that.  People are free to say anything within the constraints of their topic.

The idea here is to practice the set-up and execution of Bangs.  Not sure how successful I was.

yrs--
--Ben

[timfire]

Is the progression [if only -> why -> why not -> what does he do -> what happens] mandatory, or do you just ask whatever question seems appropriate to the evolving situation?

[Ben Lehman]

The progression is mandatory.

Now that I've though about this, it isn't about making bangs, it's about making meaningful decisions, and respecting them.

yrs--
--Ben