One player (the Steven) plays as Steven Universe. The others play as other characters. Everyone participates in roleplay segments.
The "Steven" has, mechanically, one card to play: "Everyone.... STOP! You can't be doing this!"
The other players escalate the scene until Steven needs to pull this out. This should happen on or slightly before each player has played three cards.
A strong characterization that everyone agrees on, eg. a primary cannon character from the show.
An identity, as one or more persons. Say "Lars" or "all three of the Cool Kids" or "Rose's Room".
A deck of cards with reactions/catchphrases. About 5-10 cards total.
"yeah, I can totally rave to this..."
"Steven... but what do ~~you~~ want?"
**Ominous zoom in with flames flickering in the background.**
The Steven comes prepared with a backdrop or obstacle to get the ball rolling, say a monster of the week.
this needs a couple paragraphs of text and maybe a hidden twist
Decide on (or randomly select) two teams.
Teams can be uneven numbers. They are oriented around
character traits, like messy-v-tidy
past conflicts, like pearl-v-greg
The core of the episode alternates "roleplay segment" with "card play".
Roleplay for a bit, then one players "acts", (ensure round order / chance to act is even)
declare what they intend to accomplish
flip three cards and pick one. say the punchline
keep the one you played. others are reshuffled as needed
if this advances the scene, either
- with team-team tension
- by progressing the background obstacle
if so player gets an escalation point
When it's time,
by consensus and meaningful looks
the tension has peaked far enough
everyone has gotten a couple plays
when its time
one player is nominated (or self nominates) as the finisher
they either
play any card from their deck
replay a card they've already put down
make something up and say it
if it's too much (desired), if it pushes the scene over (desired), the Steven Yells
"Everyone.... STOP! You can't be doing this!"
the Steven has directorial powers, and can either
call it earlier, on a move not intended as a finisher, if it was very strong
call to salvage, if either: scene has gone off rails, gone long enough
"Everyone.... stop. Let's just all go home."
Then the calm down phase, each player (including Steven)
"re-plays" a card they've already played
should wind down the scene or resolve the conflict
pick self or another player, who aren't yet calm, this calms them down
At the session end, all players
players can add a card, remove a card, or update a card in their character deck.
and also it is understood that the written characterizations change as well.
When updating the character,
consider how many times they escalated,
how they were calmed down after,
what the outcome for their team was,
and how the "backdrop obstacle" was resolved.
When playing as a fusion, all sentences the players speak, both in- and out-of character, they must speak used alternating words.
If they mess up, they unfuse immediately.
(Garnet can ignore this rule. Use discretion as to which characters can fuse.)
Each episode should be snappy, between 11 and 22 minutes. Use a timer.
Take an irl break between episodes, chat about whatever, get snacks.
The narrative arc should be
17 minutes rising action, 5 minutes resolution
-or-
8 minutes rising action, 3 minutes resolution
Garnet:
note - to play as r/s instead do character select
*smiles really big thinking about fusion*
*pauses.... then shrugs*
*puts on lava resistant glasses*
*uses/grants future vision* -- you or another char can stack their deck
"I have to {burn} this too."
Amethyst:
"Whatever dude..."
"Hey Ste-man, wanna see me eat ______?"
"It's not like I asked to be born..."
*Shape shifts into a cat.*
*Shape shifts into something else.*
*makes a rude noise in Pearl's direction*
Pearl:
"Absolutely not!"
"Amethyst, you'll ruin it!"
"Torrrr-ya!" -- manifests a small item
"We'll just need to... {explain plan in detail}"
deadname Steven
All players have a hand. Three interactions by default. Draw up to this before each scene. You play one interaction per scene you are in. Different scenes have different escalation rules.
Intro scene. Steven + 1 player. Target 2 minutes.
Player starts the scene by drawing an escalation,
which they keep hidden until playing it at scene end.
Steven uses this to introduce the background obstacle.
- say an overflowing storage unit
- or a spooky gem monster
Roleplay, player plays interaction, manuever to the escalation.
Middle Scene. Steven + any number of players. Target 2-4 minutes.
Each has 1 player "leading". They draw 2 escalations at the start and pick one to hang onto.
All non-stevens aim to play 1 interaction per scene, if they are majorly involved.
Climax. Once all players have escalated. Steven + all players. Target 2 minutes.
All players draw an escalation.
A bit of roleplay, then the person who (decided in character multi-blind)
has the most dramatic escalation will play it.
Resolution. Each player, with Steven facilitating, will (1 minute each, either monologue or dialouge)
replay one card they have played this game
in order to
calm down or apologize to a player, self included
steven can also calm himself down or participate in this
the player leading the scene (should be different from first)
draws an escalation and must end the scene with it
Intro Steven: Scene: Storage Unit Cleanout Greg: Ecscalation: Awkward Rose Mention: "I never really cleared this place out since your mom..."
Scene 1 Amethyst: Escalation: Innuendo: "Hey man it's cool I've seen your junk before." Greg is involved too.
Steven shows the twist, as there's not otherwise a good way to continue.
"the shed has the little buttler tapes"
Scene 2 Both: Escalation: "go away Steven!"
The crisis Amethyst: Escalation: Turn into Rose.
STOP!!!
The cooldown
greg: apology: to steven: "sorry for not spending time with you"
amethyst: apology: to greg: "you can keep all the old stuff in my room"
steven: apology: to amethyst: ...