Pacing, pacing, pacing!

This is one of the tougher things to get right as a gamemaster.  Depending on the type of adventure being run, you might want to have the characters go through a series of hoops to get things done, other times, you want to keep the speed of events high.

It’s a problem moviemakers have, as well.  And cinema gives us a few ideas of how to do pacing for certain genres.  For the mystery, for instance, you will want the characters to wander through a series of clues and red herrings until they get to the bad guy.  However, even mystery movies often leave out or gloss over things like the foot work required.  And how do they do that?

MONTAGE!  The characters roll a test or two to sweep the streets, leading to the sequence where they actually find a clue.  They’ll know there’s something worthy of paying attention to in a sequence, because you aren’t glossing over the process.  It allows you to control the pace of their investigation — say the flat foot took 3 hours to get to the sequence where Eddie the Nose finally drops a hint for where they need to look.  It allows you to make sure things unfold as your want them to, without looking like you’re railroading or stifling the pace of the players.  And you don’t spend an evening wasting the players’ time.  The story unfolds at a pace that keeps people’s attention.

The montage also allows players who aren’t in the center of the action, but whose skills are necessary to the plot, to get in important tests.  For instance, the spies/detectives/whathaveyou need to find out about the actions of a dead real estate mogul.  One player is walking the streets, talking to the gangs, etc. that might know of a hitman that could have killed the guy.  Meanwhile, another player goes through the escrow records to see what he might have been into, while another scours financial records.  Describe the montage quickly, while they do their rolls.  Did each get the piece of the puzzle necessary?  If not, how can you get them to the place they need to be..?

The montage gets things done that are overall boring to most players.  No one wants to sit on the sidelines while Jane Doe asks scads of questions about the intricacies of investment portfolios.  If they got the roll, explain what they need to know.  Give them their clue and press on.

Most stories work better if the pacing is faster.  One, the players will sometimes (but not always) miss the plot holes that you didn’t account for.  Two, they are more involved in the action, and action sequences take up more time due to their tactical nature, than the main storyline.  If you need to stretch an episode over a few nights — a damn good firefight/fistfight/car chase will do that.

That brings us to another important thing you’ll see in movies.   When things start to lag, throw a problem in their way.  Usually, this is an action sequence, but it doesn’t have to be.  Take Burn Notice, for instance.  Are the players getting ahead of your plot?  Have one of the character have a family emergency (it’s especially good if it’s not a real emergency.)  Maybe the party is hunkered down from the Cylons or the orcs int he area, or what have you…they’re making their move tomorrow.  Maybe a sentry finds them.  Or — as a friend of mine related to me — your fire team is camping in Honduras waiting for the big operation tomorrow.  Rebels are in the area.  Then your warning flare goes off because a big friggin’ pig comes through the camp!  Rebels!  Oh, wait!  Sorry I almost shot you, dude…

The axiom in Hollywood:  when there’s a lull, hit them with a car chase or an explosion.  It works.

Occasionally, you want to slow things down to allow for character interaction, or to allow the plot to unfold.  If you keep pushing the pace too hard, you get Quantum of Solace — where the plotline is lost in far too many chases and fights.  You lose the narrative.  If the players start to lose track of what they’re doing, where they are, or what their objective is, back off a bit and give them a breather.