Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Written by Eddy Webb and Will Hindmarch Edited by Jason Bolte and Genevieve Posey Layout by Jessica Mullins Original Product Design by matt milberger SAS created by White Wolf Publishing
White Wolf Publishing 2008 CCPhf. All rights reserved. Reproduction without thewritten permission of the publisher is expressly forbidden, except for the purposes of reviews, and for blank character sheets, which may be reproducedfor personal use only. White Wolf, Vampire and World of Darkness are registered trademarks of CCPhf. All rights reserved. Vampire the
Requiem, Werewolf the Forsaken, Mage the Awakening, Promethean the Created, Changeling the Lost, Hunter the Vigil, Exalted, Scion, Storytelling System and the Storytelling Adventure System are trademarks ofCCP hf. All rights reserved. All characters, names, places and text herein arecopyrighted by CCPhf. CCP North America Inc. is a wholly
2075 West Park Place Blvd. owned subsidiary of CCP hf. The mention of or reference to any company or product in these pages is not a challenge to the trademark or copyright concerned. This book uses the supernatural for settings, characters and themes. All mystical and supernatural elements are fiction and intended for entertainment purposes only. This book contains mature
content. Reader discretion is advised.
Suite G
Check out White Wolf online at http://www.white-wolf.com
Stone Mountain, GA 30087
1
Check out the Storytelling Adventure System online at http://www.white-wolf.com/sas
Pacing and plotting scenes are part of the fun of being a Storyteller
What Is A Storytelling for some people. If its fun for you, take these scenes apart and use them
however you like. You can even import scenes from other stories or
Adventure System Product? create new scenes for yourself. If you prefer to just get to the table and
start playing, though, youll find an example already plotted for you in
Think of a Storytelling Adventure System product (SAS) as a story kit, each storys Treatment section.
as if youd bought a piece of modern furniture and brought it home in a big
flat box. You open it up, eager to be the Storyteller for your troupe, but what
you find is a collection of pieces and parts. To put it together, youll need Advice
some tools: the rules and worlds provided in one or more of our Storytelling Every story has unique challenges and pitfalls that can trip up
game rulebooks. Youll use these parts and tools to build a story together even an experienced Storyteller. No matter how great the parts are,
with your friends. It might not look quite like you expect it to when its all they dont do you much good if you dont have a clue how to put
done, but as long as everyone enjoys it, it doesnt matter how you end up them together for maximum effect. An SAS product often provides
using all the pieces, or even if you throw some of them away. specific advice on how to use those parts in just the right way to cre-
The basic parts that make up most SAS stories are simple: Storyteller ate the story you want to tell, as well as suggestions on scene flow,
characters, scenes and some advice on how you can put them together. relevant background, and unique rules and mechanics useful to the
Each of them can be used in different ways to keep the story building story at hand.
SAS Structure
towards its climactic end. These parts are designed to make the job of be-
ing a Storyteller easier, faster and more fun for you. The wondrous game
experiences youve read about that shock and satisfy your players come
from doing a great job, and everything in an SAS product is intended to Storytelling is the most powerful way
pick up the slack so you can focus on creating the best story you can.
to put ideas into the world today.
Characters
Robert McAfee Brown
Adventure Ratings
The Storyteller characters presented in most SAS products use the
same format and rules as those in our Storytelling games, with a few
elaborations and expansions. The archetypal characters you find in a A Storytelling Adventure System product has three ratings on its
rulebook are intended to be used again and again, whenever you need cover. They look something like this:
someone like them in your story. The characters in an SAS product,
however, contain special advice and notes to help you use them in a Storytelling Adventure system
specific story. Youll find descriptions, monologues, tactics and goals
Scenes Mental OOOOO XP Level
8 o-34
for the most important Storyteller characters. Draw from them as Physical OOOOO
needed during play. Social OOOOO
Scenes Scenes: This is the total number of scenes in the adventure. Its used
The scenes that make up the story follow a specific format. Each
to convey a sense of the length of the adventure (how long it will take
scene is built as a discrete game encounter (or a closely-tied collection
to play). If there are nine scenes (even if two of them are optional),
of game encounters) for the troupe to play through. As the players take
then the Scene rating is 9.
their characters through these scenes, a story naturally unfolds.
