Playing Out the Scene
Once your roll has been resolved, it is time for you, the game master (GM), and the other players to explain how your actions are resolved. Use the information available to you—the situation, your intended action, the result of your roll—and work with your fellow players to play out an interesting scene. The GM has final say on what happens, but you can add as much flavour and drama as you want as long as it doesn’t supersede the results of the roll.
Example
Despite the additional dice in your dice pool, you roll no successes—a failure. You decide to keep the roll, foregoing the option to re-roll or refuse Complications. You gain 1 XP, and you give the other to one of your fellow street punks. The GM decides to endanger your character and inflict a negative status.
You trip over your untied shoelaces and then fall face-first to the ground, becoming prone. You agree with the GM’s take, adding that you were too focused on your target to notice your shoelaces, and that it would be totally on brand for you to have untied shoelaces. One of your fellow street punks gasps dramatically, while another curses under their breath and shakes their head as you fall over.
Sidetracking
Sidetracking is a term from improv which refers to instances where a performer changes the main storyline of an ongoing scene. To quote The Improv Archive:
[Sidetracking] occurs when a performer diverts from the goal or direction of a story rather than taking the next logical step forward. This behavior is typically motivated by fear: fear of the unknown, fear of heightening the stakes, or fear of committing to an offer that feels risky. [Performers sometimes] sidetrack in a misguided attempt to “make things happen,” when the resulting scenes actually lose energy and coherence.[1]
Sidetracking in tabletop roleplaying games (TTRPGs) also happens because a player:
- Isn’t paying attention to an ongoing scene,
- Doesn’t think an ongoing scene is particularly interesting, or
- Isn’t sure how to participate in an ongoing scene with their character.
When sidetracking does occur, it often results in divergent scenes—encounters which happen at the same time as another encounter, but they have little to do with each other. Divergent scenes in TTRPGs aren’t necessarily a bad thing. Just as a television series may have an A plot, a B plot, and even a C plot, multiple encounters can play out simultaneously during a session. However, every additional, concurrent encounter adds cognitive load onto the GM. They may also delay when players can actively participate, if the encounters are played out asynchronously. Or, encounters may get confusing, if turns are played out as normal—with one player going after the other—regardless of the scene in which each character is participating.
As a player, it is usually better to pay attention to an ongoing encounter and ask how you can best support the ongoing narrative. If you’re unsure, you can always reach out to other players for ideas, or your character can even ask characters in the scene how they can participate. Whether your character helps or hurts the goals of others is up to you. Either way, your character may be more useful to the ongoing narrative than you think.
Everyone at the table should ensure that every player has a chance to lead a scene. Sharing the spotlight should be something that is discussed during Session 0 and reinforced throughout play.