In Media Res

[SixWingedAsura]

So...has anyone ever opened up their campaign like this? I'm trying to start an Urban Fantasy FATE Core game that will start off In Media Res with the party on a speeding train being stalked by a vampire, but would this even be a good idea? I mean, it does kind of guarantee that they can't all die before that point. Any advice on how to pull this off, or if I even should?

Also, any examples of anyone doing such a thing would be appreciated too.

[Raum]

So...has anyone ever opened up their campaign like this?

Yep, several times. Once was even on a train. ;)

I'm trying to start an Urban Fantasy FATE Core game that will start off In Media Res with the party on a speeding train being stalked by a vampire, but would this even be a good idea? I mean, it does kind of guarantee that they can't all die before that point. Any advice on how to pull this off, or if I even should?

Get the players to buy in to the start and make sure they know of the start prior to character creation. You don't want to try explaining how a 12' tall troll is on board a train built for humans. ;)

When you open the scene, describe it so they immediately know what they're dealing with (i.e. They see the vamp rip out a throat or equivalent). It's not 'in media res' if they have to investigate instead of act. You want to position it so the first things they think of are action (probably combat) related.

Plan for this to be a fairly easy success by the group. Unless they're all familiar with both the system and each other they probably won't have teamwork strategies down yet. This is mitigated some if they made characters as a group but you don't want to start with a TPK. I hope.

Also, any examples of anyone doing such a thing would be appreciated too.

The train scenario I started with was a sabotage followed by an attack. The PCs were the only survivors afterwards and had to hike to civilization. Made the initial group get together easy.

I've also started PCs in the middle of a village being raided, a group running from zombies, and another running from corrupt authorities (different campaigns). Don't think I'd do the running from authorities version again, too hard to find reasons for a group of strangers to stay together while trying to escape and hide. The others did a better job of pulling the group together and giving them a reason to stay together - at least in the short term.

[Toy Killer]

While I agree for the most part with the above, I want to make a small caveat, that may just be personal taste.

You don't have to describe what they're fighting (if combat is ensuing at least), but at least let them know vaguely what it is. I started a game with players fighting an owlbear that was attacking through the window, and gave little smart-*** answers when they asked what it was and where they were.

It evoked the right kind of panic I was looking for in my horror campaign. Admittedly, it did slow down the combat a little, but that was mostly because the Ranger had favored enemy and wanted to know if he should be receiving bonuses to his attack rolls. They were 'Investigating' as they were attacking, but I gave them hints until everything calmed down.

[Raum]

You don't have to describe what they're fighting (if combat is ensuing at least), but at least let them know vaguely what it is.

Agreed. It's the situation that needs to be obvious immediately. Something big and bad ripping passengers to shreds will do.

[SixWingedAsura]

Thanks all, for the help! All good advice. Now the issue remains, is it okay to keep the players alive until they reach that point In Media Res? I mean, if they're all there, during the initial encounter, they have to survive up to that point.

[Xefas]

"The party (of three) is driving down the highway in a silver four-door sedan. There're two ghouls in the passenger seat, one riding lapsies with the wizard, two on the roof, and one just gutted the trunk and is sitting in there. The car is on fire, and swerving into oncoming traffic. Garret is driving. Roll initiative."

The only way to start a Dresden Files game. If you flash back to before, put an Aspect on the campaign session, "Flashing Back"; characters can tag the Aspect to benefit a roll that would make the story end up being consistent with where the game started, and you can compel that Aspect to reward Fate points to players who go out of their way to make the plot happen consistently.

[SixWingedAsura]

"The party (of three) is driving down the highway in a silver four-door sedan. There're two ghouls in the passenger seat, one riding lapsies with the wizard, two on the roof, and one just gutted the trunk and is sitting in there. The car is on fire, and swerving into oncoming traffic. Garret is driving. Roll initiative."

The only way to start a Dresden Files game. If you flash back to before, put an Aspect on the campaign session, "Flashing Back"; characters can tag the Aspect to benefit a roll that would make the story end up being consistent with where the game started, and you can compel that Aspect to reward Fate points to players who go out of their way to make the plot happen consistently.

XD That'd be great for a Dresden Files game, but I'm going for my own style of Urban Fantasy.

[Raum]

Now the issue remains, is it okay to keep the players alive until they reach that point In Media Res? I mean, if they're all there, during the initial encounter, they have to survive up to that point.

