Backstage

Running the world

As the Controller you set the stage, speak for every character but the hero, and answer each move. This is your toolbox.

• Scenery. Pick a room and a mood: day, dusk, night or gloom. Change the room whenever the story moves on.
• Cast. Place characters on stage. Select one to give them a line or move them. One of them is the hero, played by your Player.
• Props. Chests, keys, barrels, boats: things to place. The hero can act on anything on stage.
• Sound. Music that loops under the scene, and stings that play once.
• Stakes. Stamp how an action went, call for a dice roll, or keep a clock of what is coming.
• Narrate. A caption for the scene, in your own words.

Your turn

Read what the hero did, then answer: move someone, change the room, give a character a line, narrate what happens. When the stage looks right, send the beat, and the turn passes to your Player.

Longer scenes

Want something to play out over several beats? Send it as a Cutscene: the beat goes out and you keep the turn.

Cues let you prepare a beat ahead, off the clock. Only you see them, they stay on this device, and you can use one on your turn.

Run the world: a practice scene

Related

• Stakes: verdicts, dice and tracks
• Building your own sets
• When you need an idea