Casting Shadows

Now suddenly and unnervingly plunged into total darkness, with only the dying electric hum of the no-longer-powered Coke machine to explain what had happened it takes a moment for the ghostbusters to really get it.

“The power went out! The Coke machine was working when Dunhill used it to get a Coke – no Kim Mitchell references, now! This is serious!” Lemmon bursts out.

Stent can’t help himself and quietly hums ‘Go for a Soda‘ under his breath until Lemmon bashes him.

“I’m right in the middle of something, Gray!”

Diego interrupts, “Gentlemen, it cannot simply be a power outage because…. that would not affect out flashlights.”

Now they really get it.

“Ok! Clear your heads! Sound off and form up!” Lemmon commands.

“Here!” says Gray.

“Here!” says Diego.

“I’m here….” Dieter says slowly, waiting for…. the check-in that does not come.

“Where is Dunhill?” shouts Gray Stent. “Dunhill!”

No reply comes from the missing Ghostbuster, as a quick look from me informs the player that he is currently incommunicado. He isn’t worried about missing out as he knows I will cut back and forth between any characters whose characters are present to weave any separate threads into opportunities to act and means to entangle the emotions of the others.

Suddenly, the power comes back on.

The disappearance of Dunhill, and a quick affirmation that nothing seems different about the room to a casual once over has the other three tense and ready for something bad to happen.

Once again it is Diego who gets his wits about him first and he goes over to inspect the Coke Machine, now running and humming frostily to itself. Leaning in, he finds a single tan thread from a ghostbuster jumpsuit caught on the change dispenser.

“You don’t normally see behavior like that in a rec room appliance…” Diego’s voice falters a bit as he takes in the stricken faces of the others.

“Dunhill!” Stent cries out again…

Question: How does a shift from the expected to the anticipated – but not desired twist or change of state in a scene help players connect to the action?

How many instances of the idea of thread did you spot?

As a technique, what is the purpose of such threads?

Video Link: Later today I will post a counterpart video to this entry to expand on structuring the scene, and the ongoing techniques of Momentum, Contagion, and Reflection raised so far~