DB

In improv, an initiation is typically done by the person who first enters the stage. They can set the course of the scene by saying, or doing something that reveals what the relationship between two characters are, what they’re doing, where they are, and who they are. Sometimes it’s as simple as a hello, and other times it is a line in the middle of a scene. Sometimes, it’s a stronger initiation, which establishes the starting base of the scene.

“As business partners and childhood friends, I don’t think we should be trading our gold for pogs, Sammy.”

The above initiation establishes the relationship (business partners and childhood friends), a name for the other character (Sammy), their dynamic (straight man vs. weird man), and what is happening (trading gold for pogs).

This helps your scene partner and your players know what they’re responding to. In a TTRPG, when you have set the scene, your players will know what they can ask more questions about to get a better understanding of their surroundings, and they also have an idea of what they can say, and what they can do.

As a GM, you initiate most scenes in a game. When your players start a session, you tell them where they are and where they find themselves. When they are winding down in one scene, you cut away from that scene and introduce another scene based off of their actions. When they’re exploring a dungeon, you tell them what they see, smell, and notice in each room. If you’re doing a montage, you tell them that you’re doing a montage and ask them for input as to what their characters are doing. You have the power to direct the camera, control pacing and time, and establish moods, environments, and characters in a scene. This is very powerful.

Now, is this something you can do as a player?

It depends on your table, and it has to be discussed both before and in game. In-between the end of a scene and the start of another scene, there is a period of time where your GM may pause, or your GM may start to describe the following scene. For me at my table, I accept interruptions and or initiations from players in some of the following example ways:

“Before we do that, I would like to…”

“Before we go there, I wanted to…”

“Real fast, could I say something to them before we end the scene?”

Even within an ongoing scene, you could initiate a sidebar as a player with other player characters or with specific NPCs. That’s a common thing that comes up in games, and it helps shift the story a little. It makes the table talk still feel immersive and in character, and it includes characters into an intimate inner circle sort of vibe. They’re fun!

And as a GM, it’s a give and take. Since I play most of my games online, and without cameras, it can be hard to tell when my players are winding down from a scene without nonverbal cues. So, I say things like: “I feel like we’re winding down in energy in this scene. Would this be an alright place to call the end of this scene?”

In person, it is a little easier to tell when a scene is ending based on nonverbal cues. In improv, it’s typically when characters talk about later, or other subjects, instead of talking about the now. For improvisers, they will sometimes drop hints that they want the scene to be edited so that it can end.

Besides the explicit give and take in player initiations, there can be indirect contributions to a scene that are more along the line of calling for something to be in the scene. Within the scene, it may fall under what can be understood as “jinxing” something.

“It would really suck if the alarms went off right now.”

“Imagine if John was still alive? Man, that would make things complicated.”

“I really hope that our enemies aren’t teaming up.”

These are tidbits of information that are said either over the table and out of character, or within character. Sometimes, the players truly feel that it would be bad if those things held true in the world and in future scenes. Other times, they are calling for you as a GM to complicate their world. They want something to fight against, so give it to them.

In that same vein, one of my players mentioned a plot point to his character that I completely forgot about. Their city was being attacked by monsters, and as a player he said:

“Man, I hope that the monster that hurt me as a kid is here. That would be really cool.”

I completely forgot about that aspect of his character in the prep for this session and this scene. And, thanks to him, I made sure that his character was able to track and find the monster that he swore vengeance against, and that he was able to have that full-rage revenge scene. It got complicated at the end of it, but I wouldn’t have made that moment alone. My player initiated that thought, and I was fortunately listening and jumped on to that.

So yeah, initiations as a player and as a GM. They are powerful tools that help steer your game and your story in various directions, and by listening to each other you can make some great moments!