Really, it is a good read for any one who LARPs, rolls dice, or uses minatures, no matter what the publisher.
Borrowed with much gratitude from the![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif)
camarilla LJ community, where it was posted by ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif)
grinningskull
"First off, a little context. I'm Phil, and I came to LARP through theatre. When I was first introduced to these games, I saw it as an acting excercise. I'm telling you this so that you understand what my point of view is, when I look at the games we play. In essence, what we have is a form of Environmental Improvisational Theatre. In "environmental theatre" there is no stage. There is no separation between the actors and the audience. The audience sits (or stands) in the space where the actors perform the play. When I think about LARP, I see the players as both Actor and Audience. The player is an actor in the scenes that they are participating in, and they are an audience when they watch or are informed by the scenes that go on around them.
"We can probably all agree about the improvisational aspect of LARP. There really are no scripted scenes. I can have an intention at the beginning of the night, but the actions of other characters will either change my intentions or make me alter the tactics of my own character. This is where the Game of Yes comes in.
"In improvisational theatre, the Game of Yes is the most essential part of the process. In the game of yes, I accept what my scene partner gives me, and then build on it. Without this, there can be no scene. Let's say we have two actors, who have to come up with a scene on the spot:
Actor 1: I am here in the corner store.
Actor 2: Yes, and I am the store clerk
Actor 1: Yes, and I am the customer.
Actor 2: Yes, and I have just broken up with my girlfriend, and am talking to her on the phone.
Actor 1: Yes, and I am impatiently waiting for you to ring in my milk.
Actor 2: Yes, and I am pretending you are not there.
"This is, I admit, an overly simple and crude example. However, you can see here how the two actors are working together and building on the statements of the other actor, to create a scene with rising tension. But what happens if Actor 2 doesn't want to play along.
Actor 1: I am here in the corner store.
Actor 2: that's a stupid premise.
"You can see how very quickly this stops the scene.
"How does this apply to LARP? Every time we interact with another character, we are playing the Game of Yes. Let's face it. I'm a Canadian guy named Phil who works a 9-5 office job during the day. I am not a Vampire, Werewolf, Changeling, or Mage. So, right from the start, we are playing the game of yes, by accepting the assertion that each of us is playing the fantasy character that we do. When I encounter another character, once who is more important than mine, for example, I am playing the game of yes.
Player 1: I am the Ventrue Prince of Kalamazoo
Player 2: Yes, and I am just a Gangrel from North Bay.
Player 1: Yes, and I do not have a high opinion of the Gangrel.
Player 2: Yes, and I have heard of this, so I will be rude to you.
Player 1: Yes, and I am offended that you are being rude to me.
Player 2: Yes, and I have deliberately chosen to do so, in order to publicly snub you.
"This is a literal scene, where the characters are speaking their subtext, but you can see what's happening here. Each player is accepting the input from the other character and building on it. What if player two doesn't play along?
Player 1: I am the Prince of Kalamazoo
Player 2: God, don't you always play a high status ventrue? Can't you do something new?
"Again, we can see how this scene isn't going to go anywhere.
The entire world we create through our role playing games is a consensual reality, wherein for the scenes to work at all, we must agree on our consensual reality, and participate in it. If we don't, then there are no scenes. There is no drama. No stories can be told.
"So, where does this put the Storyteller? With this theory of the Game of Yes, is the Storyteller required to say "yes" to everything? As a storyteller myself, I know that this is just not possible. At times a storyteller needs to be able to say no, and I think that every storyteller can agree on this fact.
"Pushing the theatre analogy to its furthest, the Storyteller acts as the Playwright. In the theatre, the playwright, through their script provides the definition for the world. This is the function of the storyteller. They provide the setting, and the players (actors/characters) act within this definition. The storyteller participates in the game of Yes in terms of building their story. Through NPCs they become players, and by taking into account the actions of the characters, they alter their stories...taking note of the consequences of the actions of players and tailoring their story to these actions. This is where the participation of the storyteller comes into the Game of Yes. If the storyteller does not take into account the actions of the players, and barrels along regardless of what the characters do, they are not participating in the Game of Yes. Let's take a look at an example of a scene being run:
"Storyteller: You thought you were meeting with the contact you've been cultivating in the local street gang. But as you pull up in your car, you see four guys in addition to the one you were expecting to meet.
Player: Yes, and I am suspicious. I get out of my car, carefully, keeping my eye on my guy. "What's all this?" I ask.
Storyteller: Yes, and your contact is wary. His right arm twitches near his side, as though ready to go for a gun. "Jimmy the Hat says you're a rat. You sold us out."
Player: Yes, and now I realze that I've been sold out. I know that Jimmy the Hat is in the Prince's pocket. I've been caught out. "Come on," I say to my guy, "you're going to take that rat Jimmy's word over mine? After everything he's done to you?"
"Here you have a scene that's building, with both the player and the storyteller building on each other.
"There are two ways that this can be derailed:
Storyteller: You thought you were meeting with the contact you've been cultivating in the local street gang. But as you pull up in your car, you see four guys in addition to the one you were expecting to meet.
Player: Come on. There's no way that this could happen without me knowing. I've been tailing this guy constantly for the last 2 months. This is clearly you favouring the player of the Prince.
"And here, the scene stops, because the player is arguing rather than going along for the ride.
"But the Storyteller can derail the story too.
Storyteller: You thought you were meeting with the contact you've been cultivating in the local street gang. But as you pull up in your car, you see four guys in addition to the one you were expecting to meet.
Player: Yes, and I am suspicious. I get out of my car, carefully, keeping my eye on my guy. "What's all this?" I ask.
Storyteller: No you don't. Before you can get out of the car, the gang members open up with gun fire, riddling your car with bullets. You take damage.
