Becoming a Cadre

Cadre Coherency

The players form, in-game a team, a group, or as I call it, a Cadre. Its makeup is a result of communication and agreement, of negotiation and concession, to create the best team possible. The chief purpose of the game session, building the best story from the available information, will lead the players to build characters that can work together, and to have each strive for the best play experience of all the others.
Even the Director, whose duties seem at times at odds with the players, must consider not only the overt challenges of keeping a playing group together, but he must also balance the concepts of player tendencies and objectives with what is best for the story, and for the progress of the troupe towards completing a session (known also as a 'one-shot' or as a Chapter)
For this purpose, there are fundamentally three Guidelines the members of a Cadre should consider whenever a conflict arises between themselves that are not implicitly a facet of the game information...

1. How important is the resolution of the conflict to the story? If it's unimportant, leave it for later.
2. Does the Director need to be involved? In most cases, the Game Master will be the final arbiter of in-game conflict and a disinterested observer in out-of-game conflicts. Those that are deemed too volatile to continue should be shelved for later or should suspend the game session altogether.
3. Can the game continue despite the disagreement? Regardless of the Outcome, all members of the troupe should remain friendly and affable. No game is worth your friendship.

With these three guidelines, your sessions should flow smoothly, with little internal stress interfering with the story.

Implications of in-story Persona Actions

Players taking on roles should consider not only the possible options before them but what the Consequence, Result, or Outcome might be to the rest of the Cadre. For instance, if your Persona has a pistol, you certainly can shoot it; but one should try, for the best Outcome, to act per the situation, the people in the scene, and what might result from firing the weapon.

Basic Rule 1

Characters are part of something larger than their monologue. Act, but don't act like you're performing! Role-playing, whether in DarkShards, DownShift, or any other RPG for that matter, is a situation of make-believe, of imagination, and infinite possibilities. The difference, however, is the effort of the players should be focused on the game environment and how, in your mind's eye, you see yourself in that role and situation responding, and what that response might cause to occur within that environment. In other words, to take on the part and take actions that make sense for that character.

Basic Rule 2

When in doubt, discuss. The primary wonder of the Passages game system is that players drive the story by their actions and decisions. So, when you must make a difficult decision, speak to the other players. Don't act solely on the limited information a single player has. While discussing every detail might not be optimal, do remember that this is a shared experience, and you need not go it alone. Ask for advice, options, alternatives, and then choose and act on whichever course makes the most sense to you in that role.

Basic Rule 3

The Director has the final word in any situation. Those who play RPGs regularly are familiar with this concept, but if you are new, just realize that the challenges and discussions of possible outcomes must be resolved quickly to maintain the flow of the game. The Directives in the game frame a decision-making template that helps to guide conflict resolution, but the decision of the Director must be the final word on them for expediency's sake.

Type

Natural