Are scene framing mechanics out of fashion?

Aik's picture
Published by Aik on Wed, 06/05/2019 - 13:40
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In the newer games I've played recently, I haven't noticed much in the way of mechanics dealing with how to set or end a scene. At most, more freeform games are 'take turns in a circle to frame a scene. The scene ends when the person who framed it decides it does', and I haven't noticed anything with GMed games.

Have I missed games that have explicit scene framing mechanics, or are they just not trendy in the PbtA era?

(and can we bring them back? I miss them)

Aik's picture

Aik - Thu, 06/06/2019 - 16:33

Well, I think the biggest thing that's gone missing is just the idea that scenes can be cut and started for dramatic purposes, rather than rolling from one into the next. It's a pretty basic thing, but I feel I only see it happening recently with on-the-ball experienced GMs bringing it into these new games rather than as a part of the game structure. Scenes should propel the characters to action, or be set for some purpose, not just because that's what would logically follow on from what just happened.

Scene end-conditions, jumping back-and-forth between separated characters at dramatic moments, changing who has authority to frame which scenes, scenes of explicitly different types with different rules, and any sort of 'aggressive' scene framing where the characters start in the middle of a situation are some things that come to mind that I haven't seen much of lately. I think I've seen all of these techniques/mechanics work well in older games.

nickwedig's picture

nickwedig - Fri, 06/07/2019 - 04:30

There are some games that have it built-in, but they're less common than they once were in indie rpgs. I also blame PbtA games for this.

There are a handful of games with scene framing as an important aspect. Sig: Manual of the Primes has players roll to control different aspects of the scene framing each scene. Lovecraftesque is built around rotating roles each scene, and theorizing about the mystery between scenes. A Green and Narrow Bed is built around one long shared scene, then each player individually framing a scene for their PC.

Aik's picture

Aik - Fri, 06/07/2019 - 16:40

I quite dislike Lovecraftesque, but the between-scenes thing where you guess what's going on is nifty. The other two sound interesting.

The one recent game I've played that has interesting scene framing rules is Protocol, which is mostly structured-freeform but there are four different types of scenes that operate under different rules, and to determine what type of scene you'll be playing on your turn you draw cards, which also give a random prompt and location.

Hmm, also - there's a parlour LARP called The Forgotten that used a soundtrack to dictate when scenes start and end, and during the game 'night' a player draws cards that dictate events that happened that form the basis for the next 'day' scene.

BeePeeGee's picture

BeePeeGee - Thu, 06/20/2019 - 09:40

@Aik: not particularly interesting scene framing mechanics. But a lot of games that do this. Especially with GMless games, it usually boils down to rotating scene framing or collaborative scene framing.

komradebob's picture

komradebob - Thu, 06/20/2019 - 19:37

At least not for my purposes. Just clearly spelled out and easy to understand, along with who gets the authority to start and end them ( also, how and when).

Anyone have examples of that? Frankly, I'd like to steal them for something I'm working on, intended for younger kids ( and GM-less) without gaming experience.
(Or adults with too much traddy gaming experience)

Paul T.'s picture

Paul T. - Thu, 06/20/2019 - 20:15

...you should take a look at Afraid, a never-published (but playable from the blog posts) hack of Dogs in the Vineyard by Vincent Baker. It had some pretty interesting constraints and permissions for scene framing!