Spotlight initiative is one of the most free-flowing initiative systems in the hobby. Its modern form owes much to Vincent and Meguey Baker’s Apocalypse World, with Darrington Press’ Daggerheart its latest champion. However, there’s some confusion over exactly how to use it, fueled by the misinterpretation it’s “whoever wishes to act goes.”
Instead, spotlighting is a tool GMs actively manage. Cut between the player characters, NPCs, and the environment as the situation and genre suits. Think in close-ups, medium shots, and sweeping long shots. Don’t wait for players to always claim the initiative; be a director.
What Does “Spotlight Initiative” Actually Mean?
One character acts, the situation changes dramatically, and then the GM shifts the table’s attention to a new character. There may be other times to move the spotlight, like when the PC isn’t doing anything particularly interesting, for example; then there will be moments when two player characters share the spotlight. However, this is the basic flow.
It is not “anyone can go when they want.” Of course, there are times when GMs might offer the spotlight when it’s not obvious who should be in focus. But from that moment on, as the scene develops and the situation changes, they become the active director again. The players never have total control; the GM always has at least one hand on the wheel.
GMs A Better Placed to Control the Spotlight
If the GM does not control the spotlight—or camera lens as I prefer—the action becomes a free-for-all. Extroverts can dominate; introverts don’t get a look-in. There are more subtle traps here, too. Overly polite or well-wishing players may defer their turn too much, meaning they limit themselves too aggressively. Some players try to clumsily shift the action onto someone who isn’t ready or not keen to join in the moment.
There are so many factors that muddy judgments over who is taking too much of the action, or too little. Obviously the GM—hopefully human, Hasbro—isn’t perfect here, either; but, much like their role as neutral rules-arbiter, they are often in a better position to decide.
GMs also have a bit more knowledge of what’s happening next. So sure, one player might have been quiet for a while, but the others don’t know what’s coming. If the next scene can be theirs, if they want it, forcing the issue now just makes things needlessly awkward.
Let the player characters be the lead actors, but the GM directs the camera lens.
Spotlighting Isn’t Hidden Initiative
Also, spotlighting isn’t a hidden turn order. Aiming for perfect neutrality, some GMs aggressively police equal player-focus for every scene. They ensure everyone has a moment in every scene no matter what. However, this is a misunderstanding over what kind of narrative spotlight initiative is trying to present.
The focus shifts dynamically, not evenly.
In any given scene, one or more characters may get a lot more attention than the others. Some characters may get very little attention; some might even get none at all. This may seem a strange thing to aim for in a game where people are coming together to play. But the spotlight doesn’t care about equal scene-time. The spotlight focuses only where it makes sense for the story.
I can easily imagine some people instantly recoil in horror at that. And for the record, this style just won’t work for some groups. Bear with me, however, and consider this is actually how many more traditional-initiative-based groups play their games.
See Critical Role under Matt Mercer where other players go quiet for long stretches while one PC faces their nemesis. When Travis is playing his character Grog who is confronting his uncle, he dominates long scenes. The other players only play supporting roles or even go quiet.
However, over the course of the campaign, the spotlight rotates and balances out. Laura’s character Vex faces her father; Liam’s Vax comes to terms with the Raven Queen; Taliesin’s Percy meets the Briarwoods, and then later Ripley and Orthax. This is exactly how spotlighting works.
Each character gets to command attention for a time; and then, as the story moves along, so does the spotlight.
So Who Gets the Spotlight?
First, follow the fiction, then respond to dice rolls, and finally changes things up if the action is getting stale.
At the beginning of each scene, consider how the current situation affects the PCs. This might tie in their goals, personalities, or their primary roles. If one character’s family is in danger, it’s natural for the spotlight to start with them. Similarly, if a PC snaps at insults and the party has suffered a sleight, they will probably lead the action. Likewise, if the party’s thief is trying to steal an object, they’re in focus.
