Scattershot Mini

Scattershot is a fairly typical role-playing game with a very simple, yet flexible, system; it is meant primarily for face-to-face, spoken word gaming. Each game is a continuous narrative including roughly the same characters as portrayed by the players; some games can be played on and off for years, while others may last only a single day.

To begin a Scattershot game, the everyone must gather together and create their personae and the milieu; a write-up of each is necessary to begin play. The milieu write-up and supporting characters are played by a participant called the gamemaster. The personae and milieu are expressed by a number of common features: descriptions, statistics, abilities, advantages and disadvantages as well as 'character'. With these write-ups, everyone establishes together how their personae relate to each other and to the milieu. This is the basis of the whole game.

To begin play for the first time, the players (but not the gamemaster) choose a single advantage or disadvantage from the milieu write-up for their initial complication. Using the relationships created earlier, the players orient their personae on this first complication within the milieu.

Scattershot play is aimed at resolving such complications. Each player faces these complications through the specific context of his or her persona. The gamemaster coordinates all complications and the supporting characters as well as managing play's movement from one complication to the next.

To play, a player will describe their persona's actions within the framework of the current scene. Feedback from the other people determines the results of these actions, with the gamemaster supplying the reactions and actions of the supporting characters and the responses within the milieu.

Taking turns in no particular order, you lay out these actions in a fashion verisimilar in the milieu. Detail is provided by everyone regarding just about anything in play if there's no objection from the subject's owner and it doesn't contradict previous play. This kind of creativity is often rewarded by the subject's owner.

Don't forget; play as entertainingly as possible for anyone not currently involved. The gamemaster can also assign a supporting character to that player to raise interest.

Play comes together as a bricolage of only three sources: whatever is currently in play; the consequences of earlier scenes; and any reasonable expectations based on the milieu write-up. It is most important to avoid the unexpected and the non sequitur; these disrupt everyone's play.

But bricolage is not just a matter of content. How a participant structures his or her input and flavours it, can come from any source. Play takes on character and becomes more memorable this way. Like relationships, the structures introduced in play are what give meaning to the game. For example; if the action is structured as in an horror film, that becomes the scene's appeal.

Play is physically divided into sessions. Pay careful attention to the beginning and ending of each session; segregating play from the day-to-day keeps it special. Make play a 'safe zone' for both escapism and strong feelings; trying new things requires mutual trust and honesty. Remember, “What happens in-game, stays in-game.” Good gamesmanship is a sign of a healthy role-playing game.

A brief recap is a good way to start a session. Everyone should highlight past play they liked. Anything thus brought up is significant and should be heavily drawn upon.

The easiest play is directed towards only one complication at a time. Such complications come from personae write-ups, the milieu write-up, previous play or even the 'dynamic background' in the supplement (when appended to the milieu write-up).

To begin a scene, everyone chooses one player to set the scene. There are many things that can be specified: which personae are involved, what supporting characters should appear, the location, time, atmosphere or how simply it starts. Or not. You could choose only what complication it should address instead; either way, why the scene takes place should be made obvious (at least to the gamemaster).

The gamemaster always depicts the start of each scene. Do this each time by 'cutting to the chase'; this is one of the most complicated aspects of gamemastering. Simply put, begin the scene at the last possible moment for significant persona action (or in medias res).

To come up with this juncture, imagine how things would go for the personae, in the scene as set, as if everything went well and they got what they were after. Think of an interesting complication that would occur at about the time things would seem predictable. Alternatively, imagine the scene's potential supporting characters in the same way and start at a similar point except where the personae complicate it. The most important thing is to hold off starting until such a complication creates a significant turning point.

Because pacing dictates the amount of enjoyment in play, the gamemaster must maintain the most entertaining pace. The gamemaster has two pacing tools, cutting to the chase and complication management.

The basic complication of each scene should be obvious, but its means and source will often remain unclear. (And while mostly consistent, very clear surprise twists may change it.) In almost every slow-down, the pace will suffer from too close of focus. Complication management is simply resolving some actions more broadly.

