Ensembles
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Basic Information

Ensembles are groups of Characters. An ensemble trope is one that describes how the characters interact and exist as a group.

Ensemble Tropes:

Sources

Bibliography

Game and Story Use

  • Ensemble Tropes can be used to give structure to your adventuring party. You may find that your enjoyment at the table can be enhanced when the player characters compliment each other, instead of fight for the spotlight.
    • Likewise, the PCs might have better luck on the battlefield if everyone has a defined combat role. By way of contrast, Ensemble Tropes are about the Characterization or the characters role in the story, whereas combat role is about game mechanics.
  • Ensemble tropes provide a useful tool for the GM who needs to pad out his NPC cast without wasting too much time on any one character. Sometimes you need to include a large number of NPCs at once, as suspects, victims, adversaries, the city guard, etc, and ensemble tropes can speed up that process without reducing each NPC to a stale "Guard #3, Chainmail and Sword, 7 HP" entry.
    • Tropes function as short-hand to allow the players to quickly decode the personalities (and sometimes abilities) of a group of NPCs, by immediately slotting them into familiar archetypes. Not only does this reduce the GMs prep-work away from the game, but it also speeds up the player's comprehension at the table and can improve the pacing of your game.
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