Then, as the scene develops, move the spotlight to characters that wish to help, intervene, or get directly affected. It might help to think of the characters having stress meters. As a PC achieves a goal, their stress reduces and someone else takes over, responding to the new situation. Seeing the actions of another PC may rapidly increase the stress of another, so they take the spotlight.
Spotlighting: An Example
For instance, three adventurers run into a burning building. Kayla wants to save her family; Maxu loves art; Kir adores animals. Kayla’s stress is highest because her connection to the scene is the strongest. Maxu and Kir may help, but Kayla dominates the spotlight.
However, the moment the family are safe or perish in the flames, the spotlight jumps. Perhaps Kir spots two kittens crouched under a table. The spotlight stays with them until the kittens are safe, the situation gets worse, or it turns into a disaster. Maxu has the choice of helping Kayla, Kir, or neither. The latter may involve them doing something else like searching the building; alternatively, it may mean they decide to sit this one out—who wants to run into a burning building anyway?
After that, the spotlight cuts back to Kayla as she resolves how she feels about the—hopefully successful—rescue attempt. Then the spotlight moves again. Think of PC action in terms of action and resolution; with that in mind, try shifting the spotlight at the moment resolution occurs, and then again right after. This is one way to keep a scene feeling high-paced, and the spotlight moving around the table.
Another is to take cues from the dice.
Using the Dice to Move the Spotlight
There are three ways to use the dice in conjunction with the spotlight:
The first is the one I use the least because it skyrockets and extends tension the most. Consider a fight scene with Kayla, Maxu, and Kir. Kayla is fighting a huge orc, and she’s down to her last hit point; it’s her attack next, and if she makes it, she’ll be victorious. Just as her player picks up the dice to roll, the GM moves the spotlight to Maxu.
It instantly raises the tension. Not only that, it keeps it up there until the GM moves the spotlight back; unless, of course, someone helps first. Because this is so effective at extending the tension, and it’s so obviously contrived, it also causes the most stress. Thus do this sparingly and do it when the roll is really important.
Also, equally significantly, only do this when failing the roll will lead to big consequences you’re comfortable with. In truth, this should be true for every die roll; but by increasing the anticipation for the roll so deliberately, it’s even more important here. I’ve written about the case for reinterpreting the dice over fudging here. But I’d argue fudging this roll, after intentionally deferring the roll, is too much of an anti-climax to carry off, even for a comfortable fudger.
Dice Roll Cues Can Also Be a Great Safety Net
At the other end of the spectrum, spotlight initiative actually gives GMs more control to stop a disaster happening. Recall Kayla fighting the hulking orc. Imagine she misses her attack, and the orc is about to slam into her with two of its own attacks. It’s now the GM moves the spotlight. Suddenly, they turn to Kir’s character: “You see this monster bringing its gleaming blade back for an executioner’s swing. What do you do?”
Instead of a likely character death (even though these can be awesome narrative beats), GMs can throw a life-line. Movies and TV shows do this all the time. And remember, the spotlight is just like a camera and the GM a director.
In Return of the King, Aragorn is about to get pulped by a troll; there’s no one who can help him, so Peter Jackson cuts to Frodo at the edge of Mt. Doom. By the time the camera comes back, the troll is panicking and flees, saving Aragorn. In Star Wars: A New Hope, Vader is about to kill the hero, Luke. So, George Lucas cuts to Han Solo; Solo shoots first, saving Luke, leaving him free to take out the Death Star.
Cutting to another character during a moment of incredible danger is a standard film technique. GMs shouldn’t be shy of using such effective storyteller techniques. Spotlight initiative gives GMs more freedom to do just that.
Extend a Failing Action to Allow Intervention
A variation of the above is to interrupt a failed roll’s result mid-process. To illustrate what I mean, imagine Maxu is persuading a guard to give access into a city. However, the player’s argument isn’t great and the die roll is worse. The GM turns to Kayla’s player and says: “You see Maxu is rubbing the guard the wrong way. The guard’s hand is moving towards their sword; it looks like they’re losing patience. What do you do?”
