Microblog: The Chorus

For those unfamiliar, The Chorus is an idea from Greek Dramas[*1] where a small collective detached from the narrative gives commentary and supplemental insight to the performance at hand. This is not to be confused with a traditional narrator without whom the story simply could not proceed, though a degree of overlap exists. If you're thinking Statler and Waldorf, you're close. What does this have to do with Tabletop Games? Well for all the comparisons I've heard between Theater and Tabletop Games, I've never heard people bring up the role of "not quite audience - not quite player" that someone watching a Tabletop Game can inhabit.

Have you ever brought in spectators to your table? Not Actual-Play watchers, not people passing by at a con, I mean honest to goodness spectators with their own seat taking up just as much space as everyone else at the table? The kind of person who's probably on their laptop or phone or sketchbook and has opted to bow out of a table that's either too big for them or a system that just doesn't appeal to them, but has decided to still support their friends at the table in body and spirit? That is a Chorus. And the role they inhabit at your table can be remarkable.

I often find these Chorus members occasionally (put pointedly) chiming in with bits of comic relief, descriptive narration, pointed observation or interesting schemes for otherwise stumped parties can add a lot to a session (and be a fun way to bring a friend to the table who may be otherwise uninterested in playing). Unlike a GM they're heavily encouraged to be biased and help the party, while also supporting the GM with questions that help paint a fuller picture of the scene. While a bad Chorus can be incredibly disruptive and a headache to deal with, a good Chorus can round out a Tabletop experience in ways that allows Players and GMs to focus their cognitive load more on action and reaction than detail.

It's a role that I think many Players instinctively slip into when their character isn't up to the plate, but they still want to be engaged in the play. Similarly I've found it's a good way to ease new or hesitant Players into play at the table, letting them see mechanics in action while being able to ask questions and involve themselves without the full burden of a character.

Here's my tips for playing as a Chorus member who adds the most to a table:

• Stay on the sidelines. Pick your interactions carefully and with intention. Remember you're here to round out the experience at the table, not create it or push it forward. Whatever you're about to add ensure it can resolve itself in a matter of seconds with a quick answer or a brief reaction.
• Ask questions to both GMs and players that pull smaller details out from a scenario. What does the ruinous ogre smell like? How does a PC's nightwear at camp differ from their daywear? If it's raining are there puddles all over the ground? Mud? What is the actual scale of this lavish manor? Do they have a bathhouse? Obviously these questions can and usually will be answered in the course of normal play, but equally as often GM and Player focus may be elsewhere leaving you room to chime in and round things out.
• If you're adding comic relief or peanut gallery comments, pick your timing carefully and don't be overbearing with it. There's a difference between adding to a running gag that's popcorning around the table versus being loud or disruptive while a Player or GM is trying to focus. Keep quips short and relatively on topic.
• If you're using a technical device while being a Chorus member for the love of all that is good put headphones on or turn off the volume. There's nothing that makes me regret having a Chorus member at the table than play being interrupted by a meme blaring on someone's phone. 
• If you're multi-tasking by doing writing or drawing or something similar at the table, pick your timing carefully on when to share with others what you're working on (ex: during a bathroom break, or when another player is doing a solo segment). If you're drawing the action at the table share that liberally, because everyone loves to see it.
• Don't assume that just because a Player or fellow Chorus member isn't currently in play that they don't want to pay attention to what's happening at the table and would prefer a side table with you or to see a meme you found. Be attentive to letting people watch and listen and add their own Chorus commentaries.
• If there's a detail to a scene that you think would be interesting to add always check with the GM first and ensure it matches the style and experience they're trying to craft at the table.

[*1 : Despite my higher education, I am by no means an expert on the Greeks or Drama, this is just my vague understanding of the term and how it might apply to tabletop]