interruptions, locations & "character" sheets

[kwill]

just a few questions after my first read-through...

INTERRUPTIONS

if Dave Interrupts Albert's turn, does play then proceed to Ed or hop back to Bob? I assume the former because taking notes of nested Interruptions could be a nightmare

LOCATIONS AS COMPONENTS

a Scene requires a Location, Time, 1 or more Components and an Event to get going; can a Location be a Component (ie, be assigned Traits) or is it simply a Trait of the Scene?

for example, a vehicle could be interpreted as a Component or a Location (or would one distinguish between "The Carriage" and "Inside The Carriage"? would The Carriage be a possible (automatic?) Component of a Scene that takes place Inside The Carriage?)

"CHARACTER" SHEETS

as far as I know no-one has created fill-in sheets to use rather than blank paper, is it not worth the effort?

for example, I was thinking a Scene Sheet could include blanks for Location and Time and columns for Events and Components; Component names would reference seperate Component sheets (which would list Traits in columnar format, possible with specific blanks for Proper Name and the like)

UNI SITE

over this last weekend I've been having trouble accessing universalis.actionroll.com - is this just me?

[Bob McNamee]

Howdy Kwill!
I'm a big fan of Univervsalis, here's my two cents...

just a few questions after my first read-through...

INTERRUPTIONS

if Dave Interrupts Albert's turn, does play then proceed to Ed or hop back to Bob? I assume the former because taking notes of nested Interruptions could be a nightmare

It goes to Ed, bypassing the previous players in line. This can create situations where people are getting skipped a lot, but they can Interrupt as well if they want to add something.

LOCATIONS AS COMPONENTS

a Scene requires a Location, Time, 1 or more Components and an Event to get going; can a Location be a Component (ie, be assigned Traits) or is it simply a Trait of the Scene?

for example, a vehicle could be interpreted as a Component or a Location (or would one distinguish between "The Carriage" and "Inside The Carriage"? would The Carriage be a possible (automatic?) Component of a Scene that takes place Inside The Carriage?)

We had a Fishing boat component in our last Uni Wiki game. It was a cross between a  location and a prop. It had its own set of Traits that went along with it, just like any other location (or even Magic items).

Lobsterboat- Karen's Rebellion

Role: Lobsterboat

Traits: Modern Electronic gear

Here's a link to it...in our Locations directory...http://www.eschatek.com/tiki/tiki-index.php?page=Ship-KarensRebellion

It would be quite possible (and cool) to have a highway chase scene, or a starship weaving through an asteroid belt, where you cut to a sub-scene within the vehicle.

"CHARACTER" SHEETS

as far as I know no-one has created fill-in sheets to use rather than blank paper, is it not worth the effort?

for example, I was thinking a Scene Sheet could include blanks for Location and Time and columns for Events and Components; Component names would reference seperate Component sheets (which would list Traits in columnar format, possible with specific blanks for Proper Name and the like)

Well, Scenes are pretty simple to start up, so it is probably more trouble than its worth. But it could be good reminders for the minimum necessary for scene framing... then folks would know they can't interupt until these things are set up by the Framing Player.

UNI SITE

over this last weekend I've been having trouble accessing universalis.actionroll.com - is this just me?

Just tried it myself and couldn't get there...dns error.

I'm sure they'll get on it after they notice this message.

[Valamir]

Thanks for fielding these Bob.  Its always a rush to have player questions answered by other players.

Bob's nailed things down pretty well.

On the matter of turns, there are only two ways for a new player to take a turn.  Either the new player interrupts the current player, in which case play skips to them.  Or the current player is done and passes their turn, in which case play proceeds to the player on the left.  So yes, in your example after Dave passes, its Ed's turn and both Bob and Christine got "skipped".  As Bob notes, they can simply Interrupt back so they don't really miss anything.

On the Location question, the default assumption is that a Location *is* a Component (pretty much always, though presumeably you could rule gimmick into not being I guess).

As soon as you say, "ok this next scene is in an abandoned warehouse" then "Abandoned Warehouse" becomes a Component.  "Dark", "Boarded up windows", "lots of dust", and "Empty pallets" could all be Traits attached to the warehouse.  Bob's spot on with the boat example.  Its entirely possible for a Component like a boat or car to just be a prop in one scene and then called upon to be a location for another.  The example on page 55 to 58 illustrates this.


On the matter of character sheets.  During actual play, I've found the thoughts and ideas to flow so fast and furious that often scribbling hastily noted "Traits" in the margin of a piece of paper is all there's time for without slowing things down in an undesireable fashion.  With the game still fresh in peoples minds such scribblings are generally all of the memory job needed.  However, for ongoing continued play where there will be days or weeks in between sessions and perhaps new people joining, the idea of an organized format to present all of a sessions accumulated scene and Component information is a great idea.  

Someone, in between sessions can take ownership of taking all of the notes and note cards and scraps of memory and transcribing the info into a more organized format that can be shared and referred to at the next game.  One of my initial visions for the game was to tell a whole series of three or four session stories all set in the same world, so that over time the accumulated history would form an entire setting.  For something like this, a more formal record keeping is essential.

Feel free to share whatever you come up with, I'd be happy to add it to the site.


Speaking of the site, Nathan already let me know it was down.  Apparently there was some issues with Domain squatters and the like, but he indicates the hosting service has already sorted it out and the site should be back up on Monday...I hope.

[kwill]

thanks guys; I read up a bit last night as well and most questions were answered there *blush*

I can see how things might get hectic in-game re. sheets, but I can see them being useful for me at least (especially from the new player's perspective) - I'll let you know when I put something together

our stock is now sold out, with one copy going in for review once the editor confirms, yay! I'll post in Actual Play when I manage to squeeze a demo game in

[Mike Holmes]

Actually, way back I worked up some record sheets. The thing is that there's only one sort of note to make about anything. That is, you jot down a header for a component, and then you just jot down "stuff" associated with the thing. In fact I don't bother to discriminate between Facts and Traits - either it's obvious which one is, or it doesn't matter. That is, if it's ambiguous and someone tried to use it as a Trait, nobody would likely challenge.

So, given the simplicity of the recording, specific sheets for it become quite unneccessary. That said, I agree with Ralph that it's nice to have someone spruce up the notes between sessions. Online, actually, given the textual nature of things, notes are usuall pretty coherent to start.

Mike

[Valamir]

In fact I don't bother to discriminate between Facts and Traits - either it's obvious which one is, or it doesn't matter. That is, if it's ambiguous and someone tried to use it as a Trait, nobody would likely challenge

.


To put on my Pedantic hat for a moment.  All Traits *are* Facts.  There are Traits (Facts for Components), Events (Facts for Scenes), and Tenets (Facts for game play).  

Mike is quite correct in pointing out that often times its just as easy to go ahead and record an *event* on a Componant record just like a Trait (Like "shot Liberty Valance" right on the character sheet), and not bother to differentiate it.  Just treat it like any old Trait.  When playing I tend to use Fact and Trait interchangable and rarely even mention the other two, even when technically that may be what they are.

I only mention this to avoid any confusion with how things are used in play (and in Actual Play reports) vs the somewhat more precise useage in the actual rules.

[/pedantic hat]