Creation of Narrative in Tabletop Role-Playing Games - Jennifer Grouling Cover [88]
Individually oriented plots like this can also give players more of a chance to narrate their own stories. Mary (playing Maureen) ended up knowing a great deal of information that the party as a whole was not privy to. In chapter 3, I noted that much of the plot and storyline behind Temple was written in the module, but not presented as text for the DM to read aloud. Thus, it was up to each DM what information to reveal to players and when. By giving Mary her own plotline, Scott turned some of this power over to her. She knew key information that she could share with the party when (and if) she pleased. Because the game continued over the course of many sessions, this power could more easily be turned over to a player than if all of the information needed conveyed in a short 4–6 hour time span, as might be the case for a one-time RPGA adventure.
Mary chose to narrate only small bits of the story to the group. She also used the opportunity to develop an individualized plotline as a chance to engage with adult themes that might not have come up as frequently in regular face-to-face gameplay. She requested that her character be a victim of torture and become involved in drug use. Scott responded with a narrative email telling the story of Maureen’s capture and imprisonment, complete with the torture of being forcibly tattooed. He told Mary clearly that she could share as much or as little of this story as she wanted with the group. Maureen showed the party her tattoo, but did not explain the entire story that Mary and Scott had worked together to create. As a result, the group spent a good deal of time trying to figure out if the tattoo was magical and if the Obsidian Brotherhood were using it to spy on the party. It also raised suspicion among the group as to where Maureen had come from and just what she had been up to. In the story of Blaze Arrow, we see the party capture and interrogate a would-be assassin who has attacked their camp. Whisper assumed, as did I, that this attacker was sent by one of her previous enemies, and interrogates the prisoner about Thaddeus, the drow. However, the captive responds that he was sent by Soren, a name I did not recognize. This name was unknown to any of the party except for Mary (playing Maureen). Soren was her connection in the Obsidian Brotherhood and the one who had tortured her in prison. Rather than reveal this plotline, Maureen killed the prisoner, leaving the rest of the party somewhat baffled.
The example of the warning from Soren shows how the DM can manage multiple plotlines designed for individual players and how individual players can assume a degree of authorship over these plotlines. Mary could have explained to us about her imprisonment and could have revealed to the party who Soren was. Instead, she remained quiet, maintaining her own control over her character’s story rather than offering if up for group consumption. Although the example of Maureen’s individual story is quite pronounced, it was not uncommon for Scott to give different clues to different party members, giving them the choice of which parts of the story to share with others and, thus, which storylines to follow as a group, individually, or not at all.
Defining the Author–Reader Relationship
As I have shown from these multiple examples from the Sorpraedor campaign, the DM does not maintain one simple relationship with the text of the TRPG but must actively engage in role shifting as he or she prepares for and runs a gaming session. The same is true for the player. The DM and players are readers when it comes to rule books and modules. In fact, they may consume these texts in a rather traditional manner by reading them thoroughly and may memorize a good deal of information from them. However, the reader dynamic is turned on its head once the DM incorporates these texts within actual gameplay. When confronted with a group of players, the DM is