2
MPS (Mental, Physical, Social) Dots: The adventure as a whole
is given a rating based on how challenging it is in three categories: Introduction and Groundwork
Mental (puzzles, mysteries, research), Physical (combat, endur- The Introduction covers general information about the product, as
ance), and Social (interacting with and influencing others). Also, well as set-up and groundwork sections like Storyteller advice, descrip-
each scene is rated with its own MPS scale. While the adventure as tions of key Storyteller characters, a flowchart of how scenes can flow
a whole might be rated Mental , Physical and Social , its together, background and set-up information, and a treatment of the
possible for one or two scenes to be rated Social or if one of story to be told.
the ways they can be solved is through a particularly challenging
Social feat. Whats a Treatment?
Each MPS rating uses the familiar range of 0 to 5 dots, according to In Hollywood parlance, a treatment is a short prose description of a
the following scale: movies story, written before production begins. A treatment describes
all the major dramatic beats of the story, and sometimes includes
MPS (Mental, Physical, Social) Dots: directorial or developmental information (i.e., it doesnt necessarily
Zero No challenge (involves no real risk, but may be dramatic) restrict itself to relating the story).
Minor challenge (slight chance of lost resources) In Storytelling terms, the treatment is the Storytellers core over-
Lesser Challenge (low risk or mild consequences) view of the story, from authorial notes on subtext all the way to
Challenging (even chances, moderate consequences) frank narrative tips. Nothing is implied in a Storytelling treatment;
this is where the author breaks it all down in brief for the Storyteller
Major (real risk or serious consequences for failure)
at home.
Extreme (serious peril with lasting or lethal consequences)
3
Description: This is a general description of the scenes atmosphere,
setting and inherent game effects. The descriptive text in this section
Aftermath
is usually suitable for reading aloud to the troupe. After the scenes, there are suggestions and ideas for potential story
Storyteller Goals: This details what a scene is designed to ac- ideas that can result from the aftermath of the adventure (if the SAS
was run as part of an existing chronicle), as well as suggested experi-
4
How to Use Telling The Story
Adaptability
an SAS Product One of the hallmarks of the Storytelling System is its adaptability.
The number of scenes, for example, is extremely flexible; you can add
Reading The Product or subtract scenes until you get exactly the story you want. Individual
An SAS product is a collection of situations and settings that scenes can be scaled up or down about the equivalent of one level on
describe the general plot a story could follow, but the story doesnt the MPS scale for example, from to or . Use the Help and
really exist until you and your players tell it. Though most SAS Hindrance modifiers in each scene to dial the challenge up or down.
products will present scenes in an intuitive order, the scenes dont When in doubt, remember that the size of the dice pool is everything
have to occur in exactly that sequence. That story is just one pos- add dice penalties like flickering lights, blowing rain, peeling lino-
sibility, which you can use as a guide to follow when you get to- leum underfoot and capable enemies to create more perilous scenes.
gether with your troupe to play. The order and the outcome of the You can use this technique to change the MPS rating or XP level for
scenes depend on the choices your players make the story that a whole story as well.
you all tell together around the game table is under no obligation Its also possible to slant the MPS ratings toward or away from
to imitate what we imagined when we wrote it. a particular play style. If the story has a high Physical rating and
Each SAS will be written in a very open, functional style, meant your players arent keen on running around and kicking some ass,
to explain in clear language everything thats important about the you can remove some of the high-rated Physical scenes and replace
story youre about to tell. Each SAS product is a blueprint, and them with more Mental or Social scenes (swapping out fight scenes
blueprints arent subtle. We wont be coy when talking about the with, say, more investigation or interrogation scenes). Similarly,
story. Elements like mystery and secrecy belong in the game world if the players want to do more problem-solving in a story with a
you construct with your friends, not when were trying to give you low Mental rating, you can add more Mental challenges into exist-
the parts you need to build that world. ing scenes (perhaps by having some key information in the story
encrypted or hidden in a puzzle box).
In Print or On Screen
SAS products printed in our traditional books will be formatted to fit
Scene Flow
those pages, but the layout for our electronic products is optimized for Although we dont know exactly what story youll be telling or
use with a computer. The layout is landscape (wider than it is tall) so how youll plot it, having a general idea in mind of how scenes flow
that each page takes up the entire viewing area on a standard monitor. together when you begin is a good idea. A basic plan can help you
The landscape pages also fit easily behind your Storytellers screen when improvise by giving you a core melody of plot that you can riff on
you print it up, and you can print only the pages youll need during play. during play.
