Crossfire -- Why It Worked

A completely impromptu IG that culminated in a neat storyline, endless action, and all around inclusion of everyone involved. How'd we manage that?

1. We play together a lot. One of the factors is that we all know each other's play styles pretty well, and thus any clashes we may have had in the past have been worked out to where they don't come up anymore.

2. Good sportsmanship. Honestly, this is the key to avoiding conflict between players that would otherwise distract and disrupt the flow of the storyline. Have clear rules, if needed, and use them to justify the other person's shots more often than you use them to justify your own. No "I hit you!" "No you didn't!" Arguments. If they said they hit you, just fall over, whether you think they did or not. Let them win, and roll with it. The more storyline conflict the better.

3. Staying in character. The characters drove the entire story of Crossfire. Secrets, turncoats, and double agents. One important factor was that we all remained in character during the game. That doesn't sound too difficult, until you take into account the fact that there were times when we would pause the game to talk to each other as ourselves or do something for Mother. At one point, the boys planned an infiltration into my bedroom, but like proper gentlemen, knocked on the door first to ensure this course of action had the go ahead. With the game paused, we assured them it would be fine, and then we had to go back to our oblivious characters without taking up defensive positions because techinically, in game, our characters would not have known about the imminent threat. This is what I mean by staying in character. Don't use out of game knowledge to influence your in game character's decisions. 'Cause technically that's cheating.

4. Inclusive teams. We played this game with myself, all the way down to my six year old little brother. If you haven't played with littler kids before -- all kids ages eleven and under count as littler, comparitively -- you know that advanced plots and characters don't work very well when they have to try and maintain a major role. So the key is to be creative and accomodating, while not making them feel relegated or insignificant. Often this can be achieved through creating a Wildcard Team. In the instance of Crossfire, it was the Russian Mob. While not what one might consider main characters in the game, they were certainly major players, and had real effect on the course of the story. Being on their own team also allowed them the freedom to do as they wished, not having to follow the orders of the older kids' teams. As a result, they added a much welcome element of unpredictability that gave the game a three dimensional feel to it.

5. Storytelling to suit. Last but not least, this game was completely unplanned. In some cases I think it's better to not plan IGs, because then the story takes shape around whatever material happens to be on hand, and continues on with a sort of flexibility that sometimes can't be found in planned IGs. When the basic plotline of an IG is already established, there is a certain ammount of pressure to remain within those parameters. Now, I don't think unplanned is better than planned in every case -- planned IGs allow much more depth of detail -- but if flexibility is desired, unplanned is the way to go. Just jump in and go with the flow.

6. Guns over swords. Seriously, this really helped. There's just something about a good ol' invisible bullet firefight. It's much faster, much less unwieldy, and much less dangerous (I cracked my knuckle PVC pipe sword dueling Seph, once). Plus we did this inside, so swords were already out of the question.

That's pretty much all I can think of at the moment. Hopefully it's a little bit helpful to those other big families that like to still play shoot 'em up in the house every now and then.

Dia duit,
~Penny

Crossfire -- Spies and Secrets Impromptu IG

American agents, rogue British black ops, and, of course, Russians. One top secret document, two decoys, and a whole lot of gunfire.

That's how my siblings and I spent our Friday evening. It began with Pippin stuffing one of my old purses full of spy gear -- 'fake' ID, driver's lisence, credit card, a gun, and some 'cash' -- and giving it to Rosie along with a top secret document for her to keep safe. All through the day, between the rest of daily life, the satchel was stolen and re-stolen by Rosie and Pippin, and Percy and Seph, who quickly joined in on the little game.

But this evening, it all came to a grand climax. I can't even remember how the game started, but all of the sudden, ammo-less nerf and airsoft guns were firing, and it came time for everyone to choose a side.

"How many sides are there?" I whispered to Percy while we hid together in a hallway, our guns ready. "Two sides...... or three?"

I had to know whether or not I was going to team up with him, or if in the end we would have to be enemies. Pippin had entrusted me with the satchel earlier that day. I'd seen the top secret document. Not only that, but I was responsible for more secretly hiding the actual document within its yellow envelope. No one else but Pippin and I knew of this arrangement, so it would be a cinch to give Percy this info, stage an ambush, and make sure he got the right file. Then we'd both split and sell it to the highest bidder.