As opposed to what? Killing them before the game starts? Perhaps I'm misunderstanding the question.

[SixWingedAsura]

As opposed to what? Killing them before the game starts? Perhaps I'm misunderstanding the question.

Wait, never mind. I got it. Ignore me, I'm derping here, XD.

[Madcrafter]

I'd say it should be fine as long as your players know what's up beforehand and are ok with being railroaded (heh) a bit to get there if necessary.

I do have an example on hand though, maybe not completely relevant, but it is a game starting in media res on a train, interspersed with some flashbacks. The entire thread is excellent (and so is the first one), but the relevant post starts here. It's a game of Mage: The Awakening, though you shouldn't really need any familiarity to get the narrative. Nor do you by any means need to read the whole thing, just the prelude I think.

[The Random NPC]

I constantly tell my GMs to do that, I have two separate GMs who haven't, and it came to bite them in the ass later (and by later I mean that first session).

[DigoDragon]

I've done In Media Res a few times. My most infamous example was for a "LOST" campaign. It started with the players finding themselves on the beach in the midst of a plane crash and they had to rescue other survivors.

Spoiler

Show

Any NPCs their successfully saved would be useable for help surviving the island.

The players were quick to find out that their names were forged into the plane manifest. So apparently they weren't initially on the plane. As the adventure unfolded, they found portals that jumped them around the timeline (similar to Quantum Leap, but they only jumped into their own bodies at different periods). This was how I handled the flashbacks of 'LOST' and the PCs were good to try out most of the portals to get info from the past. The scenes that played before the plane crash showed that many of the NPCs from the plane crash were people they knew and that their lives before the crash were different than they remember.

At the end the PCs finally pieced together what happened-- The PCs were the "Secret Masters" of the world and their hubris led to an "interplanetary incident" where they accidently killed the an alien ambassador sent to Earth for "First Contact".
The PCs (as the Secret Masters) tried to use a teleporter to board a plane that flew near their island to escape prosecution, but the teleporter malfunctioned and caused the crash.

In the end, the PCs didsomething pretty neat. They contacted the aliens and asked them to spare Earth and they'll take the responsibility for their actions. They gave the aliens their coordinates and said to just destroy the island.
The aliens agreed and dropped their payload on the island, killing the PCs, but sparing the Earth as it was not ready yet for First Contact.

[Darkpaladin109]

If the PC's have to survive until the point where you left off in the beggining, either give their enemies some reason not to kill them just yet, or you could make it so that it was a vision of the future, and that the events could change if they did the right things.

[JusticeZero]

In media res starts usually means starting from the beginning of the adventure, but the first thing that they hear from the GM is the scene as it was left after the surprise round of a scenario that started going haywire well before that.

[SamBurke]

Just remember to plan out the exact actions leading up to that very carefully.

Also, it is fair for their characters to remember some of the things that got them there, such as suspicious people on the train, seeing each other, etc, etc.

[kyoryu]

I've never had a real issue with it, and I think it has a lot of benefits - notably, getting past that 'new game slump' where everything's still in the brewing stage and players are figuring out their characters and motivations.

What I usually do is:

1) Make sure I explain what the game is about, to get some level of buy-in
2) Have the starting situation, but allow players to determine how they *got* there

[Souju]

i did an In Media Res once, but I didn't have the players play through the part leading up to it. Instead, it was all backstory that came up later.
Mainly I was just sick of meeting at a tavern or something, and since they had QUITE a few levels at this point (it was a "continuation" of a previous campaign)it was easier to stick them in the middle of the action from the get go.
"You were in the throne room while the BBEG was making a speech to the ruler of the country, and now you're running for the docks because his army is now sacking the city."

There are pros and cons to in media res beginnings based on which type of setting you're using: If the "flashback" takes place a day or more before the start, the players may have gained a level or the equivalent, skewing the encounter somewhat. The further back you go, the more you have to railroad, even if a player discovers their particular build plan simply doesn't work.
On the other hand In Media Res is a good way to TEST if a build plan works, and if the build changes during tge flashback, you can chock it up to an unreliable narrator or whatever.

