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Scyrner
2015-01-30, 02:39 PM
Right, so, background:

I've been running a game of FATE Core, recently, in a larger group than I'm used to. As such, I'm running into more trouble with keeping everyone involved, especially when one player is more involved in an RP scene than some of the others are, and especially if said player's character gets involved in an RP scene after *shudders* they split the party, and thus, the other's characters aren't present.

I'm looking for advice on how to wrap more involved roleplay scenes into the campaign if not all characters are present, without boring the other players. I suspect that the answer I'm most likely to get is "don't" but, given that, what might one do?

The exact situation is that the assassin of the party slipped off to apply pressure on a contact that her order has in the city, without letting the rest of the party know that she's a part of said order. The NPC in question was written to be a slimy but scarily good investigator, and I wasn't intending for him to just roll over when the assassin tried to blackmail him. In the end, I just suggested that the player send me a message of what she wanted to ask him, and then I'd respond as he would, but that feels a bit clunky.

Thanks, in advance, for the help.

JeenLeen
2015-01-30, 02:47 PM
For some things, try e-mailing or talking it out (with or without actually roleplaying the events) between games. This might not be feasible all the time, but perhaps the contact was busy at the moment, or you tell him "Okay; you can do that, but let's handle it after tonight's game ends." This avoids boring the other players, but it requires the other person to work with you, might have some continuity issues ("Well, if I knew he would resists so much, I wouldn't have done x later."), and it means both of you have to have time outside of game to do these things. But all of those cons could be non-issues.
For example, in a oWoD Mage game I was in, my character was in conversation with the Tyrant of LA. I, by e-mail, roleplayed a long conversation with the demon where my character asked him about metaphysics, history, and contracting. It would have been utterly boring to the other players, so we handled it behind-the-scenes.

If there's a big split the party thing, maybe one group can make a quick fast food run or something. We do 'bring your own dinner' for our games, so sometimes when one player is in the spotlight, I go and microwave whatever I brought or get another drink.

But, more importantly, I'd talk with the players to make sure that (1) the other players do find these times boring and (2) you can get the 'offending' player to hold off on such actions to a degree and be considerate of the others. It might be less 'in-character', but part of tabletop (in my opinion at least) is making characters that fit the playstyle of the game.


Edit: for continuity issues, if the player accepts that soloing might mean he has to accept a "well, too bad; we're not retconning it", that would resolve most of them.

Beta Centauri
2015-01-30, 03:02 PM
Not everything has to be run in detail. Think about how movies and books do things. Sometimes all you get is the aftermath or the report when the group gets back together. Tell people that if a scene doesn't involve everyone that it will be handled more simply and in a shorter timeframe. "Applying pressure secretly" could be handled by a single roll. What that roll represents can and should be lovingly described, but succinctly.

Alternatively, make sure there's always something else going on. If one character decides to go off on their own, then there's an explosion or something where the other characters are. They deal with that, and the absent character deals with their thing. Try to make them equally fun, and spread the focus around equally. This means the scene with the group will get more time, even though every player is getting equal time. Don't do this as a way to make the one player regret going off on their own.

Most of all, talk to the group about the issues you're experiencing, and the dilemma you're in. If they see your point of view, they might offer ideas. Be wary of the "loner" player getting defensive, and make sure they know it's nothing personal, but an effort to make sure everyone gets playtime.

Thrawn4
2015-01-30, 03:57 PM
How many players are we talking about?

jedipotter
2015-01-30, 04:31 PM
The tricky thing here is to make the game more about the group. And get rid of any solo things. This is ''Good Story vs. Game Play''

In the Good Story, assassin hero says to the group ''I will go check on a lead'' and then leaves the group. The next segment of the story is just the assassin at the secret spot. This works great for a story.

In the Game Play, the PC assassin hero says ''I want to have a solo game with just me and the DM'', then five other players just sit around and do nothing and wait to play. It does not work out so well.

So the answer is, simply, keep the group together. The assassin story is cool, sure....but save it for a solo game.

Beta Centauri
2015-01-30, 04:38 PM
The tricky thing here is to make the game more about the group. And get rid of any solo things. This is ''Good Story vs. Game Play'' I completely agree, but what makes this hard is that not everyone agrees on what "Good Story" means. This is especially a problem when, as often happens, more than one player believes their character (rather than the party) is the main focus of the story. When that's the belief, why shouldn't that player go off and do their own thing, and why should anyone else have a problem with it.

mikeejimbo
2015-01-30, 04:57 PM
One DM in our group introduced us to a great idea he stole from these very fora: PNPCs! In extended roleplaying scenes where not everyone's PC is present or relevant, he hands out a sheet summarizing characterization, motivation, goals, etc of certain NPCs to the otherwise unoccupied players, and they play the NPCs.

LokiRagnarok
2015-01-30, 05:14 PM
Definitely talk to your group. For example, with a few very particular people, I simply enjoy watching them roleplay, and have no trouble sitting on the sidelines while they do their thing. Your group may, by simple chance, be the same.

jedipotter
2015-01-31, 02:06 AM
I completely agree, but what makes this hard is that not everyone agrees on what "Good Story" means. This is especially a problem when, as often happens, more than one player believes their character (rather than the party) is the main focus of the story. When that's the belief, why shouldn't that player go off and do their own thing, and why should anyone else have a problem with it.

Return of the Jedi is a good example. You have the whole group of heroes sneak onto the moon. Then Luke goes off to have his Solo adventure against the Big Bad, and everyone else just fights the minions.

Just think of that in a D&D game.....five PC's fighting goblins, while one PC goes and fights the dragon.

Kol Korran
2015-01-31, 03:35 AM
Some thoughts:
1) It's quite ok that soem PCs will have more solo time if:
- The party talks about this before hand, and agrees that at some points some players will have a bit of "solo time" for cool stuff.
- The solo time is fairly short (10-15 minutes TOPS!) and doesn't occur too often, so this is a rare occasion, and a short one.

2) If you and a player envision such an occurrence , you can work with the player to roleplay this solo encounter/ adventure either between group sessions, just before them or just after them, providing it's possible. I've done this on occasion with my more "roleplay heavy" player, who has all kind of things he'd like to implement. You need to work out timing, and cooperation with said player. If all (Or most) of your players are like that, then this may come unfeasible.

3) Make the solo encounter include things that may interest the entire group, like clues to a quest or nemesis they are all interested, or things that relate to other characters. This way the others may be interested. Allow them to make suggestions and ideas, as if solving a mystery/ riddle/ negotiation together, but just the character on the scene. (Slimy investigator: "Funny you should happen about! That tall gall you're going with? Well, the things I found out about her order... make you cringe! What would you pay for that, eh? And that guy who goes along smashing things? Well, lets just say he got a new enemy trailing him... Nasty one!"/ Slimy Guy: "Heard you folks were going against the cult of cultystuff! Well, I've been looking into them myself... Question is- How much is it worth to ya? I know of a little place where they've been moving all kind of big boxes into... Make you wonder, doesn't it?")

4) I have only once tried the idea of PNPCs, as mikeejimbo suggested- you give out short summarized NPC sheets for the party in scenes where their own characters don't participate. It can be fun, but requires the party to be all fairly decent improvisational roleplayers, and treat this seriously, or otherwise they seek to just take this opportunity and goof off. Usually this can destroy the scene. Can work, but hard.

5) If all that doesn't work, than go with what jedipotter said: Good Story vs Game Play. Buuuuuttt... try the previous approaches first. This can work.