Goes Down Smooth

This week’s Primetime Adventures episode had what I like to call “that laid-back awesome feeling.” There weren’t tons of conflicts, and the action was relatively low-key. The show was mostly about people talking to each other. And yet, it rocked. We had Roy enjoying his momentary successes but setting himself up for a fall. We had Christina finding out more about what had happened to her and what is really going on, but not yet making strong decisions about what’s going to happen. And we had Ted feeling out possible avenues for the plot to go but not charging hard down any of them yet. We were definitely feeling the flow of the season and using it to our advantage.

One thing that we’ve all noticed about the game is that I keep having Budget left over. My initial comment was that this meant the players needed to be going harder after conflicts. I’m now thinking that the problem may be that I’m too accepting of what the players suggest. I’m tempted to say that this is an overreaction to my improv classes. That might be true, but I want to make sure that I don’t accidentally block by saying yes when someone wants me to say no. There’s a great example of this in Carol Hazenfield’s Acting On Impulse.

Alice is preparing to undergo a medical procedure performed by Bob.
Alice: (worried) Is this going to hurt?
Bob: Yes.
Alice: (even more concerned) Have you done this before?

The correct thing for Bob to say is no. Alice is making the offer that the scene be about Alice’s fear of the procedure. If Bob says yes, he’s denying that. Sometimes, yes means no.

What I need to do a better job of is being clear on what opposition the players want and playing it hard. I’ve got a pretty good idea for Roy (as he made things very clear at the end of the last episode), but I need to think further about the other two.