Hey all, we need to talk about fast forwarding/time skips/story advances.  I hope this post doesn't sound too bossy.  I know a couple of our players are fairly new roleplayers and I just want to get us all on the same page.  I'm acting a little bit as the gamemaster/storyteller, but that doesn't mean my word is law.  Let's talk this out.<br/><br/>We're all familiar with the concept.  It's employed in almost every book, movie and TV show.  The story doesn't follow the characters minute-by-minute, second-by-second.  The story skips across time like skipping a stone across a pond, hitting the high points.  Some storytellers do it better than others.  J.K. Rowling is really good at it.  The Harry Potter stories really make you feel the flow of a school year.  It's harder to do in online games for various reasons.  I'll freely admit it is one of my weak points.  I can easily fall into the pattern of writing 'what happens next'.  Even when what happens next is boring and the story should skip to the next scene.<br/><br/>We're going to follow the characters pretty close for the first few weeks of Adam and Eves.  There are too many major events happening both in terms of survival and character interaction.  However, even at the early parts of the story, there are times we will want to fast forward particularly sleeping at night and work scenes.  One of those is almost upon us, namely flipping the van.  That's a perfect example of a scene to be fast-forwarded.  I'm not entirely sure how they'll flip the van, but they have five healthy adults, three jacks, some snapped off trees for long levers and the seats are removable and can be used as fulcrums for the trees as well as places to prop the jacks.  I'm sure it can be done, but the specifics of how it happens depends on a lot of factors, like where they put the levers and jacks and where tree trunks hold things in place.  I'd like to just say they get the job done.  It takes most of their daylight to flip it, giving them just enough time to get it fitted out to use as sleeping space for night.<br/><br/>Whenever there is a fast-forward, we need to agree a common set of expectations about what happens in the time skip.  Then we all get one post describing our character's point of view during the events.  Let's lay out this one where they flip the van.<br/><br/><strong>Flipping the Van - fast forward</strong><br/><br/>Plot points to be addressed In Chracter before the fast forward.<br/><br/><ul class="bbc_list"><li>Characters need to react to the discovery of the stash of marijuana</li><li>Someone (probably Helen) should realize that seeds need to be saved.  There is some smashed fruit (particularly a cantalope) in the van.  Since growing crops will be important to long term survival, we should probably establish what happens to the seeds.  I think Helen is right at that realization anyway.  When she finishes her apple and looks at the core, it will probably click for her.</li><li>Which car gets used as a 'safe' to lock up the food.  Other car will be used as a hearse to drive away the corpse.  I'll have Adam suggest using Helen's car as the safe in my next post</li></ul><br/>What the fast forward will cover<br/><ul class="bbc_list"><li>Getting fat dead guy out of the van.  Once the seatbelt is unbuckled he'll fall out.  With all five of them, they can just team lift the corpse and carry him over to the 'hearse'.</li><li>The work of flipping the van - which will use a combination of car jacks and tree levers but actual details left vague</li></ul><br/>The fast forward stops with the van flipped.  Everyone can congratulate each other then.  searching/robbing the corpse, disposing of the body, a funeral (if any), discussion of sleeping arrangements and fitting the van for sleeping will happen afterwards.<br/><br/>During the fastforward you can assume conversation.  It doesn't happen in silence, but whatever dialog happens shouldn't be memorable dialog.  Likewise your chracter's actions shouldn't mandate a response.<br/><br/>Example - Adam mentally realizing he's the only man, but not saying anything - OK<br/>Example - Adam having same realization and saying "Oh shit!" loudly - Not OK, because other characters would want to react.<br/><br/>If someone wants to take a minor injury while flipping the van, go for it.  I plan to have Adam bloody his knuckles a bit scraping his hand, but nothing worse.<br/><br/>Again, I hope this doesn't sound bossy, just trying to keep everyone on the same page.