Future Compels/Declarations - New Houserule

[Wordmaker]

As we get into the second "season" of our DFRPG campaign, I've decided to try out a new houserule based on the existing "Sponsor Debt" rules.

I got the idea from the Primetime Adventures game, which has players take turns giving a "Next time, on..." teaser at the end of each session.

I'm letting my players come up with "teaser" segments, just brief descriptions of something they'd like to see happen in a future session. It helps me come up with plotlines, and lets the players show me what they're interested in doing.

If they can relate the teaser to one of their aspects, then they can have it as a compel or a declaration. So, if they're in trouble and need some extra Fate, they can give me a teaser with a compel in it, and get a Fate Point, then in a later session I get to introduce the compel, but they can't refuse it, since they've already taken the Fate Point. Similarly, they can spend a Fate Point to make a declaration about something good that will happen, and bank it for later.

They can decide whether to receive/spend the Fate Point there and then, or wait for when the teaser comes to pass. If they try to use a declaration teaser close to the end of a session, they have to wait and spend the Fate Point when it will actually matter, to avoid players setting up a bunch of these at the the very end of a session, then getting their Refresh the following week.

In effect, this is the players putting themselves in debt/credit with the GM/the story itself.

[Locnil]

Interesting idea, though it does seem like it tacks on even more work for the GM. Also, what happens when the plot doesn't go as planned?

[Wordmaker]

Believe me, with 6 players, having them feed me plot ideas reduces my work 

The key to making this work is twofold. One, make sure to keep the teasers brief. So instead of a detailed account of how a character winds up sitting in front of a Black Court vampire in their lair deep under a crypt in New Orleans, the teaser should be:

"There's a shot of my character on his knees. He looks up, spitting blood, and says 'How did you find me?' The shot cuts to the Black Court vampire who killed his parents, and the vampire says 'You're not the only one with friends.'"

The other is that because this is driven by the players, they'll want to see these events happen and look for opportunities to bring them about. If in the above example the GM establishes rumours about a Black Court nest in town, the player in question might decide he wants to look up missing persons cases to catch a lead, and go of alone to see what he can find.

[Sanctaphrax]

I like this idea.