There may be bookmarks that allow you to jump to different sections of On the following page is the scene flow diagram from Criminal
the adventure, or hotlinks that will take you instantly to a website that Intent, but most SAS products include something like this. It looks
provides more information. Some SAS products feature printable hand- complicated, but in practice its really quite simple: play one scene
outs, notes and props hand-written notes, maps, clues for use when after another until youre done. By having scene flow mapped out
youre telling your story. Depending on the kind of theatrics youre after, ahead of time, you can get a good sense of the general shape of the
you could print these out on fancy paper or heavy cardstocks to give your story, and it makes it easier to keep track of what scene leads where
players a tangible tool to help bring the game alive in their minds. when the pace is furious and the tension is cranked to eleven.
5
Scene Flowchart The Cardinal Sins of Storytelling
The design of the Storytelling Adventure System allows you to avoid com-
mitting two of the cardinal sins of Storytelling boredom and confusion.
#1: Boredom Is Poison. If players are bored, the story will die. If
Hired by Petrovshy
the story dies, the chronicle is likely to wither and perish, too. If you
see that the players are spending more time reading a comic book
or talking about what they saw on television last night, dig through
your scene cards and throw in a scene that will get them focused
on the story again. Raymond Chandler said, When in doubt, have
The Scene of the Crime two men come through the door with guns in their hands. If it was
good enough for Chandler, its good enough for us.
#2: Confusion Kills Fun. Being mystified isnt the same as being
confused. A puzzle or a riddle can be fun because youre not sure how
to solve it, but thats not the same as being confused about just what
the hell to do with it. Clarity in every scene is important, whether that
Confronting Simone Rosarios Apartment clarity comes from the big picture (We have to get out of this room
before midnight so we can save Daphne!) or the little picture (We
have to break down this door so we can get out of this room!). By
having goals assigned to each significant scene and putting them right
at the bottom of every scene card, both you and the players can keep a
Confronting Melanie sharp focus on whats important in that scene.
6
Its fair game to use game mechanics to make tough choices preciate each others anecdotes by comparing the flow of scenes.
real for the player. For example, a World of Darkness character You might say, When I ran the story, it ended up going
can be confronted with the choice between stealing or going
Scenes A > B > E > F > C
hungry. This decision might not be too difficult for a starving
character, but the player can be confronted with the choice of then I tossed in scene G from this other adventure, and ended with
a climactic scene of my own design.
Confronting Simone
isnt very socially savvy. Shes trained as an assassin, and she doesnt do
much talking except to intimidate people. The players are encouraged
to act out their attempts to convince Simone, but they might want to
back up their roleplay with a dice roll. You can also choose to let the
MENTAL PHYSICAL SOCIAL players roll if the scene is running long.
Confronting Simone
Help: The coterie drops Rosarios name before she does (+2); the
Simone will attempt to get the drop on the coterie, either near the alley or
Criminal Internt
Taken!
Red Wrens Wyrd score of 5.) Thats not to say they cant open it
after those five turns are done (and in fact, doing so does not require they go after the child. Or, as others note, a child in the Hedge is a
the expenditure of Glamour since the door is already keyed to the dangerous scenario for the boy, so maybe a rescue is in order even if
Hedge), but it will not take them to the same place that Cancer John the ritual disgusts them. On the other hand maybe the thief had
and Joey went. the boys best interest in mind. Maybe hes taking the child to an-
other door in the Hedge and bringing him right back out somewhere
Voices of dissent and protest will be certain, here. Some will demand
else, thus working toward the childs safety and the obviation of the
that the child must be followed and reclaimed for the ritual. Others
Childrens Contract.
will demand he be claimed because well, a child in the Hedge is
doubly cruel and could get him into trouble far worse than what the Do the characters go with what their patron asked of them? Do they
ritual would bring him. There will be those, however, who will loudly go against the patrons interests? Do they give in to Wrens pleas?
proclaim that whoever took him is likely taking the child to safety Do they enter the Hedge within five turns? After? Or do they stay
thus ending this dour ritual. behind and let someone else do that dirty work?
Storyteller Goals: This scene can go ten seconds or ten min- Action: The only action is the informal decision of what to do, as
utes. If the characters leap into action, boom, the scene is swift. noted. The adventure hinges in part on what the motley chooses at
If indecision plagues them or they decide to remain behind, the this point.
gathered Lost will devolve into a squabbling mess of blame, insults, Consequences: Really, what the characters do determines how the
threats, and desperate pleas (with, of course, no action actually rest of the scenes in the adventure line up. What has been up until this
being taken remember that the characters are meant to be point a relatively linear progression of scenes, it now falls into a pattern
the truly dynamic presence in any story, and in this adventure based on the choices they make. And the choices they make have a
its no different). very real effect on the freehold and all the children of the city.