The first time I used flashbacks extensively was during a Highlander campaign. For those of you that aren't familiar with Highlander and don't feel like surfing it up in Wikipedia, the premise is that, in a world like our own, a few people have been born immortal throughout history. They can only be killed through decapitation, and they must fight each other until only one remains. The winner gets the enigmatic "prize."
One of the fun aspects of the Highlander franchise is the flashback sequence. These flashbacks (which could go back hundreds of years) often show how an immortal became the way he or she is in the present or establish friendships and rivalries between immortals. I wanted to incorporate this into my campaign. My first question was how?
Generally, there are two types of flashbacks in a roleplaying game. The first type is the passive flashback. Players have little or no input in flashback scenes, as the Game Master simply narrates what happens in the flashback before returning to the present. The second type is the active flashback. Players are allowed to play their characters within the context of the flashback, including making dice rolls.
To take the latter first, the dangers of active flashbacks should be obvious. Whenever a GM hands over creative control to the players, he risks losing his original premise. This can be disastrous in a flashback. The most common example is this: Player A meets Villain B in the present. Player A has a flashback scene when he meets Villain B for the first time. Villain B kills Player A's friend in a duel, and Player A vows vengeance. During the flashback scene, Player A duels Villain B and the dice rule that Player A wins. He kills Villain B. Suddenly, the present meeting doesn't make much sense.
The way to get around this, of course, is to create a "mixed flashback." That is to say that the flashback will be actively played as much as possible, but the GM will overrule any improper results and passively describe what really happened. While this runs the risk of being a "cheat," most players are forgiving of predetermined flashbacks.
Getting back to passive flashbacks, the main problem is boredom. As a rule, players don't like to sit through a half-hour of GM narration (Old Schoolers, remember all those fun boxed speeches in commercial modules?) which will limit the flashback to a few sentences at most. Players also have trouble when the GM goes into too much detail about their character’s past without their input (as I pointed out in a previous column, I ran into this problem with my small opening fiction scenes in a swashbuckling campaign). Active flashbacks allow the scene to progress organically, as the player(s) gets to flesh out a bit of character history. The result is often a more intense and enjoyable flashback scene for all involved.
The general rule of thumb in an active flashback is to determine the main conflict (if any) and ensure that the flashback ends prior to the resolution of that conflict. In the above example, once Player A engages Villain B in the duel, the GM should end the scene and narrate the outcome. Also, dice should only be rolled if the GM can salvage the flashback scene regardless of the outcome.
The flashback is not just a technique for immortal or long-lived characters. Indeed, any character could have meaningful flashback scenes. The current enemy in the campaign could have been a PC's old college professor, or a prominent politician could be a PC's ex-girlfriend. Depending on the PC's age and the campaign present, many fun flashback scenes could be recent "costume" scenes, with the PCs sporting mullets or wearing parachute pants. Flashback scenes can add depth to any PC and his or her relationships.
Flashbacks in Mysteries
One giant problem in mystery/investigative games is the "inconspicuous clue." In novels and screenplays, these clues are often given to an investigator and dismissed as irrelevant until a later event makes that investigator recall the clue and attach significance to it. Unfortunately, this is very difficult to pull off in an RPG adventure without attaching a glaring neon arrow to it screaming, "I'm important! I'm important!" I sometimes refer to this as a Restroom Warning. If the GM mentions that a PC needs to use the restroom facilities, something significant is about to happen.
This is a common problem because of the Law of Narrative Economy. GMs will only describe as much as is necessary to paint a picture of a scene or move a plot forward. By example, recall any investigative games you've played where you had to knock on someone's door. Did the GM bother to describe the particulars of the street (beyond a general neighborhood description)? Did you know what color the house was, or whether it had brick or stone facing? Did you have to step onto a porch? Was the porch open or closed? Was the porch tidy or strewn with lawn chairs or toys? If the only purpose of the meeting was to interview a potential suspect, then the answer to all of the above questions is most likely "no." However, if there is a set of golf clubs on the porch and the GM makes you roll to notice that the nine-iron is missing, chances are that's important, especially if the suspect you are about to interview doesn't play golf.
A flashback scene solves this problem nicely. Unless the players are actively looking for clues on the porch, the GM can feel free to ignore describing the clubs. Later, when the coroner's report shows that the murder victim was struck in the back of the head with a small blunt instrument, the GM can have the player make the appropriate roll. If he succeeds, then the GM can passively narrate the flashback and hand the PC the information.
Flashbacks also work for casual encounters. If you walk down a city street in the business district during rush hour, you're liable to literally bump into a bunch of people along the way. In real life, these are forgotten after a quick apology. In a game, however, if the GM mentions that someone bumped into a PC then that player will automatically assume that it's relevant. He may chase the person down, check his pockets for pilfered valuables, or even assault them. With a flashback, the GM can wait until the player gets home and turns on the 6 o'clock news. He sees a young executive wanted for murder. The GM gives the PC a flashback of that woman bumping into him. She was distracted, possibly looking back to see if she was being followed. The GM asks the player to make a roll, and he succeeds. Walking over to his coat, he fishes out a small Gig drive that isn't his. He pops it into his computer and gets a coded message. What is the significance of the woman, the murder, and the message? In a typical RPG scene, the PC would have immediately checked his pockets, chased down the woman, and demanded to know what was going on. He also could have tangled with the company henchmen a lot earlier than the GM intended.
A final word of caution: don't overuse this technique. Players enjoy being proactive, and they might not take to kindly to having every important clue in a campaign to be something that their "seasoned investigators" continually dismiss.
Keeping Kosher
Flashbacks can be a lot of fun, both for the GM and the players. They also give the GM new tools for setting up mysteries. Blend passive and active flashbacks for maximum effect.
Good Gaming!
