Non-Ensamble Cast Series

[Yokiboy]

Hello,

Does anyone have experience playing a Non-Ensamble Cast Series in Primetime Adventures? How did it impact the play?

Without an ensamble cast how does one ensure that the Problem introduced in Act 1 is impacting all protagonists? Must it? What's the play impact of some protagonists not being affected by the episode's problem?

TTFN,

Yoki

[Alan]

Hi Yoki,

Can you describe "non-ensemble cast" in more detail?  How are they different from an ensemble cast?

[Sindyr]

Hi Yoki, can you describe "non-ensemble cast" in more detail?  How are they different from an ensemble cast?

Seconded.

[Yokiboy]

Hello,

Meaning a show that doesn't feature an ensemble cast.  ;)

Honestly, after reviewing the definition of Ensemble Casts on Wikipedia, see below, I don't think you could play anything else.

An ensemble cast is a cast in which the principal performers are assigned roughly equal amounts of importance in a dramatic production.

This kind of casting became more popular in television series because it allows for flexibility for writers to focus on different characters in different episodes. In addition, the departure of players is less disruptive to the premise than it would be if the star of a production with a regularly structured cast leaves.

My question was regarding groups of protagonist not actively working together. The example series listed all feature groups of characters at the very least being stuck in the same situation (ala Lost) or actively working together.

I played in a game where I felt a bit detached from my fellow protagonist and had a hard time coming up with scenes that involved the both of us. Since we've only played the pilot so far, this could of course change.

Basically, my question was answered by Wikipedia, but thanks for showing interest.

TTFN,

Yoki

P.S. I've learned to spell "ensemble" now.

[Alan]

Hi Yoki,

Well, if you mean how can you play with different protagonists with unrelated circumstance and unrelated Issues, I don't think you can.  PTA asks you to create the (small p) premise for a TV series and the protagonists for it.  That's why series and character creation are group activities. 

However, I don't see what you can't create protagonists who don't know each other and are working for unrelated goals.  The key would be to find some other thematic connection that you could imagine in a TV series.  For example, one character might be a cop and the other a criminal, or one might be an african american olympic athlete while the other is a boy soldier in Africa.  While playing all the players would keep an eye out for moments that could be juxtaposed: the athlete agreeing to obey a marketing contract while the boy soldier is chewed out for a mistake.  Etc.  Harder work than just putting everyone in the same spaceship, but it has been done.

[Sindyr]

As I understand it, while it is an "ensemble" game, each episode is all about featuring those with the highest screen presence as stars - this episode anyways.  Next episode it will probably focus more on someone else.

But, again as I understand it, the following should be more or less true:
If one person has a screen presence(SP) of 3, that person should be the star of the episode.
If more than one person has an SP of 3, it should be a highly dramatic episode with the SP3 people having a blast at the intersection of their issues.
If no one has SP's of 3's, then the episode will be more producer driven, dealing with the over-arching plot potentially more than the individuals' issues - especially if there are a lot of "1" SPs.

On the other hand, if you *didn't* want an ensemble show, and instead wanted it more "lopside" with some characters more in the spotlight than others, simply allow the "star" characters more overall SP than the "supporting cast"

For example, lets say that in the 22 episode run of a season of Buffy, the Vampire Slayer, if you add up all Buffy's 1's, 2's, and 3's, you might get a total of 50 SP points for the season.

In this way, Giles and Willow might have 40 SPs each.  Xander and and Buffy's mom may have 30-35.

The problem is, while this is more realistic to how TV shows work, in a gaming group most players will not agree to an inequality amongst them - especially if they are on the short end of the stick.

So even if Buffy is not truly an "ensemble" show, as played using PTA around the gaming table, there probably isn't much alternative.  After all, the actual producers need(ed) Sarah Michelle Gellar more than Nicholas Brendon, and many more people tune into to see Buffy's story than to see Xander's.  It would be a very different show if Buffy and Xander got equal overall screen time.

But around the gaming table, if the Producer turns to one of the players and tell them that they are the star and will have more SP points than anybody else, you would have an overthrown Producer faster than you can say "coup d'etat".  And no one wants the comparatively measly SP that Cordelia Chase got in Buffy, even though she later got a spinoff.

So a non ensemble TV show?  Lots of them - any TV show where there is a "star" that gets more screen presence than anyone else - House, Boston Legal, Angel, Buffy, Invasion, Smallville, etc.  There are few ensemble show - Battlestar Gallactica and Farscape are good examples - but they are in the minority.

But when it comes to *gaming* a show, I don't see how a true ensemble can be avoided.  No one want to be "supporting cast" and an uneven distribution of SPs cause exactly that.

[Adam Biltcliffe]

I played in a game where I felt a bit detached from my fellow protagonist and had a hard time coming up with scenes that involved the both of us. Since we've only played the pilot so far, this could of course change.

Am I reading you wrong? You know that not all the protagonists have to be in every scene, right?

[Glendower]

The only real consideration is pushing the issue of the characters.  You can have A plots and B plots, and have the characters deal with their own personal struggles, with no real problem.  I remember a TV show (not the name, but it was a Canadian show) that had a central theme of an apartment building.  The people in the building had little connection to one another, and it followed their lives.  Sometimes things one person did affected another, but that was the extent of it. 

The really neat thing about PTA is that just because you aren't in a scene doesn't mean you gotta be quiet.  The game is so participatory you get right into suggesting situations and outcomes.  It's fun being the cheering section, and with Fan mail, you even get to affect a conflict that your protagonist has nothing to do with.

[Yokiboy]

Am I reading you wrong? You know that not all the protagonists have to be in every scene, right?

Yes, you're reading it incorrectly. I meant scenes that "touched" both players even without both characters being present in the scene.

Anyhow, I think the Wikipedia definition of Ensemble Casts sorted out my issues.

The problem I had with the game in question was actually related to me having misunderstood the Premise of the series and its Franchise. The two other players, including the Producer, are friends who have played together for some time, while I have only known them for a few weeks. I thought I had the series down, but apparently did not.

If you're interested, you can read more about my intepretation of FALL - the series on my web site.

TTFN,

Yoki

[DocMMedia]

This thread has been quiet for a while, but I thought I'd throw in an idea. What if the show concept was for something like "The Twilight Zone"? You'd definitely have one or two 3 presence characters each episode...but presumably it would be a one shot deal. Having just played PTA at DexCon...it was definitely constructed as a one shot deal. And we had a blast...one of the best gaming sessions I ever had. Perhaps a show like that could work along the lines of having SPs assigned to players rather than characters for the series. So each player would still get to play a 3, 2, or 1 during the season. Taking that further, perhaps each player could take with them similar character themes so that there is some continuity between episodes...even though the actual characters might shift. This also got me thinking about SciFi Channel's new version of the Outer Limits (in reruns now). There were several conspiracy related episodes that stood alone, but at one point late in the season another episode flashed back to the other episodes as examples. It think it was set up as a news team collecting evidence, and their evidence was scenes from the other episodes. Further, I thought of series that have a mythology that only comes into play every few episodes...X-Files, for example. With that said, I'm not exactly sure how it would play out in a PTA season...but it could make for some interesting play trying to figure out how things are connected (or not).

Dave

[Call Me Curly]

Isn't the simplest, fairest solution to rotate which player gets to play "Earl" in each session of a "My Name Is Earl" game?