User:Spazalicious Chaos/The Book of Splendid Performance (3.5e Sourcebook)/Narratives

Narratives

Not all stories are continuous. Shifts in time, place and focus occur frequently in many well-told stories. However, few if any RPGs ever have a means of accomadating these shifts in focus, let alone any benefits for doing so. Thus, the use of the Narrative is a useful device not only for allowing these out of sequence events, but also give a chance to test drive the GMs seat.

Initiating Narratives

First, to start a Narrative a player must declare he wants to do so and be supported in this action by a majority vote. If Plot Points are used the player spends one, otherwise the limit is one Narrative per session. Only one, and not per player, hence the need for full group support.

Second, the player, now called the Narrator, decides what kind of Narrative he wishes to run:

• Story Time- A fictional tale, as it is told to other characters.
• Flash Back- A significant event from the characters past.
• Master Plot- The predicited outcome of a planned event.

Finally, the Narrator hands out Roles as he sees fit. Roles are like Characters, but without defined traits. Rather, they have rough sketchy Features that detail what kind of character the Role represents. Examples of Features include (and cirtainly are not limited to) Fighter, Thief, Mage, Priest, Woodsman, Savage, Skilled, Wise, Mentor, Strong, Swift, Wealthy, Charismatic, Manipulative, Sly, Stealthy, Wild, Observant, Nomadic, Civilized, Royal/Noble, Valorous and Dastardly. Each Role has one Feature, determined by the Narrator and what he sees as the defining or most important trait of the Role in question.

Narrative Effects

Once initiated, the Narrator acts as GM for one scene. This may be a montage scene (especially for Master Plots), but the idea of a Narrative is being a short but insightful scene. Actions are resolved quickly- the acting Role rolls a d20. If the action is something fitting his Feature, he needs to beat DC 5. Otherwise, he needs to beat DC 10 easy or 15 for hard actions. This single roll represents all related actions, from an entire combat to sneaking down a hall to seducing the Dutchess over the course of a party.

Once the scene reaches a conclusion and the helm returns to the GM, the following effects are in play-

• Story Time- For each story event that adds context to or mirrors events in the following scene, the XP award is doubled from that event. A very well told story could even add up to a +10 circumstance bonus to Charisma based checks against thoses who listened to the story... or down to a -10 penalty if the story was offensive or poorly presented.
• Flash Back- Each event in the following scene that references something in the flash back grants a doubled XP award. In addition, a flash back that offers an origin for a trait (such as a feat, skill or spell) gains a +2 bonus on rolls to use it in the following scene.
• Master Plot- Each event detailed in the plot that plays out as planned grants a doubled XP reward. Also, each participant in the Plot gains one time use ability- any roll that can determine the outcome of a plotted event may be rolled twice, with the acting player choosing which roll to use.