"There's no scene here. Because the player has been prevented from participating.
Borrowed with much gratitude from the
camarilla LJ community, where it was posted by grinningskull"First off, a little context. I'm Phil, and I came to LARP through theatre. When I was first introduced to these games, I saw it as an acting excercise. I'm telling you this so that you understand what my point of view is, when I look at the games we play. In essence, what we have is a form of Environmental Improvisational Theatre. In "environmental theatre" there is no stage. There is no separation between the actors and the audience. The audience sits (or stands) in the space where the actors perform the play. When I think about LARP, I see the players as both Actor and Audience. The player is an actor in the scenes that they are participating in, and they are an audience when they watch or are informed by the scenes that go on around them.
"We can probably all agree about the improvisational aspect of LARP. There really are no scripted scenes. I can have an intention at the beginning of the night, but the actions of other characters will either change my intentions or make me alter the tactics of my own character. This is where the Game of Yes comes in.
"In improvisational theatre, the Game of Yes is the most essential part of the process. In the game of yes, I accept what my scene partner gives me, and then build on it. Without this, there can be no scene. Let's say we have two actors, who have to come up with a scene on the spot:
Actor 1: I am here in the corner store.
Actor 2: Yes, and I am the store clerk
Actor 1: Yes, and I am the customer.
Actor 2: Yes, and I have just broken up with my girlfriend, and am talking to her on the phone.
Actor 1: Yes, and I am impatiently waiting for you to ring in my milk.
Actor 2: Yes, and I am pretending you are not there.
"This is, I admit, an overly simple and crude example. However, you can see here how the two actors are working together and building on the statements of the other actor, to create a scene with rising tension. But what happens if Actor 2 doesn't want to play along.
Actor 1: I am here in the corner store.
Actor 2: that's a stupid premise.
"You can see how very quickly this stops the scene.
"How does this apply to LARP? Every time we interact with another character, we are playing the Game of Yes. Let's face it. I'm a Canadian guy named Phil who works a 9-5 office job during the day. I am not a Vampire, Werewolf, Changeling, or Mage. So, right from the start, we are playing the game of yes, by accepting the assertion that each of us is playing the fantasy character that we do. When I encounter another character, once who is more important than mine, for example, I am playing the game of yes.
Player 1: I am the Ventrue Prince of Kalamazoo
Player 2: Yes, and I am just a Gangrel from North Bay.
Player 1: Yes, and I do not have a high opinion of the Gangrel.
Player 2: Yes, and I have heard of this, so I will be rude to you.
Player 1: Yes, and I am offended that you are being rude to me.
Player 2: Yes, and I have deliberately chosen to do so, in order to publicly snub you.
"This is a literal scene, where the characters are speaking their subtext, but you can see what's happening here. Each player is accepting the input from the other character and building on it. What if player two doesn't play along?
Player 1: I am the Prince of Kalamazoo
Player 2: God, don't you always play a high status ventrue? Can't you do something new?
"Again, we can see how this scene isn't going to go anywhere.
The entire world we create through our role playing games is a consensual reality, wherein for the scenes to work at all, we must agree on our consensual reality, and participate in it. If we don't, then there are no scenes. There is no drama. No stories can be told.
"So, where does this put the Storyteller? With this theory of the Game of Yes, is the Storyteller required to say "yes" to everything? As a storyteller myself, I know that this is just not possible. At times a storyteller needs to be able to say no, and I think that every storyteller can agree on this fact.
"Pushing the theatre analogy to its furthest, the Storyteller acts as the Playwright. In the theatre, the playwright, through their script provides the definition for the world. This is the function of the storyteller. They provide the setting, and the players (actors/characters) act within this definition. The storyteller participates in the game of Yes in terms of building their story. Through NPCs they become players, and by taking into account the actions of the characters, they alter their stories...taking note of the consequences of the actions of players and tailoring their story to these actions. This is where the participation of the storyteller comes into the Game of Yes. If the storyteller does not take into account the actions of the players, and barrels along regardless of what the characters do, they are not participating in the Game of Yes. Let's take a look at an example of a scene being run:
"Storyteller: You thought you were meeting with the contact you've been cultivating in the local street gang. But as you pull up in your car, you see four guys in addition to the one you were expecting to meet.
Player: Yes, and I am suspicious. I get out of my car, carefully, keeping my eye on my guy. "What's all this?" I ask.
Storyteller: Yes, and your contact is wary. His right arm twitches near his side, as though ready to go for a gun. "Jimmy the Hat says you're a rat. You sold us out."
Player: Yes, and now I realze that I've been sold out. I know that Jimmy the Hat is in the Prince's pocket. I've been caught out. "Come on," I say to my guy, "you're going to take that rat Jimmy's word over mine? After everything he's done to you?"
"Here you have a scene that's building, with both the player and the storyteller building on each other.
"There are two ways that this can be derailed:
Storyteller: You thought you were meeting with the contact you've been cultivating in the local street gang. But as you pull up in your car, you see four guys in addition to the one you were expecting to meet.
Player: Come on. There's no way that this could happen without me knowing. I've been tailing this guy constantly for the last 2 months. This is clearly you favouring the player of the Prince.
"And here, the scene stops, because the player is arguing rather than going along for the ride.
"But the Storyteller can derail the story too.
Storyteller: You thought you were meeting with the contact you've been cultivating in the local street gang. But as you pull up in your car, you see four guys in addition to the one you were expecting to meet.
Player: Yes, and I am suspicious. I get out of my car, carefully, keeping my eye on my guy. "What's all this?" I ask.
Storyteller: No you don't. Before you can get out of the car, the gang members open up with gun fire, riddling your car with bullets. You take damage.
"There's no scene here. Because the player has been prevented from participating.