In one way, the gamemaster may raise the pace by glossing over uninteresting details, pushing attention back on the complication. However, if play has slowed to solving individual acts (such as in bartering or combat), the gamemaster may broaden this resolution into a single 'turning point', bringing the game back into focus. And finally, the gamemaster may simply ask the players to refocus play.

The most obvious questions to ask are: 'Is everyone engaged in this play?' and 'What is lost simplifying it?' If the players aren't all having fun, the loss is worth it.

The most important foci of play are the significant actions, situations and subjects. Significance isn't everything; it's the only thing. Anything which causes a complication is significant. If something not significant to play or the players is going on, anyone can ask themselves, 'Is this interfering with my fun?'; signal the gamemaster if your answer is yes.

The material components of play are the personae, relationships, supporting characters, setting and creating more of the milieu. Play must refine, change or advance these things. In no particular order and within the context of their personae, the players will act on these as their personae would.

The five ways everyone interacts are by offering, inviting, responding, invoking parts of the game and adding to the milieu. Any of these may be directed at another participant or at play in general. No one may 'force' things to happen in play.

When making an offer, create play out of informed bricolage (see above) via dialogue, descriptions of your persona's action or as omniscient narration. If you wish to include other content, you may either invite someone else's offer or narrow yours to that specific person and have their response be the inclusion.

Describe an arrangement that invites others to make offers to your benefit. This is the primary way to 'co-author' an offer. While there is a tacit reward of more effect over your co-offer, for the person who accepts your invitation, you may also offer further rewards (such as in-game aid or experience dice).

In order to respond to an offer, you must develop, change or escalate it. It is important not to block the offer you respond to. Also, you may not make someone else's offer lesser or insignificant. If you cannot respond without blocking or countering an offer, let someone else respond to it and wait for your opportunity to make an offer.

The typical way to develop an offer is to reinforce or agree with it and then add more material; you thus inherit the offer. The alternative is to reframe the offer with your own input, but without changing the initial thrust. After this, it is treated primarily as your offer with credit given to its origin.

You may not deny anyone's offer, but you can change it to some degree. Instead, you must reinforce their offer by redirecting it. It is vital to proceed in the spirit it was offered. If the original involves that player's persona, make sure you continue with that. If their offer moves play in a certain direction, address this in your redirection. All in all, make sure you show respect the intended effect of the original offer; this is not a counter-offer.

And to escalate, your response must refocus the offer to increase the significance of the things resulting from it (and this often brings out the dice). If no one chooses to respond to an offer, it is up to the gamemaster to respond.

If you wish to involve any material from a persona or milieu write-up in a scene, you invoke those mechanical components. This also lets you reinforce the tone of play by evoking the expectations of this game. You can likewise add another written complication into play. These may change the immediate direction of play or simply augment where it is already going.

Lastly, you may simply add any significant content you wish to the situation in play. You do this using the experience dice system to create an object or situation and so expend some of those dice.

“Suspense doesn't come from uncertain outcomes; it comes from putting off the inevitable.” – Vincent Baker

Scattershot's mechanics are always there to aid game 'flow' and speed up complicated situations. When you use those ten-sided dice, you are using the mechanics. Don't over do it! Dice should be used sparingly and then only when play has reached a turning point.

A turning point is when something significant is going to happen. The dice create detail in this situation and are not binary arbitrators (Yes or No). When used to resolve an action, the dice will tell you how well it went or how much more complicated things have become. Ultimately, the dice are a 'tension point' that may redirect the realization of player choice.

The most obvious time you roll the dice is to resolve a conflict of interests between two players. One is usually resolving a turning point based on an offer; the other(s) will have an interest in the continuing complication being addressed. A good roll will detail how well the first player deals with a facet of the larger complication. A bad roll indicates the quality of a new, additional sub-complication. This is how dice-rolling creates detail within the game.

A second way that the dice may be used is to personally create specific detail. By rolling against a rating you can determine very specific information by looking up the roll on the Universal Equivalents (UE) Chart. This is a voluntary device for enhancing fresh detail within the game.

