Heroes, Not Players

The story’s about the heroes, right? They’re the ones dealing with teachers who’d love to hold them in detention, even though they absolutely have to go deal with that black hole in the sky, right? So don’t talk to the players—talk to the people really dealing with those problems.

Instead of “Hey, Joe, what does Hornet do?”, say “Hornet, what do you do?” It keeps everybody focused on the fiction, on these characters, on their triumphs and travails.

You’re acting as those characters’ lens into the world. Tell them what they see, what they hear, what they know, fully and truly. “Source Code is way closer to the computer terminal than you are; it’s obvious she’ll get there before you do, unless you do something. What do you do, Hornet?” Don’t ever let them ﬂounder for lack of information.