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Sometimes you need to change a spect’s offer. They may have blocked a critical story element or introduced an anachronism. Instead of blocking the offer, which disempowers the spect, reinterpret the offer in a way that makes it appropriate to the story.
Blocking is the opposite of accepting. Accepting supports the truth of an offer; blocking contradicts it. When offers are blocked, players have to negotiate what’s true and what’s not before they can continue to play in a shared fiction.
Trying to come up with an idea can cause your brain to lock up. The harder you try, the more stuck you become. If brain lock occurs, take your time, breathe deep, and focus on what is present. Respond to that. You can also break mental logjams by doing a physical action or speaking before you know what you’re going to say.
When playing from a scenario, you also follow the spect. This may take you far off the scripted path which is a good thing because it puts spects in the driver’s seat of the story. However, sometimes you need to get back to a scripted plot point or introduce an important story element. Bridging is a way to do this while making it feel as though it was the spect who got you there.
When you respond to an offer by adding details, that’s a build. The additional information builds out the context of the story. You can build using verbal or physical offers.
Sometimes spects’ behaviors spoil the process of play. When inappropriate behavior becomes an issue, you may need to address it while remaining within the fiction. This is where a call-out is useful.
This convention is used in training, rehearsals, and theatrical performances. The word “scene” is called out to indicate that the scene is over. This may be done by someone observing the scene or by an inter-actor playing within the scene. In theatrical performances, the stage manager calls the scene in the booth to bring down the stage lights.
Character is a multi-faceted topic. There are too many facets to cover them all in a single entry. Below are some character-related entries in this encyclopedia that you may find useful.