Because every roll involves two sides (a good or bad roll; an offer and a response) you are free to forfeit at any time (even after the dice have landed). A forfeit results in one-sided result; it is no longer a matter of degrees; it becomes a non-question. Whatever action is completed without note, a impediment simply goes away or a turning point becomes a milestone. This can also change a turning point into a private roll for specific information.

As you may never block an offer, likewise no dice roll can result in failure. Like the way life is, there are no failures, only set-backs and complications. The complication resulting from a bad roll may be embellished to indicate an alternative, more complicated, way to deal with the greater complication, rather than simply blocking play. The great thing about Scattershot is how other people are rewarded for developing this embellishment.

By the time play gets going, you should have acquired a number of 'experience dice'. These six-sided dice allow you to alter the game in any way you desire. During any part of turning point resolution, you may add or subtract one, or more, of your own experience dice, even if it doesn't involve your write-up or any of your other material. (In other words, you may roll them in before the ten-siders go, during their roll or even well after.) This will always change the degree of the outcome, even changing success into failure and vice versa.

When anyone makes a personal specific detail roll, you can throw dice into that roll too (for or against). This can magnify or negate this roll as desired. If you desire, you may also roll experience dice into regular play in order to establish a significant detail. This can create a rating for a prop, affect the direction of play (by plot device) with the quality of the roll or if an unusually high roll, work as a deus ex machina.

When you work out the details of a complicated resolution, remember that your words are actions in the game; when you offer something, it is the same as it actually happening in the timeline of play. If turning point resolution needs additional information, you may introduce the intentions going into your offer and play that retroactively. If experience dice are rolled into a resolution, you can use them to make post hoc or retroactive changes to play.

A scene remains in play only until any one suitable complication is dealt with. While you may 'sort out the details' as play ends, the gamemaster will close the scene as quickly as possible. Dealing with more than one complication in a single scene will only occur as the game becomes mature (nearing its end or the end of a cycle).

A suitable complication is usually the one the scene began with, but may have also changed at some turning point earlier in the scene. Be careful when dealing with a complication brought into the scene late in its play; these function as any surprise ending. If they are too surprising or too abrupt, it can badly affect the flow of play. Use your own judgment and always err on the side of coolness.

Dealing with a complication is not always a matter of resolving it or a facet or it. It can also mean causing the complication to grow significantly worse. While complicated in itself, evolving a complication into something noticeably different is also possible. Any of these is the sign that a scene has reached its ending.

The gamemaster has many tools for closing a scene. If a scene doesn't seem to be winding down on it's own, the gamemaster may call for a 'cross wipe', jumping this scene into the 'cut to the chase' point of the next; the important point here is to make sure that the end of one scene is about as interesting as the beginning of the other. When there are no clear complications to change to, the gamemaster will 'fade to black' a scene so that play may stop and everyone can choose a new complication.

In scene after scene, session after session, the gamemaster will get a clearer idea of what the players are interested in pursuing in play. Of the group of active complications, one will become clearly the 'ultimate' complication of the game. As this becomes obvious, the gamemaster tweak the minor details and supporting characters so that it all leads to the solution of the ultimate complication.

As play organizes itself towards enabling the players' personae to address this ultimate complication, the game itself will be maturing. When they are ready (or at least begin to succeed against it), the game reaches its maturity and the gamemaster will begin planning how to end it. This involves restructuring all the other complications so that they become stages arranged to lead closer to the final resolution. If a complication cannot be dealt with in this way, it needs to be quietly disposed of or transformed.

When all complications are resolved satisfactorily, the game (or current cycle) comes to a close. At this point, everything will either be tossed or recreated for a new game. Some games go on for years. These games will work in cycles rather than beginnings and endings. The pause in between cycles allows people to change personae or even change who is the gamemaster.

After each scene, everyone should make note of any changes on their write-ups. This also offers a chance to use the experience dice system for evolve the personae.

Occasionally, the people will come into conflict (rather than their personae). This is normal during intense sessions. (This is why “What happens in a session, stays in the session”.) To settle these conflicts, use Solomon's Auction. This way one participant gets what they want and the other gets something too.

Note to Self: Make everything in the imperative tense.