I usually use narrative cut scenes as well, and they do just fine. On the other hand, I actually started using a NormalVision style of scene/encounter in some games a few years ago and they can be quite effective as well, and under the right circumstances can be great fun.

My first attempt at this sort of play was a full-on dungeon crawl for one night to set the scene for the PCs. I drew up five NPCs, handed them to the players, and threw them into a dungeon that would prove fatal. It was fun.

The players could do all the wacky and insane things they would love to do with their main characters, but wouldn’t dare due to the story repercussions. And, they didn’t have to worry about dying either, as they knew it was merely a matter of time. In all honesty, I think they started playing a game to see who could die in the most horrid and awesomely imaginable way possible.

But besides simply being a fun alternative evening, it also set the stage to the PC’s next guild assignment – find this group of adventurers that has gone missing and complete their assignment. When the PCs turned up at the same dungeon, the players already knew the very real sort of danger their characters were in. And when they found the remains (and two “surviving” members) of the other party, they cared more about the characters than they would have a stock NPC.

So, from my example I can think of a few reasons why it is superior to a simple narrative:
– It allows for a break in an intense storyline. The players can step back from their characters for a night (or a few minutes) and just have fun.
– It lets the players take a look at the other side of the table. One player chose the same character-type as their main PC, but most switched it up to try a different class and role.
– It creates emotional ties to an event and possibly NPCs. This I think ended up being one of the most valuable aspects of my first attempt. They even rescued one of the NPCs and he became involved in a lot of their later game.
– It alerted them to the very real danger their characters were in. Now they knew why they made listen checks and didn’t just try to jump over every pit. This particular dungeon also worked on a sort of timer, and so they were introduced to this concept and mechanic prior to getting their own characters caught in it (which is likely too late).

Anyway, just some thoughts from a passerby four years after the initial post…

One aspect of normalvision that I’m always quite fond of is that the players are given free reign to play broad archetypes and even cliches without it having a negative impact on the story. While the main heroes need to be well developed and balanced characters, the Normalvision “extras” are generally defined by one trait (Older, wiser cop. Captain of the ship. . .. uhh . . the Ted.) It’s a nice chance for the players to let their hair down and riff without really worrying about the consequences since what the normalvision characters do tends not to have too much impact on what actually happens.

Plus sitting around having a seance and treating Seth like my wife is fun.

Yep, that’s what I keep thinking as I draft each sprawling post…

NormalVision solves the dilemma by making the characters live the same frustrating lives the rest of humanity (elfity, monsterity, whateverity) has to tolerate, which is kind of the only way to play True to Life, but allowing the players the opportunity to know what’s going on. It’s like acting – you don’t expect the actor to play the part without reading the stage directions, and without knowing the whole script, but you do expect the character to remain ignorant of things to come and of anything to which he isn’t directly exposed (or which is not reported to him). With gaming, the actor has to work improv, but the work is more sustained than a traditional improv piece, and there’s much more complex plot involved than in improv I’ve been exposed to. NormalVision strikes me as a nice solution.

Holy crap, I had no idea I had such long ideas about this.

(and finally…)
<The players may know that something strange is afoot, but since they know their characters do not they can comfortably continue to not expect the unexpected.>

This may be the stumbling block for many players if roleplaying to them is keeping it “as real” as possible — that inherently they want to keep what they know and don’t know as close to what their character knows and doensn’t know to maximize the immersion in their roleplaying experience. Introducing Normalvision could be a clash of cultures.

As a player, it was hard for me “to get” initially because I didn’t consciously realize that I even had a role as the audience because I was only used to seeing the plot from a first-person, player-character perspective. Since Normalvision characters are often bystanders in the story, a role unaccustomed to by players, roleplaying can be very awkward at first. Additionally, if the players are the audience in a Normalvision scene, then the story becomes an independant entity not focusing on or defined by player-character actions. This may also be something players aren’t used to. All this said though, there’s definitely a payoff with the chance to experiment roleplaying characters you’d otherwise never pick for your main character.