Floating Scenes (RPG All)

I've talked in the past about having information ready for an improv moment. I said:

There’s no accounting for taste. Players get all sorts of ideas in their heads. You can’t anticipate them. They might decide to forge their own copy of the [McGuffin], or steal a copy from somewhere else, or murder all those disappointed customers. Anything’s possible.  

This is where improv comes in. I’m sure I don’t need to describe improv to you. The basic point is this: you need to have just enough random facts at your disposal that you can deploy them as necessary in a yes, and situation. If this becomes a crime scene, you need to have some stats for cops. If this becomes a fight, you need some stats for mooks, monsters, what have you. If this becomes a criminal conspiracy, you need some criminals, and so on. 

The great thing about these improv stats is, you don’t need them for one scenario. You need them for all scenarios. Which means you can re-use them as needed.

I went on to say:

When [the opposition] Acts, they take the initiative. In this case, they do a thing that complicates the scene. 

When [the opposition] Reacts, they take the back seat. Because you complicated the scene, they had to do something.

Improv Stats: in which everyone can be classified as Clever, Industrious, Lazy, or Stupid, with the qualifier Hostile, Indifferent or Friendly.

I've already discussed what that looks like for NPCs.

What does that look like in a Scene?

Just what is a Floating Scene, anyway?

Briefly, a Floating Scene is a Scene which you have sketched out in advance and deploy, as needed, in a plotline that wasn't anticipating whatever it was that the players did to start this scene. 

Say that your plot requires the characters to talk to a particular NPC and get information from them. Instead, the players decide to steal the NPC's wallet, or beat them up, or take some other hostile action that removes any and all possibility that the NPC will cooperate with them. 

Or, say they knock out a particularly important bridge.

Viva la Dirt League

That's when you need a Floating Scene. To cover those moments when you don't have anything else handy. The rabbit lurking in your hat. 

In this example, I'm going to use law enforcement as the opposition. 

Most settings that aren't overrun by zombies have some form of law enforcement. It may be very rudimentary; Dogberry and his mates roaming around with billhooks, for instance. It may be sophisticated. It may be automated, or run by magic, or depend entirely on the whims of Heaven, but there will be some poor shmoe (or group of shmoes) tasked with making sure society doesn't crumble overnight and things which have not yet been stolen remain in the hands of their lawful owners. 

The great thing about this is, because law enforcement of some kind or other exists in almost all systems, you can use the same floating scenes in different systems. The physical stats and powers will change, but a floating scene doesn't depend on stats and powers. It depends on roleplay and motivations.  

For purposes of this example, the opposition is tagged as Indifferent and Clever. By that I mean, they're clever enough not to fall for obvious ploys and they have no particular reason to favor or harm the player characters. Just doing their job. 

There are two possibilities: they Act, or they React. 

If they Act, then they were probably called into the scene by someone else. That means they have some information about what to expect when they get there. Not a lot, and it may be misleading, but the hypothetical 911 may have said something along the lines of 'shots fired!' or 'there's intruders in my house!' In the worst case they may have already been surveilling the scene from a distance, for whatever reason, and chose this moment to intervene. In that case they probably know exactly what to expect when they get to the scene.

If they React, then they stumbled into the scene. They were on patrol, or whatever the equivalent of patrol is, saw something suspicious and decided to do something. They know little or nothing about what to expect when they get there. They may overreact, or they may take the wrong action altogether. 

Much Ado About Nothing

Police Act: Medium Threat: Code 3

A police group medium threat arrive on scene. Their order of action is:

1. Arrest, if a crime is obviously taking place.
2. Shut down whatever's going on and close off the scene.
3. Investigate the scene of the crime, if a crime has obviously taken place but is not ongoing.
4. Interrogate any witnesses.

Personality: veterans at end of shift, tired but cautious. 

Resources: arms, armor, ability to summon backup (another medium threat).

Four Things:

• Someone named [insert superior's name/rank here] is very important to them and they keep referencing this person (eg. 'the captain's gonna be all smiles tonight.')
• They're grumpy about having to extend their shift and will be on the lookout for coffee or similar.
• They will not rush into combat but won't back down from a fight either.
• ROME [whatever Rome is, this time out.]

