RPG Talk: Role-Playing Editing

You know how it is. Even if you didn't plan for it, the party's going to split up at some point, and then you're stuck also splitting your attention (and indeed, everyone else's) across several groups or individuals. There are several ways to handle it - including assistant GMs (in THIS economy?!), separate rooms, and simply suffering through it - but I'll give you mine. And it's really grounded in film/television editing.

Simply put, I switch from one character/group to another as frequently as I can rather than let one group carry a long scene, then switch to another. Perhaps it has to do with several of my players acknowledging their ADHD, but I find (and this is especially true in online play) that players' attention and investment tend to drift off if they're not involved in a particular scene. Rather than watch them get on their phones or open other windows on their computers and lose track of the plot, I prefer to keep turning to them as if it was their "initiative", just as if they were in the same group. Of course, not all situations are equal.

If both groups are in an action scene, the editing is quite obvious. One PC is fighting a skeleton over here, the other is fighting a beholder over there. They're not in the same room, but they might as well be. Just continually cut from one action move to the other. I would say this is the same if Player B is trying to do something action-oriented (disarm a bomb, jump over a chasm) while Player A is fighting. Everything is calculated in seconds anyway.

Things get more complicated if either group is playing a social or exploratory scene (talking to NPCs, looking for clues, driving around for a parking spot in a Dalek-infested city). If both are, cut as quickly as you can without it feeling like you can't get anywhere because of the interruptions. You are controlling the pacing through your scene switches (pacing), so make sure the switches feel natural and that each segment is advancing the plot or relationship before cutting out of it. Natural places to cut include revelations and punchlines, just like in movies and TV. Two to five minutes is probably the standard for any segment, but some might be shorter, especially if you're building tension (for example, if one of the groups is on a deadline).

When one group is in a battle and the other is doing socials, don't over-complicate it. Yes, in reality, each round of the fight is a few seconds long, while a character interpreting clues or interrogating an NPC takes far longer, but you can sync that all up later. For now, give the fighters 2 or 3 rounds of combat, then switch out for the equivalent minutes of talking/doing, and so on. We don't overly question it in a movie when the editing intercuts between these types of scenes, so we shouldn't in our games. Cover it up with a line about how much time has passed for one group and the other when their paths rejoin. The fighters probably had time to lick their wounds before the doers return, for example.

Once you start thinking of pacing as editing, you'll start thinking about flashbacks and fast-forwards, about montages and freeze frames... There's a lot more you can do with your storytelling when you free yourself from strict timelines and "rounds".

Comments