Bringing Back the Beat
Back in 1992, R. Talsorian published Dream Park: The Roleplaying Game, an RPG based on the Dream Park novel series by Larry Niven and Steve Barnes. The concept was both simple and innovative: the eponymous park was a place Players could go to live their dreams, much like Westworld or the Holodeck in Star Trek. As such, the game was designed to allow a base Player to move from genre to genre, changing their character to fit the milieu (or not, if they wanted to mix their Wizards and Warlocks with their Space Journey).
One of the most intriguing aspects of the game was the chapter entitled Scripting the Game, which introduced television show scripting concepts to roleplaying games. The chapter taught GMs, both new and experienced, how to create a Beat Chart by stringing together different types of Hooks, Developments, Cliffhangers, Climaxes, and Resolutions. With a Beat Chart, the GM could quickly and easily work up an adventure plotline and, if needed, change it on the fly when things didn’t go as expected.
Scripting the Game was one of the most useful tools R. Talsorian has ever developed for helping Gamemasters plot out an adventure but, unfortunately, had been lost to time because we no longer have the Dream Park license.
Or, rather, Scripting the Game had been lost until now!
We’ve recently taken the text of Scripting the Game, dusted it off, made a few changes as needed, and put it back together so GMs, old and new, can use it. And we’re providing it here, free of charge! Consider it a thank you for supporting R. Talsorian Games.
To download Scripting the Game, visit our Game Aids section or click on the link below.
EDIT: As some of you pointed out, there were errors in the document which came about as a result of OCR scanning. We’ve gone through and corrected a bunch of these and uploaded a new version.
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The link https://rtalsoriangames.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/RTG-ScriptingtheGame.pdf is returning a 404 for me.
We uploaded a new version of the document. You’ll want to check for a new link.
Thank you this is a great resource and combines well with Listen Up… But maybe run it through a spell checker, as I’ve had problems deciphering the text. For example, under False Accusation. A terrified map rushes up to one of the Players.
And please delete this
Thank you. There were a number of errors due to the way OCR scanning works, so we’ve gone through and fixed quite a few and reuploaded.
Thanks for making this available to everyone, and for all the work put in to alter and update the layout from the original. Somehow I’ve owned this for years without realising it’s genius. Think it’s got me over a long period of writer’s block.
You’re welcome!