OK, so most of that should be self-explanatory. Medium threat means that they pose a medium level threat to the protagonists. You already know that they're Clever and their tactics should reflect that. They're Indifferent, so some kind of negotiation or bluff is possible but not likely.  

Police React: Medium Threat: 11-54 

A police group medium threat stumble onto the scene. 11-54 is Suspicious vehicle but really the inciting incident could be anything. Their course of action is:

1. Assert their authority.
2. Ask questions.
3. Detain any suspicious characters for further interrogation back at the station.
4. Any reasonable excuse or bluff gets them to leave the scene.

Personality: veterans at end of shift, tired but cautious. 

Resources: arms, armor, ability to summon backup (another medium threat).

Four Things:

• Someone named [insert superior's name/rank here] is very important to them and they keep referencing this person (eg. 'the captain's gonna be pissed if we don't get a move on.')
• They're grumpy about having to extend their shift and will be on the lookout for coffee or similar.
• They will not rush into combat but won't back down from a fight either.
• ROME [whatever Rome is, this time out.]

See how little changes? Exactly the same four things. The same personality, resources. The course of action is the only variable. 

OK, that's a couple of Floating Scenes involving law enforcement. There are no stats, because those will change depending on the system. The scenes are designed to be used in any system. There's not a lot of meat on the bones but that's because these are Floating; a designed scene has props, scenery, clues, but this is something you're doing on the fly, so you have to leave a lot up to chance and the situation at the table on the day.

Suppose it's not law enforcement?

If this is a horror setting, for example, it's reasonable to expect supernatural activity of some kind. Probably death, or a series of deaths, both recent and long past. Something moody and mysterious.

Supernatural Act: Medium Threat: Restless

A supernatural manifestation. A swarm of [whatever fits, rat-equivalent] invade the scene. 

If not attacked or interrupted the swarm moves in an ordered, ritualistic way, forming strange patterns and moving in absolute union. As they do so, a melody plays; the music seems unconnected with the swarm but the player/instrument cannot be seen. POTENTIAL SAN/STABILITY/EQUIVALENT loss.

If attacked or interrupted the swarm becomes an undead/infernal/equivalent version of its current form and attacks the person who attacked or interrupted it. The swarm will concentrate on that target(s); anyone who did not attack or interrupt is left alone unless that person engages them. The melody becomes a screeching cacophony.   POTENTIAL SAN/STABILITY/EQUIVALENT loss.

Once the encounter is dealt with / left to play out, a CLUE is left behind as to the nature of ROME or the mission objective, whichever best suits.

Supernatural React: Medium Threat: Restless

A supernatural reaction. A swarm of [whatever fits, rat-equivalent] are attracted to the scene.

This may be deliberate (eg. someone let the lab animals out of their cages, someone laid bait for the swarm) or accidental.

The first few of the swarm move aimlessly, like cockroaches caught in light. They can be avoided or crushed quickly. If either of those two things happen, the encounter stops at that point.

If left to their own devices, then within a number of (combat rounds or the equivalent) the full swarm gathers, and this plays out as Supernatural Act: Restless.

In situations like this you don't really need Four Things. You can have them, don't get me wrong. It will be useful to have them if there's a risk of this becoming a roleplay encounter. However, in a situation like this the more likely result is a brief combat moment and if that happens then the Four Things become basically irrelevant.

How many of these do you need? Well, how many do you think you'll use? After all, the whole point is to have these on hand for those moments when the players ski off-piste. You know your players best; how often is that likely to happen? A lot? Then you need a good variety of floating scenes. Once or twice a session? Then about half-a-dozen is a good number, to allow a choice of options. Almost never? Then you could get away with one or two prepped.

Don't forget you can re-use these as often as you like. Particularly if you play with different groups or in different settings. A Cop encounter in Elizabethan London is going to look very different from a Cop encounter in 2016 Berlin, even if the basic script is the same.

That's it for this week. Enjoy!      

PS if I were to write a list of floating scenes for DriveThru, would there be takers?