So two sides, or three?

As the game continued, the sides became more and more distinct. Amidst the crossfire, alliances had to be formed, or there would be no chance of survival or success for any of us. Pippin and Rosie, government agents, the real owners of the document. Percy and Seph, rogue British black ops. The younger children of the group played the very convenient -- or inconvenient at times -- role of a Russian Mob. This they enjoyed quite a bit, as it meant they could shoot any or all of us and throw grenades and bombs. Wildcards, if you will.

In the end, I declared my final loyalty to my sisters, the American government. Though of course, this meant betrayal to Percy. Not that he had to know right away..... I allowed Percy and Seph to believe I was still on their side, with the idea of tricking them into believing one of the decoy documents was the real document, and thus ensuring the actual real document ended up in the right hands.

This was far trickier than I imagined. Several slip ups, and many complications in maintaining my cover, ended up in the document constantly swapping hands. A third document was created to cause further confusion, but the documents weren't the only things changing sides. In one confrontation in the kitchen, Seph revealed himself as a mole. American CIA. Which left Percy alone in his villainous task.

Or did it?

Losing trust with both sides, suffering guilt for my betrayal to Percy, and beginning to doubt Seph's own story about being a mole, I became more and more desperate. I took heart in the knowledge that Pippin had, she said, hidden the document somewhere safe.

Bullets flew, almost as fast as the accusations. Seph captured Percy and turned him over to Pippin and Rosie. Was he really a mole afterall? In an epic escape that involved shooting his captors with his guard's own gun, Percy escaped. When I returned to his hideout, I discovered Seph, who had apparently helped engineer the entire mission. Not a mole?

Neither side trusted me. I was held at gunpoint and shot by both sides so many times, neither of them could tell for sure whether I was working for them or playing them.

At last came the showdown. After a dizzying firefight, Percy, Seph, and I ended up back upstairs in the hideout. Percy drew his gun on both of us.

"Tell me which one of you is the mole."

Seph accused me. I accused him. Even though I was certain by now that his whole mole gig was just an act to get on Pippin and Rosie's good side.

Percy made us drop our weapons, at which point Seph quite willingly produced one.....then two......then three yellow envelopes, all marked top secret. I panicked. Pippin said she'd hidden the document somewhere safe! I couldn't fathom how Seph had gotten his hands on it. And I was out of plans for how to get it back, except cling to the fact that Percy still thought one of the decoys was the real deal.

"Verify it." He ordered, still holding us at gunpoint.

I did so. On the decoy. I insisted it was the real thing. Seph decried my efforts, saying I was a mole, so how could I be trusted? I flipped the same accusation on him. After all, he was in the same spot as I was, looking just as suspicious because of his infiltration attempts.

The argument grew heated. Percy finally ordered us both to back away. A silence ensued, then at last, he shot us both, and took off with all three of the documents.

We called a halt to the game there, as it was getting late. We all sat down and revealed our secrets. Mostly who was working with who, for it had become quite difficult to ascertain loyalties in the end. As I'd suspected, Seph wasn't really a mole; his loyalties remained with Percy. Percy was shocked to discover my betrayal and trickery, which I informed him I still felt bad about. Pippin told me she'd always trusted me, even though Rosie admitted she had grown exceedingly suspicious of my actions several times.

And then the bomb. I sighed about the villains having gotten the document. Until Pippin reached into her pocket, and pulled the real top secret document out of her pocket. We all gasped. I couldn't believe it.

"I took it out of the envelope just before the last fight," She explained with a grin. "and I hid it under the piano. Only Rosie knew about it."

So Percy had escaped with two decoys, and an empty envelope! I had been panicking that he'd gotten it, when Pippin had had it all along! Seph had stolen worthless information, and he hadn't even known it.

And this is why we still play Imagination Games. Completely impromptu, completely unscripted, completely awesome. And what's more, we played this entirely inside, with no more costuming than a few fedoras, a red trench coat, and some plastic guns.

I love my family.

Dia duit,
~Penny