Most roleplaying games take place linearly, but some embrace the tropes of fiction and lean into narrative tricks like flashbacks. For instance, in a movie, one of the main characters will say to the others that they have a plan, and then the next scene will flash forward. You won’t learn what that plan is until later, as you see it unfold or as you see a flashback.

A great advantage of flashbacks in RPGs is that the availability of the flashback short-circuits the analysis-paralysis that can occur when planning a heist or ambush. Players can declare retroactively how their characters prepped, rather than having play bog down.

If that fits your style of play, here’s a move you can add to your game.

Flashback

When you propose that you took some previously undeclared action in the past that can affect the current situation, and the GM agrees, roll +INT. On a 10+, it’s as you specified. On a 7-9, it’s not quite what you specified; the GM can introduce a complication or a cost. On a miss, things have changed that you’re only now learning about.

[Adapted from an unnamed custom move in Apocalypse World 2e that begins “When you declare retroactively that you’ve already set something up…”]

The Blades in the Dark SRD offers this explanation of flashbacks:

Flashbacks

The rules don’t distinguish between actions performed in the present moment and those performed in the past. When an operation is underway, you can invoke a flashback to roll for an action in the past that impacts your current situation. Maybe you convinced the district Watch sergeant to cancel the patrol tonight, so you make a Sway roll to see how that went.

The GM sets a stress cost when you activate a flashback action.

  • 0 Stress: An ordinary action for which you had easy opportunity. Consorting with a friend to agree to arrive at the dice game ahead of time, to suddenly spring out as a surprise ally.
  • 1 Stress: A complex action or unlikely opportunity. Finessing your pistols into a hiding spot near the card table so you could retrieve them after the pat-down at the front door.
  • 2 (or more) Stress: An elaborate action that involved special opportunities or contingencies. Having already Studied the history of the property and learned of a ghost that is known to haunt its ancient canal dock—a ghost that can be compelled to reveal the location of the hidden vault.

After the stress cost is paid, a flashback action is handled just like any other action. Sometimes it will entail an action roll, because there’s some danger or trouble involved. Sometimes a flashback will entail a fortune roll, because we just need to find out how well (or how much, or how long, etc.). Sometimes a flashback won’t call for a roll at all because you can just pay the stress, and it’s accomplished.

If a flashback involves a downtime activity, pay 1 coin or 1 rep for it, instead of stress.

One of the best uses for a flashback is when the engagement roll goes badly. After the GM describes the trouble you’re in, you can call for a flashback to a special preparation you made, “just in case” something like this happened. This way, your “flashback planning” will be focused on the problems that _do _happen, not the problems that might happen.

Limits of flashbacks

A flashback isn’t time travel. It can’t “undo” something that just occurred in the present moment. For instance, if an Inspector confronts you about recent thefts of occult artifacts when you’re at the Lady’s party, you can’t call for a flashback to assassinate the Inspector the night before. She’s here now, questioning you—that’s established in the fiction. You can call for a flashback to show that you intentionally tipped off the inspector so she would confront you at the party—so you could use that opportunity to impress the Lady with your aplomb and daring.

Flashback examples

“I want to have a flashback to earlier that night, where I sneak into the stables and feed fireweed to all their goats so they’ll go berserk and create a distraction for our infiltration.”

“Ha! Nice. Okay, that’s seems a bit tricky, dealing with ornery goats and all… 1 stress.”

“Should I roll Prowl to sneak in and plant it?”

“Nah. Their goat stable security amounts to a stable boy who is usually asleep anyway. You can easily avoid their notice.”

“So it just works?”

“Eh… not so fast. When you want the distraction to hit, let’s make a fortune roll to see how crazy the Fireweed Goat Maneuver gets. Three dice.”

—

“The engagement roll is… a 2. Looks like a desperate situation for you! Hmmm. Okay, so you’re inside the gang’s compound at the docks, slipping up through the shadows next to some huge metal storage tanks. But then all the electric lights come on. The big metal warehouse door rolls open, and you hear a heavy wagon coming in through the gate. Looks like they’re getting a delivery right now, and a bunch of gang members are out to receive it. They’re about to be on top of you. What do you do?”

