Flashbacks?

[The Bissler]

Hi all,

Has anyone ever tried using flashbacks in their games?

Specifically you use the traditional in media res start to the game but then jump back to flashbacks to show how the players arrive there?

I was thinking of applying this to a few of my games but I'm concerned it doesn't feel very Star Wars as the films are always told in a linear fashion.

Has anyone experimented with flashbacks at all? How did it go for you?

[garhkal]

I've done a flashback as a force vision, before, but since i had only one force sensitive on the table to get that vision, all the rest were left in the lurch.
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[cheshire]

One time I had a gaming session that started in a prison cell, and the flashback WAS the adventure and it determined how the players got there.

One player felt like it was unfair and that they should have had an option not to be in prison at all and that it was railroading. One other player thought that it was a great way of having a capture without plot hammering them with an impossible combat. The other two thought it was just another adventure.

In the end, the flashback went so well that they wound up partying all night in a local tavern and were put into a drunk tank to dry out for the night. They were released in the morning when the sobered up.

All but one thought it was a grand adventure.
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Before we take any of this too seriously, just remember that in the middle episode a little rubber puppet moves a spaceship with his mind.

[Urban Spaceman]

I kind of did once.
At the start of the game I described them kneeling and cuffed before a group of Stormtroopers, whilst a young officer accused them of the murder of several Imperial citizens. As he ordered the troops to "Ready...Aim..." I then held up a sign saying "2 days earlier....." and we went from there.

It worked quite well. They players got invested quite quickly, which was good as the game had a slow burn and a build to it (which is why I wanted to start this way). They enjoyed it a lot, and the tension rose as they realised we'd reached that same point in the story during the actual game.
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[The Bissler]

Thank you for the responses, good to read!

@Cheshire: It sounds like your game drew a mix of responses, which even in the case of the person who felt they'd been railroaded is something I think would be good to do once in a while. I think sometimes players can get into a mode of having (accurate or not) expectations of how the sessions will play out and it becoming harder to keep them surprised and entertained. It sounds like your device really shook up the players and made them more passionate than perhaps would be the case in a "usual" week!

@Urban Spaceman: That sounds like it went brilliant! I like how you used the flashback to build that tension in what you considered a slow burn of a week!

[tcschenks]

This was a play-by-post but I GMd a flashback for a player character that turned into a separate prequel adventure for that character. Knowledge that the character obtained in the "flashback" became available to him in the primary adventure.

[The Bissler]

That sounds pretty cool tcschenks! Nice idea!

[dph]

It's a get idea!

I actually start my campaigns with a series of flashbacks putting the story of how and why the characters come together for the plot.

I also like to drop them in as a brief epilogue at the end of a session (more of a scene cut than a flashback I suppose) to tease upcoming events, or give the PCs an insight into what's going on behind the scenes... though in that case you need good players like mine who don't metagame!
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[KageRyu]

I have done Flashbacks in D6, but not a SW game. Usually I used them to flesh out events that were hinted at by Perks/Flaws, and often as solo adventures while waiting on other group members to arrive. I would usually knock some D off a few skills and alter some gear to reflect it was a flashback. Usually the players liked it.
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"There's a set way to gain new Force Points and it represents a very nice system, where you're rewarded for heroism, not for being a poor conductor to electricity." ~Jachra

[Argentsaber]

I find flashbacks useful as a way to introduce a new character, be it a player or major NPC. While seeding NPCs in the early game for use later is a good idea, it's not always feasible, and the flashback scenes seem to work well for this.

I have also used a sort of prologue/flashback scene where the players all take roles of people involved in setting up the current crisis. it sometimes helps to get the players more involved.. kind of like the villain cut scenes described in the first ed rules, but more hands on.
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[Straxus]

I have tried a sort of flashbacks-on-a-minor-scale, it's being discussed here:

https://rancorpit.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=6992


They were used as miniflashbacks to reduce the amount of playing time used for planning a mission.
This is a bit specific, and not sure how it fits with what you have in mind, but the discussion is interesting anyway. Good luck!