Thanks to Michael G.

Thanks to Michael G. Barford and josh gary for a thrilling session of Firebrands! We had three hours of tense, intimate, exciting play (plus mechs). We had a great discussion afterward about how the game handles narrative authority with question prompts and scripts, such as during the damn cozy mini-game of “Stealing Time Together”.

Prompts with scripted responses help players step out of their usual comfort zone by knowing they have tools for intimacy right there on the page, and they won’t overstep a boundary because the recipient has scripted responses right there. Funny thing, one of my side gigs is leading comprehensive health and sexuality curriculum for kiddos (and I believe Meg leads the same curriculum!), and a mini-game like this reads as a consent workshop activity right out of my lessons with high schoolers. And hey, once you don’t need those tools, you can improvise and know they are there as a backup.

Long story short, we all felt pretty comfortable using these tools for characters to get close when they weren’t in a firefight. I hope to put this back on the calendar soon!