The GM is in control of the situation; it’s not allowing a free-for-all with the other players shouting interruptions. Instead, they’re signalling to one player they have a chance to stop things going badly; they’re in total control of the spotlight, giving the party every chance to achieve their goal.
And as a side note, these uses of spotlight initiative should show it’s brilliant for building teamwork. The GM can choose to cut to another character when their friends are most in need. Unlike moving the spotlight before the roll, doing it after one failure gives the party a second chance. Of course these chances are finite. If the intervention fails as well, then someone is getting hurt and the narrative rolls on.
Changing the Spotlight When Nothing’s Happening
The last common time to switch the spotlight is when nothing of real interest is happening. It can be a hard cut: move the spotlight from one player who’s running out of ideas or rambling. However, a soft cut may be more likely; this in effect ties up the action nicely in a montage and then moves the action on.
Shopping trips, training sequences, or times when the characters are relaxing and have no pressing concerns; these are all familiar to even more traditional initiative-based games. The advice is the same, too. Finish the scene in a sentence or two and then move on. Move the spotlight to a new scene where the action can pick up again.
Using a soundscape to reinforce the camera shifting works particularly well here. Changing ambience track or music track reinforces the emotional shift and thus the scene change. A soft-cut montage signals the time-skip almost as much as any narration does.
Some GMs are shy of interrupting players, especially when they are in full flow. However, remember it’s the GM in charge of the spotlight, and they are the director. Left to their own devices, many actors will talk for as long as they are allowed. Cut to the next scene. Groups nearly always enjoy a fast-paced session over one that stutters and stumbles along.
A Simple Procedure for Running Spotlight Initiative
Consider this a guide rather than hard and fast rules. By its nature, the spotlight’s movement will be fluid as it follows the fiction’s focus. However, it can be helpful to have a guiding star; thus, here is a suggested gameflow:
1. Set the scene and move the spotlight to the most natural choice PC.
Remember the characters’ stress meters. Think of their connection to the situation, their personalities, profession, and role in the party.
As a quick note, it’s perfectly fine for more than one character to fit the bill. In these cases, simply offer it up to the players: “Kayla and Maxu, who’s taking the initiative?” The spotlight will likely pass to the other after the first’s action.
2. Keep the spotlight on them until they change the situation with their actions, or the interest in the scenes dips. One or more of NPCs, monsters, and/or the environment should be changing in response to what they’re doing. If nothing is, move the spotlight.
3. Switch to a new character and repeat.
Dice cues and nothing of interest happening are all moments to consider mixing things up.
4. During the session interlude or after the session’s conclusion, think back; was everyone as active as they wanted to be? Consider not even second-guessing this; ask the quieter player(s) directly if they were having fun and if they wanted more spotlight time. Factor this into planning the next session’s narrative seeds.
Spotlight Initiative Isn’t for Everyone and That’s Normal
Spotlight initiative tends to feature most prominently in storyteller games. These are typified by, but not exclusive to, Powered by the Apocalypse games like Apocalypse World and Blades in the Dark. Groups with a flair for theatre and a desire for a narrative-heavy game are more likely to enjoy it.
Wargamers, puzzle-gamers, and those who prefer rigid frameworks are not. By all means it’s good to try, and in small bursts most things are fun. But ultimately this style of initiative can be too frustrating for gamers that thrive off structure. That’s fine. One of the wonderful things about this hobby is the incredible variety in the systems out there to play. Know what the group likes and go with that. It’s not worth forcing people into a game-style they don’t enjoy. If it helps, here is the other article I wrote covering the other major initiative systems and what types of gamers they are likely to suit.
Spotlight Initiative Is Attention Management
Traditional initiative is an ordered response to the question: “Who goes next?” Spotlight initiative is actually asking a different question; instead, it’s asking, “Whose action is most important in this moment?”
This means it doesn’t get rid of initiative. Rather, the GM is more actively managing the table’s attention and the narrative’s momentum. When using this style of initiative, the golden rule is follow the fiction; make those PC stress meters chop and change; and when it’s time, change the focus without mercy. Give it a try!