[Ravens_cry]

Frankly, I dislike it. While it can be used well, I think some slow moments to help build up the world and atmosphere have a lot to be said for it as well. Why care about saving the village from orcs if you have no investment in it?
The role play will be a lot more convincing if you can actually immerse yourself in the world before all the bad stuff happens.

[Jay R]

In literature, a scene that starts in media res means that the readers don't yet know what the characters know, and slowly learn what generated the situation, the action, and the motivations. That can't work in a game, because the characters can't act on knowledge that the readers (players) don't have.

You can certainly start with an action scene, but it's not the same thing, since the whole point of in media res is that the characters are acting on knowledge that the audience doesn't yet know.

[Souju]

In literature, a scene that starts in media res means that the readers don't yet know what the characters know, and slowly learn what generated the situation, the action, and the motivations. That can't work in a game, because the characters can't act on knowledge that the readers (players) don't have.

You can certainly start with an action scene, but it's not the same thing, since the whole point of in media res is that the characters are acting on knowledge that the audience doesn't yet know.

there IS a variation you can do, as yes the flashbacks don't always work due to railroading required.
You can have all the characters meet doing something related to their backstory in one area. Nobody but the person playing them (and the DM, duh) knows WHY they're there, and the current pressures of the situation can keep them from giving ANY hints for quite a while.
It's an ENORMOUS time saver and is one of those types of "starts" that can come to explain why the gnomish necromancer is working with the paladin in the first place.
The only difference between this and true in media res is the flashbacks are told, and not shown when the action dies down.

[obryn]

Starting with an action scene - already in the thick of things - is a wonderful way to start out a campaign. You get to sidestep all the clunky "Howdy, stranger, what say we go adventure" bits and immediately draw the players into the action.

The only major advice I have is to make sure none of your players are getting hosed in the process. If there's stuff they'd naturally have with them or prepare, let them start out with it. The goal is a fun, exciting appetizer; not a serious threat of defeat.

[Jay R]

Starting with an action scene - already in the thick of things - is a wonderful way to start out a campaign. You get to sidestep all the clunky "Howdy, stranger, what say we go adventure" bits and immediately draw the players into the action.

Agreed. I started a Champions game once with a different intro to each character:

1. "As you're walking along, you see billows of black smoke rising up a few blocks away."
2. "Listening to the police scanner, you hear about a major fire in the city."
3. "You hear sirens and see a firetruck zoom by."
4. "It certainly is getting warm in here."

I also once started a Flashing Blades campaign by having all the characters hear the screams of a woman being abducted. She was, of course, the lead-in to the first adventure.

[Knaight]

there IS a variation you can do, as yes the flashbacks don't always work due to railroading required.

Railroading isn't required: Just leave flashbacks about characters open to the players. Granted, some systems actively do this and some aren't set up for it, but implementing a flashback mechanic often isn't that difficult, and bypasses the railroading neatly.

[nedz]

Railroading isn't required: Just leave flashbacks about characters open to the players. Granted, some systems actively do this and some aren't set up for it, but implementing a flashback mechanic often isn't that difficult, and bypasses the railroading neatly.

Well it does require that the players role play towards the encounter which they have already played. If they don't then you have an inconsistency which you have to retcon for, or claim an unreliable narrator for, etc. This is not full on railroading because you only require them to aim for a point rather than follow a line; and you can argue that some railroading is unavoidable in setting up a new campaign by definition anyway.

[Emmerask]

Well I once made a Groundhog Day inspired adventure (first adventure in a campaign) that started with killing the pcs, waking up a day earlier again and again trying to solve what is happening in that city. It was great fun

Though that is very different from the proposed scenario because the players are very much encouraged to change what was their original fate.

Overall I think it can work but it holds no special appeal to me in a roleplaying game.

[DigoDragon]

If the PC's have to survive until the point where you left off in the beggining, either give their enemies some reason not to kill them just yet, or you could make it so that it was a vision of the future, and that the events could change if they did the right things.

Something I did in my LOST campaign- Every so often the party found a newspaper somewhere when exploring one of the many maze-like offices and bunkers on the island. I actually printed out a 1-page handout to act as the newspaper. The date was always the same (At the start it was about 9 days in the future), but as the players progressed in the game, the headline article changed to reflect their actions.

This meant that
A. They could change the future for the better, and
B. History was mutable, so they could get killed in the past.

The consequences of 'B' were not explored as the players were very careful not to mess with the timeline (or get killed).