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Play Advice: Give me your best advice for running PTA

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  1.  # 1
    Chris started a thread over here about Dogs, and it's such a good idea. So friends, lay them on me - those pearls of Primetime Adventures wisdom you've accumulated through bitter experience. What are your best tips, for players and Producers?
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      CommentAuthorGraham
    • CommentTimeOct 24th 2008
     # 2
    If you're not enthused by the concept of the series, or only half-enthused, speak up.

    Make sure stakes are fun either way.

    Narrate like you're narrating a TV series.

    Graham
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      CommentAuthormisuba
    • CommentTimeOct 24th 2008
     # 3
    Make sure all players take responsibility, all the time, for driving conflicts toward issues.
  4.  # 4
    Here are a couple:

    Don't neglect "Next Week On..."

    As Producer, don't forget that you'll be getting some free budget via the fan mail ecosystem. You can have some large conflicts early in the session and it'll be fine.
    • CommentAuthordaw65
    • CommentTimeOct 24th 2008
     # 5
    Posted By: Jason Morningstar
    As Producer, don't forget that you'll be getting some free budget via the fan mail ecosystem. You can have some large conflicts early in the session and it'll be fine.


    Make sure players are fully engaged in the fan mail ecosystem. Don't make Jason a liar!
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      CommentAuthorjenskot
    • CommentTimeOct 24th 2008
     # 6
    Make Remi run PTA for you!
    • CommentAuthoragony
    • CommentTimeOct 24th 2008
     # 7
    Posted By: misubaMake sure all players take responsibility, all the time, for driving conflicts toward issues.


    In line with the above quote, make sure they fully understand their intended role for the episode according to their screen presence. You'll want the heavy hitting conflicts which are driven towards issues to be highlighting the spotlight character and the player's must be aboard to have this accomplished.
    • CommentAuthorMeserach
    • CommentTimeOct 24th 2008
     # 8
    Understand what an Issue is: it's something a character struggles with. Emphasise this to your players. The best Issues are where it's really really hard to predict in advance what the protagonist will do when the Issue comes up, and finding out what is they actually do when it comes up is the best part of play.

    Have the Issue come up all the time. Especially in conflicts.
  9.  # 9
    Don't worry about forcing conflicts. Let them come naturally. And for the love of good TV, make sure they are about something interesting!
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      CommentAuthorHoho
    • CommentTimeOct 25th 2008
     # 10

    Watch more TV.

    Jason, I'm talking to you.

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      CommentAuthorOgremarco
    • CommentTimeOct 25th 2008
     # 11
    Make sure that the players pick issues for their characters that they are more than excited by, they just NEED to poke them with a stick.
    • CommentAuthorMoreno R.
    • CommentTimeOct 26th 2008
     # 12
  13.  # 13
    Don't be afraid to be an authoritarian bastard when you're the Producer. The weakest games I've been involved with are those where the players have tried to take over scene framing, launching into the scene instead of passing the details back the the Producer for framing (or the session where I was so sleep-deprived and hung-over that the players were largely forced to do this for themselves).

    Similarly, you really need to put the characters on the spot with conflicts and make sure that the stakes are for something tangible -- setting stakes like, "I'll lose self-confidence" or, "My relationship with my father will suffer" leads, in my experience, to a dull, flabby game.

    And to reiterate something that Graham said, during the series creation, make sure that everyone at the table is excited by what's being discussed. One uninvolved player can suck the life right out of a series.
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      CommentAuthoroliof
    • CommentTimeOct 27th 2008
     # 14
    Don't plan too much ahead when writing down the series premise and story arcs.
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      CommentAuthorAndy
    • CommentTimeOct 27th 2008
     # 15
    In a one-shot or mini-series, consider having one of the players play the (or a) antagonist. You can get some really fun play from it.

    -Andy

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