Story Arcs
So here is my thought. Each character in the new game should have a story arc. Since we are starting pre-super-powers part of the arc will be gaining powers, coping with them, developing them, developing a super heroic identity, mastering the powers.
Okay so far so good.
But then what? Presumably there are new and different arcs.
How far in advance do these things need to be prepared? I am used to running PCs pretty much as a though they were live agents, and not worry too much about any arcs. But for this game I think there should be something that happens to each, that precipitates the stages of the arc.
Okay so far so good.
But then what? Presumably there are new and different arcs.
How far in advance do these things need to be prepared? I am used to running PCs pretty much as a though they were live agents, and not worry too much about any arcs. But for this game I think there should be something that happens to each, that precipitates the stages of the arc.
posted by Scholz at 5:11 PM
2 Comments:
I think arcs a lot more essential for superhero games, so you're wise to think of them at the start. They really are part of character creation. More important than whatever combat shtick a player decides to build a character around.
In New Century City I quizzed each player about their arcs, what issues their characters needed to resolve, etc before even hammering out powers. The arcs were very different for each person, often covering totally unrelated areas. For example some characters had family issues, others didn't have family anywhere on the radar.
I should mention that Mikey just ran a short "normal people gain superpowers" game when Trey was visiting. There were some bumps, partially because we weren't on the same page as to how the power revelation would be handled (do we make powered characters ahead of time even though our characters don't know they are going to gain those powers, etc).
I voted for a "you tell us what kind of powers we get partway through the game, we write them up quickly" plan, mostly because we didn't know the premise for why we were gaining powers and therefore what kind of powers would fit. Even so that approach is more suited for a pickup game, instead of a campaign where you really want the players to stick with their characters for a long time.
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