Roles in Paradox

Paradox is the latest attempt to create a viable system for Karbon.

You take on one or more roles as you play Paradox for each scene (a small segment of play that centers on some agenda in the fiction). When you do so, you then have clearly defined abilities and tasks in the game. These are defined by the role itself, as follows:

Narrator

Taking on the role of the narrator means you become the manager of the fiction. You could say the world is the stage and your the director, moving the props and actors as you wish. In this state you control everything except the Agents and Voices, painting the world in which they live. Your duty is to reach within yourself and describe this world and its inhabitants in detail, giving it life. Last but not least, you need to keep the Agenda of the fiction in mind as you go.

Agent

You might have your Agent present in a scene. If so, you take on their stance in the fiction - Making their choices and pretending you are them. While the Narrator fleshes out the world around the Agent, you decide how they behave and act in response. You can just imagine you are an actor playing out the role of your Agent in the scene. It is your responsibility to address the Agenda in some fashion over the course of the scene.

Focus

When your Agent is present in the scene, they may have the Focus. If so, you can imagine their is a spotlight on them in the unfolding story. Having focus means your Agent is almost like the center of the scene itself. The Focus is transferable, meaning you can surrender it to another player with the Agent role, or the Narrator. When your Agent holds the Focus of the game, they gain a set of abilities called their Spotlight Abilities.

Voice

During scenes where you are neither Agent or Narrator, you take on the role of a Voice. This is just as it sounds, you take on the voice of a character not present in the scene. However even though they are not present, you imagine them as a viewer of the scene and they may narrate over it. In this role you get to add notes and even provide direction for the scene itself. You have control of the hidden, the details behind the action at hand. If Agents are confronting a violent thief in the night, you can explain what is going on in her head.