“Hang on, I want to have a flashback.”

“Okay, for what?”

“Uh. Something… helpful? Damn, I don’t know what that would be. Anyone have ideas?”

“Oh, what if you Consorted with your docker friends yesterday and they blabbed about this delivery, so we rigged it with a bomb.”

“Oh man, that’s hilarious. But kind of nuts. I guess 2 stress for that?”

“Sounds good. But let’s make that Consort roll and see if your docker friends made any demands or complicated anything for you. Then we need to find out how well this bomb works. Who was in charge of that?”

“I did it. I’ll roll Tinker to set the fuse just right. Hopefully.”

This work is based on Blades in the Dark (found at http://www.bladesinthedark.com/), product of One Seven Design, developed and authored by John Harper, and licensed for our use under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/).

Besides the eight core moves and one death move of Pasión de las Pasiones, flashbacks are central. The system offers two moves that lean into the tropes of telenovelas:

Flashback to Preparations

When you flash back to a time you made preparations, roll with the questions:

  • Did you have plenty of time to do it?
  • Did you have someone looking out for trouble?

On a hit, choose one. On a 7–9, mark a condition or the MC will tell you how your plotting is flawed or got you caught up in another problem.

  • You have fabricated a piece of evidence; tell us what it is.
  • You arranged for somebody to be in the right place at the right time.
  • You stowed away something hidden.

On a miss, choose one, but the MC says who was lurking in the background and what they did to interfere before the flashback ends.

Reveal a Shocking Truth

When you flash back to reveal a shocking truth about a PC in front of you, roll with conditions marked and then mark a condition [see Conditions]. On a hit, the news is staggering; before acting against you, they must act with desperation. On a 7–9, choose one. On a 10+, choose two.

  • You have unequivocal evidence this is true.
  • The shocking truth gives you rightful claim to something they value.
  • You introduce a shocking new character who has your back.

On a miss, it blows up in your face—hard. The MC will tell you how.

Discussion

Initially in my Stonetop campaign, we handled flashbacks informally and conversationally a few times, which resonated enough that I thought a move might be warranted. However, when I first introduced a Flashback move to my Stonetop group, they only suggested using it comically or to cause time-travel paradoxes! “Well 20 years ago I planted a bunch of trees here so that we could use them for timber!” No, no, you didn’t: hence the caveat “and the GM agrees.”

My players eventually got into the spirit with which the move was intended. The ranger fired an arrow at the enemy, and it struck; while it only did 2 hp it exposed the enemy (who had been in partial cover). The conversation moved to the next player, then the ranger said, “By the way, I rubbed that arrowhead in deer scat before I fired it.” I had him roll Flashback, because that’s not a common practice of his character: he rolled a 10, we said that of course he had and went on. That enemy fled to tend its wound. Considering that two players ended up at Death’s Door (the Stonetop equivalent of Last Breath), they needed every advantage they eked out that session.

I subsequently added that move to my Impulse Drive campaign (swapping out the stat). This group too had a learning curve. 

Player: “GM, I understand if the answer is NO, but can someone roll for Aid?”

GM: “No, Malcolm has already rolled and failed the attempt, so it is too late. But you could do a Flashback.”

They were coming up empty on ideas, so I gave them one idea of something that they might have prepped. They decided instead they’d flashback to a Plan B that really didn’t require any prior prep. So I told them to just do it in the moment, no need for a separate flashback roll.

Integrating flashbacks can take a bit for tables to get the hang of, but the streamlined and more narrative play is worth it.

Of course, I included it in Planet of the Week, which already had a series of cinematic moves, called Episode moves, inspired by Impulse Drive.

Bringing everything full circle, I even added the move to our Apocalypse World 2e campaign!

This is an excerpt from my ebook, Reflections on PbtA Design.

Photo credit: Licensed under the Unsplash+ License.