Pocket-sized Play

We're kicking off a brand new Pocket-Sized Play series, The Woodlands: Mouse Guard! Timecodes Character Introductions (05:30) Mice of Note (10:00) Gwendolyn (12:38) The mission (15:04) An unsavory request (20:14)

Timecodes Mr. Thompson arrested (01:01) Darkest self (02:18) The Beginning of All Things (04:45) Dumb, fragile, teenager victim (09:22) Serina and Jonah (10:50) Crime scene (19:41) Emotions (21:29) Thomas (25:00) “It’s like Harry Potter!” (29:46)   Links Our website www.gauntlet-rpg.com   Our Patreon patreon.com/gauntlet   Follow us on Twitter @GauntletRPG  

Timecodes Fairy circle (00:17) Big Man (03:00) “Have you ever wondered why you are such a lie?” (05:43) The moonlit path (09:14) Deep into the woods (13:17) Gunfire and a splatter of blood (17:27) So you just found out you’re a fairy… (18:40) “What a morning, huh?” (22:53)   Links Our website www.gauntlet-rpg.com   Our Patreon patreon.com/gauntlet   Follow us on Twitter @GauntletRPG  

Timecodes Margot (00:51) Running (06:52) Lilith and Jonah (10:21) Black roses (12:25) Fey realm (17:25) Cooldown (22:35) Mr. Thompson (24:29) A throbbing mass of celebration and movement (27:39)   Links Our website www.gauntlet-rpg.com   Our Patreon patreon.com/gauntlet   Follow us on Twitter @GauntletRPG

Timecodes And YOU are a lie! (01:05) “What the fuck was that??” (07:43) Tender, with erotic subtext (11:37) Smoking pot in the woods (18:44) Kyle Norwood (30:13) Wolf out (33:50) School registration (35:16)

Timecodes Big Man (00:09) The fae realm (02:18) It’s just like being in a locker room (05:25) You are a lie! (08:25) Poppies (10:33) This scene shows one of my favorite GM techniques. I call it “painting the scene.” Essentially, it involves telling the players the themes or motifs I want to highlight in the scene and then asking them to tell me what their characters see in the scene that reinforces those ideas. It’s an extremely powerful technique for enriching the “visual” of the scene and getting player buy-in. Welcome home, sister (13:30) I am totally luxuriating in this scene (and the moonlit prince scene that follows). Every now and then I like to just take the narrative wheel and let the power flow through me, haha. I am particularly proud of the fact that I was doing this completely off-the-cuff. I knew I wanted this scene to be really special, and so I just kind of got into a zen place, pictured everything in my mind, and then relayed what I saw to the players. You can’t see the players’ faces in this

Mobile home (00:25) Here’s a PbtA 101 note for folks who are new to running these games. In this scene, I use Margot’s missed roll to advance my Threat involving Big Man. I don’t actually say out loud that is what I’m doing, but rather just weave it into the fiction. My countdown clock said “Big Man is looking for one of the player characters.” I translate that into a scene where Margot’s father informs her that someone fitting Big Man’s description stopped by and asked about her. Everyone loves Ben (05:26) Feeding (10:34) Normally you’d pick your options from the move that fires off and then make the fiction conform to those choices. In this case, we talk about what is going on in the fiction and have that inform the choices Yoshi makes on his Feeding move. Both approaches can work. Norma (14:36) This is one of my favorite techniques. Just straight up show the players something that is happening in another part of the world, as if they were the viewers of a TV show. I like to describe such moments in very c

In this bonus episode, Will and Jason play a session of Wind on the Path, a samurai dueling game that can be found in the Iron issue of the Codex fanzine! 

Timecodes Hot Rod (01:02) ShadowMaster55 (06:01)   Don’t trust her (10:52) Makeup tutorial (13:30)   Links Our website www.gauntlet-rpg.com   Our Patreon patreon.com/gauntlet   Follow us on Twitter @GauntletRPG  

Timecodes Chad (00:57) I demonstrate one of my favorite techniques here. I call it “painting the scene.” The way it normally works is I introduce a theme or set of ideas about a place, and then ask the other players to describe things we see in that place that help reinforce those ideas. It’s a really effective way of keeping the table engaged and getting them to buy into what is going on. Also: notice how I twist it for Margo. From that character I want to know what she sees that makes Chad sympathetic. It’s a small thing, but it goes a long way toward 1) making Chad seem like less of a caricature and 2) getting Margo to have conflicted feelings about him, which should help propel the drama. Ben (06.22) Jonah’s bedroom (10:23) Promises, promises (11:33) Margo fucks Chad (14:26) Jonah gazes into the abyss (17:57)

Timecodes Weed (00:52) “What’s your favorite type of milkshake?” (07:12) There were a few moments in this scene when I wanted to cut away, or simply ask Fraser and Yoshi to get to the point of the scene a little faster. Instead, I hung back and let the scene breathe a little bit. I think that was the right move, because the scene ended up being pretty cute, and we got a glimpse into the personalities of Lilith and Serina that I don’t think we would have gotten otherwise. Margo & Alan (12:36) Jonah at home (16:35) The Double Q Diner (20:41) Big Man (25:49)

Timecodes Homeroom (01:07) Cafeteria (09:55) In this scene, I show a really good pacing technique, which is to cut away from a scene after a roll has taken place. If a scene has been going for a few minutes and you have other players waiting for their scene, a die roll is great excuse to jump away. In addition to letting you move the spotlight around, it also gives the session a slightly more cinematic feel. Margo confronts Chad (14:20) Serena makes a move (16:18) Showdown in the boys’ bathroom (19:19)

Timecodes Character introductions (01:00) Backstory (08:32) Homeroom seating chart (14:36) Austin & Margot (29:14) Links Our website www.gauntlet-rpg.com Our Patreon patreon.com/gauntlet Follow us on Twitter @GauntletRPG