Thread by @SpenserStarke, Today I’m going to do a thread on a concept I like [...]

Today I’m going to do a thread on a concept I like to call the TWIN TRIANGLES OF STORYTELLING, how they interlock to form the basis for movies, plays, etc, and how they ultimately changed the way I perform, write narratives, and design games forever. Gather round, let’s chat.

So what are the Twin Triangles? They are two interlocking concepts that I think fit together in many unique ways to form the basis of performance. The DNA of Drama, if you will. The first is Writing, Acting, and Real Life. The second is Motivation, Emotion, & Action.

Whenever we pick a point on that first triangle, it affects the order of the second. What does this mean? Let’s start with writing. When we sit down to write something, we’ll usually start with the motivation. What does this character want?

From there, we’ll explore how the character probably feels in a set of circumstances that challenge their motivation (Emotion), and ultimately put words on the page that reflect what they DO because of that emotion & motivation (Action). Motivation

Emotion

Action

The actors who get this script then start from that ending point— the (Action). They read the words on the page to determine the motive & super-motive of the role they’re playing; what the character wants out of each moment, each scene, and as a whole (Motivation).

They then take those actions they’ve been given by the script and the motivation they’ve determined from those actions, and attempt to realistically portray the emotion their character is feeling for an audience. Action

Motivation

Emotion

But this is where things get tricky.

See, Real Life tends to work the opposite way. We aren’t thinking about our motivation— we FEEL something inside of us (Emotion). That feeling gives us the desire to do something (Motivation), and ultimately we take (Action) because of it.
Emotion

Motivation

Action

So what does this mean? Why is this so pivotal? If you were ever a theatre kid, you know the phrases “memorizing the lines is only the first step” and “you have to know it well enough to throw it out”. THIS is what they’re talking about. As real people, we START with emotion.

So as an actor, you need to get through all those steps first— Action, Motivation, Emotion— grab that emotion, and then go backwards from there organically to let it inform your motivation, and finally drive you to action. That’s what separates good performances from great ones.

It’s why it’s so key as an actor or a director to work through those motivations early on— and as a writer to ensure your characters HAVE motivations in the first place. If they don’t, you’re setting up your characters to fail and your actors to stumble. It’s the core of drama.

So finally, for all you game designers who stuck through— why does this matter to us? How can we use this knowledge to make better games? This is a part of what I’ve been trying to explore with my design career so far. Alice Is Missing & Icarus are both games that center emotion.

But before we get into those specifics, let’s step back and look at TTRPGS as a whole- in particular, how the player’s materials (usually character sheets) reflect the system’s design goals & how the player interacts with the game— and therefore engages with the Twin Triangles.

When a player only has things like number stats and weapon/spell names & descriptions to build their character, and therefore those are the things the game system mechanically cares about, it only gives them the tools to start and STAY at Action.

Is this bad? Not inherently— but without players themselves bringing more mechanics and tools to the table from outside the game, it doesn’t fundamentally support the flow of the twin triangles, the core of what makes stories about characters feel cinematic and layered.

A lot of good players and GMs bring these things to the table on their own, writing backstories for characters that give them something to want and something to need, providing story hooks or plot details that tie in those motivations and elicit buy-in for the current adventure.

And when this happens and there is now Action

Motivation, it’s possible to get one more step toward

Emotion, if things play out just right. And good storytellers figure out a way to make this happen. CR or Dungeon Run are great examples of emotional engagement at the table.

But MOST of the time, it’s not the game that is doing that work— it’s the GM. And that means when a new player picks up that game and tries to run it with their friends, unless they’re a gifted storyteller already, they’re left with only Action and no flow.

There are a lot of games from the last ten years (PbtA, BitD, etc) that are doing what I see as a better job of moving the needle here for people who play RPGs for a cinematic experience, because they seek to engage with more than just Action at a fundamental level.

They often ask you to build relationships with other characters: “I would fight to the end for _____” “I don’t trust ____, I need to watch them” or inform something about the world: “I’m searching for my brother, who has been kidnapped by the Red Sashes”.

This lets one START at motivation when playing as a character— what does this character WANT, and what ACTION can they take to get it. Again, once you’re here, it’s much easier to jump to “I find my brother, but he wasn’t kidnapped— he left me for a new life” and evoke

Emotion

But what about if we want to start our players at Emotion, like in Real Life? Emotion

Motivation

Action. This is what we generally mean when we say we want an experience to be immersive. We want it to feel it in our chest instead of imagining it in our head. But how?

That’s what I set out on my design journey over the last few years to find out, and is one of the things I’m most proud of in Alice Is Missing. One reason why players are invested in their character & the story by the end, the reason why they feel it in their chest...

...is because the game purposefully aims to replicate how we actually experience life: Emotion

Motivation

Action. From the opening monologue about Silent Falls to the Missing Person poster, to the backgrounds, secrets, & voicemails. It asks you to feel first (Emotion)

Then it asks you to internalize your drive and create your relationships (Motivation) before you go looking for your best friend, or your younger sister, or your secret love (Action). Those jitters you get before you start— those are the Emotions from which the game springs forth

Then asking you to channel your motive as you take action with your friends.
That is the lightning I’ve been trying so hard to bottle, and I’m really proud of what came out of this experiment. I’m not sure where my design journey will go next, but I’m gonna keep pushing. //END

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