One thing that I thought of while I've been readying myself for my upcoming Universalis story arc for our Warhammer 40,000 campaign was the idea of readying scenes.

Here's the idea. In times when you know the basic setting of the story, like in my case, where the players have all agreed that the story is to take place in a certain setting. Or, in times when you're already playing an ongoing story, you can work out some of your scenes in advance.

I look at where I want the story to go, and write myself a goal. Nothing too complicated, just a sentence that reminds you of what you want to accomplish while telling the story. From there, you jot down a scene that you'd like to see, which would move you in that direction.

Here's an example:

Story Goal: To drive the story toward the Emperor’s Fury reforming their organization from a Codex Chapter into a Crusading Chapter.

Setting: Inquisitor Lord Corvus’ command ship [1], en route to Voltanis Prime [1]
Descriptors: Large office [1], lit by torches [1] and gothic architecture [1].
Components: Inquisitor Lord Corvus [1] and miscellanious records scattered about his desk. [1]
Date: 244.897.M41 [0]
Event: Corvus is pouring over records of the mining operations and the subsequent rescue [1] of Plavius Benedict [1]. He reads several lines of communication from the Adeptus Mechanicus [1] to the Geological Survey Command [1], which indicate that they may have known about the Necrons [1] on Nictatus and deliberately sent the crew of the Strodamus [1] there to investigate them. [1]

Of course, at the point where the event is introduced, anyone can begin to jump in and try to enforce their direction for the story. The thing is, though, that you'll already have a good idea established, and will have been able to think about it before hand. This will allow you to set the scene which will be more conducive to your story idea and allow you to cover any open ends within the setting itself.

I'm a little confused as to the use of these scenes. Is this for online play? Or will these occur in FTF play? How will one know to start using a pre-made scene?

Mike

For my uses, I was intending them for FTF play, but I assume that you could use them in online play as well.

In the example of our narrative campaign for Warhammer 40k, I have a specific direction that I'd like to see the story head in. We already know the basic tenants of the universe, considering that both of us are playing within the confines of published material. Making and using a pre-made scene will allow me to do bid, in the above example, 14 coins to gain control of a scene (I haven't played much, but that's a lot for my group to bid for scene control) and know that I'm going to spend at least that much, since I've already added up all of the components. It also allows me to keep track of certain things that I might forget in the heat of play to ensure that I'm adding all of the details that I want to get in there.

Considering that the power Universalis gives its players to set scenes when and where they want to, a pre-made scene can be put pretty much anywhere in the story. Of course, all of this is still subject to challenge. But, when you write down story goals, it is easier to negotiate with the end result in mind.

Ohhh, I get it. You're simply planning out your first scene in detail. If you lose the bid, then you won't actually get to do the scene. No variation from the normal rules, just some work on your own before hand knowing where the game can go. Cool. That's a neat idea.

I had some strange idea that you were somehow GMing the game or something.

Mike

P.S. BTW, it's Tenet, not Tenant. Meaning an assumed value, as in a religious tenet. Common mistake.

Yup - that's what I meant. No change to the rules, just some pre-thought as to how the story could go.

Correction on the 'tenant' spelling -- tenent. Gotcha!

OK, now you're just doing it to get my goat.

Tenet. One n. :-)

Had a chance to try it out yet?

Mike