There is a lot of times where the tension of a situation is based on the lack of enough time to do everything you want (or need).

I have used a counter pool and subtracted a number of counters from it each turn.  For example, Racing Across Burnt Bayou

Is there a "better" way?  What has worked for others to maintain tension and be fun?
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Quote from: GreentongueThere is a lot of times where the tension of a situation is based on the lack of enough time to do everything you want (or need).

I have used a counter pool and subtracted a number of counters from it each turn.  For example, Racing Across Burnt Bayou

Is there a "better" way?  What has worked for others to maintain tension and be fun?
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I don't know about better but I've always started cycleing from player to player, getting their narration for the situation but giving them very little time, cutting them off or, if they are tongue-tied, sometimes going right past them.  I don't do it often because it can get aggravating, but when the tension needs to be felt it's a good mechanism for getting everyone on the edge.

The problem that I see with cycling from player to player, is that it uses the Player's speed instead of the Character's.  My idea of using the pool of counters was to use a game mechanic that was not dependent on the Player's ability directly.

I guess that there are few suggestions on making this type of situation fun.
Which is unfortunate, since it is a staple in literature and movies.
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I think turning it into player pressure can be great.   It can make them get into the moment more and get into reaction mode thinking instead of analyzing things.

Quote from: NicephorusI think turning it into player pressure can be great.   It can make them get into the moment more and get into reaction mode thinking instead of analyzing things.

Don't make the cliff hanger at the end of the session to important or they'll plot and thwart it. Allow them a week or so to plot and plan force battle that they will have to fight (planning an ambush or bank robbery). Always kill important NPC who "they-needed-more-time-to-converse-with-about-the-whereabouts-of-a-bomb."

Time is the best, unrestricted role playing tool to see what your PC's, can think up.

I ran an adventure where the PCs had half an hour to dismantle an atomic bomb. I set up a chronometer on countdown and told the players that they had that time to find and defuse the bomb. It worked wonders.

My current OtE - The Day of Living Dangerously - campaign follows the format of 24. Each session is supposed to represent an hour but the session actually last for three hours. Each hour represents twenty minutes of game time. It seems like long time but you would be amazed at the kind of stuff that can happen when players are forced to react quickly and the fact that there are so many "individual" story threads, some interconnected...the whole thing is a clusterfuck (but in a good way ). The last hour goes by even quicker as things surge to a cliffhanger and everyone is clamouring for "screen time"...

Regards,
David R

David, that sounds like so much fun!

On topic: some systems lend themselves more to suspense scenes than others.  For example, the TORG/Masterbook/Shatterzone dramatic resolution system, system, which used the Drama deck, works very, very well.  We've played through many of the bomb-defusing-type of scenes, and the use of the Drama deck always enhanced the nail-biting tension.

Like Halfjack, in our group we also like to give shorter and snappier cut scenes from player to player.  This works particularly well if you've managed to split the party in two or more groups and to have simultaneous suspense or action scenes.  In the best examples I've seen, the players were literally screeching with excitement at each cut as the action moved from group to group and character to character.

Quote from: AnemoneLike Halfjack, in our group we also like to give shorter and snappier cut scenes from player to player.  This works particularly well if you've managed to split the party in two or more groups and to have simultaneous suspense or action scenes.  In the best examples I've seen, the players were literally screeching with excitement at each cut as the action moved from group to group and character to character.

Ditto, and I'll add that the per-character cycle makes handling a split party easier too, because you've essentially split at a character level to handle resolutions so it's just incidental that some characters are in the same place as others rather than it being a burden that they're apart.