The Slow Reveal Revisited

A few months ago I talked a bit about the slow reveal, which can be summed up as “Don’t go spilling your deepest darkests in the very first scene.  Give people a reason to care about them (and your character!) first.”

But what happens when you’re on the receiving end of the infodump?  How do you handle it when another player wants to confess to being a secret member of the Cult of the Damned before you’ve even ordered your first drink?  Before you even know his or her name?

I found myself in that position over the weekend, and while the impulse was there to press pause and whisper in OOC brackets “((Our characters have only just met, so maybe they should talk about more neutral things first)),” I decided to give it a go ICly instead.

The scene: several people hanging out in the Pig as usual, and one newcomer making a go at interacting with the regulars.  He began chatting with Lyr in whispers, at first trying to find ways to help the hapless Arrens woo her twin.  From there, though, he seemed to be testing the waters for a romantic pursuit of his own.

Now, the poor guy couldn’t have know that Lyr’s not really on the prowl.  I’m still learning about her, but in figuring out her backstory, I’m starting to think she’s actually very, very skittish about getting involved, even though she might put up a good front.  He fumbled a bit, asking where her lover was (internal Lyralogue: “Wow, that’s a line and a half right there”) and waxed a bit poetic about how love is the most important thing there is.

When he suggested he could tell she was nothing like her sister, she boggled a bit.  Sure, the Mathers twins have their differences, but not ten minutes before, they’d been trading off lines of dirty limericks and passing cigarettes and bourbon back and forth.  Another come-on?  Maybe.  Lyr suggested he hadn’t known her nearly long enough to suss something like that out…

…and was met with the very loaded question of “Why don’t people seek out my friendship after they meet me for the first time?”

Again, Lyr pointed out that a half hour of idle chatter wasn’t enough for her to offer an informed opinion on that.  Several times, she said “We’ve only just met.”  It didn’t seem to work too well.

He asked her about herself.

Now, again, Lyr doesn’t know this guy.  Has she been throught a lot?  Hell yes.  In discussing their backstory this past weekend, Yva and I remarked on just how hard the twins had it.  But is Lyr going to talk about nearly starving in Duskwood their first winter on their own?  Not to someone she’s only just met.  She answered in generalities.

He asked if he could tell her about his family, and how something about him wasn’t as it seemed.

That’s about when Lyr put on the brakes.  She asked why he’d trust that she wouldn’t just run to the guard with whatever it was he wanted to confess.  Then she tried bringing the conversation back into more neutral territory.  “Tell me about your hobbies.  Something that won’t incriminate you.”

He liked working with gems.  Score!  Lyr’s a jewelcrafter, too!  They also chatted a bit about the Park, and the Blue Recluse.

At that point, there were several people in the bar, so I think he started getting a bit overwhelmed by the /say and /emote spam scrolling by.  The character went upstairs with a headache.  Now, maybe it was a hint for Lyr to follow and continue the conversation, but she didn’t take it.

That was the end of their RP for the night.  Did I get through to him?  I don’t know, and I probably won’t know unless Lyr bumps into him again, so I can’t really declare it a success.  However, here are the things I tried keeping in mind while their conversation went on:

Be patient.  It can be hard, even frustrating, when someone wants to open up to your character with no logical build-up to it.  However, this player was making an attempt at an IC interaction and even though he was being a bit overeager with the Intriguing Plot Reveal, he at least seemed earnest.

React naturally. Being patient doesn’t have to mean going along with the infodump.  If your character doesn’t want to hear it, it’s okay to say so.  Lyr tried pointing out that they really hadn’t established any reason to trust one another, even though it didn’t get through.  Had he asked her to go take a walk with him, she would have declined.  Had he insisted, she would have gotten loud.  It’s important to stay within your own comfort zone and remain true to your character.

Which leads to an interesting digression:  what if your character’s a conniver? Are you playing someone who would collect that information, hoping to sell it to the highest bidder?  Chances are, the person telling you he’s a secret puppy-kicker isn’t going to want to RP out being reported to the Azeroth Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, but it’s an opportunity for your character to point out that there could very well be consequences for spilling one’s guts like that.

And another interesting digression: what if your character was affected by the terrible events in this person’s past? Your brother was killed by the Scarlet Crusade, and Joe Eager across the table just admitted that he’s secretly a Scarlet monk.  Again, calling out the guard is unlikely to have any actual effect, but if your character would lunge across the table and take a swing, well, again: actions have consequences.

Lead by example. Show the other person what construes good getting-to-know-you conversation.  Ask questions that steer the subject onto safer ground and show them that the mundane can be just as interesting as their tragic past.

It’s okay to disengage. Sometimes the person you’re interacting with is too caught up in the cool-factor of their backstory to take the hints.  The digressions above — the conniver and the vengeance-seeking sibling — are probably not going to get a lot of satisfaction or cooperation from the person spilling out his dark past.  If an IC statement of “I think it’s best that we go our separate ways” doesn’t work (or the old standby exit of “Hey, is that Bob over there?  I have to go say hello”) a polite OOC whisper might be the next step.  ((I’m going to have Jill stop talking to Joe now, because this conversation makes her very uncomfortable.))  Or ((It’s probably better that Jill doesn’t hear this story.  She’s a member of the Stormwind Guard, and even though she’s off-duty right now, she’d still try to arrest someone saying he’s a spy for the Horde.))

Have you ever had someone trying to confess their secret plans to run SI:7 or to overthrow Sylvanas before that first sip of Thunderbrew Lager’s even passed your character’s lips?  What did you do?  Thread’s open, have at it!

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