I've been having a lot of fun experimenting with non-linear storytelling in my kids campaign. Instead of going with the gritty, high mortality war gaming style of role playing with my kids I've been focusing a lot more on story and character driven, heroic type play. I mean if my kids are going to sit at a table instead of playing video games, they get to save the universe, you know?<br /><br />Anyways, after reading a <a href="http://www.rpg.net/oracle/authors/chrisk.html">series of thought provoking articles</a> on storytelling, I decided to approach the entire game as an unfolding saga leading up to SW2. Instead of one group of characters moving from place to place, with NOTHING happening whereever the characters are NOT, I decided to have history being made all over the frontier as stories unfold. But instead of having one set of PCs going all over the place, I thought it better to have my kids play different PCs so that they could experience events across the frontier more or less concurrently. <br /><br />So my kids are actually involved in 2 campaigns right now. One in the NW corner of the frontier, at the opening of the Rim territories to the UPF, and another set of PCs (the heroes of Volturnus) in the SE corner of the frontier, helping resuce the Eleanor Moraes as the crew of the Osprey. There's actually one additional level of complication: My youngest son is a little impatient at the table, so I decided to skip the Mutiny on the Eleanor Moraes module, but play out the other two in that series/campaign. So I had their main PCs, as a part of the White Light campaign be part of the crew that rescues the Eleanor Moraes. Once I got them to that part of the story, he asked me as a side note about playing an explorer type character... So I thought I'd give Moraes a try, but keep the action tight. Knowing that I was going to start developing a cast of characters to tell this BIG story of the frontier, I let them be science PSA types on the crew, figuring after the series was over, these additional explorer PCs could continue to chart new systems for the UPF, and make some interesting contacts, but I could just cut to them when something interesting happens, rather than having an entire campaign around the day to day of a planetary survey team.<br /><br />So for Moraes, the original heroes of Volturnus PCs are part of the Royal Marines, helping to rescue the Moraes. They arrive to meet the crew that survived the mutiny. Then I paused, and had the explorer PCs run the mutiny module, which was kind of cool because the situation seemed hopeless as they looked at the distances that needed to be covered to get to the ship in time, but knowing they met...themselves...they knew it would be possible if they tried hard and kept grinding it out. They completed the mission and saved the ship by talking Terry down, and then I paused that storyline there to pick up another.<br /><br />When my kids' characters are anywhere civilized, I have a section each game where they see news reports somewhere. In a bar, in a public square, etc. As the PCs made their way back from the Volturnus campaign, I had news stories running about the scandal surrounding Truane's Star government officials being in league with the Star Devil Pirates and Streel in the exploitation of Volturnus. This was to let the kids know that their actions when they discovered the facts at the Slave City One had a positive impact. They heard new stories about the CFM helping out the natives of Volturnus. So they were aware of unfolding events in the part of space they just left. But I figured the re-emergence of an advanced species (Eorna) and beginning of a new era with the RIM was too big of a story to be left to news clips and had the kids make up new PCs, and play characters that were rescued from the pirates, but still recovering from their capture on Volturnus. So those stories that the kids have heard news reels about will now be something they are a part of making happen. <br /><br /><br />The particulars of the Volturnus part of the saga I wrote about in the Volturnus Revisited forum:<br />http://www.starfrontiers.us/node/7133<br /><br />The point I am bringing up is that I have been finding non-linear storytelling to be an interesting success. My kids are not such hard core gamers that they cry foul at the little bit of railroading I have to do to tie up loose ends. I'm the type of GM that won't easily allow a PC to die, either. At least without warning. My kids have seemed to enjoy 're-running' a story where they kind of know what the outcome will be and I believe it's because they are getting a grasp on the backstory of the organizations and factions they are encountering. I also find that since "life goes on" when their original PCs aren't around, it adds a sense of depth and realism, but because they are playing different characters, they can still be a part of shaping events in the frontier through their actions. <br /><br />In the future, I'm considering having another set of characters to run Jedion's Mooks serial with, and maybe even have a Klikk one off where some pre-rolled characters end up getting killed off as they save the universe from the return of the Klikks...
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