Playing a Hero is great, because you get to focus on the decisions for one character in the story! However every Player is still responsible for collaborating on the story you are telling together.
The Agenda and Principles keep all Players on the same page with some shared expectations. A Narrator’s Agenda and Principles differ from other Players, but are designed to work towards the same collaborative goals.
The task of playing a Hero can be broken down into these four parts.
Describe how your Hero responds to what is going on around them. This will be how the story progresses. Add details to your description to bring your hero to life. Instead of “I shoot an electric bolt at the killer robot” consider “As the smell of ozone fills the air, a crackling beam of white hot energy bursts out of Shockwaves eyes at the plasti-steel head of the gleaming murder-bot.”. At the same time do not dwell overly on the mundane. No need to describe bathroom breaks. Be on the lookout for opportunities in the Narrative to take the initiative to react. The Narrator will ask you “What do you do?”, but you don’t have to wait for the question to tell them.
Follow the rules. Make sure you understand what your Hero can and cannot do, and that it is reflected on your character sheet. Be a resource for other Player’s understanding of the rules. Do not be shy about getting other Player’s input when an application of the rules is unclear. Although the Narrator is the final arbiter of the rules, they will seek your assistance with understanding and clarifications. If the rules are flubbed, it is generally best to acknowledge the mistake and barrel forward with The Narrative, rather than backtracking to correct.
Be prepared to contribute to the Narrative. You will be asked by the Narrator to add additional details to the Narrative, that are not directly related to your own character. Think about details, descriptions, and genre tropes you would like to see represented in the Narrative, ahead of being asked.
Manage your time. Whether an ongoing story that takes place over several sessions of play or a one-shot that ends after a handful of hours, all play sessions and story lines have ends. More specifically, all good stories have endings. Be aware of how close to an ending of a session or story you are and adjust your characters actions, so that they are working towards a cliff-hangar or climactic finish. If you are unsure if you are close to an end, there is no harm in asking the Narrator.
Agenda
Your agenda makes up the things you aim to do at all times while Narrating a game of Power World:
- Portray a Hero that the world would be worse without
- Choose adventure
- Play to find out what happens
- Share the spotlight
Everything you say and do at the table exists to accomplish these goals and no others. Things that aren’t on this list aren’t your goals. You’re not trying to ‘win’ the game or outdo the other Players. You’re not here to solo perform for an audience. You’re not here to tell everyone a story, but rather create a story together, in participation with each other.
Your first agenda is to Portray a Hero that the world would be worse without. Power World is all about powerful individuals choosing (and perhaps struggling) to set aside a life of ease their powers may afford them and instead choosing to be responsible for defeating dire threats. Threats that ultimately only a Hero can defeat. It’s your job to participate in that by representing a Hero (no matter how reluctant) that all would be lost without.
A key way to Portay a Hero that the world would be worse without is to Choose Adventure. Heroes should be moved towards danger. Heroes actions should put them in the thick of the action or in the shadows of a looming threat. Portraying a reluctant Hero is fine, as long as ultimately their actions move them towards adventure.
Power World never presumes Heroes actions. Power World portrays a setting in motion—with significant locals threatened by Antagonists, great and small, pursuing their own goals. As the players come into conflict with these Antagonists, action is inevitable. You’ll honestly portray the repercussions, and reaction to, that action. This is how you Play to find out what happens. You’re sharing in the fun of finding out how the World reacts to and changes how you portray your Hero. We’re all participants in a great adventure that’s unfolding. So really, don’t plan the future of your Hero to hard. The rules of the game are disruptive to plans, yours and the Heroes. It’s fun to see how things unfold, trust us.
Share the spotlight equally with all Players. Give and take the spotlight for your Hero. Through discussion, all Players can come to an understanding of how much attention each Player is comfortable with. For a game with Players who find this give in and take difficult, there is no harm in putting in an informal rotating turn order.
Principles
Your principles are your guides. Often, when it’s time to take action, you’ll already have an idea of what makes sense. Consider it in light of your principles and go with it, if it fits.
- Advocate for your Hero
- Embrace the cliche
- Follow the Narrative
- Give your Hero life
- Clarify
- Be a fan of the Heroes
- Think dangerous
Advocate for your Hero – You are the Player who knows your Hero best. It is your responsibility to remind the table of the relevant Powers, Features, Advantages, Vulnerabilities, Motivations, Foibles, and established facts about your Hero. Be receptive when other Players or the Narrator remind you of details that may affect your Hero.
Embrace the Cliché – When setting the Scope for a game you and the other Players should have a more specific setting and genre in mind than just “World with Super Heroes”.
Whether you are playing a dark gritty world of vigilantes protecting a neighbourhood or world spanning super group defending against alien threats, these settings will have specific clichés related to them (i.e. the police are often corrupt in a dark gritty world of vigilantes. Alien threats often appear uniform in appearance and behaviour, in contrast to the diversity of humanity, in a Alien Invasion plot). Familiarise yourself with the cliches of your genre and setting. Note the cliches that appeal most to you. Liberally sprinkle examples of these cliches when you contribute to the Narrative. When deciding on an action, and how to describe it, use this as an opportunity to demonstrate how your Hero fits into the settings.
Follow the Narrative – When you contribute to the Narrative what you’re actually doing is reacting to an element of the existing Narrative and building upon it. Your actions should always follow from the Narrative. This helps you focus on one aspect of the current situation and do something interesting with it. What’s going on? What makes sense here? When you follow the Narrative it creates a continuity that makes things feel like a compelling story, rather than a random series of events.
Give your Hero life- Heroes are people and super powered beings with their own motivations. Give your Hero details that bring it to life: smells, sights, sounds. You should know the motivation, however simple, of your Hero. You should endeavor to describe your Hero’s actions consistently so that why they do things becomes as clear as what they are doing.
Clarify- Before taking action it is often good to clarify any details. In a game that exists mostly in the mind, it is easy to lose track of even the most obvious details. The Narrator is not trying to trick you by leaving out important details. Clarifying helps them keep on top of important details that they may have missed providing.
Be a fan of the Heroes- Think of all the Heroes as protagonists in a story you might see on TV. Cheer for their victories and lament their defeats. You’re not here to push for attention for only your Hero.
Think dangerous- Protecting your Hero at all costs goes directly against the Agenda of Choose Adventure. Putting your Hero at risk of harm is a more interesting Super Hero story than playing it safe.