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Star Wars is a game of high adventure, epic battles, heroic action, and dramatic scheming villains. Nowhere are these cinematic qualities more apparent than in online gaming, where players and GMs have the time to play up scenes in epic fashion, and all the tricks that work on the movie screen work can be made to work equally well in the campaign. Sudden reversals. Cliffhanger action. Even cut-away scenes.
Yes, cut-scenes, the fleeting glimpses into events usually hidden from the PCs' eyes, which add so much to a storyline. In a table-top game, cut-scenes are a daunting affair for a GM, having to play out and describe the entire scene, careful not to slip and give out to much information. In an online setting, though, the GM has the advantage of being able to carefully think though everything he wants to reveal. It's so much simpler, even inexperienced GMs should consider giving it a try. The old 2nd Edition rulebook has this advice to say about cut-aways... "Cut-aways are scenes that the gamemaster describes to the players even though there is no way that their characters would know what is going on... Cut-aways should whet the players' appetites. Pique their curiosity. Entice them. Tell them just enough to get them interested -- and leave them hanging. Don't give away the whole plot. Instead, use cut-aways to get the players' interest and keep them focused." Cut-scenes can also be used for many other purposes than just to tantalize your PCs. They can be used to tie-up loose ends, to introduce new characters, to set the stage for adventures to come, or show the outcome of adventures past. For an example of what I'm talking about and for a bit of inspiration, have a look at a cut-scene that Brad Crawford wrote for his Darkstryder campaign about a year ago (and which I didn't really ask if I could use... Ooops!):
Notice particularly how that this scene seems to explain things so well, and at the same time, reveals almost nothing of what's really going on. Reading this scene, the PCs are given the impression that sinister dealings are afoot, and their actions are playing a part in a much larger scheme of things than they once imagined. For more examples, think back to some of the other cool cut-scenes that we see in Star Wars... Sidious' and Maul's clandestine actions in TPM. "At last we will reveal ourselves to the Jedi. At last we will have our revenge." Vader's ominous arrival at the beginning of ROTJ. "The Emperor is not as forgiving as I am." Even the one-second shot of the Slave I suddenly appearing in pursuit of the Falcon in ESB. Imagine how different the storyline would have been without these scenes being shown to us. Cut-scenes can work the same way within a game. Montages In somewhat the same vein as the cut-away, the montage is another theatrical device that can work particularly well in an online campaign. A montage is like a cut-scene, in that it is totally written up by the GM. However, a montage effects the PCs much more directly. What it is is a kind of time-lapsed view of a character's actions, giving the highlights on what would otherwise be a tedious and drawn-out scene. For example, say a character is doing ship repairs. As any gamer knows, there's never just one thing wrong with your average PC's freighter. While the PC who owns the ship is going to be very interested in what's wrong and how the repairs are carried out, the other players probably just want to get the ship fixed and carry on with the adventure. To make a whole series of posts along the lines of "I'll fix that, and then check this" followed by "Okay, that's not the problem, I'll look over here", would be pretty boring. However, for the GM to simply say "Okay, 4 hours later the ship is fixed", would be a bit lack-luster and anti-climactic. What's the solution? A montage post, where the GM can give the result of the repairs in a way that is quick, yet descriptive and interesting. Another place a montage works wonders is when an important scene revolves around just one or two of the PCs, and the other PCs have nothing to do but spectate. In a traditional face-to-face RPG session, a scene like that would be no problem. However, in a PBeM game, it can get very boring. For instance, let's say a PC is involved in a one-on-one duel, fighting to free the rest of the PCs from the hands of a crimeboss. Sure, you could play out the fight in normal combat rounds, but the PCs sitting on the side-lines are going to feel left out. Instead, you could try a montage. All the GM has to do is ask the player what his strategy is going to be for the fight, and then take momentary control of the character, roll all the actions and post them up in one long sequence. To increase the suspense, you could break the scene up into several segments, stopping at opportune times to get additional input from the PC. Altogether, techniques like montages and cut-scenes can do a lot to set online gaming apart from your local gaming group, and turn a good campaign into a great, intriguing story that is true to the name Star Wars. |
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